# Raw Diet... but cooked? And other questions.



## ravensmommy (Mar 24, 2013)

I'm sure this is a silly question, but I can't find much in my online searches. Can you feed a raw style diet, except cooking the meat products? Like nutritionally would it be good? 

The reason I ask is that I am not a huge fan of handling raw meat, and especially some of the nasty organ and bones stuff I see talked about on here really grosses me out. Also, I am into pressure canning, and think that it would be neat and very convenient if I could can up a bunch of meals for my dogs, but the canning process would cook the food. 

I think my puppy (9 weeks) is too skinny. The vet said she is not too bad but could stand to gain a couple of pounds. He did fecal test and found nothing of concern. I've been feeding a low quality kibble: Purina One Large Breed Puppy. I sort of thought it would fatten her up a little faster. So, I was thinking about trying Blue Buffalo Wilderness (the one with the wolf on it) kibble, but I am thinking maybe RAW is the way to go. 

Also, I have a 13 year old 20lb mix breed dog, how would a RAW diet be for him? 

General thoughts on my situation?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

You can not cook bones. The become brittle once cooked and can tear up their insides. 

I've been feeding RAW for several years now. We have a 13 yr old Boxer, who the vet attributes her old age to the change in diet 3 yrs ago. I have a 10 yr old 80# mix that we've had for a month that have switched to RAW and my 5 yr old GSD along with my cat.

You can do a premade RAW, but it's expensive. You can buy preground so it would come in a tube like hamburger. 

You can do a cooked diet but will have to add calcium. I use egg shells.

personally, if I had a 9 week old puppy and didn't want to commit to RAW, I would just feed a good brand dog food.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Michelle do you bake and blend the eggshells into powder?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

You have to bake the eggshells before grinding or they are to soft. I bought a small coffee grinder and it works great. Follow these instructions

https://www.facebook.com/notes/crf-...de-pet-food-phosphorus-binder/294260780605680


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

If you cook the meat it will also lose its taurine and that will need to be supplemented as well. I would look into what all supplements (I'm certainly not an expert!) you would need for a cooked diet.


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## ravensmommy (Mar 24, 2013)

Jax08 said:


> You can not cook bones. The become brittle once cooked and can tear up their insides.
> 
> I've been feeding RAW for several years now. We have a 13 yr old Boxer, who the vet attributes her old age to the change in diet 3 yrs ago. I have a 10 yr old 80# mix that we've had for a month that have switched to RAW and my 5 yr old GSD along with my cat.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the information. I am considering the making the commitment to a RAW diet, I'm just not super excited about it, but I guess that's what they make gloves for!  Can you give them the bones frozen? Do they eat the bones right away or do they gnaw on them for a while? Wouldn't the egg shells be rough on them? What about calcium additives, I think I've seen that mentioned, is that okay?

Financially, I am thinking RAW would be around the same cost as high quality kibble, if not actually cheaper. Am I incorrect in that assumption?


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## ravensmommy (Mar 24, 2013)

Galathiel said:


> If you cook the meat it will also lose its taurine and that will need to be supplemented as well. I would look into what all supplements (I'm certainly not an expert!) you would need for a cooked diet.


That's a great help, thank you! Sounds like RAW should actually truly be served RAW.


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## Anubis_Star (Jul 25, 2012)

Raw diets, depending on your sources, are cheaper in my experience. However you must commit, or as someone else said you're better off just going with a higher quality kibble.

IMO, cooking changes the molecular structure of food and breaks down beneficial nutrients and digestion aids like enzymes. I also don't believe that a proper raw diet requires supplements.

Many butcher shops are willing to provide organ meat ground into ground meat, add some ground bone meal and you have a complete diet that you yourself need to do very little handling with. However at that point buying a prepackaged raw diet would be comparable in price.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

ravensmommy said:


> Thank you for the information. I am considering the making the commitment to a RAW diet, I'm just not super excited about it, but I guess that's what they make gloves for!  Can you give them the bones frozen? Do they eat the bones right away or do they gnaw on them for a while? Wouldn't the egg shells be rough on them? What about calcium additives, I think I've seen that mentioned, is that okay?
> 
> Financially, I am thinking RAW would be around the same cost as high quality kibble, if not actually cheaper. Am I incorrect in that assumption?


I would not use calcium supplements. Those are made from rock and I read a study about it staying in the arteries and hardening them.

I've also read that bone dust/meal has a lot of bacteria in it.

In my personal opinion, by not feeding actual bone you are missing minerals and vitamins you would find in it. I use egg shells because I have a dog with CRF that can not have bone due to the phosphorus. Otherwise, I feed the bone in the form of poultry necks and backs


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

if you don't handling raw buy a box of those throw
away plastic gloves.


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## ravensmommy (Mar 24, 2013)

Okay guys and gals, more questions. I am trying to get my husband on board with the switch to RAW. His biggest concern is cost. He is wanting me to show him that it will cost no more than the cost of feeding now. So, for now, I am using my 20 pound senior dog as my example. I'm excluding the pup for the purposes of the demonstration to my husband, because I know her needs will be varying until she's older. My biggest problem is that I am terrible at math. Kibble for him costs 30 dollars for two month supply. 

So here's where I need your help. Double check my maths and logic? 

I have read that 2-3% of the dog's ideal body weight is what you should feed. So, at an ideal weight of 20 lbs, I would need to feed my senior dog .4 lb. daily. I'm going to round that up to .5 just as a little cushion to account for any extra hungry days he may have. So I calculated that for two months, he would need a total weight of 30 pounds of RAW diet food. Using the 1:1:8 ratio, that would mean 24lbs of muscle meat, and 3lbs each of bone and organ. Is that correct? 

So then, if I go to the store and ensure that I have those numbers, then I mix it up following the 1:1:8 ratio, he should be good right? Also, I imagine it is difficult to be so precise, but as long as I say give a bone (chicken leg or wing or something) and then at evening meal give just muscle meat, would that be okay and well balanced? If he likes the organ meat, I plan to try to incorporate a tiny bit with each meal instead of a bunch on one day.

So, if my numbers are correct, do you all think I can do the RAW diet on him and NOT exceed $30 per two months? If I shop sales and discounted meats and such?


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## lzver (Feb 9, 2012)

We do a home cooked diet for our GSD, but we consulted with a Canine Nutritionist and we add the recommended supplements to ensure that it is balanced.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

ravensmommy said:


> Can you feed a raw style diet, except cooking the meat products?


Raw means uncooked. Maybe you're referring to a home cooked diet?


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