Hi, everyone ... it's me, Phoebe! Tucker is taking TASTY TUESDAY off so I am here with Mom to talk to you about what Mom calls a Prey Model Raw Diet. I don't know why she calls it that really. We just call it dinner! (And in the case of the cat kids, breakfast as well, because they eat twice a day and we only eat once a day. Speaking of which ... does that seem unfair to any of the rest of you? I asked Tucker and he said that's just how it is. That's why we get cookies in the morning and the cats don't. But I guess cookies for breakfast is pretty good. Ok, then I guess I won't get mad at Mom.)
Oh, er ... hi, Mom! There you are! I was just telling everyone how much I love you! I guess the floor's all yours!
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| Me, thinking about dinner! |
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Thanks, Pheebs! Hi, everyone! On this Tasty Tuesday, kindly hosted by Kolchak of Kol's Notes and Sugar the Golden Retriever, I'd like to talk briefly about a PREY MODEL RAW DIET. In a nutshell, a prey model raw diet is comprised of three main elements: muscle meat, organ meat, and bone. If I'd better prepared for this, I could have taken pictures to better illustrate, but not only am I a poor planner, I wasn't entirely sure about how anyone would feel about seeing pictures of a bunch of raw meat. I don't happen to be squeamish about it, though even after many many years of raw feeding I still don't really like handling raw liver, but I know some people are, so it's probably a good thing in that respect.
Depending upon how this initial post is received, I can talk in subsequent Tasty Tuesday posts about exactly which cuts of meat fall into which category, but in a nutshell, in a prey model raw diet, 80% of the diet is muscle meat (which also includes things like hearts, gizzards, etc.), 10% is edible bone (which can vary depending upon the size of your dog, but for Tucker & Phoebe basically works out to various types of poultry bones), 5% is liver, and 5% is other organ meat such as kidney. Some raw feeders do a modified version of raw, called BARF (I know, sounds gross!) whereby raw pulped veggies and fruits are included in the diet. If you're interested in what sorts of veggies and fruits you might include in the diet if you were going to fed the BARF method (which stands for biologically appropriate raw food OR bones and raw food, depending upon whom you ask) I actually noticed recently when I was perusing THIS BLOG that Jennifer at NEVER SAY NEVER GREYHOUNDS had some great blog posts, with pictures, for various recipes of what she called SLOP (Superior Life Optimizing Pudding). An example of one such post is HERE.
I actually used to feed the BARF method, but a couple years in, I discovered the prey model method, and not only does it make more sense to me - it's a lot easier! So it's a win-win. However, I do include in the diet small amounts of green tripe (usually raw which I obtain from a raw feeding supplier) or canned (such as Tripett) if I happen to run out. Green tripe is the stomach and contents of ruminant animals (sheep, deer, goats, etc.) and it basically takes the place of any vegetable matter in the diet, as well as being more bio-available to the body than whole raw, or even pulped or cooked, vegetables. Additionally, it has a perfect one to one calcium to phosphorous ratio, which is something you must always keep in mind when feeding a raw diet.
Below is a monthly menu plan for Tucker & Phoebe. Please keep in mind that this diet includes a lot of variety and is meant to be fed to dogs that are already accustomed to raw feeding. Giving this much variety to a dog who had not had raw food before would be a good way to spend a lot of time mopping your floor, if you get my drift. Newbie raw dogs are started on a lot of bone in chicken, as they typically need the stool firming qualities of the bone to offset the richness of the meat. And you absolutely DO NOT want to give a newbie raw dog any organ meat, again due to the high likelihood of stomach upset. Frankly, the biggest mistake a lot of people make when switching their dogs to a raw diet is that they try to move too fast and don't give their dogs time to adjust to the new diet. The same can be true of cats, I suppose, although cats generally present a different challenge in that they are so finicky and reluctant to try new things that the biggest hurdle can be actually getting them to try the raw food. More on that in subsequent posts (again depending upon how well, or not, this one is received.)
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Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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Week 1
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Beef liver, sardines, & a chicken foot
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Boneless sirloin
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Turkey wing
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Boneless sirloin
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Pork kidney
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Lamb tongue
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Bone-in chicken breast & tripe
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Week 2
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Lamb liver, canned salmon (packed in water), & a chicken foot
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Duck hearts
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Bone-in rabbit
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Goat RMB (non-edible bone – bone will be taken away when meat Is gone)
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Beef kidney
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Remainder of Wednesday’s goat RMB (if any – if not, some kind of boneless red meat – beef, lamb, etc.)
