Unless you have a REALLY good vet, most vets will tell you NOT to feed raw, as they are not very educated in the nutrition department. My dad is a vet and has been for 40 years and he said that I know more about pet nutrition than he does. I have done a lot of research on it, and gotten a lot of great information from several different websites including this one. This is what I have learned from my research/other websites etc, Basically you want to start off with chicken or cornish hens, and feed that for 2-4 weeks until you have consistently solid/normal stools. You feed 2-3% of their body weight per day, if you have a puppy you feed 2-3% of their estimated adult weight per day. After they are doing well on the chicken you gradually start introducing other proteins (pork, lamb, beef etc), then add organs. Eventually you want to balance your diet at 80% meaty meats, 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% other organs (heart/tongue/gizzards are considered meaty meats). When adding different proteins, slow and steady is the key, don't be in a rush to start feeding different things, maybe a sliver of the new proteins/organs when you get to that point. At first you might get some abnormal poops as their body 'detoxes' from a lifetime of feeding kibble. If you get really hard poops/constipation then you want to decrease the bone content, if it's soft, increase the bone content. And I was told at first you want to feed bone in every meal. Cornish hens are about 20oz, Zoey weighs 4#, and is supposed to get 1.6oz per day so a hen lasts for about 10 meals. Some dogs don't need bones with every meal as I am learning with Zoey, so she may just get boney meals 2-3x a week, we will see as she adjusts to raw feeding. I'm sure more experienced feeders will chime in, but just wanted to add a few of the tidbits I have learned. Here is a raw food calculator that makes it easy to calculate how much each dog should eat: Calculate

 

I wouldn't speak to your vet unless they are pro raw, vets are very uneducated in the nutrition dept. as they get very little schooling on nutrition, and it doesn't cover feeding a raw diet because no one benefits from it but the dog.
If I were you, I would peruse the raw section here, read, read and read some more then come up with questions that you have. We have a great bunch of people here who feed a raw diet who are more than willing to guide and help you.
Raw really is the best you could do for your dog. Read the success stories, thats a good place to start.....

 

As the others have said dont talk to your vet about it unless they know about it but very few do. And lucky enough for you, there are many professional raw feeders right here on these boards at your disposal! Just ask all the questions that come to mind!!! I will warn you that once you start raw it becomes a new way of life not only for your dogs but for you as well :wink:

 

When I asked my vet about raw feeding, and this was a couple of years ago, I just got a lecture on salmonella and bowel blockages. At the time I thought, well, he is the expert so he must know what he's talking about, so I listened to what he said.
I since found out what he told me wasn't necessarily true so switched my dog over to raw. I must admit though I'm too chicken to tell him, (I hate arguments) so I just go with the flow and he presumes she eats kibble.

 

Stay right here at this site, and you will learn everything about raw you could EVER imagine and then some. The support is unbelieveable and you will be talked through every step. You will have confidence in no time! :biggrin:

 

raw is like putting a rabbi, a priest, and a minister in the same room....

you'll get different opinions, depending on whom you ask.

i did tell my vet we were feeding raw. actually, we have a vet appointment now that they are four months in to have blood draws and a general check up....we did when we were two months into it and we will do it now....and that will be that.

my vet has nothing to say about what i feed my dogs, other than it's important that he knows what i feed my dogs so if g'd forbid, something happens, he will have a complete and true history.

however, my vet is a great support system for me in many ways....

here is what i have observed so far since switching.

i live in an apartment complex where my dogs come into contact with many people during the day...they are very well petted dogs...

the general comment is --- i've never seen coats like THIS before.

their teeth are white
coats are brilliantly black and feel luxourious
my eleven year old corgi mix bounces. she bounces and now annoys the three year old pug, rather than the other way around.
they are both lean and muscled, instead of soft and flabby
their energy is different, which is not to say they don't have any and the pug still gets excited...but it's different..it's not frenetic..it's not nervous...it's not anxious...
lack of starches will do that...
their breath is great -- except after sardine day....

from head to tail....i have never seen this before in a dog..and i fed premium dog foods...even when i cooked for them...they looked and acted nothing like this.

as to how?

every dog is the same and different.

when their stools are a little soft, we give them a little extra bone...

it gets easier over time...when they are done transitioning, give them as much variety as you can afford....

don't get nuts about germs....dogs can handle it and you've got palms that are designed to protect you from germs..that and a little soap...

learn as you go...

read through every post on this raw section and you pick up tidbits you never knew before....

this website, after so many others, is the one that got us through to the other side...

 

i did tell my vet we were feeding raw. actually, we have a vet appointment now that they are four months in to have blood draws and a general check up....we did when we were two months into it and we will do it now....and that will be that.

Don't waste your money. Blood panels won't tell you anything regarding diet. I can't think of anything in a general checkup that would indicate anything regarding diet. If you just did these things 2 months ago, unless you can see something, nothing has changed.