How I Got Burnt Out Raw Feeding My Pets
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- We've all gotten burnt out at one point or another when making our pets homemade meals, but these experiences are how we navigate to routines that work best for us! Some issues may feel like first world problems (I know mine sure did lol) but a lot of trial and error comes with making homemade diets!
So tell me, have you ever gotten burnt out? - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
Whenever I shop raw parts for my pets, I ALWAYS freeze them separated piece by piece using plastic baggies and baking sheets.
Once they are frozen, the next day, I place them all together by kind. For example all the frozen chicken wings in one bag.
Things like meat or cow liver, I will cut them in meal portion pieces and also freeze them separated the day of purchase, piece by piece as well.
So EVERYTHING is completely separate in manageable portions. That's why I don't meal prep perse. As all I do each night is take the meat, fish, meaty bones, organ meat & mussels that I will feed the next day and thaw them. Just the portion I need for the next day.
I only have the freezer part of my fridge unit. No extra freezer or anything and I shop weekly or biweekly. So this method allows me to raw feed my pets and keeps things simple and stress free just by doing all the prep work the day of purchase.
I’ve gotten burnt out a few times with raw feeding, it’s a lot of energy and work, and being a student does not make it easier. Now, I’ve recently gotten my excitement back and prepping is fun again. :)
Most raw feeders never discuss the amt of time & work or burnout of feeding raw. You were very honest & transparent. Happy to learn u got a grip on it. ❤
I feel you. I buy the meat and immediately cut it up into the meal sized chunks, then freeze in containers on parchment paper so they don't stick to each other. It's all portioned already, so I just pick out all the stuff for the next day to defrost overnight in the fridge each day. I also make it so I don't have to deal with more than 1 or 2 types of cuts or meats at a time, and preferably not many organs as my dog is small and this takes the longest. So I buy slowly and not everything at once. Portioning and storing all the meats and cuts separately before it gets frozen is key, that way you only have to defrost once and you can pick and mix. I variety feed too, but I buy different cuts and meats each time, and not everything all at once. At once, I have only 2-3 different meats, and once they're gone, I switch them. I constantly have beef, because of the excellent quality I can source, but then I switch between rabbit, quail, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, venison when they are gone. I still get overwhelmed because there's still work involved, but I guess it's as little as possible with raw feeding. I want to get some premade raw options too, so I can variety feed and get a break. I did once a meal prep, and that was fine, but it took much longer overall, and a pain to cut everything. Last tip, I cut organs with scissors, it's much less messy and easier to cut.
I too do exactly the same! Not freezing everything stuck together is key. I also use scissors for the organ meat.
I don't have a separate freezer and therefore could never be able to store meal containers for my cat and 65pounds dog.. they would just take up way too much space.
Yes I know a few raw feeders who do this (mainly with smaller pets) and I have been curious to try out that method as well!
@@PawsofPreyany thoughts on meal prep for 2 big dogs? Optimal container size? I’m approaching burnout.
I started the raw diet with ground chicken quarters, fruit, carrots, broccoli and peas.
Your videos have really helped me balance their diet. I now add kidney, chicken hearts, beef liver, chicken feet and pork.
Your instructional videos are great.
Those peta crazies heads just exploded
I am so glad you covered this topic, so relatable. I had to do a similar thing after I noticed I started getting burnt out when it came to prepping my cats raw food. It used to take us all day to make their food now it takes us a couple of hours. It's more often but I find it's nowhere near as stressful.
I found myself doing the same. I now do a combination of raw and dehydrated meals from my prep. I use to spend all day cutting grinding dehydrating but now I chose a day I will grind up all my meats, I mix everything that I have prepared , separating what I will feed daily in a weekly portion. The rest of the meal is stored in ziplock flattened for easy storing then I come back the next weekend and just spend some time dehydrating what I grounded up and mixed. I find this method a way that works for me. I was burnt out before but I remember what products are out there and the cost to buy them makes me work through my burnout. I love my pups so much that I can’t imagine ever stopping what I am doing. I am so happy that I found you Mariah on UA-cam. Thanks for all you do.
1.) Excellent production quality, and story line (as usual.) 😄
2.) I'm burnt out, right now. 😂 I'm going to go back to commercial raw, for a spell. In the meantime, I'll do some more learning. And I'll plan my recipes ahead, according to the seasonal availability of my preferred ingredients.
