Postings by Meridian

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Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Fri Apr 26, '13 10:51pm PST  Are we talking uncontrollable liquid or just soft regular poos? I don't mean to second-guess you, I'm just trying to gauge the situation. I'm not saying it couldn't be due to food, but if you've got a diarrhea situation every month or so on what almost seems like a schedule, I might take a closer look at what's going on. Did he have any digestive system trouble on his former diet or did these things start when you started raw? Like the others suggested, the first thing I'd cut out would be the coconut oil. It's not entirely species appropriate, and might be causing upset. I, as a human, tried supplementing with coconut oil and I learned that if I take more than about a half a teaspoon of the stuff even with food I get awful heartburny sensations. I probably weigh about 5 to 7 times what your Corgi does! This makes much more sense than chicken being the problem. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Fri Apr 26, '13 10:32pm PST  Will they not eat bone if left to their own devices? Your post is a wee big vague. Letting them just have at the food with no hovering or interruptions will be a positive step towards your goals. To help with choking risk, feed a big chunk of something and let them gnaw what they need off. Don't, say, feed just the neck if it's too small. Good small items with edible bone include "cornish game hens" (which are just small chickens), quail, rabbit, and whole prey usually intended for reptiles. You can also halve medium sized chickens. If chicken necks are too small, try turkey neck portions. That might prove a good RMB for a very small dog where they can chew off enough edible bone to fill their bone requirement. Lamb bones are also good for small dogs. Even the smallest bones will be good sized raw-meaty-bones for them, but they'll probably be able to at least eat some rib bone, and the cartilaginous parts of lamb leg bones could prove very good. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Raw Food Diet > A question...about a canned food...

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Sat Apr 13, '13 10:29pm PST  Yep, just like Ember said, the high pressure canning process breaks down the bone to the point that if you mush it between your fingers it, well, just mushes. The form of the bone (and the rest of it) stays in it's original shape/look, as the food goes into the can and it doesn't get mixed around. I haven't had any active part in the commercial dog food industry in a number of years, but when I did Merrick's was good stuff, and up to that point at least, I trusted them to have a quality product and to be honest it would make me sad if I found out they've gone the way of a lot of other companies. That said, after only about a year of strictly raw feeding I tried out some canned food (a grain free beef formula from Wysong) on a trip and though the dogs didn't physically show signs of being the slightest bit "off", the resulting poos pretty much resembled the food, which is to say runny and smelly. Never tried it again, more for my sake than the dogs! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Raw Food Diet > Recommended Probiotics

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Sat Apr 13, '13 7:47pm PST  "Overdosing" on probiotics causes diarrhea and gastric upset, FYI. Also, probiotic supplements really aren't 'synthetic' so much as specifically cultured, though I have to admit I'm very wary of the trademarked probiotic strains you see advertised on TV being added to yogurt! For those wondering about the 'efficacy' of one probiotic delivery system over another, what effects are you trying to achieve exactly? Probiotic supplements should not necessarily be used long-term. Probiotics are helpful when there's been some sort of hit taken by the natural flora of the digestive system. They're a stand-in to help digestion and speed the process of the recolonization of friendly bacteria, and shouldn't be necessary all the time for proper function. A lot of times what people are after when they try probiotics is actually more suited to a digestive enzyme supplement. Sometimes the two are lumped into one category, but they are very different. Dogs who seem to have a chronic problem with proper digestion/absorption of food may benefit from an enzyme supplement. What you're looking for in a probiotic supplement is guaranteed activity. The bacteria have to be delivered into the system alive to be any good, and they can be killed by heat and exposure to air, so make sure the bottle you're buying not only has a high guaranteed content of bacteria, but that the storage and usage instructions are followed, AND that the store you bought them from can be trusted to have not left them out on a loading dock in the sun, or that if they're not shelf-stable that you bought them out of a 'fridge. Things like that. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Raw Food Diet > sardines--are the ones in oil off limits?

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Sat Apr 13, '13 7:04pm PST  Regarding the oil-packed fish -- if it's not specified otherwise the sardines are probably packed in soybean oil, an oil that doesn't agree with a lot of dogs. Unfortunately sardines aren't just in their own oil, as sardine oil's great stuff! If you know Treader to be a dog with a relatively strong constitution I wouldn't worry about it too much, just drain off as much as you can. If he's got a history of being sensitive to certain ingredients or gets the runs easily I'd take a pass on them, though. Could be a recipe for some not-so-fun times unless your idea of fun is getting up at 3am for a potty emergency or cleaning up really runny smelly stools. From a nutritional angle, the biggest potential long-term problem I'd see with feeding canned sardines (or salmon or mackerel or herring) packed in a vegetable derived oil on a semi-regular basis would be completely and totally negating the content of Omega-3 EFAs that a lot of people feed fish like this for in the first place. Vegetable oils are super duper high in Omega-6 EFAs, and though they are crucial to health, most dogs (and people) these days are in no danger of not getting enough, but really do need to try to get them more in balance with the Omega-3 intake. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Sat Apr 13, '13 6:49pm PST  Like the others said, she's probably referring to an all meat diet (no bones or organs), not a proper raw diet. There are plenty of studies that have been performed over the years that prove that feeding a diet of all meaty-meat is indeed hazardous. If you're inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she's just never been exposed to the formulation of a proper raw diet, you can provide her with some more info and help her understand! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Raw Food Diet > Pork Brisket Bones

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Sat Apr 13, '13 6:38pm PST  These can be either really meaty (good) or practically all bone (not so good), and are usually really affordable. Nice meaty pork brisket (or breast) bones were a staple for my dogs for a long time. The bones are a nice shape and texture for most dogs up to the medium/large category. The bone is totally edible for the bigger guys. I'd definitely give it a shot! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Raw Food Diet > Doesn't like green tripe?

