Natures Variety Raw Patties

[Denise_Juno]

I am brand new to feeding Raw. We have a 4.5 month old Cane Corso female approx. 50lbs.
Because we also have small children and were worried about blood, bones, and contamination, we decided to start out with the pre made patties.
We are currently feeding her 2 8oz patties 2x per day. (Nature's Variety) My concern is that this is not enough for her. All of the guidelines says it is, but it seems to me like she is still hungry during the day. Unfortunately, if I have to feed her another patty per day, that will be out of our budget.
I understand that if I make the meals myself it will be substantially cheaper. I plan to do so in the future, but right now I think it is just too difficult for us.
Can anyone maybe recommend something I could add to the patties perhaps as a topper? or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I am so new to this , trying to learn and do what's best for our new pup.
Thanks!

 

[DennasMom]

You can bulk up the portions with veggies... I get the big bag of frozen "normandy mix" veggies at costco - broccoli, cauliflower and squash. Being frozen helps make them more digestible, but the calorie content is minimal. Green beans are a common low-calorie adder, it's probably the ONE veggie Denna won't eat. LOL. Greens are good to feed, but they need to be steamed and pureed to be really digestible. Just don't feed any onions.

I'm assuming your pup is at a healthy weight, too... if you need to feed more "whole meals", but don't want to break the budget, you could look at buying in bulk online or find buying group nearby... if you have freezer space. If you buy a case at a time, that could be 40-50lbs - but you should get a pretty good discount (if shipping doesn't undo the savings). You could ask the petstore where you get food now, if there's a case discount.

There's a yahoo group (and facebook group), "CarnivoreFeed-Suppliers" that can help you find a local group and/or other food supplies.

Natures Variety isn't my favorite pre-made. Bravo, Red Rock or NW Naturals and anything from GreenTripe(.com) are some other options, but I'm not sure price wise how they all compare. Making your own mix is definitely more cost effective... pre-mades for me average $4/lb, where home-prepared is more like $2/lb. But, I also buy in bulk for all of it. And, just in case... you don't have to grind the home-prepared mixes. I just chunk up stuff so I can portion it out well per meal.

You could also just toss in an 8oz portion of meat for the extra portion, if you think she needs more food... being 20% of the diet shouldn't push the vitamin balance off by too much... if you use dried liver for treats, that'd count, too. If her poops are comfortably soft, you can ask the butcher at your local grocery for a case of chicken backs, they're cheap... but, be careful, as they are really boney, and can cause constipation in some pups. Whole chickens might be a better way to go... of course this would be putting you on the road to home-preparing the whole diet.

 

[Denise_Juno]

You can bulk up the portions with veggies... I get the big bag of frozen "normandy mix" veggies at costco - broccoli, cauliflower and squash. Being frozen helps make them more digestible, but the calorie content is minimal. Green beans are a common low-calorie adder, it's probably the ONE veggie Denna won't eat. LOL. Greens are good to feed, but they need to be steamed and pureed to be really digestible. Just don't feed any onions.

I'm assuming your pup is at a healthy weight, too... if you need to feed more "whole meals", but don't want to break the budget, you could look at buying in bulk online or find buying group nearby... if you have freezer space. If you buy a case at a time, that could be 40-50lbs - but you should get a pretty good discount (if shipping doesn't undo the savings). You could ask the petstore where you get food now, if there's a case discount.

There's a yahoo group (and facebook group), "CarnivoreFeed-Suppliers" that can help you find a local group and/or other food supplies.

Natures Variety isn't my favorite pre-made. Bravo, Red Rock or NW Naturals and anything from GreenTripe(.com) are some other options, but I'm not sure price wise how they all compare. Making your own mix is definitely more cost effective... pre-mades for me average $4/lb, where home-prepared is more like $2/lb. But, I also buy in bulk for all of it. And, just in case... you don't have to grind the home-prepared mixes. I just chunk up stuff so I can portion it out well per meal.

You could also just toss in an 8oz portion of meat for the extra portion, if you think she needs more food... being 20% of the diet shouldn't push the vitamin balance off by too much... if you use dried liver for treats, that'd count, too. If her poops are comfortably soft, you can ask the butcher at your local grocery for a case of chicken backs, they're cheap... but, be careful, as they are really boney, and can cause constipation in some pups. Whole chickens might be a better way to go... of course this would be putting you on the road to home-preparing the whole diet.

Thank you so much for all of that information! I am going to look into some of the other brands that you mentioned for pre-made. Nature's Variety is the first brand that I saw at the feed store and it seemed to have decent reviews but I am always open to other options.
So I could just throw some of the frozen veggies you mentioned for a "quick fix" and she can eat it frozen? I just have to steam and puree greens correct?
Looks like I have a lot more research to do. It's all so overwhelming!
I appreciate all of your tips and help!