Raw Red Meat?

[totallyhip]

Hi. Yep its me with yet another question
Luke has been on raw for over 2 weeks now. He has lost about 3 lbs and his ribs are showing and looks skinny. I'm playing with his food amounts to make sure he gets enough (although I feel like I've been starving him)
I read that a good way for them to gain weight is raw red meat, but have not seen any suggestions as to what types of meat they are.
What does "raw red meat" specifically mean? Cuts? etc.

I am trying to get the books Barf Diet and Give your dog a bone. Unfortunately it seems to be sold out everywhere:( Until then I'm using my resources on the internet and BW

 

[FarleyBoxer]

I have heard that the 'brisket' cut is a good one with a bone that's softer than other beef bones. Of course the brisket found in my supermarket is boneless so I guess you have to ask for bone-in. I haven't fed alot of beef RMBs; when I have fed beef so far it's just the meat. I fed beef ribs but the bones were too hard for Farley to crunch.

If you would like to add more fat/calories you can try lamb. It is VERY rich though, so if your pup has a sensitive tummy it may not sit well. Farley has also always struggled to keep weight on, and when he gets a little thin I feed lamb for a few days. He does well with it.

 

[jenn77]

I've seen red meat mentioned as a way to guard against anemia, which Boxers can be susceptible to. I have not seen it mentioned as a way to put on weight (but that doesn't mean anything. I've only been feeding raw for a week). The only red meat I have done so far has been regular old ground beef. But I know some people feed brisket, among other things.

One way that you can add weight is by improving the fat content of his diet.

That said....a boxer that looks skinny is not necessarily a bad thing. 3 lbs sounds like an amount that a lot of boxers that I know could afford to lose!

 

[totallyhip]

I've heard Lamb is good too. But I am concerned about the richness too. Luke does have a sensitive tum tum
Ground beef eh? Is it the regular or the lean?
Thanks for the input guys. I ordered the book Barf Diet. I found it on a US site. So it will prob be really expensive when it gets to Canada :( But thats ok, my baby is worth every penny I spend.

lovicon

 

[jenn77]

Since we're on the subject of red meat, tonight I gave my dog beef ribs for the first time. He absolutely loved them. We spread a big sheet out on the tile floor and he went to town. The sheet wound up looking like a butcher shop, but we through it right into the wash. This isn't something we'll do every day, maybe just for special occasions.

My dog had a really sensitive stomach while on kibble, so I too was wary of lamb. I gave him Dr. Billinhurst lamb patties yesterday and he did fine with them. Lamb will probably be a once-in-a-while treat as well.

Oh, and as for the ground beef I've given him 80% lean and up but nothing below that.

 

[boxer]

Just about any cut of red meat is fine for your dog I guess when we talk about red meat though, mostly we mean beef or lamb as they're readily available. As already mentioned, lamb can be pretty fatty so beef is a better long-term food for your dog. The main "problem" with beef as the main RMB is that it comes from a very large animal, so other than brisket, there aren't that many bones that are really small enough for your dog to chew up and consume. A dog does need a roughly even mix of meat and bones in its diet, or else you need to think about supplementing to make up for the lack of bones. A good option is to buy a grinder and feed a ground meat/bone mix then you can buy just about any beef parts you find.

Other suitable 'red' meat sources are venison, rabbit, duck, goat, and horsemeat (though you wouldn't normally get bones there).

 

[jenn77]

regarding brisket, how do you normally "serve" that? I assume they're rather large so you'd have to cut one up into sections. Is that easy to do, or do you have the butcher cut them into appropriately sized chunks?

 

[gmacleod]

Actually, no brisket isn't particularly large. It's the soft end of the sternum/ribs. You can feed it 'whole' or separate into more manageable pieces yourself with a sharp knife (separating by cutting the meat between the bones, I mean, no need to cut the bone itself - your dog can do that ).

Here's a link to a pic I found online. LOL - this isn't a barf site or anything, just a standard butcher. But it just happens to be displaying a useful picture http://www.askthemeatman.com/beef_brisket_and_foreshank_cuts.htm

 

[jenn77]

Thanks! I get it now. I've never dealt with brisket before in any context. My dog would love that. I think I have to wait until summer though, before I give him another Flintstone-eque slab of meat to devour. Our family room didn't fare to well after last night's rib episode.

 

[totallyhip]

I gave Luke a beef brisket last night actually. There didn't seem to be alot or any bone on it. I got it at the supermarket. But Im gonna check with the butcher. Luke ate it last night with his Veggie & Chick mush and a few chicken wings. He loved it!
I use to use a vinyl table cloth on the floor for him and then just wipe it up when he's done and keep it in the freezer. He knows that he is not suppose to move the bones off the tarp. Lately I've been lazy so I put newspapers down. Very easy to clean up after.... just roll it up and toss it in the garbage. Unfortunately the newspapers get my garbage can really full tho and I have to empty every 2nd day. But I like it loads better.