# Stella & Chewy's Raw Food



## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

I took the plunge and purchased a small bag of Stella & Chewy's at the pet food store yesterday. I got the freezer kind, not the freeze-dried one. It was on sale for a little over $6 for 12 little patties. It's usually a little over $8.

I don't really want to feed this every day simply for a matter of convenience and cost. He would need around 5 (1.5oz) patties a day if I was only feeding S&C's. I originally wanted to feed it as a 'treat' in replacement of a meal some days, maybe twice a week. Now I'm considering maybe just giving him one patty for breakfast (since he's never been a big morning eater, this would entice him to eat) and then his kibble (Acana) mixed with wet for dinner (which is what we did today-- patty for breakfast, kibble/wet for dinner).

Anyways, I put a patty in the fridge last night to thaw out over night like instructed. Around 10am, I gave him one patty and I've never seen Jackson scarf anything down so fast! He LOVED it. And kept looking at me, wondering where the rest was! I wanted to just give him one to make sure he didn't get an upset stomach or anything, I'm a newbie to the raw thing. And I love these little patties because they are not gross looking (I know that probably sounds dumb of me)! They just look like little compact hamburgers. Anyways, he pooped about an hour later and it was totally perfect, small, firm, etc.


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## ubershann (Jul 29, 2010)

That was pretty much Tiki's reaction when I first gave her on top of her kibble. She eat it up and kept looking for more! She had never been all that excited about food before, but the next time she had a meal she was practically jumping up for the bowl! 

I know exactly what you mean about the patties being easy to deal with and look at. The raw I was feeding until about a month ago was all premade. Not patties but bars. Now when I feed it's just cut up meat, like I was cooking for myself (but much bigger) so it's pretty easy to deal with. I got a bunch of beef and pork yesterday at the store and spent a couple hours getting it all cut up, weighed out into daily portions, then bagged and stacked in the freezer. Usually I just do it meal by meal, but it was kinda nice to know it's all ready to go...a whole week's worth :smile:

We have a couple customers at the store that we special order Stella & Chewy's patties for. The love it! I think your idea of giving one meal a day instead of once a week is a good one. You'll see a lot more benefits from that, plus it's so wonderful to see how happy our dogs are when they get that delicious meal!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i don't get grossed out easily....and i can't, for the life of me, figure out why cutting up raw stuff for the dogs was any different than playing with raw to get it ready to cook for them or for me, but it was in the beginning...

time has taken care of that issue, and maybe because i'm laughing at bubba's crying, malia's pacing and the pure joy they emanate as they scarf down this food compared to anything else they've ever gotten and that includes cooked people food....

but congrats on the step you took.....jackson loved it and you love jackson....and now both of you are happy....


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

does anyone else feed pre-made raw? I realize it's probably not the same as prey model raw diet, but I'm hoping it's at least a step up from kibble. I would feed it all the time every meal, but I'm a poor college student living at home right now, so I just don't think it would work out, LOL. I shouldn't say poor, but I can't break the bank on my dogs food, either. I honestly can not see myself preparing meat for Jackson, etc, as I literally rarely cook for myself. I'm a microwave/toaster oven cook.  So this premade stuff is a God send to me, and I'm hoping he gets some benefits from it. 


He's been getting 1 patty for breakfast every morning (we skipped 2 mornings though, we were sleeping at someone elses house) and then 1/2 cup of Acana kibble mixed with wet food in the evening. And even with just that change... I've noticed less poop.


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

Jacksons Mom said:


> I would feed it all the time every meal, but I'm a poor college student living at home right now, so I just don't think it would work out, LOL.


Food for thought....

You do realize that the "premade" raw is going to cost you 4-5 times what it'd cost just to simply buy meat, bones & organs?


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## ubershann (Jul 29, 2010)

Jacksons Mom said:


> does anyone else feed pre-made raw?


I've been feeding pre-made raw since Tiki was around 3 months. She used to get it with all 3 meals, but I found we were often out running around at lunch time, so I started giving it to her only with breakfast and lunch. Before I discovered pre-made raw she was getting a little canned food with her meals, which she loved, but when I replaced that with raw she literally would jump up and down at mealtime :biggrin:

Yesterday I brought home a bag of Primal beef patties because I'm almost out of meat and there are no great sales at the grocery store right now, but generally I like to shop the discounted meats in the butcher section. I just head to the meat area, look for the small section where meats are nearing their sell-by date, and pick up whatever ends up at a good price. There's usually a good selection with $2 or $3 off stickers on them. And last week I got beef roasts on sale buy one get one free, which brought the price down a lot. I also just check around and see if any of the meats she can eat are at a particularly good price. Boneless pork ribs have been really cheap at my local store recently so I bought a big pack of those too. 

