Vader is fed 4 cups of Taste of the Wild daily. He also gets a scrambled egg every night with treats like yogurt a few times a week. My question is could I give himm deer meat/bones occassionaly as a treat? He's not fed a RAW diet and I have no plans to switch him, but I have a ton of deer hunters in my family and they are having a very productive season so far. I hate seeing all of those bones and such wasted if I could give them to Vader. I'm assuming they would need to be frozen first? I know you aren't supposed to mix a kibble and raw diet, but are there any exceptions? Obviously I don't want him to get sick, but I have access to some wonderful deer meat/bonnes and I would hate for it to get wasted (apart from what we humans consume of course).
Deer bones can be pretty sharp and splintery depending on the bone. I would stay away from weight-bearing bones. The ribs and neck bones are pretty good though. I think dogs as small as Michael Wise's jack russell can handle those so I think yours would be ok.
In my own experience, venison is kinda a rough one to introduce. It was one of the last proteins I introduced after switching mine to raw. Gotta be careful the stools don't get loose. Since your dog is already on a venison based diet, you might be at an advantage. When Dom is on raw, venison makes up the majority of the muscle meat portion of his diet.
The only things you'd have to worry about would be the whole digestion rate of kibble vs. raw in his system at the same time.
I would suggest not feeding the kibble in the morning and the meat and bones in the evening because there are potential problems that can arise from the differing digestion rates. There are some that have done this successfully, but also many who have had troubles.
If you are considering occasions where you do feed some raw, I would make sure that the dog has ample time to have fully digested the kibble. As in skipping one meal and then feeding the raw meat and bones for a period of time. Then again, making sure that has digested fully, and resuming the kibble.
I have done this with my two dogs in the summer when it gets really hot here in Texas, I have had a couple weeks that they were shifted to kibble briefly before resuming their raw diet.
Definitely give the raw meat and bones a try, and see how Vader does.
I would also just read up on the info for feeding dogs here on LB http://leerburg.com/feedingdogs.htm
Olivia, you could always consider making the venison into a jerky for training. Or even cooking up some meatballs out of it to use as a treat. Would be better than store-bought treats and I think his system could handle that ok.
Thanks everyone! I considered making him some jerky treats with some of the meat/organs but I definitely would like to use some of the bones as well. I'm assuming everything would need to be frozen first to kill off any parasites?
Olivia:
My dogs eat venison from the start of hunting season through the winter and into spring (until the freezer is empty). Most of what I feed is frozen for 48 hours at least (venison can supposedly be a source of tapeworms), but I have fed it straight with no issues. They've never to my knowledge gotten tapes from venison.
I feed only the rib bones as completely edible bones. I'll give very young pups leg bones as recreational bones, but I never give them to older pups or adult dogs because they will splinter and the shards are pretty sharp.
I don't feed kibble unless on a deployment or while on vacation. During those times, I skip a meal in between the food switch to reduce the likelihood of any problems. Seems to work OK for my dogs.
I also want to add that I feed ribs in sections of 3-4 connected rib bones, depending on the size of the deer and the dog eating it. Also, since the rib sections are usually very "bone-dense," you want to make sure to balance them with muscle meat in order to keep within the correct Ca:P ratio.
Lynne Barrows Webboard User Reg: 09-22-2007
Posts: 2531
Loc: S. Florida
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A schedule that has worked for me when feeding raw and kibble is to limit the raw to the weekends (all meals); probably a fast after the last kibble meal wouldn't be a bad idea...
That being said, my dog has a cast iron digestive system...
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Could I give him deer meat?
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