Frankenprey Rawfeeding

Frankenprey Rawfeeding

There are several basic ways of appropriately feeding our carnivore cats and dogs and there are acceptable variations within each. Here are your rawfeeding options:

Ground Whole Animals (includes muscle meat, bones, organs, cartilage, blood, and as many other parts such as the heads and feet in the case of fowl and rabbits that can be ground.)
Frankenprey (feeding a variety of parts of whole animals such as chicken quarters, lamb hearts, beef liver, chicken feet, buffalo kidneys, etc.)
Prey Model ( this is whole prey rawfeeding where whole animals such as whole unskinned, rabbits are fed. Other animals such as quail, chicken, fish, mice, duck, turkey, etc. are typical whole prey animals. Some larger dogs will tackle whole deer, hogs, lamb, etc. over a period of days ... some owners will cut the animal into "serving" sizes and feed until the whole animal is consumed.

I feed both frankenprey and prey model. Prey model foods that I commonly feed are whole rabbits, chicken, goat and lamb. When feeding frankenprey I am constantly thinking "whole animal" ... how do I get as many parts of a whole rabbit, chicken, lamb or whatever into them as I can ... not necessarily at one meal but over time, typically a week's time. However we feed we should always be striving for a week's worth of food consisting of 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ meat, 5% of which *must* be liver of some kind. These are approximates only! If you feed whole ground animals or prey model then you have less to think about in the way of percentages ... Ma Nature has worked that all out for you!

I preach variety, variety, variety! Feed as many different animals (including fish) either as ground whole animals, parts of animals or whole prey. Every animal has a different nutrient profile and feeding a variety will ensure your pet is getting everything he needs. I also believe that feeding a wide variety *may* help our pets not develop food allergies to particular animal proteins. Adding a quality fish body oil to every meal is not a bad idea either especially if you don't have access to grass fed animals.

When starting out with rawfeeding it can feel overwhelming. It is simpler than you think, though, once you understand the basic things outlined here. Always think "whole animal" when rawfeeding .... and that does not include vegetables or fruit and it does not mean making up recipes of any kind.

Some people argue that carnivores require some vegetables to equate to the plant material that may be found in the stomachs of whole prey. If you notice that when feeding a whole rabbit which is Mother Nature's "recipe" for whole nutrition there are not things like brocolli, canteloupe, or squash tucked away inside the rabbit. Typically a wild rabbit's diet consists of leaves, shoots, flowers, grasses and hay. When a wolf (our dogs are nothing more than domesticated grey wolves) eats wild prey they are not known for eating the stomach contents of their prey anyway. They will rip open the stomach and intestines and shake out the contents before consuming. This is well documented: http://www.rawfed.com/myths/stomachcontents.html

Some people do feed small amounts of vegetation for the purpose of roughage if their pet has a tendency for constipation and is not getting any fur roughage as a part of its meals. Some believe that vegetables/fruits add nutrients to their pet's diet that they would not get otherwise ... I disagree with this as science tells us that any nutrient that is found in plant material is found in a variety of the meat, bones and organs of whole animals, particularly ones that are grassfed. Others feed vegetables just because their dogs like them. Do vegetables hurt them ... no, I don't think so except in the case of certain digestive/pancreatic problems. Do they contribute to their nutritional needs ... maybe a little depending on what it is and how it is prepared. Dogs and cats lack the digestive enzyme that breaks down plant material so a piece of raw carrot is going to come out the other end just the way it went in. It is also believed that feeding vegetables and fruits may stress the pancreas as it throws out more enzymes in an attempt to digest these items. If you are feeding high carb fruits and vegetables then you are *feeding* the yeast your pet may have .... like chronic yeasty ears. This brings us to the argument as to whether our dogs are carnivores or omnivores. You know where I stand on this already :) http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html There is no debate as to the obligate carnivore status of the cat and therefore I have never understood adding vegetables to a cat's diet. This makes no sense to me whatsoever other than rare cases where the cat may need added roughage as mentioned above.

The chart below is not carved in stone ... it is approximate percentages. Don't get crazy with numbers and scales. That is not nescessary and will only stress you out. Some animals will need more bone, others will need more muscle meat and organs. Watch the poos of your pet ... hard, dry, white or constipated poos need less bone and more muscle and organ meat. Loose poos need more bone and less organ meat. Guideline: Bone hardens up the poos and organ meat loosens them up.

Many more articles on basic rawfeeding are here: http://mypetcarnivore.com/rawfeeding_basics.htm