• See Feeding - Amounts and Frequencies for information and a handy Feed Calculator to help you determine how much raw food to feed your particular companion animal.
  

• Also see Calcium to Phosphorus Ratio or the individual boneless meat product descriptions to see how we proportion food components to bring the Calcium to Phosphorus in boneless meats into balance.
  

• To reduce cost of raw food, you can substitute any of the exotic meats (i.e. Bison, Venison, Quail, Pheasant, Salmon, etc.) with whole-prey Beef, Chicken or Turkey and White Fish and/or you can substitute with one or two more Beef Tripe meals into the weekly menu. The important thing is to get your carnivorous companion on a raw animal protein diet! You will still be providing your loved one a good variety of nutritious food and you can spoil them with the exotic meats every now and then just like you treat yourself to lobster or a top choice filet every once in a while. See estimated costs below.
  

• Cutting the 1 lb. frozen meat into suitable portions is easy. Place the chub bag on a cutting board for 15 to 20 minutes. The meat will still be frozen, but with a heavy serrated knife and a little muscle you will be able to cut through to make your portions (as small as 1/8 of a lb., if necessary). Package the portions in freezer-safe bags and place back in freezer immediately.
  

• With the exception of Beef Tripe, cats also will eat most of what is listed in this Menu. However, many cats just do not like Beef Tripe. Cats seem to prefer the Rabbit, Fish, the Poultries, Mouse and Beef.
  

• In addition to ground whole-prey, include edible meaty bones in your cat's weekly diet (i.e. poultry necks and Rabbit Chunks) and supply additional Taurine with a few poultry hearts or equivalent amount of beef heart every day. Raw meat and especially heart and Mouse supply Taurine, but it may be slightly depleted in the freezing process. You cannot overdo Taurine and cats must consume it in their food. It is so essential to their health that even with a raw diet including weekly heart and Mouse we advise also supplementing your cat's diet with about 150 mg. of pure Taurine daily.
  

• Dogs will also benefit with the inclusion of calcium-packed edible bones (poultry necks) in the weekly diet, but don't go feeding several meals of poultry necks a week. Too much calcium can also be detrimental. We offer our dogs poultry necks as a snack, not a whole meal. You can substitute a whole-prey meal with a poultry neck meal during the week if your pet tolerates the high percentage of bone found in necks. Too much bone in one meal can cause overly hard stool and discomfort for the animal. Start with half portion of the meal in necks and see how they tolerate it before doing an entire meal of necks.
  

• Organ meats are included in the Carnivores Whole-Prey ground meats and adding a little extra organ meat in the weekly diet is okay. Extra heart for example is a great way to supply added Taurine for the cat, the giant breed, or any pet with heart issues. However, organ meats are very high in Iron, Phosphorus and fat-soluble Vitamin A. These nutrients are important to good health, but in reasonable quantities, not excessive quantity.
  

• Gullet and Trachea, as well as Chicken Feet, are both all-natural sources of whole-foods for joint health support. They are excellent additions to the weekly diet.
  

• Including fish in the weekly diet provides essential Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Most dogs, and especially cats, love raw fish. However, some (particularly dogs) won't eat the fish raw. If this is the case, offer canned sardines and fish. Select the ones that are packed in water (with no preservatives) and rinse the canned fish to remove excess salt before feeding.
  

• The veggie we use is our Veggie Puree Recipe. It is fed in a small quantity. For example: our dogs eat 1 1/2 lbs. of raw food twice daily and we add 3/4 - 1 Tbsp. of Veggie Puree to one of their meals a day. We do not include any starches (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams etc.). or starchy vegetables (winter squash, beets, peas, parsnips, etc.). Starches can interfere with the carnivore's digestion and assimilation of vital amino acids and other nutrients.
  

• The Chew - RKB is a raw (Recreational) Knuckle Bone. You do not have to offer a chew every night, but it is a natural instinct of the carnivore to chew and grind and it offers them many benefits (including getting the gastric juices flowing). Our dogs will usually enjoy working at the chew for 10 to 15 minutes after their meal and be satisfied. Try to at least offer the raw Knuckle Bone two to three times a week.
  

