I used to feed my doggy poison. :D

[Ѧʋƨιc]

{Yeah, I really not like to talk about the dad thing. It is personal.....}

OK Thanks! Also Sorry if I made you mad in any way. I know I can be a stuck up jerk sometimes. I just wanted to say sorry.

[Dakonic]

Kinda odd/stupid question... but can dogs be fed a whole prey diet consisting of f/t rats and rabbits and mice, etc.?
In the future whatever dog I get will be fed a raw diet/high quality kibble, but of course with me owning snakes it'd be probably be more convenient and cheaper to feed a dog what my reptiles eat, hah.

I need to start a 'dog question thread' for myself because I'm a huge 'dog noob'... my speciality is snakes, lol.

I know someone who's reported success feeding their dogs guinea pigs, and in some areas wolves almost live off mice. And I knwo many who feed rabbit, I plan to myself.

But I'd imagine it's much more of a pain and potentially more expensive to feed rats/mice. And I've very little of people feeding it, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. If you're feeding whole prey, rule of thumb generally is to freeze for at least a month prior to feeding to kill off any bad bacteria/diseases.

[IAmLink]

Kinda odd/stupid question... but can dogs be fed a whole prey diet consisting of f/t rats and rabbits and mice, etc.?
In the future whatever dog I get will be fed a raw diet/high quality kibble, but of course with me owning snakes it'd be probably be more convenient and cheaper to feed a dog what my reptiles eat, hah.

I need to start a 'dog question thread' for myself because I'm a huge 'dog noob'... my speciality is snakes, lol.

Raw feeders can provide the bulk of the information but...

If the source is clean, the dog can eat it as long as it's raw meat/organs/bone as a general rule. As a staple diet, no, prey diet feeders will tell you that a variety of small and large game/meat is the best way to go. I believe Link feeds whole prey, and Dakonic mixes whole prey and cuts (again, I THINK! not sure), so one of them is probably a decent launching pad :]

Indeed :]
I do feed whole prey and cuts of meat, though the whole prey does not have fur/feathers cause Okami won't touch it lol (which was rather messy consisting of a whole prey chicken, and Okami would have nothing to do with it until I cut it wide open for her >.>).

You CAN feed those things to a dog, however, the lack of diversity in the diet is what concerns me. With raw feeding, you really want to try and get as much variety into the dog's diet as possible, mixes of red and white meats, and adding some kind(s) of fish is great too.

Plus feeding bigger game pieces (soft beef bones, pork, venison, etc.) are what really help to keep dog's teeth clean who're on a raw diet :]

[Ruruskadoo]

Kinda odd/stupid question... but can dogs be fed a whole prey diet consisting of f/t rats and rabbits and mice, etc.?
In the future whatever dog I get will be fed a raw diet/high quality kibble, but of course with me owning snakes it'd be probably be more convenient and cheaper to feed a dog what my reptiles eat, hah.

I need to start a 'dog question thread' for myself because I'm a huge 'dog noob'... my speciality is snakes, lol.

Raw feeders can provide the bulk of the information but...

If the source is clean, the dog can eat it as long as it's raw meat/organs/bone as a general rule. As a staple diet, no, prey diet feeders will tell you that a variety of small and large game/meat is the best way to go. I believe Link feeds whole prey, and Dakonic mixes whole prey and cuts (again, I THINK! not sure), so one of them is probably a decent launching pad :]

Indeed :]
I do feed whole prey and cuts of meat, though the whole prey does not have fur/feathers cause Okami won't touch it lol (which was rather messy consisting of a whole prey chicken, and Okami would have nothing to do with it until I cut it wide open for her >.>).

You CAN feed those things to a dog, however, the lack of diversity in the diet is what concerns me. With raw feeding, you really want to try and get as much variety into the dog's diet as possible, mixes of red and white meats, and adding some kind(s) of fish is great too.

Plus feeding bigger game pieces (soft beef bones, pork, venison, etc.) are what really help to keep dog's teeth clean who're on a raw diet :]

I've heard that turkey necks are also a great way to have nice healthy teeth.

I'd love to feed raw, particularly any dogs I get in the future. Libby and Tsuki are on EVO right now, and I don't see that changing since in the end although they're "everyone's" they're really mom's and dad's dogs since they're the ones who pay for the food and decide what they get. Anyway, Libby's dying so there's no point forcing her on something else, and Tsuki is just kind of dumb. Libby is incredibly picky and won't touch raw meat (or big chunks of cooked, or even ground and cooked just for her), but she likes EVO. I've offered them both raw thawed chicken drumsticks before and Libby just stared at it, while Tsuki carried it off to her bed where she hoards things, then licked at stared at it in confusion. I was hoping she'd figure it out, but she seemed to just give up. If she ever got switched to raw, I think she'd need everything cut up into reasonably sized pieces for her first. Tsuki's not picky at all, so that part probably wouldn't be hard.

But like I said, my parents make the decisions about food, and I'm really just happy now they're on EVO instead of kibbles n bits now. I'd originally only been pestering them to buy EVO for the cats, but my mom went to the high end pet product store and asked them about what food they thought would be best for our dogs, and they recommended EVO turkey and chicken, so that's what we've been feeding since. We feed dry mostly, but mom did get some of EVO's canned food too to try to tempt Libby to eat more, which sort of works sometimes when Libby's in the mood for it.

