Wednesday, November 12, 2008

BARF


Which means, Bones and Raw Food (or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) is what I've begun feeding the girls of late. I still feed Innova Evo for breakfast but for dinner they are on a BARF diet. I may completely switch or may continue as I'm doing, just because it is so much faster to feed them Evo in the morning, especially on work days.

In any event, they are loving life!! They've had a variety of things which I'll list here.
  • Chicken backs
  • Chicken necks
  • Chicken legs
  • Chicken thighs
  • Turkey necks
  • Turkey tails (which they absolutely love)
  • Beef heart
  • Ground rabbit
  • Ground beef
  • Stewmeat

I have some mackeral I may try in the next week, just to see how they like that. I've heard most dogs just love it. It's suppose to be really good for them as it has Omega-3 fatty acids and even some Omega-6 fatty acids, although they are still getting daily fish oil pills.

We also have some beef fat to feed them on occasion - it's suppose to make their coats shiny. I gotta be careful with that, though, as I don't want to put any pounds on Remi or Lucy. Sugar, yes, but not the other two.

Once a week they also get a frozen veggie "popsicle" that contains pureed spinach, carrots, yellow squash, broccoli, raw eggs (shell and all), cottage cheese, raw hamburger, and peaches. I'm sure I've forgotten something in that list as I put all kinds of things in their veggie mix. They love it though!

So far, everyone is doing well. As I've reported before, Remi and Lucy are slimming a bit and Sugar is gaining a bit. By the way, we have an appointment Saturday for another blood test for her to see where her liver values are. She looks good and is PINK!! So, I am hopeful the test will show her values are going down, perhaps even at the normal level at this point. We'll see. I'll update the blog with the results, as soon as I know them.

Back to the diet, I just have to say how thrilled I am at this BARF diet. They seem to really like it, are satisfied, and I hope will thrive even more than they would on kibble (which our kibble, Innova Evo, is the next best thing to feeding raw). I hope I'm giving them enough variety, too. I will try to get some venison or buffalo, both of which I think will be expensive. The butcher in Douglasville can GET anything, he says, and he does have alot of variety there as well as a large customer base who also feeds raw to their dogs. He also has tripe which we'll try and I know I need to throw in some organs. I have some beef liver I'll probably feed them this weekend.

So, I truly think this raw thing is going to work out for the better. I've even gotten past the "grossness" of it and seem to be doing okay myself as I'm still a meat eater. Yea! And the girls are thriving. Sugar even seems to feel especially energetic. I'm so happy they're happy!! Pin It

3 comments:

Addie said...

Patti, I'm so glad it's working out for you so well. I'm much happier feeding raw because the hounds seem to be doing so well on it. Their coats look amazing and they just look so healthy.

Anyway, I tried mackerel on the boys for the first time this week and they were nuts about it. I'd never seen canned mackerel and it's weird; each can contains three chunks of fish. I wouldn't eat it, but the guys love it!

Addie

Maria Peters said...

You're a good Mom...I'm interested in seeing how it goes...I've been playing around with the idea...glad to hear that little girl is doing well.

Heather said...

i've read my raw book. done my research. starting my meal planning. and in about a week we will make the big switch. fingers crossed.