Getting stressed about balance

[Kat]

I have been feeding Ruby raw since August 19 2011. She successfully eats chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, salmon (canned), sardines (canned). Introing beef threw me behind *a lot* because she just couldnt handle it. No matter how slowly I went with beef, her poops were nasty, so I gave up and did lamb instead.

I just started introing chicken liver a few weeks ago. Im still only at .20 oz every 3rd meal when I feed bone-in.

Getting stressed because I know I still need to intro kidney, but I cant do that till she is fully introd to liver, right?

And then I still need to do heart! I keep hearing how important heart muscle meat is, but Im still so far away from that! Im just worried she isnt getting all the nutrients she needs. Her main proteins that I feed are pork and lamb. She gets chicken only for the bone, I dont like doing turkey bones, they are too dense for her and she always ends up throwing some up, so Im not comfortable with turkey bones. So she only gets bone out turkey like once a week. I feed the fish on sundays.

Her yearly vet checkup is coming up so I want to do a full blood panel and make sure she isnt missing out on any key nutrients.

Should I be worried at how long it is taking to do the organs and heart? She looks healthy over all to me, I just hope there are no deficiences.

[whiteleo]

I feed a lot of heart, not necessarily beef though! I feed mostly venison and lamb heart, I'm sure the nutrient content is slightly different but I'm not that concerned. Heart, in the red meat protein, lamb, beef, venison I believe would suffice!

[xellil]

Kidney and other organs aren't nearly as rich as liver. Why don't you try that? I get pancreas, spleen, kidney, and something else I forget and I feed alot of that. And tripe also, if you can get it. All those will add alot of good stuff and not be nearly so rich. Then maybe you can do liver in little teeny tiny pieces and not feel like you are not going fast enough.

I feed goat also. I think it's a red meat.

[Kat]

This is her weekly menu, sometimes I dont do it exact to what I write, it depends what I have in the freezer: (if I dont have any bone-in chicken, I will substitue the bone-out pork with pork ribs)

MONDAY
Breakfast: Bone-out Pork
Dinner: Bone-in Chicken with Liver

TUESDAY
Breakfast: Canned fish
Dinner: Lamb

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast: Bone-out Pork
Dinner: Bone-in Chicken with Liver

THURSDAY
Breakfast: Lamb
Dinner: Bone-out Pork

FRIDAY
Breakfast: Turkey
Dinner: Bone-in Chicken with Liver

SATURDAY
Breakfast: Bone-out Pork
Dinner: Lamb

SUNDAY
Breakfast: Canned fish
Dinner: Bone-in Chicken with Liver

[xellil]

You could substitute kidney for the liver for awhile and see what happens. I think the real experts will tell you whether that's good or not, glad you posted it.

i feed my dogs three times a day, this is what Rebel got yesterday:

Breakfast:
Chicken foot
Liver
Boneless pork

Lunch:
1 whole whiting
1/2 turkey neck

supper:
Tripe
chicken head
beef heart

You've got several proteins, I'm not sure what is bad about your diet except maybe getting the 10 percent of organ in there.

[Kat]

Yeah. She is supposed to get 5.6 oz of organs a week... 2.8 liver, 2.8 kidney or something else. Im only doing 4 meals with .20 oz of liver, so obviously Im a long way away from how much organs she should be getting. Iv only been introing organs for like 2 weeks though. And I did have to pause after cannon butt for a few days and feed more bone-heavy.

I also have a whole rabbit in my freezer which I bought for future proteins. And I am going to be looking for goat too. I just want to go to a good butcher for the goat though, not my grocery store.

[whiteleo]

Balance happens over time, you are only 5 months in and Ruby will be just fine! I would just look for some different type of heart proteins that aren't as rich, like lamb heart, maybe pork heart, although I'm not a fan of too much pork! When she gets transitioned through the liver then you can look for kidneys. I feed bison and lamb kidneys, beef, lamb, and venison heart.

I wouldn't worry too much right now!

[xellil]

Personally, I see no reason why you couldn't introduce the kidney before you get all the liver in there. It's not going to cause as much stomach upset as the liver.

I get the goat from My Pet Carnivore, but now that I am in Texas I need to find another source. I need a farmer, also.

[Kat]

She has had kidney with chicken backs without a problem... so I guess I could try kidney with the liver.

Whiteleo, why dont you like pork? As you can see by my schedule, I feed it quite often. I get beautiful organic pork, so I like to feed it quite often.

[magicre]

Yeah. She is supposed to get 5.6 oz of organs a week... 2.8 liver, 2.8 kidney or something else. Im only doing 4 meals with .20 oz of liver, so obviously Im a long way away from how much organs she should be getting. Iv only been introing organs for like 2 weeks though. And I did have to pause after cannon butt for a few days and feed more bone-heavy.

I also have a whole rabbit in my freezer which I bought for future proteins. And I am going to be looking for goat too. I just want to go to a good butcher for the goat though, not my grocery store.

you're further along than i was at five months.

you do have balance.....

she looks great. she acts great...and blood work does not tell the true story....

even if you never feed beef, which i think you will down the line, you're feeding red meat....make sure she gets enough fat in her diet and try later to get her on real fish, again, in the future.

believe me...not every dog is a garbage gut.....many dogs do not transition so easily...i know this because i have two of them...and it took almost 9 months to finally get them on beef.

i had to start out with finger nail sized slivers..organs weren't started, i think, other than finger nail size chicken livers for a year....

it really is balance over time.....her body has a unique storage capacity for the nutrients she needs....especially the fat soluble vitamins...

dogs create their own vitamin c...and she is getting nutrients from what you're feeding and a nice variety it is....

no stress...she's coming along....in a year, you'll be laughing. 'course, i didn't laugh for almost two. but i'm laughing now....it just longer than others.