Bones And Raw Food Diet

As per title, besides what most pet owners normally providing their pets - Kibbles. There is another interesting diet for us to discover about - BARF.

Personally, I'd been feeding my dogs on BARF diet for quite some months already. At first, I was quite reluctant to switch from kibbles to BARF, just as any normal person, I thought that feeding BARF is a troublesome + expensive thing to do. BUT if you were to ask me to switch back to kibbles now, I would say NO!

BARF, also known as Biologically Appropriate Raw Food by Dr Ian Billinghurst - vet who originated the BARF (Evolutionary Nutrition) feeding program worldwide, is an interesting subject to wonder upon. We admire him a lot and gotten a bundle of books written by him to munch about. We share the books among our friends and puppy buyers, trying to find out the best we can provide our dogs.

Well, through out the readings, we do noticed that BARF is not as simple as we imagine. BUT if we are willing to study more and research hard, we will actually able to make our pets healthier, and we do learn a lot on why feeding BARF will makes our pets better off. None of us are nutritionist or experts but we hope that through reading the books from the professionals, we would be able to provide the best for our pets.

Let's put aside the very much details and allow me to express what I'm able to observe as a normal owner. What are the differences after switching from kibbles to BARF.

1) The amount of poo is much lesser, as in very much lesser! Some of you guys might know, I do own quite a substantial amount of dogs. It is a disaster for us to clean up their big pile of poo poo many times a day! After feeding BARF diet, it is incredible. The poo poo size is much smalleer, very less smell, also they only poo once a day! I do believe that this is very much due to the enzymes in raw diets. Enzymes is an agent to help dissolves and digests the food and nutritions. During processing, heating and packaging to last for long shelf life, most enzymes in most kibbles are lost. Which means that if we are feeding diet losing the enzymes, what enters the stomach will only FILL the stomach, then most of the food will come out as poo poo! But when feeding BARF, the food and nutrients dissolved and digested appropriately, hence very litttle remaindings will come out as poo poo, also our pets will get healthier since the nutrients are better digested.

2) Water consumption lower, lesser wee wee. Unlike kibbles which are very dry and dogs will always thirsthy and need to drink a substantial amount of water, which makes them wee wee very frequently, BARF diets basically are not heated nor dried, hence the liquid remains. Eating do not make them thirsty, they will drink as needed.

3) Skin and coat and overall health being improved. We can see a very big different comparing our dogs when they are fed with kibbles and after they are fed with BARF for some time. We do brought back dogs with poor health condition and see obvious improvements. We are also glad to see by providing a suitable diet, our pets skin and coat is actually getting better, inside out!

The purpose of me opening up this thread is to share, i'm happy and satisfied with BARF and wish to share more. I'm not an expert but I do hope to share some of my experience and I believe that there must be many of you guys here are able to share some valuable knowledge with me too! Let's learn together.

But remember, a BARF diet has to be a "COMPLETE" one if we want our pets to be better off. For instance, let say you are feeding only RAW Meat but not with the bones, you will face problem. It is not a simple subject but it is interesting while we learn more! So, if you want something better for your pets, do study hard and drop by here frequently to enganged in our discussion.

Let's just ends here for the first post, and we shall share together for many posts to come.

FAQs



FACTs



This post has been edited by White Palace: Jul 10 2010, 12:46 PM

GOOD explanation Yang..
i am planning to BARF Maggie too..
but i need to do some research first..it's not easy to feed BARF though :0
need to count the nutrition balance in the intake..

What are the normal raw food that you gave?

Finally, my wish has been granted!! But how do I go about the first transition to BARF? Where should I start?

Where is doraemon11?!?!

Hi.. i'm also thinking to start with barf... but where should i start??
any guide?

check this out
http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet.shtml

and this one...

http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm

This post has been edited by blessedfin: Nov 26 2008, 10:57 PM

hi guys, you guys can check out the facebook group Pet Epicure or PM aliciahorsley on this forums to find out more bout BARF. She's an expert.