I'm new to raw feeding and the overwhelming feelings I get about making sure my dog's diet is balanced is real. I often think "what if a new study comes out and it turns out I've been missing a vital nutrient for my dog?" which sends me down a rabbit hole of researching more which only leads to more overwhelm. Pre made is so convenient but I just can't afford it regularly. What has helped me is trusting in my holistic vet. I trust that they know everything my dog needs and have her best interest at heart.
My way of thinking is. What I do is MUCH better than feeding kibble.
And my dogs look beautiful, soft, shining fur. We get compliments all the time.
One of them eats my mixture for 8 years now, never ill, always in a good mood, beautiful fur.
It isn't that complicated. Wild animals don't get that much variety. Even the wild animals that have options, typically only hunt one or two species.
Keep in mind that the "daily recommended values" are based on a dog eating a crappy kibble diet. A kibble diet full of anti nutrients that block the absorption of nutrients, requiring even more nutrients in order to be absorbed. So if you aren't feeding your dog fruits and vegetables and grains and processed crap, then you don't have to worry about the anti nutrients and your dog won't need nearly as much of the nutrients as the daily recommended values say.
Just do your best to feed meat, bone, and organs. Your dog will be fine. Everything your dog needs is in the meatc alone. The bone and organs are just icing on the cake.
"The drama," and then the cut to Matsu being discerning. That's true 🎭 theatre. 😂👏🏿
This is why I don't meal prep, I just Individually package ingredients when I get them and when it's time to make a meal I mix and match and just thaw a couple baggies
Wow, that is serious! I was just raw feeding two cats and got burned out. That is one reason why we haven't taken the leap to getting any more animals since our cats passed. I can't ever go back to commercial pet food now but I sure appreciate not having to grind my own whole chicken, duck and rabbit! That was a great video. You are quite a pet momma!
I do not do meal prep. I always have 3 proteins in my freezer at all times from this list: pork, chicken, turkey, beef. The proteins are portioned in 8-10oz cheap produce bags. I always have on hand a product called Xkaliber that has green tripe, organs and muscle meat. I always have meaty bones like pork necks, chicken backs, chicken qtrs and turkey necks portioned in 8oz to 16oz cheap grocery bags. My lab's daily meal, fed at night...is a protein, a meaty bone and the Xkaliber. I throw in an egg 3 times a week. I top with a fresh seed probiotic from Carna4. I give 2 frozen chicken feet and 2 frozen sardines to my lab every morning/afternoon. My way seems easiest for me and requires less thinking imo.
Thank you for talking about this! I thought I was the only one tbh.. but I’m glad to see even you went through it. I usually prep for two weeks worth.
I have just started raw feeding Zeus. These videos have helped so much. Good to know not to go too crazy buying food in advance. Thank you ❤
i think you would really benefit from looking into baby silicon food prep containers. they look like ice trays but with lids. each cube is 1oz each so you can deposit raw food in them and take them out when you need them.
I've been thinking about doing that! Just have yet to try.
Geez. That's very understandable! I can't even meal prep for my human family. I've been super burnt out on just cooking. I'm glad you figured out the right solution!
Wow it must have been so much work! I’m getting a dog soon and I want to feed them raw, but I live in an apartment with only a tiny freezer with 2 drawers, meaning I won’t be able to buy bulk, so I was planning to prep for 7 days too. I felt like it’s a bit of a bummer, but watching your video makes me realise it’ll be way easier on me to just spend the time equal to preparing a meal for my bf and myself once a week rather than spend several hours once a month on such a mammoth task. I’m glad you were able to catch yourself before you burned out completely!
I did not know much about channel b4 this but thanks for sharing and being honest about about the massive tasks that go behind "raw food feeding for pets". I'm sure this vid would also empathise and help those in the same boat as u.
Thank you so much! I really hope it's helpful to others
I've only just started raw feeding but I'm also neurodivergent and so if I don't create a system that last it's going to be problematic. I've been buying 1-3 cuts of meat at a time, and processing it when I get home. Then I bag similar meats together with portions for 1 week. I'm also not going in full throttle. So right now I'm just adding turkey necks, kidney, liver etc. to their kibble. I'm not exactly sure on ratios, so I'd love a video on that!
