Sunday, November 12, 2006

Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods (BARF)

Okay, so we've changed our dogs diet again. :) Yes I know...seems a pain, but easy enough to do.

Riley ran into a spell where he kept having the runs. Beer was somewhat controlling that, but I kept thinking, something isn't right about this.

Found this group on-line. It's a yahoo group specifically for people who feed BARF diets to their four-legged friends. It's called Barf-lite.

Anyways, I asked what they thought the problem was. Got a variety of answers, some I thought were a bit "off the wall". But one knowledgeable person replied...change the percentages that you are feeding them AND referred me to a helpful site. She basically told me the percentages I was using were old school and they've done the studies to find that this works better. I did. It's been two days, Riley is doing MUCH better. :)

So... what am I know doing? What percentages am I know using?

50% raw meaty bones. should be a one-to-one ratio of meat to bone. SO turkey necks, chicken necks, wings, etc fit the bill.
20% muscle meat - hamburg, heart, gizzards, legs, breasts, etc.
10% organs - internal organs other than heart and gizzards.
20% other stuff - veggie mix, leftovers, eggs, milk etc.

It doesn't have to be balanced every day, but should be balanced over the course of a week.

Since I love keeping things simple, I will be giving them necks for supper and their goulash for breakfast. I can get turkey necks for 80 cents/lb in Listowel and chicken necks for 99 cents/lb in Kitchener. I don't want to fuss around changing this and that and trying to work out if I'm giving all the right percentages and so forth. If I mix it, I know it's balanced for them.

This means that a couple or three times a month I will be making up their goulash which will be the muscle meat, organs and other stuff. It will be bagged and frozen into portion sizes. We'll use ground meat whatever we can find cheap. Right now that's hamburg for 97 cents/lb. We get the organ/floor meat mix from Metzger's in Hensall (50 cents/lb), and the veggies and leftovers are easy to come by. We have a boyo who often doesn't finish his meals and Food Basics is just a town away. :) I can still add eggs and yogurt to their diet. I can still 'starve' them one meal a week (usually Sundays) and life will continue to be in the easy department for feeding them.

What I am hoping for is that
1. Riley's digestive system will no longer have days or weeks of upset.
2. Riley won't lose any more weight but will maintain exactly where he is. Seems perfect for him. He's more alert and walks (most days) really nicely.
3. Sassy will also do well on this change. I would like her to lose just a couple more pounds, but she's good where she is too.
4. My hubbie to learn the new system and to be able to feed the dogs when I'm otherwise occupied. :)

Things I'm working on
1. storing leftovers well. I don't like tossing them (seems a huge waste of food). And I like the trace nutrients found in them that I think are good for the dogs too. I want a good overall diet for them. Keeping them seems "ick" somehow. What if they go bad? Should I freeze them until I make more goulash? Just keep them in the fridge? Storing on counter not a good idea I think. Not sure. Ideas would be appreciated.
2. storage. Bags are MUCH messier to clean doing this. Trying really cheap bags so I won't feel guilty if I just toss them. BUT then I still need to rinse them or it will get stinky around here quickly. Don't want that either. Not a problem in winter, but in summer...ICK!
3. a freezer. If my bro gets me a free (or next to free) freezer I will have no problem just purchasing dedicated to dog food containers for the goulash (garage/auction sales here we come!) . They'll be easy to wash and I won't have to worry about taking up valuable freezer space with containers.

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