Wondering where the crispy white dog poo from your childhood went?
I was surprised to learn recently that people believe it is because dog food used to be made with large amounts poor quality bone meal, which was a result of the dog food industry using cheap waste products from the meat industry, and resulted in excess calcium that turned dog poo white.
I don’t know who needs to hear this but… it still is made from bone meal! They still use cheap waste products from the meat industry!
In Australia we just call it “meat meal,” but it absolutely has bone in it too and the renderer’s association makes no distinction between “meat meal” and “meat & bone meal.” Its high calcium content is why no dry dog food will have more than around 30% meat meal, because this would push the ash content over acceptable levels.
What has change is the fibre content. Enter candy bar companies, stage left.
Modern day dry dog food is absolutely LOADED with fibre (as high as 15%!!!), often in the form of things like beet pulp, which is a waste product from beet sugar. Beet sugar makes up around 30% of the world’s sugar production, so that’s a lot of beet pulp to get rid of. Historically it was used as cattle feed, but increasingly it’s being touted as a “superfood” for dogs.
In reality, kibble fed dogs now produce 3 x more poo than fresh fed dogs, and studies have linked both high fibre levels and beet pulp specifically to decreases in nutrient absorption in dogs.
What do your dog’s turds look like?
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#petnutrition #dogfood #dognutrition #petfoodmatters #petfood
Any other raw feeding Mums out there hanging on by a toast crust? 🫣
#rawfeedingcommunity #mumlife #toddlermum #rawfeedingaustralia
Have you defrosted your pet’s food?
I am SO BAD at remembering to defrost our dog’s raw food. I don’t mind because it means I feed them once a day more frequently, which is good for their health (see our previous post about this), but it usually means I have to defrost it quickly during the day, and I live in the tropics 🥵🪰 #rawfeederproblems #rawfeederlife #rawfeedingcommunity
The other day we posted a recipe for Clare’s favourite greens blend, and the best part is you can easily grow a lot of really nutritious herbs and edible plants that will elevate your pet’s bowl, without breaking the bank.
You don’t need heaps of space either, most herbs will grow happily in a window box, so long as they have decent soil and some sun. If you have a veggie garden, they’re great gap fillers, or you can grow them in pots outdoors.
I’m lucky enough to have some elevated veggie gardens in our back yard, so I fill the gaps with herbs and leafy greens that I share with our dogs, plus I have a large pot by the front door for quick access to herbs when I’m cooking.
Herbs are something you can grow pretty easily from seed, either on a wet cotton bud and then transferred to dirt once they germinate, or just directly into the dirt (this is what I would do). You can get cheap seeds at Bunnings for about $2, or if you want to really harness the magic of nature (and avoid gross corporations), find a mate with established herbs and ask them to save some seeds when they flower. Right now is a good time to do that! My parsley is currently seeding.
🌱 You can grow any culinary herb for pets except the onion family, which includes chives. Great options are parsley, mint, oregano, rosemary, thyme or dill.
🥬 Leafy greens are super easy to grow and you can mix it up for different nutrients and according to your preferences - try silverbeet, spinach, kale, rocket, lettuce or rainbow chard. If you grow beetroot or carrots, you can feed the leaves to your pets and limit waste.
🌾 Sprouts and grasses are so simple to grow, you can even do it in a jar. I regularly grow alfalfa but you can try wheatgrass, barley grass, broccoli sprouts or mung beans. Just rinse daily and make sure they stay damp.
🪻 Edible flowers can be a fun way to add nutrients and a bit of pizzazz to both the garden and their bowl - some pet safe
Wow holy Black Friday Batman, thank you from the bottom of this very small business owner’s heart for the incredible support you’ve shown us over the last 4 days.
Unfortunately as a result we’ve sold out of a few things 🙈 Wild blend is completely sold out and we are down to our last few of some other items, so if you’ve been dragging your feet on the sale, my advice is don’t! We do have a production run in the works but it won’t be complete until later next week or possibly the week after, so we won’t be restocking anything during the sale period.
Grab your goodies at 20% off while stocks last! And don’t forget, orders over $200 get a free emu oil (but you MUST add it to cart) and Australian orders over $150 include free shipping 💌 sale ends Midnight this Sunday (technically not a Black Friday sale but I lost my calendar - true story)
Thank you again to every single customer - past, present or future - from this family to yours 🫶🏼
Feeling the pinch coming into the holiday season? Relateable.
This is a generous meal of around 335g for my 20kg kelpie, Pip.
150g chicken mince: $1.20 reduced to clear
100g salmon frames: 30c
30g lamb liver: 20c
1 chicken egg: free (or 50c)
5g Vital blend: 99c
Total cost: $2.69
Vital blend is our budget-friendly meal balancing blend, because there’s twice as many serves in a bag compared to our other blends. This is because it’s a stripped back formulation that contains no liver or calcium, so you’ll need to add these. Vital blend is ideal if you feed a ratio, 80/10/10 or BARF style homemade diet.
Organ meats and meaty bones are usually cheaper than muscle meat, so this blend is also a cost saver in the sense that your base proteins will be cheaper.
Bookmark this link for tomorrow when our Black Friday sale starts 🏴☠️
Do your dogs hover? Pip sits and drools while I meal prep their raw food, meanwhile Tex lies in his bed until he hears her scramble on the kitchen tiles when it’s ready. Work smarter, not harder.
#rawfeedersofinstagram #rawfeedingcommunity #rawfeedingaustralia #petfood #petnutrition #dogsofaustralia
Do you have a fusspot? Our freeze-dried meal balancing pet blends are all 90% or more animal protein based, with highly palatable ingredients that even the fussiest pets seem to love 🤤 don’t take our word for it! #petnutrition #petfood #rawfeedingaustralia #rawfedpets #fussydog #homemadedogfood
🤡 or, hear me out, feed cats a species appropriate diet and treat the most likely root cause. Cats are obligate carnivores who should be eating food that contains lots of water for kidney and urinary health 🥩🍗🐟🥚
This is your annual reminder that you don’t have to follow natural health protocols for your pets and avoid chemicals or “toxins” if it puts their life in danger.
I pulled a semi-engorged paralysis tick of Pippa’s head last night and am currently monitoring her for any signs of tick paralysis. Thankfully so far she seems fine, but if I hadn’t noticed it when I did, I hate to think what could have happened to my crazy, beautiful girl. She was not up to date with her preventative and I had been meaning to give it to her all week, but I kept forgetting. I also lost a chook this week, which makes me think she also may have succumbed to a tick (I use DE environmentally and the hen was very old). These guys are no joke and the weather is unseasonably warm, although it is tick season in Australia regardless of the warmth.
Do what is right for YOUR animal. I didn’t treat for ticks using chemical preventatives when I lived in a cool climate, but I do now because the risk of not doing it far outweighs the risk of doing it.
Do you use chemical tick preventatives?