Switching the cats has caused them to have some digestive issues, particularly vomiting. It doesn't seem too bad for Phoenix, but Thomas still is apparently getting sick. Thomas is diabetic though, and I'm sure he'll need his insulin adjusted since he was on friskies before and has never been fed grain free (I've been nagging my parents to call the vet about it and set up an appointment, but it still needs to be done). Crystal has chronic pancreatitis, so she's always puking. Laurel (my sister and Crystal's owner/main caretaker) says she hasn't been puking as much since we've switched them (we're currently feeding half friskies half EVO since we found out they don't do well switching cold turkey, and she gets canned EVO a few times a week at least) and what she does puke up is usually green slime, presumably bile, instead of big hunks of half digested cat food, which I think is a good sign because it means she's actually digesting her food, not puking it all up like before.

[Alduin]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful advice! I would have never have found it if it were not on here. lol. You scared my really bad with the first paragraph. My face was turning red with anger. XD I have always wanted to feed my dog good food but i did not know what food was good. Thank you!

[amarok.]

I hear Caeser is pretty good, as they state exactly what's in them, and the list of ingredients is much shorter.
Although, it's designed for terriers such as westies and yorkies, so it's not going to be a good diet for a lab dog or a doberman.

[Cardinal]

I hear Caeser is pretty good, as they state exactly what's in them, and the list of ingredients is much shorter.
Although, it's designed for terriers such as westies and yorkies, so it's not going to be a good diet for a lab dog or a doberman.

How is the digestive system and absorption of nutrients different in smaller dogs like westies than in Dobermans? Are the nutritional requirements that different? =)

Thank you for sharing this wonderful advice! I would have never have found it if it were not on here. lol. You scared my really bad with the first paragraph. My face was turning red with anger. XD I have always wanted to feed my dog good food but i did not know what food was good. Thank you!

Hah, no problem!

Kinda odd/stupid question... but can dogs be fed a whole prey diet consisting of f/t rats and rabbits and mice, etc.?
In the future whatever dog I get will be fed a raw diet/high quality kibble, but of course with me owning snakes it'd be probably be more convenient and cheaper to feed a dog what my reptiles eat, hah.

I need to start a 'dog question thread' for myself because I'm a huge 'dog noob'... my speciality is snakes, lol.

As the main diet that should be perfectly fine, you could even sub in chicks and/or quail and/or guinea pigs if you'd like. Theres a lot of people that use whole rabbits as the staple of the diet and their dogs are as fit as those that feed franken-prey. I have a friend that courses rabbit with her whippet and the whippet's main diet is what its able to catch: rabbits and hares. She also throws in mice occasionally, beef/kangaroo hunches, eggs, and chicks. =)

[Imzadi83]

I hear Caeser is pretty good, as they state exactly what's in them, and the list of ingredients is much shorter.
Although, it's designed for terriers such as westies and yorkies, so it's not going to be a good diet for a lab dog or a doberman.

I always assumed that it's marketed to smaller dogs due to it's size, that's it's a smaller portion for a smaller dog. To feed a smaller dog with a regular sized can of dog food means you'd have leftover dog food sitting around in the fridge for a while. I don't know about large breed vs. small breed in regards to any nutritional differences but most dogs of any breed these days get minimal excercise and aren't doing the hard jobs they were breed to do so I can't imagine that there'd be that much of a difference esp once they are fully grown. Though because you pay for packaging of course it's probably not cost effective to feed a large dog Ceaser.

We used to give our dog this as an occasional treat. She loved it, but reading the ingredients list now I would never feed to another dog. The yellow #6 being my main concern as it has been proven in animal tests to cause tumors.

[IAmLink]

Raw feeders can provide the bulk of the information but...

If the source is clean, the dog can eat it as long as it's raw meat/organs/bone as a general rule. As a staple diet, no, prey diet feeders will tell you that a variety of small and large game/meat is the best way to go. I believe Link feeds whole prey, and Dakonic mixes whole prey and cuts (again, I THINK! not sure), so one of them is probably a decent launching pad :]

Indeed :]
I do feed whole prey and cuts of meat, though the whole prey does not have fur/feathers cause Okami won't touch it lol (which was rather messy consisting of a whole prey chicken, and Okami would have nothing to do with it until I cut it wide open for her >.>).

You CAN feed those things to a dog, however, the lack of diversity in the diet is what concerns me. With raw feeding, you really want to try and get as much variety into the dog's diet as possible, mixes of red and white meats, and adding some kind(s) of fish is great too.

Plus feeding bigger game pieces (soft beef bones, pork, venison, etc.) are what really help to keep dog's teeth clean who're on a raw diet :]

I've heard that turkey necks are also a great way to have nice healthy teeth.

/I so late, lol

Yes I definitely like turkey necks as a good teeth cleaner. Unfortunately with Okami, she is still a very voracious eater no matter what I do, even with me hanging on to the other end of her meat, so her teeth that are right in the middle don't get as clean as they could just with her diet...so that means I have to brush them, whoopee for me >.>

However, I also love giving her pork feet, pork shoulder, beef cheek, and whatever other tough meat I happen to come across as those things can really help in keeping that tarter down on her teeth. Unfortunately one of the best things, pig feet, are rather hard to come by that are not already enhanced.

[plum]

Ah, thanks for the raw/whole prey information, guys. Very helpful.

Also, my dog has been off of ProPlan and on Blue Buffalo Wilderness for a week.