This happened to me last year and sometimes I feel that way now. I've been feeding raw the same time as you and I have now 4 cats... it's really exhausting when you have to work, do other things and so on. First I dedicated one day for meal prep for all of my little babies, but I ended up really tired. Finally, I decided to get a meat grinder and splitting days: one day for one cat for 30 days and that way is less overwhelming.
By the way, excellent video! I'm a vet that works in this area with my patients (nutrition) and I really love your channel! ❤
I have definitely been burnt out. Me trying to package meals individually ESPECIALLY killed it for me. It got absolutely insane. I'm so glad that a lot of commercial retailers and bulk-sale packaging places are starting to pop up more and more. That way, getting all the cool whole prey animals and parts was a "special" day. Having ground whole prey in deli containers was a game changer for me, and that way I had more room for the fun stuff! I can still find joy in meal prep, and not drive myself crazy.
I feel ya. Recently I was feeling that way. Fortunately I have access to a store that sells really good quality raw meat blends that all I have to do is thaw it and add a few elements to it to make it what my one kitty needs. So when raw meal prepping feels overwhelming, I have a fall back to give myself a break. Also I tend to only prep 2 weeks worth of food for her. Takes me two days to thaw cuz I have a dedicated cooler I thaw it in that I line with a trash compactor bag so all the juices go into the bag, not the cooler so less cooler clean up if any, then all the trash goes in there. I prep her meals on the front porch on a tile table. And having a great meat cleaver has sped up the prep work. I was everything in my bathtub afterwards but that takes little to no time. Plus I love getting my pre prepped raw food from my local pet store cuz they get things like antelope and venison and elk and Guinea hens and other wild game meats I have a hard time finding here in So Cal where hunting is not something many people do, unlike where I grew up in WA. But my local Mexican meat market has a lot of animal parts that are hard to find in other stores, like when I got an entire frozen pig head. They have every part of the animals. I just have to bring my friends who speak better Spanish than I do with me at times so they can help me talk to the butchers. My last meal prep I did was to take everything out of the freezer and thaw it and make meals from what I had and then make a run to the store to pick up anything I was missing. Turns out I didn’t need much. It felt so good to make her nutritious meals while emptying out the freezer. Though the store bought raw is good. I can tell she does much better and enjoys more the homemade stuff I make her. But it’s nice to have the store bought when I need a temporary break, like the past few months when my elderly mom was in the hospital and we had storms here and I got water damage to the house so had to pack up rooms and unpack as the damage was being addressed. I simply didn’t have the time or energy for meal prep. We need to give ourselves grace. My cat was fine with the store bought, but it made me smile when I was able to see her delighting over my homemade raw food and how much more energy she had feeding her my blend.
I have. Which led me to buying commercial raw food as a backup. I have since returned to homemade raw feeding and it's much easier for me now. I used to store the meat, organs, and meaty bones whole in their separate bags, which caused them to freeze together and required me to take the whole bag out and thaw to even meal prep. It always worried me if the ingredients would spoil from the number of times I had to thaw it out after each meal prep.
Now I cut up all the ingredients into slices and freeze them on a tray before transferring them in a bag. Yes, it takes more work to prep them for storage, but dang is it much more manageable when it comes to putting the meal together. It even saves me some freezer space since the pieces don't stick together and can morph into the space I need to fit them in, compared to the rock solid mass from before. Like you, I also reduced the number of days I prep for. I went from 30 days to a 14 day prep. I freeze the meals in a rectangle silicone mold before transferring them to a bag.
I wish there were many varieties of meats and organs here in Denmark! Hmm...I've been prepping Cleo's raw food for 2 years now, and I wouldn't say I've experienced being burnt out by it. I was mostly nervous about making mistakes like miscalculation, which I did more than a couple of times! I began with weekly preps, so the mistakes could be minimized. After I felt more confident, I do a 16- day meal prep. I allot 3 hours each time, and I play some lofi chill music. 😊 It helps me relax and enjoy what I'm doing. If and when I feel a bit lazy, I give her pre-made raw or good quality canned wet food for a few days. It adds some sort of variety in her diet as well. What I dislike most during meal preps, is the pain I feel from the frozen meats! I mix every ingredient together with my hands before I portion them. I don't like to thaw everything completely, because I have to re-freeze it. So, ouch ouch... but at the end of the day, what wouldn't I do for my pets! (I also have a hamster, and although I don't feed him raw food, he gets organic fruits, veggies, seeds and nuts apart from his standard hammie diet. ) 😊
I just started feeding Primal. It has everything in it & comes in nuggets or patties. They have both frozen & freeze dried for when I don't feel like thawing & makes vacation meals easy.
