Thank you everybody for the ideas. Again, not really for me, but something I can reference or refer to when asked these questions again (likely next week). Coming from an "under-developed" nation, it has been such an eye opening experience to see pet food sold as bagged dried kibble. Growing up I had heard of such "delights" and was under the impression only the well-off was privy to such foods while we fed our animals raw whole prey food.

When I moved to the Americas and picked up a kitten, I was actually excited to be able to buy a bag of kibble as recommended by the vet at the time. To my surprise, when I opened it, it was the most foul smelling stuff and so incredibly oily (have no idea how that keeps teeth clean) that I fed it to the kitten for the first day, then resorted back to left-over and/or expired raw meat I had in the fridge. Fortunately, I found a vet that shunned kibble and actually recommended that I feed my cat live mice (feeder mice for snakes), but naturally I had an issue with mice running around my apartment and a cat's tendency to play with its dieing prey.

Sorry, went a bit off topic. Thanks again for the input.

Parie is natures variety on leerburgs aproved list.
Parie is the company that make natures variety instince and pre made raw
Link I feed the instence cause it is grain free when I have to but my are all 3 on full raw well roscoe is in the procces of switching from the oley rol the people that had hm befor me where feeding that. I feed full raw unless traveling
http://www.naturesvariety.com/

Edited by Stephanie St Julian (07/08/2008 09:27 PM)
Edit reason: Add link

 Quote: connie sutherland

 Quote: kristin mortensen

As you can see it gets complicated very quickly.

Yes.

That is an interesting site. But it would take a better brain than mine to get a helpful comparison between the two based on dry matter conversion when one is calcium-supplemented and one has bones. If you do, I would love to see it.

Bones have more water than kibble does, BTW.

Yes Connie, you're right. It was just a wild guess. I found this site: http://www.fao.org/AG/aGA/AGAP/FRG/AFRIS/DATA/319.htm
that says "fresh" or "raw bone meal" (I don't know if that includes cartilage or not) has a DM of 75%. Kibbles are about 90%.

A powdered calcium supplement could probably be considered 100% DM.

There still isn't an easy way to compare the two. If you really want to know, you would have to cut the meat from the bones and weigh them separately.

The final Dry Matter estimate would look something like this:
Meat: 25-45% less if lean, more if fatty (or 55-75% water)
Bones: 75% (or 25% water)
or powdered Calcium supplement: 100% (or 0% water)
Fruit/Veggies: 10% (or 90% water)

multiply the DM percentage in each category by the weight to get the DM in weight and then total them all to get the total DM in weight.

You would compare that number to 90% of the kibble weight you would be otherwise feeding.

 Quote: Stephanie St Julian

Parie is natures variety on leerburgs aproved list.

Oh, you mean Prairie.

I searched parie and couldn't find it. I gotcha' now.:smile:

Sorry my spelling has never been good
But give me some numbers and I am gone.
But yeah I love that stuff it is so easy I have got five friends to switch so we are able to buy bulk and get it cheaper.
We buy once a month so that is how I know how much it is from kibble to raw cause I have always bought a month at a time