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Bone-in rabbit & tripe
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Week 3
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Pork liver, sardines, & a chicken foot
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Chicken hearts/gizzards
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Whole dressed quail
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Bone-in lamb shank with non-edible bone (bone is taken away when meat is stripped)
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Lamb kidney
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Remainder of Wednesday’s lamb shank (if any – if not, some kind of boneless red meat – beef, lamb, etc.)
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Bone-in rabbit & tripe
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Week 4
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Chicken liver, canned salmon (packed in water), & a chicken foot
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Lamb heart
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Beef tongue
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Ground bison
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Pork kidney
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Beef gullet
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Bone-in Cornish hen drum & tripe
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Here is a sample monthly menu for the cats:
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Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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Week 1
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Chicken gizzards/hearts (served at both meals)
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AM:
Cornish hen (meat/bone)
PM:
Cornish hen (meat) + chicken liver
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AM:
Beef tongue
PM:
Boneless chicken (usually chunks of breast or boneless thigh)
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AM:
Bone-in chicken
PM:
Ground bison
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AM:
Finely ground beef tripe
PM:
Chunks of beef (stew meat, sirloin)
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AM:
Rabbit (meat/bone)
PM:
Rabbit (meat) + beef kidney
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AM:
Chunks of boneless pork
PM:
Ground bison
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Week 2
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AM:
Beef heart and boneless chicken breast
PM:
Turkey hearts
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Roughly 5.5 ounce whole dressed quail (from Hare Today) cut in half with kitchen shears – half for breakfast, half for dinner
** This is essentially a whole prey item, minus feathers, head, beak, and feet, and contains all components of the raw diet: meat, edible bone, and organ
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Chicken gizzards/hearts
(served at both meals)
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AM:
Bone-in duck
PM:
Ground lamb
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AM:
Chunks of boneless chicken breast
PM:
Lamb heart
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AM:
Cornish hen (meat/bone)
PM:
Cornish hen (meat) + lamb kidney
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AM:
Finely ground beef tripe
PM:
Chunks of boneless chicken breast
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Week 3
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AM:
Ground boneless turkey thighs
PM:
Duck hearts
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AM: Rabbit (meat/bone)
PM: Rabbit (meat) + pork liver
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AM:
Boneless beef (sirloin, stew meat, whatever)
PM:
Lamb heart
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AM:
Bone-in rabbit
PM:
Chunks of boneless ostrich steak
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Chicken gizzards/hearts (served at both meals)
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AM:
Pheasant (meat/bone)
PM:
Pheasant (meat) + beef kidney
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AM:
Finely ground beef tripe
PM:
Ground turkey
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Week 4
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AM:
Pork heart
PM:
Beef lung
(this is one of those “sounds like an organ but it’s really meat” items)
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AM:
Turkey thighs (meat/bone)
PM:
Turkey (meat) + chicken liver
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Ground goat (boneless, served at both meals)
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AM:
Bone-in duck
PM:
Ground bison or lamb
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AM:
Finely ground beef tripe
PM:
Chunks of boneless turkey thighs
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AM:
Duck (meat/bone)
PM: Duck breast (meat) + beef spleen
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Chicken gizzards/hearts (served at both meals)
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Again, this is just a brief overview of what a prey model raw diet can comprise. The great part about a raw diet is that if you have a dog or a cat who is allergic to chicken or beef or whatever, you can tailor the diet to account for that. The more variety the better, but it does not have to be as extensive as what you see above. There's obviously a lot more to cover on this topic - because although at the root of it, the concept is very simple: IE to provide the most species-appropriate, bio-available food to nourish our companion carnivores, the variations are almost endless, and can be discussed and debated ad nauseam among raw feeders. I'm happy to answer any questions that anyone has, and any future posts on this topic will basically depend upon what kind of reception this one gets.
Here is the one token raw picture for this post - it's chunks of raw, bone-in pheasant with some pork liver. This was Finn's breakfast one day.
Ok, so ... I hope I haven't completely grossed everyone out. So what say you? Interesting topic to delve into in future Tuesday posts or too gross to discuss ever again? Let me know what you think!
