# raw and pre made raw



## nupe (Apr 26, 2011)

Hey guys I was wondering does anyone use frozen raw brought food with pre made raw (like natures variety)...I predomiately prepare my own raw for Buddy , but will give him some of the natures variety medallions as a treat. Am I alone on this.??.lol


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Well, why would you want to buy more expensive food?

The only time I would even consider it is if my dogs were being taken care of someone else for a few days and for some crazy reason they ran out of food and the person had to make an emergency store run..And even then I'd probably just say to go pick up some chicken quarters at the store.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Well, I tried to buy Bravo! premade but the local distributor refused to sell to me once I told her I wouldn't be adding vegetables.

i do have pre-ground chickens but am finding I don't use them as much as I thought I would.


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## nupe (Apr 26, 2011)

well cavepaw thats just it....if I have to go out of town...and someone else is taking care of dog...just think it would be easier for them and at least Buddy will be use to pre made raw and wont be first time he sees it.


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## hcdoxies (Sep 22, 2010)

nupe said:


> well cavepaw thats just it....if I have to go out of town...and someone else is taking care of dog...just think it would be easier for them and at least Buddy will be use to pre made raw and wont be first time he sees it.


It's actually REALLY easy to work around this. Take a plastic ziploc bag and put a days meal per bag -- then freeze! The person just plops it in the sink the night before and feeds him in the morning. This is what I have done and it's very easy.


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## nupe (Apr 26, 2011)

yes I hear you hc...and you are right, I just like variety not only for myself but my best friend..lol...I mean they do say.."'Variety is the spice of life"""!!...AND I AM staying raw..you got to give me that lol


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

I had looked into that in the beginning but I'd have gone broke in a few months. LOL 

I think depending on who was watching my dogs, I may go that route.


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## nupe (Apr 26, 2011)

yes NORTHWOODS...AND LIKE i SAID i ONLY GIVE AS A TREAT...and if I am out of town I would just sleep better knowing in that medallion(s) and or patty(s) he was getting everything he needed for those few days.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Many of my friends mix pre-made raw with PMR without any problems. If you can afford it, it seems like a decent way to get some variety (like bison) which you may not be able to get otherwise.


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

I use it once in awhile, but I try to buy it in a protein I wouldn't normally find. For instance, I have a 4lb bag of Primal duck...but I feed it so sparingly that it still isn't empty after 4-5 months or so. Not to mention, I found a source of duck in the form of gizzards and wings along the way. I was thinking of trying rabbit next, but I also found a source of whole frozen rabbit. My only qualm is that it might be sourced from China, so I may look into the quail or pheasant flavors, as frozen whole quails and pheasants go for at least $10/lb in my area (and are most likely from China as well). But yes, for the most part, I use premade raw as a way to sneak in some rare proteins and as a snack. If I had a bigger dog though, I probably would not use premade.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

When I first started Mollie on raw 3-1/2 years ago, I used NV. However, the vet put me off feeding raw so we went back to kibble/canned/cooked/rawpatties until I happened upon this forum. 
Even after starting PMR, I was happy to use it to add protein variety into Mollies diet, just a patty or two a week, for proteins I couldn't source locally. Still have some in the freezer actually. 
What ended up putting me off NV (I never bought rabbit because of the sourcing from China) was when I discovered they use a charcoal like substance or denaturant in the food. They put it in to make sure the food is unfit for human consumption. This may not matter to most, but it was a deal breaker for me. 
But, I have no problem feeding a non-enhanced, natural, premade pattie, to Mollie now and then.


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## RaisingWolves (Mar 19, 2011)

I fed NV until I read they pasteurize the food. I threw out what I had in my freezer. 


This is from their website-
"As you may know, Nature’s Variety now uses High Pressure Pasteurization on our Raw Frozen Diets as a unique process to kill pathogenic bacteria through high-pressure, water-based technology. Having incorporated this state-of-the-art technology on our Freeze Dried Raw products in late 2009, we were able to confidently implement the process universally on all Raw Frozen Diets after the February 11, 2010 recall in order to further enhance food safety. Nature’s Variety also utilizes a test and hold protocol to ensure that all High Pressure Pasteurized Raw Frozen Diets test negative for harmful bacteria before being released for sale."


