|
|
Post by petitsfilous on Jan 27, 2014 11:53:11 GMT
Bernie was fed raw from a few months old. Due to a choking scare we moved him onto kibble and wet food. He has been doing fantastic on this - nice poos and no vomiting - but I feel I'd be prolonging his life on a raw diet if we could find something that worked.
I was finding feeding raw very difficult as well as I'd plunged in at the deep end and was DIY'ing it - this meant having to precisely weigh everything out, collect offal from the butchers, ensure he was getting the correct amount of everything etc etc.
It was a headache and he was often bringing a lot of it back up.
I know there are companies out there that grind it all up and package it as one meal... are these any good and who would you recommend? Or is there any other way of feeding raw without the hassle and without having to give whole bones??
|
|
|
|
Post by orpheous87 on Jan 27, 2014 17:20:50 GMT
As far as I know, there are 3 main companies who offer complete raw food - Honeys, Natural Instinct and Nutriment. I've used all three of them and have to admit that there's no real difference between them food wise! At least not that I noticed. Price wise, I think Honeys might be a bit more expensive, but they have a very personalised service and are good to deal with over the phone (having said that, I've had no problems with the others over the phone either). The only thing is, they don't display prices on their website. You need to contact them to get a quote for a typical month's worth of food for your dog. My dogs like all three foods, so no problems there either. I think it'll all come down to your personal preference. There is also a company called The Natural Pet Pantry who are doing their own completely food range. I haven't fed any of their complete foods, but the whole bones etc. are very good so I'd have no hesitation in trying the complete food. Again, they're a little bit more expensive but that's probably because they're only starting out. I would recommend any of them, as they all have their merits. www.naturalinstinct.comwww.nutriment.cowww.honeysrealdogfood.comwww.thenaturalpetpantry.co.uk |
|
|
|
Post by caz2golden on Jan 27, 2014 17:58:52 GMT
I have only used Natural instinct for the complete, my girls loved it. My only comment is it does produce pumice poo here i.e it has ample bone in it (thats a pro and a con I guess  ) I have been looking at all the ones orpheous87 has put above. orpheous87 if I have to do a restricted diet do you think Honeys would be open to help on that front or is it still set menus? Been recently considering going complete raw. Just while I get to bottom of the problems I am having here and thinking Nutrimeat may be an option along with the NI  Sorry not meaning to hijack in any way, just realized it may come across that way!!  |
|
|
|
Post by orpheous87 on Jan 27, 2014 18:10:42 GMT
caz2golden I'm not 100% sure, but I daresay they'd try their best to help you! I think it'd be a case of phoning to order rather than ordering online though. Nutriment will likely be the same. petitsfilous, there's also Basil's Dog Food (www.basilsdogfood.co.uk) although there's no mention of offal in their recipes. They don't have much variety though and only offer 3 different meats.
|
|
|
|
Post by BorderTerrier on Jan 27, 2014 18:25:56 GMT
Earl has tried NI before, when we won the raw taster. However, he wasn't on it long enough for me to be qualified to comment on it.
All I can really say is, of course it is your, as the owner's, choice on what you feed your dog and what you think is right for him. However you say Bernie is doing FANTASTIC on his kibble + wet food. Dogs can lead happy and healthy lives thriving from other foods other than raw - raw is not the only answer to a life of top-health. If your dog is doing great on a food, then there is no real need to change the food.
|
|
|
|
Post by AnnaAmber on Jan 27, 2014 18:36:59 GMT
I had similar issues with DIY Raw so recently have put all four of mine onto a diet of mostly Nutriment. So far they seem to be doing really well on it and had no problems switching over. It's great quality and they love it!
