quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Update:
Found some good deals at the local grocery store so I decided to see how cheap I can do this on the fly.

My mix wound up being (% of calories):

76% lean protein (pork/chicken necks for bone)
10% vegetable (collards, sweet potato, carrots)
12% organs (beef liver)
2% sardines

At this rate I’m at about 9$ a day feeding the two dogs. That’s almost double what dry food costs but not too crazy overall. Both the daily figures are inflated for the puppy putting away 1300 calories a day compared to Jellys 725. Once her eating levels off the raw diet would see a greater dollar amount of savings. Probably getting me closer to 6.50 a day. And all this at grocery store prices. I’m sure I can trim another 20% off getting trimming at a local butcher, gonna also talk to the processor my dad used for 30 years.

The caloric breakdown was easy, now I wanna explore the fat, protein, carbs macros a bit and make sure those are close to what I want. I’d wager the sugar was too high with both the sweet potato and carrots for example.

I’ll leave yall with an anecdotal situation applicable to all this. ARman, I 100% respect your passion for this, so take this with a grain of salt. I once had a cross fitter tell me my chicken and broccoli dinner wasn’t healthy because I steamed the broccoli and it lost nutritional value. As if my broccoli somehow turned into a fucking snickers when I cooked it. So while I may not be exactly where I need to be on the first try, it’s still closer to broccoli than a snickers.

My reason for doing this is not some deep philosophical reason. It’s just observations…my dogs can switch FLAVORS of kibble, not brands but flavors, and shit through a screen door for two days. However, they can eat a week old rabbit that’s rotting and have no ill effects, same with deer carcasses they drag outta the woods we thought we dropped off far enough away from the house. The fact that rotten deteriorating meat has less effect of their GI tract means some damn harsh chemicals are in that kibble. I think those companies are better at advertising than research and nutrition. My dogs aren’t my kids. But my dogs are MY dogs and I love em to death. I’d feed both of em to my kids to survive one day longer. But I’d kill a dozen people if they meant harm on my dogs. So I’m gonna give it a go for them. Jelly and Bella damn sure doesn’t mind! They seem content after meal one.






OP:
Fed them Viktor for a while, now Purina pro plan. I’m thinking I’d like to try a raw diet, I know it’s expensive, but the commissary has past date meats for really cheap frozen. I could probably grab a couple roasts a week, some chicken, etc.

I’m thinking I’ll boil the chicken (sans bones), but the rest, is raw better?

Mix in some rice, sweet potato, green beans, and olive oil and I should be able to hit all the macros.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Okay 5% liver per day, which will also be 5% for the week on average. My first priority is finding some tripe, kidney, or other beef organ to supplement the liver. If I can’t I’ll also go chicken liver/gizzard as chicken liver is much more mild.

Again, I’m learning amounts and impact at this time.