Questions for you Raw Diet owners.

[booned]

I'm looking to get our Ghost onto a Raw diet as she has always been  fussy with food. We've tried multiple dry foods / wet foods and combining them and she'd only have a couple of meals before she wouldnt eat. We've got down to eating once a day, a scoop of dry with a tin of wet (has to be Warbutons) and a small amount of mixed vegetables in her bowl. This has become quite expensive.

I would like to start weaning her onto a raw diet as she seems to enjoy multiple foods in one bowl and I've calculated I could feed her for about £2 per day with better quality food and I wouldnt be buying dog food that she wont eat.

I've been doing quite a bit of research, but couldnt find any clear answers to my questions:

• Can you just buy any minced meat and it will be okay or do you need to buy the (Overpriced because its branded for dogs) pet shop mince?
• Aside from raw pork, are there any raw meats I shouldnt feed her?
• Is it okay to give her raw meat on the bone (I've read conflicting arguements)?
• Are raw organs okay?
• With regards to quantitiy, are there any raw foods that are so high in protein or in other areas that dont need to be fed as much?

[wolfpup]

I buy my mince from the butchers   the cheaper  20% fat one, however he does not have this more than once a week so I don't worry about too much fat content.   Human grade meat is obviously better if you can stretch to it  -  or know a friendly butcher.       I buy lamb's ribs, marrow bones (for bone broth) etc for 60p a kilo from my butcher  -  the ribs are £3.50 a kilo from the raw pet food shop - and not as good quality.   There is one extremely lucky dog here that gets his meat bought at Waitrose!   (not mine)

There is no reason your dog cannot have raw pork   -  pork containing worms is rare nowadays.    Most people worm their dogs once a year anyway. 

I used to give my dogs raw chicken legs whole   -  never a problem,  my old dog would occasionally just get half a chicken carcase (kept him happily occupied for half an hour or so) - but Marley is a very delicate eater and wont eat anything bigger than a half inch cube of meat.   He will however tackle a very large meaty bone.

Raw organs are the dog's vitamins!  heart is classed as muscle meat,  but pancreas, brain, lungs, kidney,  liver  (but not too much  - and no more than twice a week for liver - its too rich) literally anything you can get hold of.   

The following may be of help - all the vitamins and minerals in the different foodstuffs:

CHICKEN	PORK	BEEF	LAMB	EGG	SARDINES	HERRINGS	SALMON
A	A			A	A	A	A
B1	B1	B1	B1	B1	B1	B1	B1
B2	B2	B2	B2	B2	B2	B2	B2
B3	B3	B3	B3	B3	B3	B3	B3
B5	B5	B5	B5	B5	B5	B5	B5
B6	B6	B6	B6	B6	B6	B6	B6
B9	B9	B9	B9	B9	B9	B9
B12	B12	B12	B12	B12	B12	B12	B12
					C	C	C	LIVER  KIDNEY
				D	D	D	D
				E	E	E
				K	K	K
CALCIUM	CALCIUM	CALCIUM	CALCIUM	CALCIUM	CALCIUM	CALCIUM	CALCIUM
COPPER	COPPER	COPPER	COPPER	COPPER	COPPER	COPPER	COPPER
				IODINE	IODINE	IODINE	IODINE
IRON	IRON	IRON	IRON	IRON	IRON	IRON	IRON
MAGNESIUM	MAGNESIUM	MAGNESIUM	MAGNESIUM	MAGNESIUM	MAGNESIUM	MAGNESIUM	MAGNESIUM
MANGANESE	MANGANESE	MANGANESE	MANGANESE	MANGANESE	MANGANESE	MANGANESE	MANGANESE
PHOSPHORUS	PHOSPHORUS	PHOSPHORUS	PHOSPHORUS	PHOSPHORUS	PHOSPHORUS	PHOSPHORUS	PHOSPHORUS
POTASSIUM	POTASSIUM	POTASSIUM	POTASSIUM	POTASSIUM	POTASSIUM	POTASSIUM	POTASSIUM
SELENIUM	SELENIUM	SELENIUM	SELENIUM	SELENIUM	SELENIUM	SELENIUM	SELENIUM
ZINC	ZINC	ZINC	ZINC	ZINC	ZINC	ZINC	ZINC

The omega 6 to 3 ratio is extremely high in chicken/duck/turkey   its 28:1  so it needs to be balanced out with either raw whole fish  (sardines or herrings)  which have a ratio of  1.4:1 or phytoplankton  (spirulina or chorella)  which is  2:1   either will help to balance out the fats.  Poultry is also high in PUFA's  (polyunsaturated fatty acids)  and the fish and phytoplankton are only moderate so will also help with the PUFA's.   If you give phytoplankton you only need around 1/8  to 1/16th of a teaspoon per meal.

Coconut oil is counted as being one of the healthiest fats   -  just bear in mind that its Omega 6 to 3 ratio is 88:1

Raw meaty bones - including chicken necks, turkey necks, lambs necks are all very good for your dog  - and she will thoroughly enjoy crunching her way through them  - especially if you can get hold of an ox tail.

Hope that helps