I completely relate to this. Nothing makes me feel happier than knowing that I'm feeding my hounds a balanced diet but in South Africa, lean meat is expensive and so buying it in bulk has been the modus operandi. The last meal prep for my two dogs took me 4 hours with my mother's help. HELP! XD Haha, she thinks I'm mad. It's a serious sacrific of time and energy.
I think I'm going to try and buy weekly, and prep in shorter bursts as you have and see how that goes.
Gosh, I only wish we had the variety of animal and organ meat you guys have over there!
Thanks for your awesome content, your channel is definitely my favourite to gain information on raw feeding.
I prep 7 days worth for my cats and I’m still feeling burnt out…I’m also kind of the opposite, I feel burnt out because I can’t source a wide variety of things. I feel bad because I can only feed them the same similar things often. I try to switch it up when I can, but there is nothing much to switch up from :(
Yeah same I feel like my dogs are tried of me. But it’s hard to find things when you live in the city and everything is so expensive.
I struggle with finding variety too. I feed a small along of fruits and veggies and try to always switch those up since there’s a huge variety available and it’s one way to fill nutritional gaps. I keep a list on my phone or what nutrients are found in what produce items. And even though it’s only about 5-10% or their diet I feel better knowing they get a rotation every week.
You're doing great
No false guilt
I understand that side of the spectrum, too! My burnout from having such a wide variety was more from my crazy addiction to taking it all since many were given to me for free. I guess that's more of a first world problem lol
@les3259 my husband and I have decided to move to Europe so we can have more money for our dog food. Also meat in Europe is more pure than in the states. My family live in Europe and they can tell a difference in food quality between USA and Europe. I just hope my baby will be healthy and live a long life.
I knew I'd get burnt out so quickly on this hence why I do a 7's prep as I call it, which is prepping enough food (usually one recipe) for 7 days and toss in the freezer, do that across several days until I have 7 x 7 boxes of prepped meals ready to thaw and feed (1 recipe twice per week). My doggy ends up with 28 weeks of food this way of wide variety.
Every time I get 7 boxes empty they get washed and a new meal is made, it's saved my sanity and helps because I have to buy meat in bulk in order for it to be cost efficient or available (online butcher for organs etc).
That's a pretty great method!
@@PawsofPrey Thank you kindly.🏆
What size are your dogs? What containers do you use?
@@xam1289 I use Decor Tellfresh 900ml (30.43oz) for a 4.5 kg (9.92 lb) dog at 2 meals per box.
For a larger dog it's best to go by weekly or fortnightly rotations.
My 28 weeks is mostly due to stock supplies constantly being rotated due to me having to pre order so much because apparently organ meat is a mythical item where I am and thus have to order it in online in bulk.
I hope this helps a bit.
Wow, I would love to have the Raw animal options you have. We prep about 15-17 days at a time in vacuum sealed bags and then frozen until thawed before feeding.
We make two different types of food, one for a GSD and one for a Chihuahua.
They basically eat the same meal two times a day everyday but it keeps them healthy and happy.
I have 2 large dogs and the biggest thing I do to make things easy on myself is give chicken quarters as half of their meal each day. Virtually no prep required for those. I do put them into large Tupperware containers that are a convenient size to freeze and thaw, and depending on the size I may split a few into separate legs and thighs. This means my preps are half the size they would be otherwise and just need to include secreting organs, muscular organs and the rest of the muscle meat. This second half of their meal is also where I create variety since the other half is always the same. I’ve also learned to look for packages of meat that are the right size for my recipe so I don’t have left overs.
