Transitioning Your Pet to a Raw Meat-Based Diet
Chart and some information by Neal K.Weiner D.V.M. of Pet Care Naturally
How much
do I Feed my Pet?
Because the different
Raw Meat-Based Diets vary in ingredients, companies often have their own recommendations for feeding amounts.*The Whole Dog recommends feeding
fresh, raw meaty bones and NOT a prepared raw meat based diet.
What follows
is a general guideline which is based on the 2% Rule suggesting that you feed your animal 2% of his body weight daily.This
amount can be fed once a day or divided in half and fed twice a day. Keep in mind that your individual pets needs will depend
on things like his age, activity level, health, metabolism, and breed.
Normal Healthy Pets require approximately 2% of their body weight daily:
PET WEIGHT
DAILY REQUIREMENT MONTHLY SUPPLY
5 Pounds----------------1/4 Cup---------------------------3 Pounds
10 Pounds----------------1/2
Cup---------------------------6 Pounds
25 Pounds------------------1
Cup--------------------------15 Pounds
50 Pounds------------------2
Cups-------------------------30 Pounds
75 Pounds------------------3
Cups-------------------------45 Pounds
100 Pounds-----------------4
Cups--------------------------60 Pounds
Growing
Puppies & Kittens require 4-6% of their body weight daily:
2 Pounds-----------------1-1/2
Ounce to 1/2 Cup
5 Pounds-----------------1/2
to 3/4 Cup
10 Pounds-----------------1
Cup to 1-1/2 Cups
Overweight
Pets require only 1/1/2% of their body weight daily:
20 Pounds-----------------2/3
Cup
25 pounds-----------------3/4
Cup
30 Pounds--------------------1
Cup
35 Pounds---------------1-1/4
Cup
Before
you Begin
Before
starting your pet on a Raw Meat-based Diet be sure to fill out the
Wellness Checklist and score his health
accordingly. If your pet scored more than 9 points you need to consult with your
veterinarian before begining a Raw Meat-Based Diet.
If your animal is used to free-feeding you will need to transition him
into eating only once or twice a day before you begin the raw meat-based diet.
Now that we've established your pets wellness score, and how much to feed him, lets look at
how to begin the actual transition.
You can begin feeding your Puppies &
Kittens a raw meat-based diet at about 4 or 5 weeks of age, while they are still nursing.
Start by feeding them 1 or 2 teaspoons a day increasing gradually until they are up to 2 Tablespoons two times a day. This should happen by about 8 weeks of age. Once they are weaned you
can feed them solely the raw meat-based diet.
Transitioning
If your pet scored
1-2 points:
Start by feeding the raw meat-based diet (RMBD) as recommended in the article "How To Start Feeding Raw
Give Fastrack Microbial Powder *probiotic
and digestive enzymes. This will build and replenish his digestive tract with healthy flora allowing his food to be thoroughly digested and assimulated.
If your pet scored 6-9 points:
You should, slowly and with your holistic veterinarian's knowledge, help your dog to dextox and rebuild his immune system as you begin him on
the raw diet. This will take some time.
To assist in this detoxifying process we recommend adding Hematox and Metaltox to help cleanse the liver and vital organs, NingXia Red to supply anti-oxidents and essential
nutrients and Transfer Factor to balance and strengthen the immune system.
If your pet scored higher
than 9 points:
It is important that you consult your veterinarian before feeding a raw
meat-based diet to your pet.
Things to Watch For
If you pay attention to your
pets stools you will begin to see some changes. As his digestive system adjusts, regardless
of the size of your pet, his stools will become smaller on a raw meat-based diet because the food is assimilated
more thoroughly. They will also become firm and have no odor. If your pets stools
are still soft or very loose after day 10 or so, you may want to slow the transition down a bit. Be sure
to continue the probiotics and digestive enzymes
It can be normal for some transitioning animals to experience diarrhea and or a small amount of vomiting of undigested
food. This is because it can take a while for the good bacteria to build up in an animals digestive tract
especially if he has always been on dry food or for a very long period of time.
You should consult your veterinarian if your pet experiences diarrhea and is vomiting large amounts of liquid, is acting lethargic, running a fever, and or has blood in his stools.
Detoxification and the "Healing
Crisis"
What is a "Healing Crisis"?
You probably already know
that detoxification is the process where by the body begins to eliminate or "throw off" accumulated toxins
in an attempt to maintain or regain health. A Healing Crisis is a natural occurrence and is part of the
detoxification process. It is referred to as a crisis because the body displays illness-like symptoms
at a time when it is actually healing itself or beginning to get well.
When an animal's body
has taken in more toxins than it can filter out, for example when eating a poor diet day after day, the body
goes into a kind of "toxic overload". As a result of this overload the body begins a detoxification process which can manifest
symptoms like lethargy, joint pain and stiffness, bad breath, eye and ear discharges, skin rashes and infections. Eventually,
if the intake of toxic substances in not lessened or stopped all together, life threatening degenerative diseases like cancer are created. All of these are the body's healing response to toxic overload.
In
a healing crisis the diet has been improved with healthy foods and other nutrients which increase the body's vitality and
ability to heal itself. During this healing process while the body is throwing off toxins, temporary
symptoms are created which are similar to those mentioned above. These symptoms can surface within just a few days after beginning
the healthy diet, or several months later. Because this cleansing process is essential to achieve the
desired results of good health, it is important that it not be misunderstood and hindered by the use of drugs or medication.
Often the healing crisis
is misunderstood, and the new food or nutrients are blamed for these temporary symptoms. In bewilderment the new foods are
withdrawn, and so too are their benefits. If drugs are prescribed to treat these temporary symptoms, the desired
goal of long term health cannot be achieved and consequently, the already impaired immune system is further weakened. Here
we have created an unfortunate vicious cycle where symptoms are recreated by the bodys attempt to heal itself and treated
with drugs until suppressed, causing impairment of immune function over and over again, eventually resulting
in a non-curable degenerative disease.
How to deal with a Healing Crisis
If a healing crisis occurs
while transitioning your pet onto a healthier diet don't panic. Don't assume his new diet is the cause
of these new or reoccurring symptoms. Try to see it as a positive sign that healing is actually taking place and the undesirable
toxins in his body are working their way out. The following are some examples of symptoms your pet might experience as his
body begins eliminating accumulated toxins:
LETHARGY
FLAKING SKIN
HOT SPOTS
SMELLY OR ITCHY EARS
HAIRLOSS
SORES AND SKIN ERUPTIONS
DULL OR THINNING COAT
DIGESTIVE UPSETS
DIARRHEA
MUCOUS and/or BLOOD IN STOOLS
