Quote: Janet Koehler

... Lots of good reading thanks Connie, unfortunately I just bought a new bag of Nutro.

If i's not a gigantic one, then it will be just right to tide you over while you read a little bit..... line up your RMB suppliers.... get your fish oil and Vitamin E..... and give your dog the good news.

If it IS a gigantic bag, then maybe you could consider a gift to a needy shelter or rescue, or maybe a friend who isn't ready to do fresh, or maybe someone who does fostering .....

If it was expensive, though, then I totally understand not being able to give it all away and still spend the money on the new fresh food. Plenty of reading to do in the meantime!



P.S. By the way, fresh food diets can be started with very little initial cash outlay.

I started with one grocery bag from the small natural food store a couple of blocks away..... which I walked home with. (Of course, those were the days when a bag of groceries didn't cost the same as a mortgage payment.)

The only thing that isn't available straight from the supermarket might be the fish oil. But that's easily found at any natural food store or vitamin store, Trader Joe's, Costco, and http://leerburg.com/47.htm

Vitamin E, which you give when you give oil supplements, is even more ubiquitous, even in the supermarket pharmacy aisle, and also at http://www.leerburg.com/53.htm

I'm just making the point that assembling a lot of new supplies should never hold someone back when they are considering fresh food for the dog(s). You can start at the meat counter, and develop good sources of cheap meats as you go along.

 Quote: Janet Koehler

Is feeding raw cheaper do you think? I pay almost sixty dollars for approximately 3 weeks worth of kibble.

Well, not counting decreased vet bills (IMHO) over the life of the dog(s):

It depends entirely on the per-pound price you pay for the basic RMBs you feed.

Say you have a 60-pound adult dog. S/he would eat around 1.25 to 1.65 pounds a day. Most of that is the RMBs.

So if you can find, say, poultry backs for $1 a pound, then that would run about $30 for the 3 weeks. Since other meats are generally more (although the organ meat is less), you might add $10.

The produce is negligible.

Fish oil depends on where you buy it and whether you get liquid or gelcaps, but it might run 50 cents a day for that 60-pound dog. Cheaper if you get the Grizzly I linked you to. (However, this is not an additional raw cost, because kibble diets need it at least as much as fresh raw diets do.)

OTOH, if you buy whole chickens at a small butcher shop, you might spend $55 for the RMBs for the same 60-pound dog in the same 3 weeks.

 Quote: Janet Koehler

Thanks Matthew, sounds like fun! I'll get the vet to do it the first time, and try it myself from there on in... ugh
Beautiful dobe you have!

Your welcome, and thank you. That really is a flattering picture though. He's skinny as heck and his ears are mangled, but he's mine.