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I can see adding it in for novel protein sources that aren't available usually. But I've also seen most dogs have issues with eating these premade diets because there are a lot of added ingredients. If you are going to add them in just be watchful to any digestive upset.


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

I actually bought a bag of K9 Naturals food for Ania as treats. She gets about 5 little nuggets a day, and I feel that they are worlds better than most of the treats out there. As food to survive on? Not for us. But for occasional treats I like 'em!

They are similar to the Stella & Chewy's Carnivore Crunch treats, at a fraction of the cost. There is a fair amount of crumbs from all the handling, but I'm okay with that.

Although, I will say that the lady at the pet store who sold them to me was very concerned that I wouldn't be feeding them more often than occasional treats, as she would hate for my dog to not have the benefit of a complete diet.


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

DaneMama said:


> I can see adding it in for novel protein sources that aren't available usually. But I've also seen most dogs have issues with eating these premade diets because there are a lot of added ingredients. If you are going to add them in just be watchful to any digestive upset.



I definitely agree...I feed Primal rarely, but I often question the actual meat content. Surprisingly Louis tolerates it well, but I did try Honest Kithen dehydrated raw and that didn't end so well! :tongue:


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

I use Bravo! Basic and Primal grinds to add some variety. They're also good for the morning when I'm in a rush and want to just toss food in a bowl (RMBs are fed later in the day when I can supervise) or when I'm not home and someone else has to feed my dog. I also use them for Kong fillings. The ones I get are chubs (which I slice into patties for easy feeding) that contain ONLY meat, organ, and bone.

However, this is only affordable for two reasons. One, I have small dogs to feed. Two, I can get them cheaply and easily from a raw food delivery service. Otherwise I don't think I'd buy them as often.


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

i have just started giving primal chicken patties. his digestive system didn't even notice the change. chicken where i live is 1.99/lb almost 2 weeks of food costs me $36 for the primal patties...i am working him over from orijen. it may go up a bit if i full switch. for the same chicken at the store for me i would be spending a little more and i don't have the freezer space i have a 4 cubic foot friege/freezer which also has to store my food. this works out very well for us and have been very happy with it so far. i think it is a good step into raw for those of us who do not feel comfortable doing it themselves but want to step up to a better way to feed your dog.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

I'm actually thinking of getting some pre made raw foods just in case I do have to go somewhere and need someone to take care of the pets. The reason is, while I'm pretty much being left alone about feeding raw, I KNOW that none of my neighbors will be comfortable feeding my dogs or cats the dreaded chicken bones whether I have them in little containers or not.

So, I'm interested in knowing which is the best one to get. It wouldn't be for every day or even every week, but I would like to have some as back up, just in case.

What I'm hearing here is that Primal or Bravo are acceptable?


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## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

I use them once in a while for a treat/variety. I recently found a local place that makes their own grinds. I get bison, rabbit or other meats I can't generally find. I have them make a batch with no veggies and use it to stuff kongs.


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## nupe (Apr 26, 2011)

ok cool...thanks for feedback guys!!


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Chelsy got horribly sick on the NV and one other premade raw (can't remember which one now). A lot of them have way too many ingredients in them besides meat. She gets colitis from many of the fruits and other things they include.

I haven't tried any of the Bravo grinds......we can't really get them locally. She did okay on the free samples of Bravo Balance that the one store gave me but the cost is ridiculous. I can make her my own premade patties (got ground turkey on clearance today!!!) and freeze those for when I am out of town.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

I was able to get chicken necks really cheap so I added more boneless chicken, liver, pork kidney, eggs, DE. I make meatballs out of this and if someone has to watch my dogs or just feed if I am gone all day they can just toss the required number of meatballs out in a bowl and no one gets grossed out, plus I know exactly what is in them. The only thing the dogs lose is a little chewing but no big deal for a few days. It works for us. Also we do patties instead of meatballs when traveling and it is easier to feed if I can't get to a grocery store.


