Replacing kibble with bones

jaegertheweim · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: Replacing kibble with bones

Roma my Lagotto eats twice a day, half a cup of kibble in the morning and then another half in the afternoon. She also gets sardines once a week.

I want to replace her morning meal with some bones (chicken neck/wings/frame, something else?) and was wondering what quantity should I give to replace the 1/2 cup of kibble?

thanks!

SparkyTansy · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 3:24 am Post subject:

I'd go trial and error...
if she loses too much weight, up it, and if she gains weight, obviously cut out some.
Ari gets 1 carcass almost daily... her second meal is meat and kibble.

iris · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:25 am Post subject:

SparkyTansy, i have heard that its not good to mix kibble and raw in the same meal because the body digest the two foods differently.

jaegertheweim i truly have no idea but Rocky my 8 month old went from 4-5 cups of kibble a day to 3 lbs of raw a day. He weighs 67lb at the moment and they tell you that a puppy till the age of adulthood needs between 5-10% of their body weight in raw.
Because the two foods are so different its hard to tell how much they need. I have gotten to a point that i can tell by the way Rocky looks and also by checking his weight almost ever 2 weeks (at petsmart). The funny thing though is that he absolutely looooooveeeees raw and lets say tonight i look at him and i notice that he looks a bit more chubby than usual and decide to feed him 2 1/2 lb tomorrow, he just eats 2 lb instead of eating the whole 2 1/2 lbs. Its almost like he is able to control his own weight and how much food he needs.

anne · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 5:28 pm Post subject:

I don't have a problem mixing the 2, but as stated, many don't like to do that because of the digestion rate. But I think you are replacing one meal, not combining anyway.

Since most adult dogs eating raw will need to be fed 2% of their body weight in raw meaty bones, for 1 meal, I would do 1% of his weight, and see how he looks. You can adjust either meal if he's getting too fat/skinny.

I don't weigh the food I feed. I just look at them and then adjust as necessary.