# How do I make a complete raw meal?



## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

I've talked with my holistic vet and I've done a bunch of book and internet research. I have yet to find a user-friendly guide or source to helping me understand and create a single complete meal that I can feed my dogs. All I've found are acronyms and ratios, and everyone's seems different. I understand that each dog is an individual, and your ratios will depend on your dog, so I'll figure out my own ratios as I become more experienced feeding a completely raw diet. I'll be out of dry kibble (EVO, Orijen, Wellness CORE, TOTW) in a few more weeks, and I'd like to stop purchasing processed kibble forever, and only feed raw. To do this, I need to figure out exactly what consists of a "complete raw meal" so my dogs aren't lacking anything their body needs on a daily basis. I'm feeding 2-3 meals a day, based on how much exercise/activity they receive that day. Here's where I'm at with my research:

1. I know they need mostly meat, and a lot of it. I buy tubes of Columbia River Naturals raw meat chubs. Every 2 weeks I go to the store and purchase one tube of every variety (they have a lot!), from buffalo to beef, chicken, turkey, green tripe, cow pie, quail, guinea hen, etc. I want my dogs to get their protein from a variety of different sources.

2. They are given raw meaty bones (the big ones!) once a week to get the marrow and keep their teeth clean.

3. Some of the meat chubs are mixed with veggies, so they're only getting veggies every few days. I don't know if that's enough or not.

4. Also, some of the meat chubs are mixed with organ meat and bone. All of the poultry contains bones. They're also getting beef liver, kidney and heart.

5. I'm supplementing with glucosamine/chondroitin triple strength vitamins, and was told by my vet that I can discontinue now that they can get these in the bone marrow and bone meal. I'm also giving Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil for the Omega 3s/DHAs/EPAs. He told me to continue the fish oil while on a completely raw diet.

Other than meat, bone, organ, and fish oil, what else should I mix in daily to make up a complete meal?

I see others mixing in organic plain yogurt. My vet also recommended this. I believe it's for the probiotics. He also mentioned blueberries, green leafy veggies, and just about any veggie/fruit that we eat ourselves, minus citrus, avocado, grapes, raisins, bananas (I think), and onion. Garlic cloves are supposedly good since they are not processed, but garlic powder is bad, right? I have a holisitic book that recommends minced garlic mixed in the food to help repel fleas, and is supposed to be good for them. I know processed garlic is always on the list of foods that dogs should avoid. 

So, to simplify this, I need to blend/mix in meat, fish oil, veggies, fruits, and yogurt. Anything else? I would chop up the fruits and veggies in a food processor to make them powder-like or as small particles as possible so the dogs can absorb them better. I've seen many lists of what not to feed your dog, so I'll continue to refer to those lists to ensure I'm not giving any "human" food that could harm or kill them.

I don't always have time to write back, so I'd like to thank you in advance for reading and replying. If I don't get to reply, please know that I definitely read your post and appreciate your time and assistance! I have a little break right now to type this up, and I truly care for my dogs' health and want to switch over to a completely raw diet from here on out, but I only want to do it if I can rest assured that I'm getting them everything their bodies need.

Again, thank you!!!


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## JudynRich (Apr 16, 2010)

Ditto to Kevin's Post...I will be switching both dogs to raw when Bella is a year in about 3 months. My breeder feeds green tripe, but I think I need to have more variety. Right now I feed Bella large breed puppy kibble, and homemade food-but it is cooked. Mia only gets the homemade, and I also give a beefy raw bone once a week.


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## rodney757 (Feb 12, 2010)

are you going to be doing diy raw or buying the pre-made raw?


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

Hi Kevin,

I answered a lot of your questions in a previous post of yours,

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...e-perfect-our-raw-diet-what-am-i-missing.html


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