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Natural Instinct Barf Food

Brian M

Well-known member
Hi

I was browsing a page and came across this food ,does anybody feed it and what do people think of it ,I along with Tania are poss considering having ago .Any thoughts or comments wellcome please.

http://www.naturalinstinct.com/

If I do I will be terrified of them choking on anything.
 
Hi, we tried it! I stopped buying it after finding out it had apple seeds in it (I questioned them about this and they said that their vet had said it was fine...) I am, however, buying their "pure chicken" which is just bones and chicken (and supplementing with my own veg/oils/bones/etc). The dogs did very well on it, but I think it's an expensive way of doing raw...
 
The Nature's Instinct looks like the bones are ground into the food?

I do feed raw chicken thighs -- won't feed wings having had two close to emergency situations with wings. I really remain uncertain about bones though -- I know a vet who was very distressed a few months back when I saw her, because a patient of hers had died very painfully from a rectal rip from raw meaty bones -- a large breed dog fed on a BARF diet by the breeder, very experienced BARF feeder. She said the death was long and painful and extremely distressing with no choice but to pts the dog. She herself was clearly deeply upset and says she would never recommend BARF as she's seen too many emergency cases and deaths.

So please do weigh up the risks of raw bones -- I've yet to hear of a dog choking to death on kibble (the example regularly offered as a counter) but now know of a few dead from RMBs and have been near rushing to the emergency room twice myself. Will only give thighs with lots of meat, once every two weeks.

I'd like a commercial raw with ground bone but nothing like that is sold over here.
 
This is similar to what I feed my dog

My dog (Im in the US) eats Nature's Variety (http://www.naturesvariety.com/raw) and Primal Raw foods (http://www.primalpetfoods.com/) which is also a premixed raw meat diet. The bone is ground into the food, you cannot even see it so the risk of choking is not an issue ( I do not give mine raw bone, I've tried offering it to her but she is not interested). She does wonderful on it.
 
Hi

I think i will try it ,after reading up on apple pips it seems only a very large amount would have any effect and I will filter it as served .As far as the amount per dog goes with this and going by 2% app of dog weight and erring on the cautious side I am thinking of

Poppy 2 x 75 gr daily
Daisy 2 x 70 gr daily
Rosie 2 x 70 gr daily
Lily 2 x 60 gr daily

So I reckon a 10 kg bag will last about 20 days at an av order of £50 -£60 a time ,so as Nannette says its not cheap ,but I wont be buying loads of veg and it should cut down on the amount of fertilizer they produce so I will save a fortune in poop bags alone .But serious like karlin I am scared stiff of them getting a bone stuck but these seem to grind their bones so that shouldn't be a problem ,but I don't think I could feed them chiken wings and stuff like that.
Plus I am ordering direct from a fish supply company who catches his fish one day and delivers fresh to you the next ,so I will order some whitebait and precooked fish cocktail of green lipped mussel ,calamari and peeled prawns as something else to spice up their food away from boring biscuits and vegetables .
So we will try it ,any other guidance pls from anybody.
 
With regards to amounts, Bella (who weighs about 7kg) had 75g (twice a day), Zara (who weighs 9.3kg)had 80g twice a day and Kizzy who is 11.3kg had 100g twice a day. We also filtered the apple seeds out, but I was still concerned... Be prepared for maybe a day of loose poos when you first switch (!) but since then, ours have done fine. Edited to say: yes the bones are ground into the food.
 
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Brian,

I met these people on their stand at Crufts. Personaly I think it's very expensive, you could try prize choice raw meats or forthglade - they work out at around 89p for a 1lb block. The meats have ground bone in them too - although I was (& still do) give raw chicken wings or thighs for their teeth.
http://www.prizechoice.co.uk/ - avalible in pets at home stores & other pet shops

Sparky (now 8.3kgs) ate a 3rd of a pack a day with a few raw veggies along side. I dont feed it anymore as I had to drive up to Northern Ireland to get this food so it was costing me a fortune in petrol & tolls & wasnt worth it.
 
Hi kizzys mum

If any do have loose poos shall I just persevere ,and you you just switch over or shall I lead in with say 50/50 for a couple of days.:)
 
We just did a straight switch, kibble for dinner one day, then raw for breakfast the next. I would just persevere, but maybe change over on a day when you're at home!
 
Molly has been eating fresh ground veg/fruit and chopped wing. Dougall & Dotty eat Royal Canin with a bit of veg and chopped chicken wing. I have still been having problems with the dreaded anal glands....
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I have now reduced the amount of Royal Canin, increased the fruit and veg but introduced sardines and whitebait (Brians Suggestion). I have also included a little bit of natural yoghurt. Unitil a few days ago there were definately one or two suspicious looking poohs!
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Today, the poohs are looking good.

As far as the wings are concerned, I will still feed them once/twice per week, I chop them up because greedy Molly swallowed one whole, she brought it back up immediately we were lucky!
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Hi

Thanks Kizzys Mum

But I think if theres sloppy ones about I will change over on a weekday when I am at work ,as Dawn is at home full time to look after them.:)
 
Hi

My BARF book arrived that Kizzys mum advised so I shall have a good read tonight .The girls are doing fine on their 50/50 mix though I still haven't the courage to try chicken bones but I did buy two neck bones from Natural Instinct which are still in the freezer but they seem much too big for our little Cavaliers ,look more like somebody's left leg ,so I doubt if any of mine could even lift them never mind eat them .:eek:

I phoned Natural Instinct for some guidance and spoke to a very helpful guy who when I asked about chicken bones told me he was just sending an email answering the same question to Sky T V who are doing a programme about Pets and Their Problems and N.I. have been assisting them .Not sure if its a series or a one off but they think its for broadcast next month ,and one of their tasks was to help a windy Pug who was cured after a month of their natural Barf .And Lily ate her two little pieces of calamari ,one king prawn and one green lipped mussel.:)
 
I feed Primal Pets frozen raw dinner occasionally, when Sophie is going to be boarded. It's got some ingredients that help hold the stuff together better. What I feed her most of the time is Oma's Pride frozen raw dinners. That brand has less stuff in it like herbs, etc., that I'm not sure a dog needs. IN our case, Sophie has so many allergies, I figure let's keep her possible triggers to a minimum.
Here's the web site, and you can see the list of ingredients. Very simple recipe, and what you see listed on their site is what's in the package.
http://www.omaspride.com/products.htm

Prices here run approximately $3 to $4/lb for the frozen pre-mixed raw food. Scroll down from the link above and you'll see the pricing, plus there is shipping to add on.

I can't buy raw meat much cheaper than that, then the cost of some veggies, all the labor of mixing, etc. and I don't have a large freezer space for buying in bulk. I only have the one dog, and she gets roughly 7 ounces per day, so we won't have to sell the homeplace any time soon. If I had four dogs, I'd have to do it differently.
 
Natural Instinct have now brought out a "working dog" food, which looks very similar to the chicken variety, with chicken, bone, veg and supplements. The price for 40kg is £84 instead of the £98 chicken variety (presumably due to the lack of VAT).
 
We spend hours checking different diets for our dogs, making sure they get everything they need, now here is a little story.
I look after Maltese Terrier called Bertie, he is 13 years 8 months. Since the age of 14 weeks he has been fed on Marks & Spencer's Honey Roasted Chicken:eek:
Nothing else, no biscuits, no treats. He is not fat or skinny does not have any health problems apart from a few stiff joints for which he gets Metacam. So whats right or wrong?
Food for thought.

Nanette
 
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