I'm sure he's getting benefits from the raw your giving him! Any bit will help, in my opinion. Plus I think it prepares the stomach a little better if you eventually go full raw. With Tiki we didn't have to go through any long transition time and while I have no proof to back it up, I think it may have helped that she'd been getting raw for a while and her stomach was used to it. We made a sudden switch to raw and never once saw diarrhea or any other problems. 

I'd say keep doing what you can and if it eventually becomes possible to go full raw then do it. For me, it was affordable to feed pre-made until I went full raw. At this point buying all pre-made would cost too much, but that also has to do with the size of the beast I'm feeding :wink: Buying discounted meat has worked well for me to make it affordable (especially since I don't have freezer room to buy in bulk). I still do feed pre-made once in a while, and keep some in my freezer in case I ever run out and can't make it to the store


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

jdatwood said:


> Food for thought....
> 
> You do realize that the "premade" raw is going to cost you 4-5 times what it'd cost just to simply buy meat, bones & organs?


Yeah, but I don't have time to mess with all that, to be perfectly honest. Like I said, I don't even prepare meat for myself. ever. I know that probably sounds ridiculous. I'll learn how to cook one of these days. :tongue: But I don't have the time, energy, or freezer space really. Lame excuses? Probably. But I can afford the pre-made raw easily with the way I'm feeding it right now (breakfast 3x a week-raw, dinner-kibble/wet). Once I'm out of my parents house, making a bit more money, not in classes, I would consider it. I'm just learning everything, so I would also like to continue my own research before making a final decision. To be perfectly honest, Jackson does perfect on Acana. When he was on Wellness Super5Mix, he had runny eyes and he pooped more, etc, but since eating Acana Grasslands, his poops are small, firm and not that stinky. He has no runny eyes. His teeth are in great shape, he's almost 2. He's got fantastic energy, his coat is always shiny, the list could go on and on. So I'm not particularly unhappy with feeding a high quality kibble. I also like that a $14.99 5.5lb bag can last us almost 2 months. And the convenience factor... I travel with Jackson a lot. Like often times 2-3 nights a week, we are somewhere else. Either sleeping at my dads house, or dogsitting another dog, etc. It's just not feasible to bring raw with me everywhere. I initially got the S&C's just for a 'treat' of sorts in replacement of a meal.


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

ubershann said:


> I've been feeding pre-made raw since Tiki was around 3 months. She used to get it with all 3 meals, but I found we were often out running around at lunch time, so I started giving it to her only with breakfast and lunch. Before I discovered pre-made raw she was getting a little canned food with her meals, which she loved, but when I replaced that with raw she literally would jump up and down at mealtime :biggrin:
> 
> Yesterday I brought home a bag of Primal beef patties because I'm almost out of meat and there are no great sales at the grocery store right now, but generally I like to shop the discounted meats in the butcher section. I just head to the meat area, look for the small section where meats are nearing their sell-by date, and pick up whatever ends up at a good price. There's usually a good selection with $2 or $3 off stickers on them. And last week I got beef roasts on sale buy one get one free, which brought the price down a lot. I also just check around and see if any of the meats she can eat are at a particularly good price. Boneless pork ribs have been really cheap at my local store recently so I bought a big pack of those too.
> 
> ...


Thanks for all the info! I think that one day I will probably go full raw but I'm not quite ready. They did sell Primal at my local store, too.


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

I feed my dogs Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw as treats or toppers in their grain-free kibble at dinnertime. I feed them Instinct pre-made raw medallions for breakfast. They LOVE it and their stools have become such a delight! Ha ha. Compact and firm. Much easier to scoop!

I too cannot yet go to full raw feeding. I am a graduate student taking WAY too busy a load and lately I have been having a very difficult time squeezing in time to even microwave myself meals. For now, 50% pre-made raw and 50% kibble takes no time at all and I know is healthier than feeding strictly kibble. 

Cheers to doing the best you can!


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

BrownieM said:


> I feed my dogs Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw as treats or toppers in their grain-free kibble at dinnertime.  I feed them Instinct pre-made raw medallions for breakfast. They LOVE it and their stools have become such a delight! Ha ha. Compact and firm. Much easier to scoop!
> 
> I too cannot yet go to full raw feeding. I am a graduate student taking WAY too busy a load and lately I have been having a very difficult time squeezing in time to even microwave myself meals. For now, 50% pre-made raw and 50% kibble takes no time at all and I know is healthier than feeding strictly kibble.
> 
> Cheers to doing the best you can!


Thank you! It seems we're doing a similar feeding schedule.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

My dogs really liked Bravo Balance. The store near me had a sample pack of the four flavors and the guy gave it to me for free to try. They liked it a LOT better then the Primal. It was about the size and texture of a hamburger and you keep it in the freezer. I haven't tried the other Bravo but they have all different varieties and treats if you go to their website. For a little dog it's not too bad to buy for (especially if you can snag some free samples!)

Bravo! Raw Diets - home page


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