Penny i'm here....

Actually i always totaly swift my bebe diet on any new try.. as she can reli torelate and no plbm on it..
So dnt ned so "mafan" lor... as barf i oso just give her.

for the recipe there're reli alot alot... google search and u sure will find it!
http://www.healthyrecipesforpets.com/dog_f...ize%20dog).html
http://www.holdinggold.com/barfrecipes.htm
etc...........

Tis site pulak provide alot of barf info:
http://www.barfworld.com/



YANG, SHARE YOUR RECIPE HERE....
I know u must said, "so far is Ying handle de"
Oh pls, ask Ying provide u lor....

This post has been edited by Doraemon11: Nov 27 2008, 11:13 AM

My Winter have been eating BARF for the past 6 month.. Loves the result and Winter loves her food!!

@Vincent - I usually gives chicken, lamb, beef, buffalo, duck and pork (so she wont gets bored)

@pennywise - Some dog might think you are crazy to feed them raw meat (at least my mom's dog and my doberman does...) this is wat i do to introduce them to raw diet. 1st cook to meat to half cook and gradually lessen the amount of cook meat... Now my Winter and Diamond are eating chicken neck and wing as snacks.. hehe

Is the chicken neck healty not?
Since they do hormone injection to chicken tru their neck wor......

I giving neck now... but heard someone said so.. now worrying!

aureliux,
Ok, they might not eat la if given raw. I know what you mean. I am gonna give it a go this weekend and see what's the response like.

doraemon11,
Aiyohhhh... so many links I read liao but I need someone to write to me where to start.

OK, anggap I go Jusco and buy some chicken... should I start with wing? Do I need to wash when I come home? Wash with plain water or salt? Then need to dry it? Or put some warm water to soften and make ti warm or cold cold like that let them eat?

Sorry ya, you know la, guys dont know much about kitchen and masak masak, know how to makan only. Hahahaha... Do advise. Or drop me a line on my MSN.

Do u think hypermarket meat fresh enough bou??

OK.. i'll buy the meat(chicken breast + neck/wing) and various of vegie and sweet potatoe frm pasar (where ever la, up to u ), once reach home, dnt wait, fast fast process it, clean everythg with diamond water (hehehe ) chop and mix everthg as short time as possible. Coz wana maintain the meat to be fresh ma. Divide my dog 1 meal 1 portion into a separate small plastic bag. Keep in freezer at least 2-3 days, tis to assume the bacterial level get low.

Feed time, take out 1 bag = 1 meal to naturally defrost about 1hrs-30min (depend on how much portion la,, bebe portion reli little nia).
Sometime i rush... soft alrd even stil cold oso i direct feed her

Hey, remember to add some apple cider vinegar.. tis could kill bacteria de.
Penny can u get me?

This post has been edited by Doraemon11: Nov 27 2008, 04:45 PM

This is wat we do also.. as soon as we reach home, we grind the meat and pack them using ziplock bags. 1 bag per meal to preserve the quality of the meat.. I just defrost them and add in vege and her supplements.. then she will eat happily... Easier then feeding kibbles (i need to beg her to eat ler)

hey friends, i am selling BARF, and send around Klang Valley area. if interested please pm me!

i wan to share my Barf feeding experience here. I have a toy poodle name Ice. her bad breath was gone after 2 weeks of Barf feeding. her poo become lesser and less smelly too. Ice was having sensitive stomach and poor digestive system during her kibbles' time, but now, she is very healthy and guess wat, her skin & coat condition become better too.

i started with a bit bit of vege mixed with kibbles, then slowly add in some raw chicken breast meat with kibbles & vege. after 2 weeks, i just change her food to a total BARF - drumstick with bones+egg+a bit bit of vege+supplement powder. my Ice seems to adapt very well with her new diet and now, i hav bought her more variety of meat, she is having chicken, beef & lamb on rotating.

to share 1 of my very simple Barf menu for 1 meal:-

chicken - grinded with bones
a small slices of beef tenderloin
1 baby carrot
a bit bit of alfafa sprout
apple slice 1 cm
1 spoon of natural yogurt
egg
+supplement

Doraemon11,
Yes, I know hypermarket meat not so fresh but I think they are cleaner than those pasar pagi wans where people just dip their chicken / meat into a rectangular box of water mix blood. Then throw it on the wooden board for display and fly attacks before being sold.