• When we offer a snack at lunch time we feed a slightly smaller amount at the breakfast meal (i.e. for our big guys, 1 lb. for breakfast instead of 1 1/2 lbs. and then a 1/2 lb. as a lunch snack). Note: The chicken Feet snack would be fed in smaller quantity (1/2 oz. to 4 oz. depending on your pet's weight).
  

• Many dogs and some cats will skip a meal every so often. We notice our dogs tend to do this once a month or so. We put the food out and they have no interest, refrigerate, wait an hour, try again, and still no interest. They are happy and energetic (no signs of distress/illness) they are just not interested in that meal. We have come to realize this may just be a natural instinct for the carnivore- to fast, to give their digestive systems a rest. Remember, wolves and wild cats eat in huge quantity at the time of a kill and then may not eat again for 2 or 3 days or they will eat small prey a few times a day. We are replicating the wild carnivore's diet to the best of our ability and we feel fasting is good for people and animals. We trust that our animals instinctively know if they need to give their bellies a rest. We simply put the food in the refrigerator and they eat their next meal 12 hours later with zest! Note: Cat's and miniature dogs should not go without food for more than 24 hours. If this occurs contact your veterinarian.
  

• Supplements are optional and up to your personal preference. We feel with a wide variety of whole, raw animal proteins including bone and organ meat our animals don’t need synthetic supplements. They are getting unadulterated amino acids and natural vitamins and minerals from the foods they eat. However, we do strongly recommend a daily dose of Omega 3 Fatty Acids for all animals and a daily dose of pure Taurine for cats. 

                                 Weight                        Weekly Cost of Raw Diet
                                                                  (Based 2% of body weight)
               
                                  12 lbs.                                     $8.00
                                  25 lbs.                                   $16.00
                                  50 lbs.                                   $32.00
                                  75 lbs.                                   $48.00
                                100 lbs.                                   $64.50
                                150 lbs. plus                            $96.00

Raw feeding the Standard Menu is comparable if not less expensive than feeding a premium (considered high quality) canned food. Premium canned dog foods cost an average of $2.85 per 12.5 oz. can and manufacturers feeding instructions state 1 to 1 1/2 ounces per pound of body weight a day. This recommendation has a 25 lb dog eating at least 25 oz. of canned food a day! At nearly 2 cans per day the cost is about $5.00 daily or $$35.00 a week. Even if you say a 25 lb dog won’t eat that much canned food and you fed only half the recommended amount at only one can a day, the cost would be $17.50 a week. Feeding your furry-loved one a much healthier raw diet is the same cost!  

Keep in mind that animals fed nutrient dense, highly absorbable raw food need less volume of food to be satisfied because raw animal protein contains much more biologically available calories. In short, they are utilizing what they eat and are not just passing through the indigestible proteins and fillers found in processed foods.

To further reduce cost of Standard Menu: For those who have large breeds or multiple pet households and like most people these days are on a tight budget, simply substitute some of the Rabbit, Goat, and Mutton with the lesser expensive Beef Tripe and whole-prey Beef, Chicken or Turkey. This will reduce the above cost by 10% to 15%, bringing the cost in line with a medium priced processed food. This diet will still provide variety and far surpasses the nutrient value found in any processed food.

Example:  one of our customers with a 125 lb dog was feeding him a premium dry dog food at a cost of $80.00 every 10 days. The dry-kibble, which is devoid of usable nutrition, was costing her $240.00 a month. She now feeds 100% natural raw diet for $236.00 a month and her dog now has more stamina and is yeast and allergy symptom free!

In addition, you definitely need to take into consideration other annual savings: Most likely several visits to your veterinarian, time lost from work, and medications – approximately $300 to $700 a  year. In the example given above, in a 14 month period, this particular companion animal guardian  had spent over $1200 in vet bills attempting to diagnose and treat allergies, yeast infections and hot spots! 

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