I’ve also experimented with freezing in silicone muffin tins. My dogs are big enough they would need about 4 “meat muffins” in addition to a chicken quarter. So keeping track of what was in which muffin tin wasn’t worth it to me. I found it was nice to portion out organs that way. So I could just grab a frozen muffin of organs to toss in with the rest of the meal and know it had everything needed for a day.
We prep 15-17 days x2 meals a day in vacuum seal bags. Toss them in the sink with warm water first thing in the morning and within an hour it's thawed and ready to feed.
I just bought a meat grinder for the 30day prep I did last weekend and it was a game changer. My daughter has helped me the last two preps and the prep for April the entire process took about 3hrs. this time it only took an hour including clean up.
I only pulverize bone for my Chihuahua. My GSD gets whole bones. It's great to keep her teeth clean, strong and healthy.
Could you please recommend a quality meat grinder. I bought one and tried but it just jams up.
@@LibertyWarrior1776 I haven’t tried to grind the bones yet. I usually just put those in since they are pretty much grab and go.
I don't mind the prep, I do 7 days at a time for one dog, the thing I find takes the most time is the calculations when changing up the meals and as she's a puppy, having to change the amount as she grows, still finding it fun, and exciting when I see new meats in the Asian supermarkets, lol!
I get a feeling of overwhelm when I'm forced to buy huge orders of meat (like 2 kilos of beef lung, 3 kilos of duck heads...)
My meal prep strategy: Work with frozen meat (only slightly thawed). I cut up the meat as soon as I get it or as soon as it's frozen. I cut up each meat into bite-sized pieces, put them into medium freezer bags--since they are still mostly frozen, the pieces of meat will only slightly stick together in the bags.
Meal prep day is super easy. Take out the bags I need, smash them against the counter to break apart the bite-sized pieces, and weigh it out. The only time I need to use a knife is with the bones.
Freezer: For me, sourcing muscular organs is the hardest (either online or taking a trip to another city), so I keep those bags at the top of the freezer so I can see when I need to buy more heart or something. I don't keep a full inventory, though.
Your channel is a huge inspiration, and I absolutely wouldn't have had the confidence to raw feed without binging all your videos. (Also, we won't judge you if you take a break and feed pre-made raw for a while haha)
I shop f/n for my dog and get the occasional gift from mates who hunt. I dont meal prep in this way. I just divide everything i get into manageable sizes for the freezer, keeping prey animal species, muscle meat, secreting organs bones and other offal in their own seperate bags. Uncooked Venison and kangaroo upsets my heelers somach but cooked doesnt, so i boil it before i freeze. I freeze it in portions of roughly 4 days worth with some of the stock from the boiling. Everthing else gets dehydrated or processed in a blender to be mixed with various stuff like chia, honey, natural yoghurt, kefir , bone both, or whatever i have at the time to make either cookies, leather straps or frozen smoothie treats. I prepare her food daily while i cook ours. Then randomly select from each food group from the freezer and leave it in the fridge to defrost for the next day. If i have anything left over, i cook it and put it back in the freezer and use it immediately once defrosted. I also keep a supply of seperate pureed veg and fruit that i freeze in icecube trays and store in jars in the freezer.
Its a great stress free way to feed. Just have to remember to store each type together, labled and dated. That way you can fulfill whatever feeding model you follow easily and at a glance can see what you need to stock up on. Nothing gets wasted and all you need to do is remember to take something out of the freezer the night before . And the only thing you actually need to cook is whatever veg or fruit you want. I do a lot of camping also with my dog and if you have a dehydrator you can blend the food, dry it in portions and rehydrate it when youre out and about. Ive fed 5 dogs this way over 25 years and its no more stressful or expensive than pouring out kibble. Much less so really. I think people getburnt out because its made to look more complicated than it is. Ive had 2 littermate inderminate giant breeds live till 15, when their life span was only 8-10, also long before i ever even heard of feeding models. But turns out now i was feeding according to acceptable models anyway. With the tge exception of using rice. and 2 littermate Labradors who i sent over the rainbow bridge together at 19yrs and 3 months and currently have a healthy maniac of a blue heeler. Never burnt out using this method. Keepingbit simple is key 😄
Great video. So true. Subscribed.