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Sat Apr 13, '13 6:31pm PST  Most dogs go nuts for the stuff, but there's always the exception. There are lots of different kinds of tripe you can get -- perhaps a different brand or animal would go over better. (Any ruminant stomach is tripe -- cow, bison, elk, deer, lamb/sheep, etc.) At the end of the day, it's not an item that you need to go out of your way to get your dog to eat if they don't like it. It's nutritionally valuable, but still an 'extra'. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Raw Food Diet > Can I feed ground if it is cooked?

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Tue Feb 26, '13 12:12pm PST  Like Conker said, there's no reason to cook the ground meat. While ground meat isn't an ideal food item it is often inexpensive which can elevate it to almost ideal pretty quickly! Just make sure your edible bone content is coming from somewhere and make sure you're still feeding RMBs often enough for the "workout meals". (This would be true given any diet, even kibble!) That said, if you want to introduce a cooked element for whatever reason, go ahead and feed it in conjunction with whatever you want. As long as your 'big picture' diet is satisfactory you don't need to worry about the components of each meal so much. There are many raw feeders who have gotten the idea that feeding cooked food and raw food together can and does lead to disastrous situations in most cases, which IMO has been grossly blown out of proportion given the cycle of information regurgitation on the internet. Some dogs do seem to have a problem with it, this is more of a sign of a dog who's system is compromised, not the practice itself. Obviously if it's problematic in the individual you'll need to make adjustments. We humans can indeed eat raw and "undercooked" meat without becoming violently ill. I, personally, eat steak that's practically raw on the inside frequently, and I eat thick cut pork chops that are still juicy and verging on rare in the middle. I have eaten completely raw beef and game meat and am here to tell the tale, and have never gotten sick or infected anyone else. I have had food poisoning once, something I NEVER want to repeat. It was from commercially prepared and jarred spaghetti sauce! Many cultures world over eat raw meat both currently and historically. While the chances of getting sick from meat handled in large conventional facilities is higher due to contamination from stomach matter and unnatural bacterial loads coming from the raising/processing of animals 'finished' in CAFOs and slaughtered in ill-maintained facilities, it's still not a death sentence to eat it undercooked, despite what the USDA might tell you to cover their own butts from a liability standpoint. Kibble actually has a HIGH bacterial load, and statistically the potential from getting sick from kibble is much higher than from raw meat, whether mixed with something or on its own. Kibble might have a low bacterial load coming right off the production line, but all the preservatives in the world aren't enough to mean it stays that way. (For that matter so does raw meat.) I balk at the use of the term "we" when individuals are giving advice on feeding (raw or not, or a combo), as it really is an individual practice, which can be tailored in many ways. Each dog is an individual, as is each family. I, personally, have a very rigid idea of what an acceptable raw diet is, and would only feed my dogs a certain way. Incidentally my views are in-line with the more militant raw feeders that many of us have been exposed to in some high-profile online groups. This does not mean that I think that everyone absolutely has to feed this way or be branded with not caring about their dog's nutritional needs. Dogs are adaptable creatures and I really truly believe that there are plenty of ways to deliver an more-than adequate diet that does not follow the model set forth in many models popular among a "my way or the highway" set of personalities present in our larger community raw feeders active online. The first and most important step is moving away from highly processed commercial foods, and including lots of "real food", cooked or raw. A lot of these 'truths' about not mixing cooked/raw and the like have scientific facts that can back them up, but these facts are picked and chosen for the effect of supporting an theory more than actual relevance. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Meridian Proud to be a- kitchen wolf!!!     Barked: Sun Feb 17, '13 4:36pm PST  I'm not going to rehash the "why grind?" issue except to mention that in addition to edible bone content in the form of ground bone you should make sure to be letting the guys who are at a dental disadvantage chew on RMBs anyway. They might not be able to ingest a sufficient amount of edible bone, but chewing will help keep the gums and teeth they do have in good condition and the isometric exercise with help keep the facial muscles (and others) toned. A KitchenAid mixer won't be able to grind even soft bones like chicken and rabbit for long. You're likely to wear out the motor eventually and be out a KitchenAid. They're powerful for what they are and totally awesome (don't know what I'd do without mine), but not designed for the job of grinding bone. You'll need to invest in a grinder for the purpose. From what I understand you need at least one-horsepower grinder, which can be had for about $150 on the cheap end. Anything less will ultimately be a waste of money, as it will break or just not work. 1HP and up will do chicken bone fine, but to graduate to bigger bone you're looking at industrial equipment that even a lot of small commercial raw food companies can't afford! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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