Happy 2015 Everyone!
We need some advice on a new raw recipe. We are owned by two 15 month old F4 littermates (Leo and Phoebe) and an almost 8 month old Male F2 named Duma. The Quads (as we affectionately call them) have been VERY picky about eating their raw for the last 8 months or so. They were fed ground raw at the breeder so we continued with that recipe when we got them. 75% Chicken Quarters, 15% Stew Beef (or similar), 5% Hearts and 5% Liver. All ground and frozen into 1 or 2 day portions. Our breeder didn't supplement but we used Mazuri whole prey just to make sure they were getting what they needed. They also got some Salmon cubes every few days as well. And they had access to Evo dry since raw wasn't feasible for us as an early morning feeding.
Things were good for a while and they were eating copious amounts of raw, but it seemed around the time they started teething they went off their raw (especially Leo). We had to spoon feed him and BEG him to eat it, and even then he didn't eat very much of it. We have tried without Mazuri and it made no difference. We switched to just using Chicken thighs instead of quarters and it got a little better and then they went back to way they were. We then remembered that the breeder used Beef Hearts (we had used chicken hearts because it was suggested to try to keep as much as possible from one animal source.) So we switched to beef hearts and again it got a little better and then back to way they were. They also don't even want Salmon anymore, which really surprised me.
We have tried NV Instinct Raw freeze dried rabbit by itself to see if they liked it and they went crazy for it. Then I crushed that on top of their regular homemade raw and all 3 seem to enjoy it. (most of the time anyway!) We found a farm near us that we can get fresh rabbit from so we are going to get a small amount and try them with that by itself. What I'm not sure of is what most people are using - whole rabbit including head, whole rabbit without head or just rabbit parts? And then with that what else do you mix with it? (I was hoping to maybe mix with some chicken to keep the cost down, but not if they won't eat it!) And is Mazuri whole prey OK to use or even necessary? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! We have also switched to Acana for their dry food after the recalls that Evo has had and that is going well. And so far our F2 will eat just about anything so I guess we are lucky!
Thanks!! Heather
We need some advice on a new raw recipe. We are owned by two 15 month old F4 littermates (Leo and Phoebe) and an almost 8 month old Male F2 named Duma. The Quads (as we affectionately call them) have been VERY picky about eating their raw for the last 8 months or so. They were fed ground raw at the breeder so we continued with that recipe when we got them. 75% Chicken Quarters, 15% Stew Beef (or similar), 5% Hearts and 5% Liver. All ground and frozen into 1 or 2 day portions. Our breeder didn't supplement but we used Mazuri whole prey just to make sure they were getting what they needed. They also got some Salmon cubes every few days as well. And they had access to Evo dry since raw wasn't feasible for us as an early morning feeding.
Things were good for a while and they were eating copious amounts of raw, but it seemed around the time they started teething they went off their raw (especially Leo). We had to spoon feed him and BEG him to eat it, and even then he didn't eat very much of it. We have tried without Mazuri and it made no difference. We switched to just using Chicken thighs instead of quarters and it got a little better and then they went back to way they were. We then remembered that the breeder used Beef Hearts (we had used chicken hearts because it was suggested to try to keep as much as possible from one animal source.) So we switched to beef hearts and again it got a little better and then back to way they were. They also don't even want Salmon anymore, which really surprised me.
We have tried NV Instinct Raw freeze dried rabbit by itself to see if they liked it and they went crazy for it. Then I crushed that on top of their regular homemade raw and all 3 seem to enjoy it. (most of the time anyway!) We found a farm near us that we can get fresh rabbit from so we are going to get a small amount and try them with that by itself. What I'm not sure of is what most people are using - whole rabbit including head, whole rabbit without head or just rabbit parts? And then with that what else do you mix with it? (I was hoping to maybe mix with some chicken to keep the cost down, but not if they won't eat it!) And is Mazuri whole prey OK to use or even necessary? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! We have also switched to Acana for their dry food after the recalls that Evo has had and that is going well. And so far our F2 will eat just about anything so I guess we are lucky!
Thanks!! Heather
