I just got some to feed with Faolan's raw food about once a day, perhaps not even every day. I know it says to add raw, but I think I would be ok feeding preference by itself just for a lunch time snack and feeding raw for breakfast and dinner, correct? He had been eating three times a day before switching to raw. I have only been feeding him twice a day since I didn't feel like cutting apart bones to make the pieces of chicken smaller. He still seems to be completely ravenous about late afternoon time, so I want to give him a small lunch to hold him over until dinner.

Legend_of_Faolan wrote:

I just got some to feed with Faolan's raw food about once a day, perhaps not even every day. I know it says to add raw, but I think I would be ok feeding preference by itself just for a lunch time snack and feeding raw for breakfast and dinner, correct?

Yes, you would be fine feeding Preference by itself as a snack so long as you are feeding meat at some other point. So you are correct, if you feed raw for breakfast and dinner then there's no problem with feeding Preference as a lunch/snack midday.

I was speaking to the Neurologist the other day about what we should be feeding Nikolai now that he is having seizures. I told her that we had cut out all herbs and was doing the prey model raw, now she is not someone who is against raw at all, she actually agreed with what I was doing, however she wants him on more of the barf model rather than the prey model. She wants him on a commercially balanced raw diet to make sure everything is met for his health. So we right now are on Steves real food, but I obviously cannot afford to spend $120 a month to only feed him. I have searched and searched to try to find a dry food to mix it with to cut down the cost but I can't find anything that doesn't have herbs in it, and I don't want to risk it just in case that's the cause. So now it brings me to Preference.

Does anyone on here do half and half of this? I don't quite now how to really calculate what he should be eating, and how much bone to meat if this is added to it. Does it need to be added to every meal, or can this be a breakfast and I can do some all raw at night? Is bone even necessary, or can I just do raw meat cuts and potentially add bone meal if I need to adjust? I'm just really confused now since I haven't done as much research on barf as I have on the prey model, and I need to make sure that I'm doing it right, don't want to add any more health problems to the mix! Lastly, doing this do you think it would even cut down my cost at the end of the month?

Erica, I'm not sure what you need to avoid with Nikolai but have you looked at Grandma Lucy's, Addiction, or Sojos?  They are comparable to THK for the most part and may be something else to consider.

Honestly, I used to get peace of mind by feeding a combination of raw with freeze dried or dehydrated raw when I first ventured into raw feeding.  It made me feel better in that I could feed raw without worrying I was missing some vital nutrients.  Personally,  I decided to just feed raw with one of the complete freeze dried/dehydrated foods rather than the formulas that lack meat like Preference.  I just didn't feel like the price difference was great enough for me to buy the meatless formula. Plus, I never wanted to follow a 1:1 ratio.  So basically, for example, I would feed 1 lb of raw meat with 1/4 lb of prepared dehydrated/freeze dried raw (a complete formula such as Grandma Lucy's Artisan Pork or THK Keen).  

My dogs find Grandma Lucy's and Sojos much more palatable than THK. My newest dog, Prince, won't even touch THK.  You may want to look at this Sojos grain free mix if you want a palatable meatless raw food mixer.  My dogs go gaga for that stuff and it's the most like people food that I've found (it looks like something I'd eat myself!). Again, for that I'd only do a small portion of the Sojos to a primarily raw meat diet. And I only did dehydrated raw additives once a day at their main evening meal.

I think it should not be too expensive if you only do a 75:25 or 80:20 split. So 75% PMR to 25% dehydrated raw. Or 80% PMR to 20% dehydrated raw.  A 10 lb bag of Grandma Lucy's lasts quite a long time if I use it with my sibe on a 90% PMR to 10% Grandma Lucy's diet.

I would still give bone (and I do) with a dehydrated combo.  As with anything, you'll have to determine based on how he does whether or not to cut back, increase, or stay the same on bone consumption. FWIW, my dogs' bone consumption had always stayed the same while eating the dehydrated mixers.