|
|
|
|
Post by gladys on Jan 27, 2014 20:33:48 GMT
Could always do raw one meal and kibble another petitsfilous I know there are mixed views about it but a friend of mine is thinking of doing this after getting a rescue dog from a private re-homing centre who feeds their own dogs this way. |
|
|
|
Post by petitsfilous on Jan 28, 2014 9:09:23 GMT
I'd like to stop the kibble completely to be honest. I've been thinking about it for a while now and then read this the other day when one of the forum members here posted it on their facebook: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2546512/How-pet-food-killing-dog-feeding-parsnips-yoghurt.htmlI always remember how much Bernie loved his tripe and he does prefer his wet over dry food. I shall have a look at all those links orpheous87 thank you. For some reason the only company I could think of were Natures Menu... Have you used them before? |
|
|
|
Post by petitsfilous on Jan 28, 2014 10:01:23 GMT
Wowweeee!! Loving the look of Nutriment and a good price too! Works out a lot cheaper than NI by the looks of it! Deffo going to give it a go!
|
|
|
|
Post by orpheous87 on Jan 28, 2014 10:41:53 GMT
Oh, I completely forgot about Natures Menu!
Yes, I fed their nuggets right at the beginning of our move to raw. The dogs liked them, but they do use rice in some of their recipes. However, the dogs then wouldn't eat the NM nuggets after they had NI, so I stopped buying them!
I do like the look of the new Natures Menu Country Hunter range though and I'm definitely planning on trying some of their treats.
Nutriment food is a lot like NI, but yes, much cheaper in comparison!
|
|
|
|
Post by petitsfilous on Jan 28, 2014 10:53:27 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by gladys on Jan 28, 2014 10:55:03 GMT
Just re-read that article, this statement:- "Take kibble or dry dog food. The ingredients (mostly corn and ground meat) are heated to a very high temperature and turned into a sort of grey mulch. It tastes so foul it has to be sprayed with fat to make it palatable to dogs". I know all kibble is cooked but surely some are better than others?? Take Ww kibble or others that are cereal free? Ones that state everything in their food have got to be better than the ones they are referring to in that statement?? Or am I just being naive? Surely that statement is talking about all those lower quality kibbles that put derivatives on their ingredient, which can cover all the makers sins and yucky stuff?!?  |
|
|
|
Post by petitsfilous on Jan 28, 2014 10:57:58 GMT
Just re-read that article, this statement:- "Take kibble or dry dog food. The ingredients (mostly corn and ground meat) are heated to a very high temperature and turned into a sort of grey mulch. It tastes so foul it has to be sprayed with fat to make it palatable to dogs". I know all kibble is cooked but surely some are better than others?? Take Ww kibble or others that are cereal free? Ones that state everything in their food have got to be better than the ones they are referring to in that statement?? Or am I just being naive? Surely that statement is talking about all those lower quality kibbles that put derivatives on their ingredient, which can cover all the makers sins and yucky stuff?!? I believe that is in fact Bakers they are talking about there as I know for a fact that they spray their food with flavour. I believe Wainwrights to be a very good dry food and am very happy feeding it but it doesn't feel natural and I know Bernie prefers his wet over dry. |
|
|
|
Post by gladys on Jan 28, 2014 11:05:51 GMT
Just re-read that article, this statement:- "Take kibble or dry dog food. The ingredients (mostly corn and ground meat) are heated to a very high temperature and turned into a sort of grey mulch. It tastes so foul it has to be sprayed with fat to make it palatable to dogs". I know all kibble is cooked but surely some are better than others?? Take Ww kibble or others that are cereal free? Ones that state everything in their food have got to be better than the ones they are referring to in that statement?? Or am I just being naive? Surely that statement is talking about all those lower quality kibbles that put derivatives on their ingredient, which can cover all the makers sins and yucky stuff?!? I believe that is in fact Bakers they are talking about there as I know for a fact that they spray their food with flavour. I believe Wainwrights to be a very good dry food and am very happy feeding it but it doesn't feel natural and I know Bernie prefers his wet over dry. I hope you find something that works for you and Bernie. Sorry I can't give any raw help but look forward to hearing how it goes. |
|
|
|
Post by Avansa on Jan 28, 2014 17:57:53 GMT
I used Natural Instinct for a long time, but when they changed hands the quality of the food did seem to go down. I noticed it got a bit more sloppy and smelt a bit weird. Not sure if anyone else experienced that but it put me off.
I'm considering switching to Nutriment from Nurturing by Nature because supplementing is doing my head in!! Just need to work out if it's an option price-wise...
|
|
)
