what to feed my 4 month old staffie?

Rachb26 wrote:I feed mine Raw. The first thing I would do is sort out a decent raw supplier unless you have no problem with paying a bit more from the supermarkets. Imo though it still works out cheaper in the long run either way.

When I started Saf on raw, at first I gave her chicken thighs, chicken chunks, minced beef and a bit of offal (liver). In the beginning she wasn't sure about chewing the bones but after a couple of days she got the hang of it. I also did a cold turkey switch.

Her diet today is varied she has beef chunks, lamb, pork, rabbit, minced meats, chicken for the base of her meals. Her meaty bone meals are chicken quarters, legs, thighs, lamb necks, chicken necks and wings, ribs.

I used to give her a tiny bit of offal everyday but now I'm giving her it 2x a week. If I'm giving her minced meats, I'll add a bit of tripe just because she likes it. And I give her whole raw eggs 2-3x a week. She only likes the yolk and the shell tho.

Example food menu for Saffy: A good day

Breakfast: x2 -3 chicken thighs (depending on size)
Lunch: 1/2 pound minced meat (beef, lamb, rabbit) and a little bit of tripe
Dinner: 1/4 pound beef or lamb chunks with chopped liver or kidneys.

Or: when she's not hungry
Breakfast:
Lunch: A rabbit leg
Dinner: meat chunks (beef or pork)

She seems to balance it out for herself over the course of the week(s). Some days she will eat, what I think is very little. Others she will eat more. But over time she gets everything she needs.

I usually just get things when it's on offer as well. I try not to give her too much mince either as it's not good for their teeth, maybe 3 meals a week. Rabbit is her favourite but she's only allowed it 3x a week now. She won't eat fish, so I supplement her meat chunks with a small amount of fish oil.

Oh and if she's having a fussy day, I'll give her her meat meals as training treats! So she has to work for it! Works a treat! Lol

That's it really! I don't really think about it too much now! I just give her what I can get tbh.






A big thank you Caryll & Rachb26 appreciate your time and help

Caryll wrote:Here are a couple of sites you might want to have a look through...

http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/petowners/whatisrmb.php
http://www.freewebs.com/krisannriorawfeeding/ (GSDs, but some interesting points raised)

The raw food diet (whichever one you follow) is a bit complicated to start with if all you've been feeding before is dry/wet commercial. BUT. As you go on, it becomes much easier & the results can be quite spectacular.

Eg....At the moment I'm following the progress of a GSD bitch (on another site) that developed EPI (Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency ) and was in a terrible state. All food went straight through her & she lost half her body weight in about a month, despite being on medication. In desperation the owner asked the GSD forum for advice & she was told to try raw feeding. That was about 4 or 5 months ago - the bitch is now back to her ideal weight, full of energy & is not receiving any medication.