Various vege ok but are there any types of vege I should avoid? Which vege is not suitable for dogs? Do dogs like vege? Did you top it up with any liquid supplement to overwrite the vege taste?

Divide 1 dog 1 meal portion into things like Ziplock bag ok. Does that also mean that the first day you buy the chicken back, cannot feed straight, need to freeze for 2 - 3 days before feeding? Also, the expiry date on the packed chicken / minced meat / etc is usually 3 - max 4 days, if freezed 3 days, wouldnt it mean that it will be closer expiring?

How much chicken / meat / beef / lamb do you stock up? Otherwise, need to go supermarket everyday, right?


Ok, cool but once you feed BARF, can turn back to okibbles or not? Or they will never like kibbles anymore?

Thanks for your post shayne. One big question: How did you prepare the egg? Fried or raw as well? Or boiled, perhaps?
Did you freeze your chicken meat before feeding to kill of the bacterias? Otherwise, how did you kill bacterias? Did you boiled them?
When you feed it drumstick + bones, what happened to the bones?
How much chicken / meat / beef / lamb do you stock up? Otherwise, need to go supermarket everyday, right?

there r sum vege/fruit u shld take note 1:-
1. dun feed too many cabbage family vege(like brocolli, cauliflower, cabbage), coz all these cruciferous vege can give the dogs gas and depress thyroid function if overfed - this mean they will laosai
2. also need to limit the nightshade family(eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes) coz they can aggravate inflammatory condition.
3. cannot feed onion caused it'll interfere with red blood cell production - will caused anemia
4. grapes & raisin – toxin to dogs & cats, develop kidney failure
5. raw potatoes - must peeled skin or i usually boiled it 1st - coz the "eye" can be poisonous

i normally use yogurt & egg to soak the vege 1st so tat my dog will eat, if not she will choose out all the vege, but now, they(Yang&Ying) r suggesting me to blend the vege with food processor as this will not too burden their digestive system. talk bout egg, i use half-boiled/raw whole egg.

as for my groceries, i normally buy 1 chicken, 1 pack of beef/lamb(i normally buy from cold storage) and can use for bout 2 weeks+. well, we hav a grinder at FLUFF, so we grind all the meat & bones together. if u dun hav a grinder, u can just chop them into smaller pieces, but actually they can just eat the drumstick with bones(of coz, this will be very messy lor) but sumtimes, we do let our dog chew and tear the whole chicken wing, loves to see them enjoy their meaty bones.

pls never feed ur dog cooked bones. of coz, after we buy back the meat, u shld just wash it 1st then after we pack the meat into daily portion, we just freeze it in the freezer and can start serve it tomolo morning. the frozen meat can tahan for months, as long as u practice a good kitchen hygiene.

This post has been edited by shayne: Nov 27 2008, 11:00 PM

Shayne,

Thanks for your reply. Can you give me 5 types of vege that is safe to feed my dogs?

Normally i wil prepare for 1 week meal.. i worry the nutrition will reduce if keep too long in freezer.
Nowaday my barf were finish.. no time too market, so by this moment i feed back bebe fully kibble...heheh.. she got no pblm wit it.

I'll blend all raw vegie + raw whole egg wit shell. Sweet Potatoe was the only cooked ingredient i use. Boiled it and mashed it..
60% - grinded meat wit bone
20% - mix vegie pureen
20% - boiled sweet potatoe
+ fish oil
+ apple cider vinegar

When feeding add in suplement powder as how shayne do lor..

reis you are self preparing it now?

How to know how big portion of the barf to give to your dog?

Planning to feed barf soon also...