Meaty mice anyone??

[Pumpkin]

We have been feeding raw for a while now and the difference in the dogs is amazing (esp Lily's bottom smells!) so really want to continue but lately they have become very fussy!!!
Natures Menu was a winner for a long time but that has fallen out of favour now. We have just tried Laverstock which is being tolerated!
I was wondering if anyone buys raw from anywhere that does Mince that looks like mince (worms rather than mush). If I am feeling generous and share some of our mince before I cook it for a spag bol they LOVE IT!! I think they want something meatier rather than mushier.

Any recommendations very gratefully received

[zeta1454]

Although we do not use it with ours now, we did try Wolf Tucker raw food for a while and that certainly was less mushy than Nutriment or Natural Instinct. All food goes down well with our minis - they will eat pretty much anything at all. I did like the look of WT but they only do small boxes and it would have worked out very costly for eight dogs.

I think Maty feeds Wolf Tucker to her two so she may be able to confirm if it is better consistency.

[Pumpkin]

Thanks - I'll have a look at WT.

[Robert Lockwood]

I've been looking to add variety to our dogs diet ( we feed Natural instinct) and I was led to a company called The Dogs Butcher and they do completes in various flavours and it does look chunky in consistency... they are in the South west and they have resellers all over ....I noticed that you're in the South East and there is a reseller called Davids Doggie dinners that delivers in your area they stock lots of other completes too including Natural Instinct and would be worth a look as you could have small amounts of different branded food all delivered from one central point which cuts down on delivery costs and gives you more chance of finding a food that suits.

[jacdales]

I buy 2kg bags of frozen mince from local pets at home or pet planet I defrost over night and they get that with some frozen cooked veg they also get turkey necks and natures menu cubes which have everything in them.
I like the cubes I can count out how many they're not to smelly and the dogs love them.

Our vet prefers cooked meat for sick dogs and they buy bags of chicken fillets from Tesco I checked it out when Hamish had a tummy upset I also found in their frozen range value chicken wings and drum sticks which works out cheaper than pet shops I never thought about their bags of frozen mince I will have to price it now.

[Judi Ibbotson]

Robert, to give Gem a bit of a change I buy fresh sprats from tesco, Gem loves them only £3 a kg they last a long time. Pumpkin, if I can get it diced beef or chicken from Farm foods/Iceland for a change..

[Nika C]

Natures menu was too mushy here as well, and alot of it seems to be 'cut' with other meats eg the rabbit block is rabbit and chicken, no good if you're trying to steer clear of particular things! We have alot of nurturing by nature for chicken and we have their venison, always like manifold valley meats for non-poultry minces (their poultry also a touch mushy) and chunks.

[zjg3]

We have had some DAF minces which are a good consistency, and MVM but the bone ratio varies a lot so you have to use a calculator to get your 10% bone or just give a few bone free meals to compensate. I buy liver and kidney at local supermarket, chop small then freeze so I can get a daily amount out. Then I use a mix of chicken wings, chicken necks and pork or lamb ribs for bones, and minces for non bone meat. Frozen sprats are cheap and good as well (Morrison's are good for these). I do have a bag of chicken feet but keep forgetting they are there. It isn't complicated to do your own, just remember to give a variety of protein types. I want to source more meaty bones though as Basil needs a good chew to keep his teeth clean. Even on raw they are terrible if I don't clean them regularly.

[Robert Lockwood]

I've taken delivery of 'The Dogs Butcher' complete minces and I can confirm the one I'm defrosting at the moment (ox mince with chicken 80% meat 10 % bone 10% offal ) is very chunky and taking forever to defrost which usually means there's no added or excess water....the other mixes look just as chunky in their frozen state too.