Dog Food

I know I've written of this before. Rusty has horrendous allergies. They don't go away in the winter time like mine do. We wash blankets, swiffer, vacuum and still, there's no end to the itching. There seemed like there was no end to the awful antibiotics that we were getting monthly (sometimes twice a month) from the vet for close to $75 each time.

So I did some research. And more research and known that going raw was going to be the best for Rusty. I've wanted to feed raw since we've had him, but before it just wasn't possible and now, finally it is.

There's different raw feeding model types - there's the BARF diet, there's prey model raw and then there's the stuff that you can get out of the freezer at the pet store.

I decided to try Nature's Variety first, but then quickly decided that it would become more pricey than Rusty's regular dog food in no time at all.

Then I found Woody's Pet Food Deli in South Minneapolis. Ground whole raw range free turkey. That's what I ended up with, but I'm not done yet.

Rusty goes through about 25 pounds in two weeks. Yes, that's 25 pounds of RAW MEAT in two weeks. That's a lot of meat! See, you get this bag of freshly ground meat (bones and organs included. Yes, dogs can eat RAW bone - raw bone cleans teeth and it has calcium, it's also soft enough to chew through and digest. NEVER GIVE A DOG COOKED BONE, the bone can splinter and break, causing trauma).

So Rusty generally ends up in the kitchen like this, waiting for me to give him meat and yummy stuff.

And our kitchen looks like this.

With the ground meat, I make 4 1/2 cup patties for his meal - I quickly found out that I'm pretty lazy so this isn't exactly the best method for the McTatty/Bimmer household. But you, my readers already knew that, right?

So I then went to prey model raw.

I buy the economy packs of turkey, chicken and beef (sometimes venison if it's available), get as many organs as I possibly can (yes the gross beef liver, pork liver, chicken liver and any other organs available, I've even bought beef heart, gross I know) and now I throw the whole pieces, along with cuts of organ into the plastic tubs. He gets veggies with his meal too and bananas. Carrots, peas, peppers, cucumbers and other veggies on sale are usually found in his dog dish. He also gets a fish oil supplement for his skin and coat.

We feed pretty much 60/35/5 as in 60% raw meaty bones, 35% organs and 5% fruits, veggies or supplements.

Quite honestly - $20 of meat and organs in the grocery store will last us 4 weeks in dog food. $20 is WAY CHEAPER than his $70 26 pound bag of food.

And he hasn't had an ear infection or even dirty ears once since we started this in January. And no antibiotics. None. His allergies have gone away. He's lost weight and has the energy of a puppy.

I can't say enough good things about raw feeding. It's the best dog food that we've happened upon in a very long time - and I'm happy to report that the Rusty MONSTER is doing awesome. His health is superb and his favorite meat is turkey.