BARF ~ (No, not what you're thinking!)

Cafe Society
1

Now, now. Just let me explain.

I’m talking about the Biologically Appropriate Raw Food diet for dogs and cats. (Also called Bones and Raw Flesh.)

Here’s a linky: Barfworld

Has anyone tried this with their own pets? If so, were the results worth the efforts? I’m hoping to get a dog in the near future and was recommended this diet for the breed. I’m trying to get as much feedback as I can.

My first topic! Be gentle. :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance.

2

You’re right. I was thinking of “Barfolomew”.

3

Not really sure if this is the right forum, but my $0.02:

We have two cats, Powdered Donut, and Kuroneko. When we first got Neko, he vomited fairly regularly, and his stool was more rancid than normal. I took him into the vet to figure out what was wrong (fearing FIP, which took our kitten Giuseppe from us a days before he was 6 months old). Neko was diagnosed with having a food sensitivity. He can’t digest corn, or any grain, really, so we went with the BARF diet. We feed him chicken gizzards, chicken wings, ground beef, tuna with water (oil upsets his stomach), and other meats. We give him Energel, a dietary supplement. He enjoys it, but then, he’ll eat damn near anything…

Donut, on the other hand, is another story. She won’t eat much of anything, but we think she’s just picky. She doesn’t have symptoms of anything, believe me, we have done so much research after we lost Giuseppe. But it’s not entirely too surprising, as the transition BARF diet is difficult to make. Many cats and dogs don’t go for it. They just can’t take the change in diet.

So some tips:

Take it slow. Your pet might not take to the diet right on.

Experiment. Neko will eat just about anything, but not everything. We tried liver, to improve his coat, but he surprisingly wouldn’t eat it. Just try different things.

In addition to a balanced diet, add supplements and vitamins to make up for the nutrients this diet may lack. Premium commercial foods have all the vitamins and minerals and other things that a natural diet may lack, so make up for what may be missing.

The BARF diet continues to be a success with Kuroneko, but not with Donut, so YM obviously MV.