Going Raw?

sillysally

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#1
Or at least partially? This was inspired by the fact that My Pet Carnivore delivers near us...

What are your thoughts on feeding partial raw and partial kibble? Maybe kibble in the morning and raw at night? Also, what about ground raw--not just ground meat but everything ground together? Sally might be ok with bones but Jack is a gulper....

I suppose my thought would be to feed a high quality kibble mixed with canned in the morning, and a serving of whole ground raw at night. Would that work?
 
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#3
I do partial raw for Squash. I've fed them together and separately and it doesn't seem to make a difference.
 
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#4
It can work fine....but honestly, for a gulper, the best thing to do is give big chunks. They may hork and throw it up a couple times but it really very really causes a problem. When Marley was younger he could down a leg quarter in seconds, chomp chomp swallow.
 

cliffdog

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#5
Agreed, I wouldn't bother grinding. If they try to swallow a piece they can't handle they'll hack it back up and try again. Bonnie was a gulper at first but she's more or less learned to chew now.
 

naturalfeddogs

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#6
A lot of people do raw and kibble, just not mixed together. As far as ground goes, I wouldn't . You miss out on the dental benefits. I personally believe in sticking with one or the other.
 

kady05

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#7
I feed Wilson 50/50. He gets raw in the AM, kibble in the PM, does great on it!

And I might be the odd man out here, but I do cut my boneless pieces into small, bite sized chunks (and I also do feed some ground, like the tripe I get). I tried the whole "bigger is better" thing with the boneless and my idiots were trying to swallow these giant pieces and starting to freak me out with the gagging/choking. So, bite sized (I'd say 2x2") pieces and now if they try to swallow, it's not an issue. Problem solved!
 

cliffdog

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#8
People say don't mix, but my grandpa always mixed kibble and ground raw with his greyhounds, and the only health problem they ever had was HORRIBLE teeth.
 

sillysally

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#9
I'm worried about both choking and bowel obstruction from eating a too large chunk of something. Jack has had bowel obstruction surgery from swallowing a pair of panties whole...

Why not feed ground?
 

cliffdog

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#13
I'm worried about both choking and bowel obstruction from eating a too large chunk of something. Jack has had bowel obstruction surgery from swallowing a pair of panties whole...

Why not feed ground?
In my experience, it's really bad for their teeth. My grandpa's poor greyhounds had teeth rotting out of their skulls by the time they were five or six. I guess if you do regular dentals it won't be a problem, but I hate putting dogs under anesthesia once a year to clean their teeth.
 
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#15
We have to keep kibble with Sloans raw to keep her poop solid, go figure.
Squash is the same way. All kibble? No good. All raw? No good. Mixed? Good.


And almost all greyhounds have crappy teeth no matter what you do IME. You can always give recreational bones if you choose to feed ground.
 

Emily

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#16
Funny, I know tons of dogs with teeth that improved dramatically after changing from kibble to ground (and only ground) raw.

Anyway, I think you'll probably be pleased with kibble/ground raw combo. It certainly isn't any worse for their teeth than kibble alone, and likely better to some degree. If it doesn't work for you dogs, it doesn't work, but it's certainly worth a try.

With gulpers, it's nice if you can feed big chunks, however, my gulper also has a glacial metabolism and cannot eat chunks big enough to be safe and also maintain a healthy weight. And yes, dogs DO get themselves into trouble with gulping. I would never say it's "usually fine". Mackenzy had to have a whole drumstick cut out of her stomach at the e-vets, so please do exercise due caution if you know your dog is a gulper!
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#17
We have a bucket of marrow and nylabones by the back door, I don't stress bone in meals as much because of this and it is a great option for others who don't want to feed bone in daily meals.

Ex of bone bucket:
 
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#18
And yes, dogs DO get themselves into trouble with gulping. I would never say it's "usually fine". Mackenzy had to have a whole drumstick cut out of her stomach at the e-vets, so please do exercise due caution if you know your dog is a gulper!
I still stand by its usually fine. There are sometimes when its not, but IME its fairly rare for there to be an issue. I did not say "oh no worries, it never happens" which would be false.
 

naturalfeddogs

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#19
There can be issues with kibble, as well as socks being swallowed, rocks etc... Just because someone had an issue with a drumstick really doesn't mean anything. Sounds like a drumstick was too small.
 

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