Last time I prepped was last year in October, I still have almost a month left. That was over 35 kg of meat. It took me a whole weekend. I made 4 completely raw recipes, and another two where I add a balancing powder to muscle meat chunks. I spend a month sourcing a huge variety of meat bones and offal in the lead up to 'batch festival'. I made the recipes based on what I have sourced. 175 single day portions x 200g each. Here and there a slip in a can when we go camping, or serve an air dried meal (we call that bikkies, so only occasionally). That's one weekend of work in 9 months. Our cat has his own freezer, even in our van.. lucky bugger! That is the life, sometimes I wish I was him 😂 I suppose it's time to do it all again.. it works for us!
This is normal. I like to put about a 1/4 of kibble so my pup is used to at least some so that she won't have diarrhea. That's If the day or week or month comes where im too am burnt out or things change on my schedule. So don't be hard on yourself it's impoosible to go on a perfect streak forever, keep up the great work and dedication for your pets :)
Wow great video! I started daily making my dogs food and then went to weekly.. then went to 2 weeks.. that 2 week prep made my hand hurt from chopping so much and my feet hurt so much.. I wanted to do a 30 day so I really wouldn't have to worry about it 😂but this video is telling me maybe not the best idea.
I feel this so much during duck season and getting so much from my dad and his friends. I am always so grateful that my dog gets to eat like that but always am so overwhelmed with the prep and breaking down all those birds Cleaning gizzards is the worst of all.
I have accommodation issues right now, which means I don't get to have a chest freezer. I'm sharing an apartment with someone. My freezer space is extremely limited so I can't/don't buy too much at once.
I separate the meats so they don't stick together in the freezer. I take out whatever I need to feed next day and thaw overnight in the fridge. I put my secreting organs into an ice cube tray or silicon mould and freeze them. So I only have to thaw two ice cubes per day because I have two dogs.
I'm bound to only prepping once a week because of my freezer and fridge space, or lack thereof. It is annoying to prep so often, but when I'm feeling kinda stressed or just lazy some weeks, I'll whip up a meal from the meat already defrosted in the fridge. I call it my dog's McDonalds meal because it probably isn't the most balanced that day, but hey, Mama needs a break.
I don’t think they eat everyday in the wild balanced food.
I prep once a month daily meals in bags for 30 days x 2 for my two cats for the last 9 years. My female cat is 10 years old and my male cat is 9. They are fed raw their whole life. It takes me 3 to 4 hours prep every time. All these years I have been feeding them 80% beef meat, beef heart, chicken meat and breast, gizzards, sometimes pork, 5% beef liver and 5% spleen, 5% kidney, 10% chicken wings cut in small pieces so they can eat them and 4 eggs. I slice all the meats into chewable pieces mix them well in a bowl with the eggs and weight them in daily portions in plastic bag per cat. Finally I add the organs and wings in daily portions per bag and store them in the freezer. The night before i take the bags out to thaw and feed my cats. I have been doing this for 9 years and I am so stressed when time is coming to prepare the food again. I tried many methods to make the prep easier and quicker but non of them worked. Thinking of getting some premade commercial raw food to take a break but I am mot complete satisfied with their ingredients and it stresses me more. I really love my cats and I want the best for them but all this prep is exhausting me.😢
A great solution donate it to other Raw feeders when I make too much sometimes I give something to my mom four other people that feed raw that sometimes don't have the time to meal prep
We have felt the burn out doing diy raw. We only have one pet, but the chopping prepping (for 2 weeks), and cleaning was roughly 3-4 hrs. We ended up switching to premade patties, so all we need to add were the supplement (whole food or whatever). I kinda miss having the variety of proteins doing diy though!
Lol I totally feel you and I think all of us like to obsessively hoard cool animal parts. But I dont have a chest freezer so I have to manage my freezer space much more strictly. I know 30 day prep is super exhausting - although I prep for 10 days for my dog I also prep raw and cooked diets for dogs with health issues and I sell that in 30 day packs. Not only its 3 times as much containers but you also have to precisely measure everything to make sure it fits the dietary restrictions. But cant complain, I accept those orders lol😅 but what actually makes me feel burnt out is when my dog does on a food strike. Shes pretty picky and sometimes just doesnt want to eat (she is healthy, just being annoying), usually before she goes in heat. It literally makes me want to cry, having to throw out meat that I spent an hour prepping.
