On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 4:47 PM, Peggy & The Girls <[email protected]> wrote:
> From what I understand is that a dog has to be on all raw or on all > kibble diet, I have gotten the impression that you can't mix both. Or maybe > I am wrong? > It depends. Some dogs have sensitive stomachs and may have trouble with both, but in general it shouldn't be an issue. Some people will try to scare you with the fact that kibble and raw digest differently and therefore you can only feed one, etc. etc. but in most cases a dog can eat poop with no problems, so mixing kibble and raw aren't an issue. > I also understand that if you go raw, they have to have the bones as well, > and in order to avoid splinters from the bones, it Has to be grinded. > You should only feed raw bones. Bones do not have to be ground. A dog with lots of bad teeth or missing teeth may need ground in order to eat it. But, some dogs with missing teeth do just fine on raw. > I am also confused about people saying that the by products of chicken and > beef is bad for dogs, yet, if you feed raw, they Are eating the by-products > of the animal, so what's the difference? > "By products" listed on a dog food label are not the same thing as what someone feeding raw is giving their dog. Example: Poultry by product meal<http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients>= "ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines, exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices. The parts used can be obtained from any slaughtered fowl, so there is no control over the quality and consistency of individual batches. Poultry byproducts are much less expensive and less digestible than chicken meat.The ingredients of each batch can vary drastically in ingredients (heads, feet, bones, organs etc.) as well as quality, thus the nutritional value is also not consistent. Don't forget that byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat. If there is any use for any part of the animal that brings more profit than selling it as "byproduct", rest assured it will appear in such a product rather than in the "byproduct" dumpster" -- Kelly
