FenTiger

I have become quite interested in feeding my dog/s raw food but at this point in time we are still in the UK and I am not sure if once we move over to Hungary will we be able to find the same raw food for our dog/s? The reason why I have been looking into this particular area of dog food is that I feel too much of the dog food sold by supermarkets is of low quality and are the leftovers from what is suitable for human consumption. I am member of Raw with Paws FB page and I keep thinking perhaps it is time to switch our dog/s diet to raw but don't want to switch if we are not able to find the same raw food in Hungary.
The reason I have put 'dog/s' is we are now down to one dog as our GSD had to be put down end of August after we came back from Hungary. She had been suffering from severe hip dysplasia for quite a long time and we realised it was time to let her go. She was 13 years 8 months old. I had to use a sling around her rear end to help her walk to the car. Once home lying on the floor she pooed herself and didn't think it would be fair on her to put her through this. We had already agreed if it got to this situation it would be in her best interests to let her go.

Peter_in_Hungary

Without knowing what you are feeding your dog it is difficult to know if it will be available here! However I would expect any dog to adapt quickly to a change of diet - just the same as we would moving from the UK to Hungary

Whilst you are right when you say a lot of pet food will be the left overs from human food production that does not mean it is bad, after all any animal that goes into the human food chain has been inspected and passed fit for consumption so any part considered unpalatable for us or 'left overs' will also be fit for consumption by us - we just choose not to eat it.

The butchers shops here sell things that you don't usually see in the typical UK butchers shop e.g lung and heart as they form part of some Hungarian dishes. Of course the amount of left overs will vary between different countries as those with a big tradition of charcuterie and sausages (Germany) will have less left overs than some others.

Jack_Russells4ever

I have a neighbor that feeds her dogs raw chicken parts, pork bones and other scrap type meats sourced from Aldi, Lidl and Tesco meat counters plus a couple of local butcher shops and very small amount of dry dog food, you should not have an issue finding raw type foods if that is your wish

PaulinEger

Most of the pet food shops that I'm aware of locally sell frozen raw dog food such as wild game, chicken heads and feet, duck tongues etc etc

hobgoblins

Interesting article today regarding raw dog food ....

​​​​​​https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...-harm-pet.html

FenTiger

I read this too. The FB Raw for PAWS disagree with this. Their advice is to freeze any raw food for two weeks before feeding to dogs. Most raw in UK seems to be delivered frozen.
Think I will wait until we are in Hungary before switching.

Peter_in_Hungary

Freezing will help but won't guarantee safety. Boiling will help more than freezing but also won't guarantee safety. As far as I can remember - from my contacts in the food industry at the time - the BSE crisis started when the animal feed processors reduced the processing temperature down to 120 degC to save energy. This was done with the agreement from the authorities after trials. Later BSE started to be a problem and the temperature was quietly put back up along with other changes that persist today. IMO processed dog food is probably safer than e.g. raw chicken that could contain salmonella or other pathogens.

Whilst on the subject of what dogs eat, we lost our Labrador due to secondary rat poisoning. We suspect that she ate a mouse that crept on to our property after eating rat poison. Cats are more susceptible to rat poison than dogs. So IMO dogs and cats are at a greater risk when they are out and about, even loose in your fenced garden, than they are from pet food from the supermarket.

FenTiger

When the dog/s are not well my wife feeds them boiled chicken. Friends of ours feed their dog leftovers from the table! My family used to do that and also my wife's family. I suppose if it's fit for human consumption it should be fit for the dogs to eat but not anything, i.e. chicken, whereby the bones are weaker and could splinter. To be honest I'm still learning about feeding dogs raw!

wolfi

German consumer magazine TEST reported that the standard dry food that we fed our dog with (after 16 years she left us ...) is the best - it contains all necessary minerals, vitamins etc.
Our neighbour also lost his tomcat to rat poison this summer - the cat was the twin brother of ours but obviously wasn't well fed, so he ate that rat or mouse.
Our tomcat is well fed - he sometimes brings us all kind of animals: mice (sometimes alive), birds (which he likes to eat), little snakes and also rats which he doesn't eat of course.
A hungry animal is always in danger ...
PS:
We always have some dry cat food (it's less than 1 € per kilo) outside in our wood shed for the poor neighbours' cats, some of which look really emaciated ...

Peter_in_Hungary

Chicken bones can splinter when raw but should be OK after cooking as this softens them.

Are you sure that they are the neighbours cats rather than feral cats which inhabit the area and stick close because there is an easy food source.

FenTiger

[QUOTE=Peter_in_Hungary;12749783]Chicken bones can splinter when raw but should be OK after cooking as this softens them.

Peter_in_Hungary

wolfi

Re the cats:
I'd call at least some of them "semi feral" - old people are having several cats, not neutered of course, and they can't feed them.
Some people here have a very strange relationship with their animals.

Peter_in_Hungary

In a village situation cats are useful to have around but not to own (i.e. have the responsibility of any vets bills) because they keep the mice population in check.
(horror story) I know one chap who always has a dog but has the opinion that anything more than the annual rabies jab is going to cost more than 5000 fts and at that point it is cheaper to get another dog !!

Oh and for FenTiger reply above I forgot to say that cooked chicken feet will be really tastey for dogs - try them once and see! (for the dog that is - perhaps after using them in the stock pot)

wolfi

Yes, Peter, I have to agree re treatments of animals. We got our dog from the gardener who worked for us as a baby and when I later asked about his sisters and the mother I was told that he had them shot because of some illness ...
Taking them to the vet would have been to expensive.
Luckily most people now treat their dogs alright - when we go to our vet in Keszthely there are always people waiting.
Re chicken feet and other bones:
My wife often buys a hen or a rooster from our neighbour - most of the parts go into making soup and the well cooked "maradek" are for the cats and dogs. Since we lost our dog to old age the neighbours' dogs can count themselves happy - whenever we walk by they're standing at thefence waiting ...