Wow! I prep for my three cats once a week and it still takes me about 1.5 hours. I’d love to hear some tips on how you got it down to 45 mins. Especially being that you’re prepping for 3 separate species. I’m starting to feel like I’m having a similar, but different problem. Fortunately I’m able to source everything I need for my cats at just my local H‑E‑B. The convenience is nice but i sometimes feel like I’m limiting myself to having more fun with it by not trying to source from other places. Prep day is easy and doesn’t burn me out, but I just don’t feel the same excitement I did when first learning about feline nutrition and all of the different meats I COULD buy. I remember how stoked I was giving them each a chicken heart and watching their reactions. But now I just stick to the same tried and true recipe every week. Maybe I should just go for it and place an order with Raw Feeding Miami. Maybe I should finally try introducing whole prey.
I buy commercial Big Country Raw an add toppers such as : sardines, mussels, eggs, blueberries, fresh herbs, meaty bones, heart, gizzard, liver, homemade yogourt, homemade bone broth with Shiitake mushrooms, dark leafy greens, frozen pumpkin cubes etc. ! 😊 Whatever I have on hand ! And only one meal a day .
I’m glad it’s common. If stressed me out often
Love your channel. We appreciate your teachings very much. Our process is very simplified but since u asked - I thought Id share what works for us. We have been feeding raw for a few years now. We make it for 6 cats and we make a batch every 3 weeks. We buy chicken at the market on the day we make the food. We trim it for good fat / bone ratio and we add liver and hearts. We source our liver and hearts ahead so thats thawing already when we go to buy the meat. We process it all thru a professional grinder - course grind - and then we create daily portions into plastic containers & we freeze them. Our process takes about two hours from start to cleanup. We save a lot of money, depending on cost of meat. Then, every morning we take out a thawed container, add an egg yolk and dr jones feline nutritional supplement & a little water. Cats all love it & are thriving. We also supplement occasionally with lamb & chicken bones & salmon. We just started raising rabbits so we wont need to purchase as much chicken. Our rabbits are on pasture in tractors my husband made and we follow Joel Salatin’s guide for raising rabbits for meat. I know our system dosnt have the variety you teach about but I felt there is value in learning how other people do it successfully & sustainably. We are always trying to improve. Hope this helps. :) If anyone wants photos of what we do - I have lots. :) Elizabeth
Thanks so much for sharing!
I got really burnt out with making my dog's DIY food--I'm currently making all my animals ground meat with a premix. One day I'll get back to DIY. Like you, I really enjoyed sourcing meat and I hope to do it again once I have more free time and spending money. For me, I found that making two weeks of food for the animals at a time was a sweet spot. One month at a time was way too much.
Yes I have burnt out because while my puppy was still small, she began to be picky. Especially during her first heat, she wouldn't eat much. I mix it with some good quality dry food and she gobbled it up. But now, she is picky with dry food. It's been a struggle especially because she is a puppy and I want her to at least eat enough to develop well until she is an adult.
Imagine RAISING hatching butchering on top of prep ;) Not shopping. but raising too.... We do this for our six canines and three cats along with our chickens as well. I can say the prep time does get to be a lot.. BUT I also get the added fun of raising chicks, animals and enjoy the entire process. AND knowing what I am feeding my animals. And the fact the all the animals are ethically raised on our farm. We have one freezer dedicated to just "farm animal feed"... I prep meals a month at a time and it takes me about one hour to do so.
That's so ironic. I live in virginia also. Still researching about raw feeding my two small dogs.🙂
For me, my job is fairly stressful and adding one more things felt like too much, but I still wanted to feed raw a much as I could. So I do pre-made raw most of the time, and I do a home made raw occasionally, I have another prep coming up this weekend. All the planning, calculating, thawing, and prepping is just too much for me most of the time.
Yes to all the above.
I've discovered it always takes longer than you think. A tiny designated freezer that sits on my washing machine has kept my enthusiasm in check.
