[chanaka]

Hi,
It looks like most of you guys have the base meat as chicken in RAW feeding program and add other meats/fish for the variety.
Is there anybody who has fish or beef as the base? Is there anything wrong in having either fish or beef as the base?

I am asking because where I live (Sri Lanka) chicken is expensive compared to beef and certain types of fish.
By the way I have an 8 weeks old bullmastiff puppy. He just got started on RAW (chicken + fish) a week ago.

Also fish seems to have very sharp bones like needles (though small). Is it okay to feed them directly or is it safer to grind them?

 

[DaneMama]

We suggest chicken to be the base because here in the US its the least expensive of the protein sources. We also recommend using chicken cuts because they have the highest meat to bone ratio and keep stools firm in the beginning of the transition. Since bone is what gives dogs bulk to their stool, starting off with a high bone content meat sources is ideal.

There is one member here that started raw feeding with a fish base instead of chicken and her dog did just fine through the transition. Fish bones are safe for a dog. They may seem sharp and pointy but they are nice and soft and easy for a dog to digest. You could definitely feed bone in fish instead of chicken and see how it goes. If your pup doesn't do well with just fish in the beginning, I would go with chicken.

I *highly* recommend NOT starting off with any kind of beef source for the first month, at least. Beef is a very rich meat in comparison to fish and chicken and can cause a dog to get an upset system, diarrhea and vomiting. Beef is something that you want to introduce further down the line when your pup becomes an experienced raw feeder and only gradually. Because beef bones are so tough and dense, its hard to find appropriate bone in meat sources. The only one that I recommend feeding is beef ribs. These bones are dense enough to make it a good rec bone for chewing but not so dense that your dog will break teeth on it. One of our girls broke one of her carnassial teeth on a beef knuckle bone and it had to be extracted. Now she doesn't chew that well on that side of her mouth and she is developing some tartar and gingivitis. Broken teeth is the only reason why a raw fed dog would EVER need a dental...and dentals are expensive!

 

[SuriLove]

One of our girls broke one of her carnassial teeth on a beef knuckle bone and it had to be extracted.

Do you still recommend feeding the BKB? I have a bunch waiting in the freezer.

 

[jdatwood]

Do you still recommend feeding the BKB? I have a bunch waiting in the freezer.

Knuckle bones are banned in our house because of the damage they can do. I would never recommend anyone feed them

 

[DaneMama]

Do you still recommend feeding the BKB? I have a bunch waiting in the freezer.

That is exactly what Shiloh broke her tooth on. I don't recommend them for large dogs because they have the jaw power to bite down on one of those and break a tooth. Small and toy dogs on the other hand don't have the jaw power to break a tooth, but that isn't to say that it doesn't happen...

I personally would throw them out. Some dogs will gnaw on knuckle bones their entire lives without an issue, but I'm not one to take the chance of another broken tooth again.

 

[SuriLove]

Maybe I will use some of them for the Poms then and take them away after a bit. I can see Suri chomping down on those and the potential of losing teeth is not worth that. She devours her food and takes special care to work on her bones. I am sure glad I asked! :biggrin:

 

[DaneMama]

Glad I could help :wink:

 

[chanaka]

I searched the yahoo raw feeding group as well, but still looks like most people are feeding fish about once or twice a week. I also saw a post there where they say that 50% of the supply should be from red meat (beef etc).

What I am hoping to do is to have about 50% of the supply coming in as FISH (salt water fish). Can anybody think of any negative points?

 

[whiteleo]

Too much mercury...................................

 

[DaneMama]

Mercury content depends on the fish. Tuna? You betcha. Other deep, cold water fish are at the same risk as tuna.

There are tons of salt water fish species, but only a few cold water, high fat content fish have an issue.

Bailey has a tilapia whole every morning. You could say that up to half her diet is fish based, or close to that amount. She is as healthy as can be.