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## Tucker's Mom (Apr 15, 2011)

I am very new to the raw concept, so right now, I am feeding Tucker The Honest Kitchen raw, dehydrated food and a patty of Stella & Chewy's twice a day. I still need to learn a lot more about raw, and in the meantime, he loves it! I want to feed him antibiotic and hormone meat, however, so I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to afford it.


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## Savage Destiny (Mar 16, 2011)

MollyWoppy said:


> What ended up putting me off NV (I never bought rabbit because of the sourcing from China) was when I discovered they use a charcoal like substance or denaturant in the food. They put it in to make sure the food is unfit for human consumption. This may not matter to most, but it was a deal breaker for me.


Um... where exactly did you get this info? I have been to their raw plant, and they don't add any such thing. If you're talking about the montmorillonite clay, that is used as a source of trace minerals and as a binder to help carry toxins out of the body. 

The HPP process I saw someone else mentioned is something that all pre-made raw companies are going to end up doing sooner or later. They had to start doing it after they got slammed with a huge recall due to salmonella in their raw chicken formulas. Stella and Chewy's already does this, NV just uses the same process. It is not pasteurization in the traditional sense. Heat is not applied, rather the food is submerged in a water tank and pressure is used to break the cell walls of bacteria.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

hcdoxies said:


> It's actually REALLY easy to work around this. Take a plastic ziploc bag and put a days meal per bag -- then freeze! The person just plops it in the sink the night before and feeds him in the morning. This is what I have done and it's very easy.


we don't even freeze....we leave tongs for her and gloves......or she just opens the baggie for that particular meal and dumps it on a towel for them.....


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

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Savage Destiny said:


> Um... where exactly did you get this info? I have been to their raw plant, and they don't add any such thing. If you're talking about the montmorillonite clay, that is used as a source of trace minerals and as a binder to help carry toxins out of the body.


http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dry-canned-dog-food/5468-what-do-you-think-reply-champion.html

NV RAW: black coal-like pallets aka denaturant - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community

Have a read. I'd be interested to see what you think......


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## Savage Destiny (Mar 16, 2011)

MollyWoppy said:


> ][/URL]
> 
> http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dry-canned-dog-food/5468-what-do-you-think-reply-champion.html
> 
> ...


I have a little doubt about whether or not they still do this... the post on the Yorkie board was from 2009. According to the execs I met last year while touring the plant, only human grade meats are used in production of NV foods. The raw doesn't have meat meal either, obviously lol. But I think I'll send off an e-mail to our NV rep when I get back to work Thursday. I'll let you guys know what they say!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I agree, it was back in 2009, maybe things have indeed changed? From what I understand, the charcoal is/was added to some of the meat before they even receive it, therefore it doesn't have to be used on the ingredient list because technically they didn't add it,
I never ever had a problem tossing Mollie a patty now and then and she lived off NV raw for 6 months when she was a pup. But now things are becoming more and more processed (not just NV, all types of foods) I just have my doubts. 
Do you know if they use this new form of pasteurisation in human foods as well? 
I hope they do respond, I'll be interested to hear what they say.


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## Savage Destiny (Mar 16, 2011)

Oh, they'll respond, the rep is usually really good about getting back to us. From what I understand in Champion's response about the issue though, is that if the meat is human grade and not marked specifically for animal consumption, it doesn't have to be denatured. 

I know that the HPP process has been tested for human foods, but I doubt it will ever be used regularly. Simply because the lack of bacteria makes food stay fresh so much longer. For instance, one of the guys I work with looked into it when we were bringing in S&C, and apparently the HPP process used on milk makes it last weeks longer without spoiling. No way the milk companies are going to start using it though- it would hurt profits if people had to buy milk less often!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

the only pre made food i feed is tripe with trachea from greentripe.com and i bought primal sardine which is ground whole sardines.

the lady who watches my dogs is not into raw at all....so i have tongs and gloves for her....and each meal is marked for that day a.m. and p.m and that's how she feeds them..

there are boarding places who are raw friendly and if you bag their food, they feed it.....

i don't know about the medallions because i don't necessarily trust their food sources...

as to rabbits from china, molly woppy, they are fine for me so far....


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