Raw Feeding-How much to feed

The Healthy Bark

Today we will go over some guidelines on how much to feed. Please know these are only a starting point. In the beginning of feeding raw you will need to monitor your pet's weight and adjust accordingly. Each pet is as individual as we are. Set goal weights according to activity levels, age, and health issues. Younger pets and active ones will require more food than the couch potato.

Any of the diets you decide on should not be defrosted for more than 3 days in the refrigerator. Just like our meat we would not leave it in the refrigerator any longer than that.

Common sense when handling meat. Wash your hands, wash the counter surfaces, wash your pets bowl after each meal. If you would not do it with the raw meat you eat do not do it to theirs. Seriously have you ever touched raw chicken and not washed and disinfected everything it came in contact with? Please do not disinfect the pet however!

 Packaged Diet Feeding

Packaged diets are labeled with the amount to feed. Again these are guidelines, some pets require more food than the suggested feeding. Pay attention to their weight and adjust as needed. Also in the beginning your pet may seem hungrier, this is normal, they are used to their stomachs being full from the swelling of dry food. You can always add some of the Raw goat milk or Kefir to the diet. See Raw Milk and Kefir Info Page

Packaged diets are the easiest to feed as you just pull out the night before what you will be feeding the next day. I found my pets enjoyed it with a bit of texture as in still a smidgen frozen. If you forget to pull it out the night before you can always see it in cool water for a few minutes to defrost. Never leave on the counter to defrost, put in the refrigerator. Exceptions to this is the Milks, they can be set in your sink to defrost over night. Have done it many of times. Meat however should not be.

Prey Model/Barf Feeding

 A good way to know if you are feeding too much bone is in the stool. If it is white coming out than you are feeding too much bone. Also on that note, your pet's stools will be MUCH smaller, and they will not go as often. If it is loose or runny than you are feeding too much organ meat, so cut back some.

Feeding prey model/BARF will require you to get set up. The best way to do this it to see what your totals will be for a week, purchase your foods, and divide and freeze. As I said on the first night their are %'s of each category of raw pieces that you follow. Also with RMB (Raw Meaty Bones) depending on the type you feed and how much meat is on them you will need to adjust. Chicken quarters have more meat than necks do so keep that in mind.

With this type of diet you are looking for variety over the week, so do not stick to one type of meat over and over again. with raw feeding you are balancing the diet over time. Just like us we do not eat every nutrient we need in one day, we balance through rotating our food. In the wild they would have rabbit one day and duck the next.

Below are some guidelines on how much you would feed dogs that are average activity level, adult aged, using a 2.5% of body weight to figure out how much you would need of each, per week. 

Per Week	20# Dog	Liver	40# Dog	Liver	60# Dog	Liver	75# Dog	Liver
RMB (oz.)	25.20		50.40		75.60		94.50
Muscle Meat (oz.)	22.4		44.80		67.20		84.00
Organs (oz.)	5.6	2.50	11.20	5.60	16.80	8.40	21.00	10.50
Veggies (oz.)	0.14		0.28		0.42		0.53
Tripe (Oz.)	0.84		1.68		2.52		3.15
Eggs (Each)	3		3.00		3.00		3.00
Fish Oil (Tsp)	3.5		7.00		10.00		12.00
**Liver listed separately, Organ amounts are not including liver!

Now to get daily intake amounts you would divide the ounces by 7 to see how much to feed per day. For eggs you would just add those to a meal 3x a week. For tripe you could feed just that for a meal one day a week.
You are basically just making sure in a week that they get all that they need from a variety of sources. I will suggest you start off light on the organ meat the first few weeks. As it is rich and can cause a little loose stool.
Even with the above diets I still recommend using the Raw goat milk or Kefir as a supplement. And yes you could even just do a meal of milks. It really is about giving variety, and letting the food balance the body.


Examples of meat, bone, organ, can be found here: Raw Feeding options

Next in the series: How to switch Kitty to raw