Bone in commercial raw

[Deleted]

I was running around on the Internet and found a raw feeding site that says no to grinding (no bone chewing so it doesn't benefit the teeth) and no to commercial grinds because of that and:

"Furthermore, those premixed patties sometimes contain ground bone and organs and sometimes don't, and it’s often unclear exactly what proportions of meat, bone or organs they do contain. Besides that, some of those patties even contain things like vegetables, fruits and psyllium, which are often used as cheap fillers. And since commercial frozen raw pet foods often contain an overabundance of ground bone, (because bones are cheaper than boneless meat) many manufacturers regularly include vegetable matter and psyllium in their recipes because if they didn't, the excessive amounts of bone in their products would cause chronic constipation in pets that ate them."

Of course fillers and veggies are bad, but what you guys thing about the bone percentage?

[Sherry]

I think it depends on the brand. Yes, there are some cheap ones out there. And there are some good ones. You need to read the ingredient list and pay attention to the animal you feed it to.
No, commercial grinds don't have the dental benefits of whole raw, but in general they are far better than the over processed kibbles most feed.
Like with anything else, follow you own best judgement.
I chose to include commercial raw simply because my one girl would consistently eat around the bone, even with necks however with a lot if work, she's good again.

[miamiferret2]

If you use alot of commercial raw grinds (which i do) you have to brush their teeth a few times a week.

[Deleted]

Do they put percentages on any of the grinds? I've read lots of labels, but I've never noticed any that say how much of each part is in the grind. Do you think it really matters that much? Or is it just one of those sites where they think feeding better isn't good enough?

[miamiferret2]

the brands that i use have adequate % of bone and I can tell from the way the poop is formed. well formed poops is what you should have.
if you take a paper towel and smush the poop you will see all the bone in the poop.

for frozen raw grinds i use :

Bravo (the blends that have meat/bones/organs)
Natures Variety Instinct
Stella & Chewys
Rad Cat (this one uses bone meal powder)
Vital Essentials

for Freeze Dried Raw I use:

Vital Essentials
Stella & Chewys
Wysong Ferret Archetypal 1
Natures Variety Instinct

[Sherry]

Oct 14, 2012 15:51:25 GMT -5 @quixoticwhit said:

Or is it just one of those sites where they think feeding better isn't good enough?

That's also entirely possible. I've run into a few of those as well.

[Deleted]

...like those health nuts that think you're not healthy at all unless you're as healthy as them..

[Sherry]

It could be ;D A cat forum I was on a while back was like that. If you didn't feed RMB's, you were basically doing no better than canned or kibble.
Granted- no one can "guarantee" the precise ratio of meat/bone/organ in a commercial mix, but use common sense and go by the health of the animal. Stools are normally the first sign the mix is off.

[Deleted]

I will say that I have fed mostly commercial frozen and freeze-dried diets.

The outcome......YES, you do need to clean teeth....I cleaned my kids' teeth every other month.

Regarding nutritional value:
I lost 1 ferret to cardiomyopathy at 5.5 years - genetic issue
I lost one at 7.7 - liver cancer/lymphoma.
My 2 remaining ferrets are over 7.5 years old.

These are all privately bred ferrets (USA).
All in all, I do not feel that the commercial raw affected their health/longevity in a negative way.

-jennifer