Tilapia

[rannmiller]

So the WalMart near me has whole tilapia for a pretty decent price (decent enough that I could actually buy it on a semi-regular basis), I'm just wondering how my fellow raw feeders feel about tilapia as a protein source. I think I read somewhere recently that it's been found that tilapia isn't that good for people or dogs (something about the omega 3 levels being too high). Confused!

Also, how do you feel about feeding the whole fish, fins and all to the dogs. I know this is how they'd get it in the wild, so I'm sure it's fine. Right?

[RawFedDogs]

The big reason you want to feed fish is for the O3s. The big problem with feeding a lot of grocery store meats is the lack of O3s so tilapia is great for that. Feeding the whole thing is great if you can get your dogs to eat it that way. Mine won't. I have to cut it in about 4 chunks which is a pain but they eat head, tail, fins and all.

[rannmiller]

With a little bit of convincing that it was actually food they could eat, my dogs ate whole tilapia this morning! I love how they actually had to put some effort into it with lots of crunching, very good for their teeth I'm sure. And they seemed to enjoy the new flavor as well. Yay!

[blackdoberboy]

I do believe that Tilapia is a bottom feeder that is why I wouldn't eat it myself-I wouldn't give it to my dog either....
I live part time in the Florida Keys...They don't consider it a fish because it is farm raised...They are very particular down there with their fish. My holistic vet said I should feed an oily fish.-Salmon-mackerel

[RawFedDogs]

I do believe that Tilapia is a bottom feeder that is why I wouldn't eat it myself-I wouldn't give it to my dog either....

In the wild, Talapia prefer floating plant material for most of their diet.

I live part time in the Florida Keys...They don't consider it a fish because it is farm raised...

Yes, a lot of them are farm raised. It's pretty difficult to get fish that are not farm raised in grocery stores in my part of the country.

My holistic vet said I should feed an oily fish.-Salmon-mackerel

He is right, salmon and mackerel are superior fish nutritionally but talapia isn't a bad fish to feed when you need to feed fish.

[rannmiller]

If I could fish for my dogs myself I would. But I'm terrible at fishing and I'd have to get all the equipment and a license and drive to the nearest fishing spot which isn't too near at all. I'd do salmon and mackeral but a) they're pretty expensive unless they're in a can and even then I have to feed more of it because cans don't hold that much and b) they don't sell any in whole form here which I like to feed to my dogs. I do give them canned salmon and mackerel on occasion. Worst comes to worst I'll give them fish oil pills but for now I like feeding the tilapia, they have to work so hard to get through it in its whole form so it's really great for their teeth too.

[rannmiller]

I sure seem to have a lot of dumb questions on here. How does everyone feel about catfish as a source of omega 3s? My silly bf bought a whole box of catfish filets against my better judgment only to discover that catfish is gross, so he's making a generous donation to my dogs

So is catfish a decent source of omega 3s or should I supplement these with fish oil pills when i feed it?

[ghosthorse]

I grew up in Ga. we luv catfish down there. I don't feed my dogs raw can you switch to raw if they've not been fed that way. Can they eat any meat raw? What about salmonella? Do you all give your dogs bones? sorry so many questions.

[rannmiller]

Lol it's okay, I don't mind questions.

Of course you can feed dogs raw even if they've never eaten it before. Some dogs may be confused by it at first, but most of them take to it like pros. As far as I know, they can eat any meat raw. If you're concerned about salmonella or e.coli, don't be. Dogs don't have a problem with it because of their shorter digestive tracts, higher body temperature, and extra-acidic stomach juices. It simply doesn't effect them if fed properly. The only reported cases of dogs getting salmonella was if it was fed with cooked food (only in very rare cases does this even happen) or if the meat was sitting out in the sun for a day and a half (duh). Also, freezing the meat stops the growth of bacteria anyway, so if you're really concerned about it, then simply make sure you freeze it first. This isn't hard at all and makes for convenient storage, especially if you divide it into portion-sized packages first.

Yes, they do, can, and must eat the bones, but only if they are raw. Bones are nature's source of calcium for carnivores (aka: dogs and cats), just like meat is their phosphorus. The two work together in the dog to form a nice balance and keep them healthy, they are both necessary. You can see this by how nature has put carnivore diets together: meat on bones and shells on eggs.

Not only that, bones are excellent for cleaning teeth and keeping the breath fresh. Your dog will probably never need a teeth cleaning if fed a prey model raw diet. Check out our member, Rawfeddogs' website on it: Skylar, Zack, and Abby on the WEB. He explains it all much simpler than I ever could

With a dog the size of Stella, you and her would probably greatly benefit from a raw diet. How many cups of food does she eat in a day? With raw, she'll probably eat less, you could buy it at a Super Walmart, it's cheaper, easier, less and harder poop that crumbles away after a few days, better coat, no worries about reading labels, you know exactly what is going into your dog, no worrying about pet food recalls and if the company is deceiving you, happier, healthier dogs, etc. etc. Raw is great!

[RawFedDogs]

Yes you can feed the catfish filets. If you feed whole catfish, I would cut the fins off as they are very sharp on catfish. I have no clue about the O3's in catfish.