# BEST Raw Meaty Bones



## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

Tell me what you have found to be the BEST RMBs -- how often do you feed them and what else do you feed your dog(s) besides the RMBs?

THanks!


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

We feed pork riblets the most. Second to that I like cutting up whole chickens for them. Thighs and drumsticks are great and pretty cheap at the supermarket. We get our riblets by the case at a raw dog food specialty shop in our area, and we can get a case of fryers at Sam's wholesale. We also feed ground organ mixes, consisting of liver, kidney, etc. which we get from the raw food shop, already ground up in containers. 

We feed exclusively raw, so they get RMBs every day. We feed organ meat and tripe pretty often, too. It's all about balance over time, so they get high-bone RMBs like necks sometimes, too.

--Q


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Thanks Quossum. I was thinking that it would be good to feed the rmb every day too. But am paranoid I'll be giving too much bone compared to meat for my tiny dogs. If I give a thigh, I must cut off a little of the meat because I think it's too much for my teensy dogs. So then the ratio right there looks to be about half/half meat and bones. So then I've been not feeding bone every day and giving just meat and some other stuff. What's your opinion? I think every day would be best for their teeth. I'm really concerned about crappy teeth and gum disease. (I don't know if you saw my thread but I've just begun giving this a try again so you more experienced people are great to share) And I do understand (finally) that it isn't something to worry about every day but over some time....that balance and ratio of things. But if I give a rmb every day, is that too much bone? Remember, my dogs are 4, 6 and 10 lbs. 

I appreciate this thread Nifty. :adore:


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## Deblakeside (Oct 2, 2015)

Nifty, I also appreciate this thread. I have some of the same concerns about rmb size portions and the ratio of meat to bone as pb. Quossom, thanks for your info. I'd liked to find some of this premixed organ meat. It sounds convenient.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

Watch their stool. If you are giving too much bone it will get white and crumbly. That is your sign that they are getting too much bone. In that case back off on the amount of bone and increase the amount of meat. 
Something I don't see folks mentioning is the fact that while not as cheap Cornish hens are a nice option for toys as the bones are smaller and you can cut them up into almost toy size pieces...


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I give mainly halved chicken wings, but occasionally chunks of lamb spine (very high in bone, though), and pork or lamb riblets. The mince mix I use has 10% bone, so if they have a very high bone meal I balance it out with boneless chicken or other meat, eggs, etc. I have been told that the biggest impaction problems come with dogs that are fed a regular diet of kibble and then given an occasional bone - I don't take risks, though, and err on the side of caution!


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

Yes, Poodlebeguiled and Deblakeside, the concern over the ratio of bone is the most vexing problem for me, too. With the whole animal grinds, of course the bone is already in there, and so I hesitate to add a RMB at the next meal because of too much bone content in the overall diet. So I buy up meat grinds on sale at the local grocery to offer with (or at the same day) RMBs. It's a concern though, for me, too. My main reason for going raw was for dental care - even with brushing, Dulcie's teeth were just not as clean and white as I was hoping. My last dog had terrible periodontal issues and I really want to avoid that for Dulcie. 

SO pork riblets -- how many at a meal for a 40 pound SPOO? And what about beef ribs? Too hard or OK? 

If I give a quarter chicken (i.e. leg and thigh) for a meal, is that safe? These are often on sale.


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

One other question! I have yet to feed raw eggs. I just don't know how to go about it. Do you actually just put the whole raw egg in the feeding bowl? Do you crack the shell a bit first? Grind it all up first? I worry about bits of shell causing an issue.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Here's some info on bone/meat ratios. I used chicken and turkey. I tried pork neck bones, but the dogs had difficulty chewing them and I was afraid they'd choke, so we eliminated those. I did feed whole dressed rabbit from the meat market, but at $4/pound, a 3pound rabbit was a special treat.

Chicken
Whole chicken (not including head and feet) 25%
Back, meat and skin 44%
Breast, meat and skin 20%
Drumstick, meat and skin 33%
Thigh, meat and skin 21%
Leg quarter, meat and skin 27%
Neck, meat and skin 36%
Neck, meat only 75%
Wing, meat and skin 46%
Wing, meat only 68%

Turkey
Whole turkey 21%
Thigh 21%
Drumstick 20%
Wing 37%
Neck 42%
Back 41%

Pork
Feet 30%
Tails 30%
Ribs 30%

Beef
Ribs 52%

Rabbit
Whole rabbit (fur and all) 10%
Whole (dressed) 25-30% (I think, but I'm not sure, that dressed means no fur, no feet, no head, no entrails)

As for eggs, I fed them raw, minus the shell. I've seen some discussion about raw eggs decreasing the amount of biotin (I think) that's absorbed, but it was debatable whether that mattered, so I decided it didn't. You can use ground-up eggshell for calcium, but I don't know how to figure that.


