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Post by Sherry on May 29, 2011 23:37:28 GMT -5
Agreed. I also started out with the idea that there was absolutely NO place for veggie matter in my ferrets diet. Now- I give 1/2 tsp of pumpkin per day on average. It replaces the fur and indigestibles from the prey animal. Makes one heck of a difference for them. AND helps prevent blockages  |
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Post by goingpostal on May 29, 2011 23:48:41 GMT -5
Now I've wondered for awhile, is the pumpkin/oil whatnot absolutely necessary? Mine have never had pumpkin, I've never given ferret lax, they do get fish oil or ferretone about weekly for nail clipping but nothing more than that. I have been feeding mice for several years and now on raw they get whole prey 4-5 out of every 10 days and I try to split that up fairly evenly.
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Post by Sherry on May 29, 2011 23:50:41 GMT -5
I think they could still benefit from it on the days where they don't get whole prey, simply for the above stated reasons.
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Post by Heather on May 30, 2011 0:35:53 GMT -5
I don't know how to put it. My guy look great on meat, but things just work better when there's some veggies. No, you're not going to go Oh Wow...that's the difference. It wasn't until my guys got sick that I really saw the difference. We don't feed enough prey to cover the need. It was dealing with Ghenghis that I really noticed. It's not like the change from kibble to raw, it's more subtle.
ciao
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Post by craze176 on May 30, 2011 1:02:39 GMT -5
If it's 2-5% I think that's OK in the diet as a fiber substitute.
Just as long as it's not a whopping 25% veggies because "dogs are omnivores/eat stomach contents" and need the vitamins.. not true. They just cannot digest it, even if it's juiced.
That's where I'm coming from.
However some argue that pumpkin and vegetables are inflammatory foods in a dog's system and irritate the bowels. Haven't looked into it farther than that but I'm also not going to own a dog for 5+ years so I have some time for the little loose ends ;D
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Post by Heather on May 30, 2011 1:18:26 GMT -5
I've got a wolfhound who has been fed raw since birth, who comes from raw parents, who comes from a raw fed grandmother (European)....they come with raw feeding instructions too ;D ;D ;D. Actually, I started feeding raw veggies to my pyr when he was diagnosed with spinal maleaopathy (sp?) at 11, without those veggies, I'm not sure he would have made the 13 yrs (well he was short by a month)as he developed difficulty in digesting his food. The veggies allowed him to continue eating raw, where he would probably had to eat a cooked diet. Up until that point I had been following a "raw" diet, consisting of variety of meats and bones with organ meats. If you avoid things like tomatoes and inflammatory veggies and ground, root veggies you shouldn't have issues.
ciao
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Post by Sherry on May 30, 2011 8:51:05 GMT -5
With dogs, do you feed that 2%-5% raw and ground, or cooked up?
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Post by Heather on May 30, 2011 14:58:42 GMT -5
Frozen, to break down the cell walls. Something they cannot do on their own. You can cook them but I find that nutritional breakdown is less with frozen and you don't leach out the vitamins and minerals as you do with cooked
ciao
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Post by craze176 on May 30, 2011 15:40:51 GMT -5
Ugh the internet keeps eating my reply!! If this shows up 3 times, sorry  The people who feed this way stress whole prey a LOT, they are whole prey model feeders I've heard of raw-ground and raw-juiced to do the same things to the cell walls. I've never heard of cooking them, and if you're getting that far away from natural feeding you might as well feed rabbit skins and baby chicks every day lol. This would also solve what to do with all the skins if you bred rabbits for food, which I'd like to do one day when I have dogs. It's so hard to find rabbits here. |
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Post by Heather on May 30, 2011 21:27:30 GMT -5
That is how you feed prey...skin and all fur too . When my guys get rabbit they get it in it's all together. The only thing I remove is the stomach and spleen....no they don't eat it and I really can't stand the smell of it when it's been either thrown against a wall or left along the full length of the hallways  Rabbit is hard to get, as they're a bit finicky to breed (at least as far as I've been led to believe) ciao |
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Post by craze176 on May 31, 2011 2:05:16 GMT -5
I know but you'd need a big dog to eat an entire 7lb rabbit lol
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Post by Heather on May 31, 2011 2:11:00 GMT -5
My dog easily eats a 7 lb rabbit....but I was talking about the ferrets, not the dog Yes, they can eat a 7 lb rabbit too, fur and all (actually they don't like the back feet and the ears  ). ciao |
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Post by craze176 on May 31, 2011 14:36:27 GMT -5
It takes my guys nearly 2 days to finish off a quail, a rabbit would get so nasty if I gave it to them all in one go  I thought dehydrated ears were a good treat!  |
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Post by Heather on May 31, 2011 16:10:27 GMT -5
You can just quarter the rabbit...no my little bums don't like the ears   For me a quail would be gone in a day, no problem. I haven't been able to get rabbit for about 4 or 5 months, so .....I'm thinking half a bunny for my group now ciao |
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For me a quail would be gone in a day, no problem. I haven't been able to get rabbit for about 4 or 5 months, so .....I'm thinking half a bunny for my group now