I don't know if that helps any, but I would try sticking with a primarily PMR diet with a small portion being something else. I just really don't put much stock in the BARF model.

Thanks Valerie. With Nikolai we are trying to cut out all herbs specifically Rosemary. So Addiction and Grandma Lucy's already doesn't work. The Sojo's Grain Free mixture, I might try however it does have parsley so I'm a little worried, I know it would only be a small amount but still, I'll probably consider trying it and see if anything happens as far as seizure wise. Its just been so difficult to find a high end food that doesn't contain Rosemary, or have him have an allergy too. I might just take your idea and do part steves real food for his smallest meal and then do all raw at night with bone. I think that would allow him to get the necessary nutrients that he needs.

If anyone has a food out there that they know doesn't have Rosemary in it, whether it be dehydrated, cheaper raw, or kibble, I would love to know what it is. I've gone down that list at Dog Food Adviser and really can't find anything yet that would work for him! I just really wish Orijen would cut it out, it would make my life so much easier!

OK, it helps to know what exactly to avoid.

NRG Maxim has grain free dehydrated formulas that might also be an option. They don't contain rosemary or parsley.  Just throwing that out there as another possible option.

Hi Erica, I'm not sure how helpful this will be but I use a brand called K9 Natural. It is made here in NZ but according to their website is available in the US. They recommend feeding in conjunction with raw meaty bones etc so it may work for you. I don't feed it too often since I have Orion on prey model but I always keep a bag as back up just in case he loves it!

I copied this off their website it is the ingredient list for the lamb based food;

K9 Natural Freeze Dried is made with meat (derived from grass-fed, ranch raised animals), blood, bone, tripe, liver, heart and kidney plus vegetables, fruit, egg and green lipped mussel.
K9 Natural is a nutritionally sound and species appropriate diet which can therefore be fed to dogs at any stage of life: from puppies to seniors, during pregnancy and lactation. It is also suitable for any breed of dog, from toy to giant.
Ingredients / Composition:
Lamb meat, lamb blood, lamb bone, lamb green tripe, lamb liver, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, spinach (chard), cabbage, apples, pears, lamb hearts, lamb kidneys, eggs, green lipped mussel.
Guaranteed Analysis:
Minimum Crude Protein 28.0%
Minimum Crude Fat 35.9%
Maximum Crude Fiber 5.0%
Maximum Moisture 10.0%

Is this the sort of thing you are looking for? Is there anything in this that you are trying to stay away from?

Erica,

Have you tried creating your own version? I would just steam a lot of veggies, puree them, put them in serving size baggies and freeze them for when you need them. Much cheaper and much more cost effective...and you can base it off of the BARF model to get the servings correct.

Why are they having you cut out herbs? Some herbs are used to treat seizure activity in the brain.

Megan, we aren't cutting out the herbs forever just more or less trying to figure out if Rosemary is the cause for them. I am just cutting out them right now just to see if it helps and see if we can extend the time between for the seizures.

I am going to just have to create my own. It just sounds exhausting!   I'm really good at starting things but not to great at continuing them, but its going to be something that I have to do.

And Olivia, if you were exclusively feeding the K9 Naturals a month, how much do you think it would cost you?

If I was to feed the freeze dried elusively it would cost me about 3 dollars a day or 85 dollars a month so it is quite pricy but I suppose that's the cost of convenience in comparison I can feed Orion on about 1 dollar a day if I feed prey model and buy in bulk. I have a friend who has started feeding her dogs on this and absolutely loves it, she always commented about Orion's condition and I finally talked her into trying raw - she could not handle dealing with joints of carcasses and organs and stuff so K9 is perfect for her and she is definitely willing to pay more for having to do less.

mbarnard0429 wrote:

Why are they having you cut out herbs? Some herbs are used to treat seizure activity in the brain.

Rosemary is known to trigger seizures in a lot of dogs who are predisposed to them. I saw a list not to long ago of other herbs and essential oils to avoid with epi pups too, I should go back and find it so I can post it.