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks Judy, this is REALLY helpful! I am guessing that the per centage after each item is the % of bone in that cut?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I tried mine with raw egg once... It took me forever to get their ears clean so they now get them cooked!


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## West U (Jul 30, 2014)

Our dogs get 1 raw frozen turkey neck cut into 1 inch lengths twice a day. Gets the teeth pearly white. And chicken breast cut up in one inch squares (I don't even do this for my family!) They also get 1 cup of Purina One Smart Blend Turkey & Venison. I agree with the other posts about going slow and spreading it out.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

nifty said:


> One other question! I have yet to feed raw eggs. I just don't know how to go about it. Do you actually just put the whole raw egg in the feeding bowl? Do you crack the shell a bit first? Grind it all up first? I worry about bits of shell causing an issue.



I'll do that sometimes, other times I'll have them clean up one that got dropped on the floor, or I'll throw one out to them in the yard after collecting eggs for the day. What's really fun is watching them try to open one that is just slightly cracked. Mine will not actually eat the shell, they will lick it out and then crunch it all up and leave me an eggshell mess to clean up.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

nifty said:


> Thanks Judy, this is REALLY helpful! I am guessing that the per centage after each item is the % of bone in that cut?


Right.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I think I read that the biotin issue was mostly with puppies. I have always scrambled eggs for mine. Yesterday I put some eggs into the Vita Mix, shells and all with a small handful of green beans and let 'er rip. At 250 mph that machine turned that mixture into a smooth, creamy drink that could be mixed into some meat or poured into a glass like a smoothie. Okay, this is getting gross. :ahhhhh: I can see how disgusting their ears could get. Mine have short ears so that doesn't happen. But other things happen. lol....like probably salmonella on their feet and who knows where else from anchoring the chicken down so they can get the meat off. 

Nifty, when I was attempting this some years back, with my Dobe I threw an egg, shell and all in his bowl. I think I cracked it for him. But then I worry a little about how sharp the shell pieces are so now I'm pulverizing the whole thing. Or is that's too much trouble, you can ask around and see if most people just give the shell or you could just skip the shell. But it does have good calcium and stuff in it.

Judy, that's very helpful. Thank you for posting.

Spindledreams...I noticed that white poo and it came from my white Poodle. It was very dry and so that's when I stopped giving them bone for a day and a half and it returned to more normal. That kind of worried me. Now I'm giving them another bone right now...a thigh again. Maybe a mid morning meal of something to losen them up? I don't want them to get fat though. hmmm. Maybe just a spoon of the mixed up veggie mixture? Oh, this is kind of a balancing act, isn't it.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

We feed our Italian Greyhound (about nine pounds strong) on this diet as well, or at least we did until she lost most of her teeth. IGs have notoriously bad teeth, and despite the raw diet for her entire life and dental care, she was no exception. Now she eats mostly Honest Kitchen and some organ mix. (She's 13 now.)

I know there are a lot of people on the Dog Food Forums who feed exclusively raw to tiny toys, so it can definitely be done.

We feed raw egg sometimes. I usually crack them and put the whole thing (shell and all) in their bowls. Also sardines--they love sardines!

--Q


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Speaking of eggs...I read somewhere that the shells should be ground into a powder or they may not be able to utilize them well. I use my Vita mix for that. 

Another thing I came across just today prodded me to turn up the speed on looking for a local farmer who has better stuff. This article spooked me! I don't know if it's all true or not. But creeeeeepy! :afraid: Now, when I grind up egg shells just to have some spare calcium on hand for Jose` who can't chew up bones, I boil the egg shells for a good 30 minutes. (sometimes it goes longer because I forget about them.):afraid: And then they dry on paper towels all day and night. Then they go in the Vita Mix. So, probably some of that stuff they talk about goes away. But I'm not sure. Anyhow, here's the article:


Why You Don?t Want to Buy Organic Eggs at the Grocery


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