raw food

No idea but I have a Bichon, King Charles cavalier cross. Such lovely temperament. They are called Cavachons. Don't moult and a lovely size.

I would not eat raw food and I would never feed it to my animal.

My friend's son feeds his dogs frozen, raw chicken portions straight from the freezer. His vet advised it

Quite a number of my greyhound owning friends feed their dogs raw chicken without any problems. Not tried it on my hounds as all are quite elderly now and they seem to be healthy and happy enough with a mixture of conventional dog food/meat and oily fish and vegetables.

No salad, then, Charleygirl?

Supposedly very good for dogs that can be a bit aggressive [eg Patterdales] although it seems strange that they can eat chicken bones as long as they aren't cooked. Lots of info on the internet about it under 'barf diet'. Cavachons sound interesting, by the way. Have the breeders ironed out the problems with the Cavalier side though [I ask because my daughter is thinking of getting a dog and is quite smitten with Cavapoos but we're concerned about the King Charles genetic problems].

I have switched my cat to a raw food diet and he has never been healthier. The food I buy is organic human grade food complete with minced up bones. There are several companies providing these diets now. Raw food for dogs has been available for a long time but it has taken longer for cats to catch up, probably because of their more specific dietary needs. It's better for their teeth, skin, and everything really. After all they don't cook their food in the wild.

durhamjen I meant meat!

bichonmad Could it be the underside of the chicken which produces darker meat anyway,maybe they cut the brests for selling and use up the rest of the carcus this way,but really unless I was 100% certain I would not give it to my little dog,she enjoys guarding a chicken cooking in the oven and her mum giving her some slices after it has been carved that little poppy has certainly fell on her paws living here

If you want to feed your dog a raw food diet it must either be very fresh, i.e. a reliable local butcher, or can have frozen raw delivered from a reputable company. Dogs cannot be fed raw meat from supermarkets. Most people think that because dogs have disgusting habits, they do not get food poisoning. This is untrue. Vets are treating many dogs that have campylobacter. It can also be passed on to humans, children. You would not eat supermarket raw meat yourself for example.

If in doubt, I would not feed it, especially if it's been in the fridge for a while. Also, if your dogs are not usually fed a raw food diet, then any change of diet should be introduced slowly, or you will have some very unpleasant rear end 'situations' to deal with!

Personally, I wouldn't give this suspicious looking meat. And if your dogs are healthy and their diet agrees with them, don't change it.

If you really want to change them to a raw food diet, contact your vet and ask if they know of a reputable supplier.

ps - I do realise your son purchased this from a local farm shop, not supermarket. Was just using that as an example.

I have a 3-year old Cavalier. Occasionally feed her raw chicken, mince, etc. Loves it and no ill-effects. Tegan, there are health tests for the main problems with Cavaliers and any reputable breeder makes sure they only breed from dogs that have been tested clear. Champdogs website is an excellent source of information.

Would assume it could cause problems if you take the dog on holiday with you or put it into kennels as you can't just switch back to a cooked diet. I know people that do use the barf diet swear by it but I'd only do it if there was an aggression problem.

I agree with you BasketCase but unfortunately health problems in cavaliers are endemic and as one very reputable breeder told me, there is no breeder in the country (or world) that can guarantee their puppies will never be affected. It's a very sad state of affairs for a lovely breed.

It just makes sense to me as it's the natural way for dogs and cats to eat. I don't understand the resistance to it. There are some vets who believe we have caused more problems for animals with the invention of tinned pet food. Not that vets are impartial because they are hand in glove with commercial companies themselves. Lets face it, most pet food is full of rubbish including cereal, sugar, colourings etc and only exists because it make millions for commercial companies. It's so easy to find raw food diets for dogs and cats now that are completely balanced and safe.

Champdogs is a good site for pedigree dogs but won't help you with a designer crossbreed.

If your daughter were interested in a Cavalier and is concerned about hereditary problems, she could contact the Breed Secretary (you can find online) who can advise which breeders are doing the appropriate health checks and if she doesn't both jobs herself, she can pass her on to the Litter Coordinator, who will know who is breeding.

I wouldn't contact her about a crossbreed though.

I don't feed my dogs raw/barf diet. i am on medication that affects my immune system, and was advised to avoid feeding it to the dogs to protect my own health. I feed a good quality dry food, and buy pet mince, which I cook, from our local butcher.

Tegan, there are a number of cavapoos locally, and in the dog club I go to. They seem very bright, trainable and with good temperaments. I would be very cautious about the breeder, if you decide to go ahead. Also, I'd research carefully the breed type of the parent dogs. It's a myth that poodle crosses don't moult, many of them do. As well as being careful about finding a good breeder who health tests etc, it's a good idea to read up about toy/miniature poodles, and cavalier cocker spaniels. There is no guarantee you get the best of both breeds in a first cross, you may be unlucky and get the worst.

Doodle dogs have suffered from becoming over popular, as has happened to other dog breeds in the past. The result is over breeding, often at puppy farms or so called hobby breeders who see them as cash generators. I picked up Breeze's implied criticism of what she calls "designer crossbreeds" but it's fair to say that it's the health problems in pedigree dogs that has contributed to the increase in first crosses.

Picked that up then!

Whilst there are some lovely Cockapoos, Cavapoos and Pitapoos????? out there, I am afraid I disagree with the practice.

I agree with you completely Iam64, that irresponsible and 'greedy' breeding of pedigrees (and don't even get me started on puppy farms!) has caused an enormous amount of health problems.

Especially breeding for 'grotesque' appearances where dogs cannot even breathe properly. The Cavalier breeding problem, that prompted this discussion, was caused by the popularity of trying to breed in 'big heads'.

However, many breeders (some have needed much pressure) are now trying to screen out breed health problems, and this 'designer mix' situation, has made it far more difficult to keep track.

Whilst you may have a first gen double pedigree mix, with certificates and hereditary knowledge, KC registration, you then lose track of it.

And I don't like the way some VERY irresponsible people are using the designer crossbreeding to get around the banned breed rules.

Going back to the raw food diet, good you are smart enough to realise it could compromise your health and I wish you well.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but how does raw meat affect your immune system Iam? I genuinely don't understand this

Our border collie has always had raw chicken joints and beef scraps from the supermarket and she loves it. She carefully rejects anything sharp.
And you should see what our day-foster dog eats (breton spaniel.) Around here there are lots of remains of deer and boar carcases, yesterday he had a full ancient deer foreleg and foot, fur and all. Back today in full health.
One advantage of eating raw is that the faeces seem to be firm so avoiding anal gland problems.

DD1'S two dogs ate raw meat and large bones and sometimes she fed/feeds them cooked pasta as recommended by the vet.. The cat always has the pouches of catfood.

They sell large packs of raw meat for dogs in the supermarkets in Australia, but they usually get theirs from the butcher.

nightowl, it's the risk of infection that's higher, so I have to be careful. Feeding raw is something I don't need to do. I'd love to eat soft cheeses, for example, but they're also on the risk list. When I kept chickens, I always wore marigolds (always an attractive look).
Breeze - I suspect we aren't a million miles apart on the cross breeds. One of my other concerns is that their press is generally entirely positive. People often tell me my labradoodle won't shed (she does), and will be easy to train (she wasn't).
I agree with your comments about cross breeding to get round the banned breeds issue.

Thanks Iam. I was pondering this and realised there would be a higher risk with raw food possibly lying around in a pet bowl at room temperature. That didn't immediately occur to me but I can see that you need to be very careful in your situation. It is true that you need to be particularly careful about hygiene when feeding raw food.