I live in Phoenix AZ ,so getting meat shipped to me is limited due to the hot summers/springs. Latin and Asian markets have some of organs, and not always fresh, so it's a struggle to put together a complete meat for my dog and cat
I cycle through different proteins throughout the week. I also have three dogs with three different food needs, so I go through a total of about 11 different proteins in a week. But some of those proteins were for all three dogs, and some were for just one dog. So, I started doing each protein separately. I'd only prep one protein on any given day. And I'd do a bunch of servings so that all I had to do to serve was warm them up and feed them. When a protein prep ran out, then I'd do the next batch of that protein anywhere from the next day to sometime during that week, as it wouldn't be needed again for a week. Most proteins, I'd do a full two months' worth. But some proteins that I was using for only one or two dogs would last longer than that. It spaced out my meal prepping so that I wasn't being overwhelmed with meal prepping all in one day for the whole week, with breaks in between. When I only had a feeding or two of a particular protein meal prep left, I'd put the appropriate protein source in my refrigerator to thaw in there, ready to use in a couple days. Because I was cycling through proteins, the soonest I would need it was in a week, which gave me plenty of time to prepare. I didn't have to do everything in one day.
I think that what's burned me out the most is the logistics. I put together a spreadsheet to follow so that I could keep track of what to feed whom and on what day of the week, and would do an inventory of what I had weekly, to know what needed to be restocked, and that way I'd also know ahead of time what I needed to add to the grocery list. I haven't explored lots of exotic proteins, mostly because that just complicates things, and makes it more likely for me to become overwhelmed, and also makes it more likely for me to exceed my budget.
As long as I stick to my weekly cycle, and the specific proteins that I use, it becomes routine. Routine is important to make something easier. You don't have to think when doing routine things. You build up muscle memory from doing things routinely. It becomes automatic, like washing dishes, that needs to be done daily. When you're not used to doing them routinely, they end up piling up and become overwhelming to do in one time. But when you're doing a little bit every meal, it becomes automatic and doesn't stress you. Break things down into smaller steps, like only doing one protein for each day. I still do a lot of fiddling with each meal's content, and I do try to juggle what's on sale to cut costs. But I try to limit the variety of things to what I can comfortably handle. I have occasionally, run out of a particular meal prep, due to unexpected circumstances, but I usually have others that I have ready to go that I can supplement with in it's place, and then return to my routine when possible. (Such as when I had a shipment that got delayed repeatedly this past winter from weather, and I ran out of an ingredient.)
About the most complicated proteins that I do is once a week I feed egg as a protein to my dogs. I use a sous vide to pasteurize them. It alters the eggs a little bit, but they're still essentially raw. But I only do enough sous vide for one to two weeks of eggs at a time, because I don't freeze them. And I usually sous vide it the day that I'm going to be serving it. So that puts a little bit of pressure on me. To compensate, I do use a commercial base mix with the eggs on that day, so that I have less to have to do on that day. I also pasteurize the eggs that I'll be using that week for myself, for runny-yolked, sunny side up eggs for myself for a breakfast sometime that week. I could buy pasteurized eggs, instead, but they're more than double the cost of regular eggs, and I have to try to stay within budget to be able to afford to feed my dogs. I was feeding raw eggs to my dog that weren't pasteurized, but then one of my dogs got sick from eating a raw egg, so I've stuck to pasteurized raw eggs since then. Feeding egg used to be one of the least expensive proteins. But the price has come up to the point where it's actually cheaper to feed some other proteins than to feed eggs. But eggs are like a superfood, and they're a favorite of one of my three dogs, so I've found a way to make feeding eggs a part of the routine, even if it adds a level of complexity that other proteins don't require. i have small dogs, so one egg is pretty much the bulk of one meal. I couldn't add raw egg to every meal every day without them being overloaded with vitamin D. But once a week I can handle.
The third thing I do to avoid burn out is that I limit the number of places that I source things. I buy most of my meats from one grocery store. I buy most of my organs from one online shop. I don't spend a ton of time shopping or going from store to store to gather things. I just don't have time for that, and that just complicates things for me. I could travel all over to source from multiple places, but the cost of gas and travel time just add less money and time for me to do other things. I also only shop for dog food ingredients once a month. I can put an online order in for curb-side pickup and not go into the store to impulse shop, which costs me time and money and I think shopping for things burns me out the most. I'm overwhelmed by the lights, the people, and all the displays of everything. It becomes a sensory overload for me. So, the more I can simplify it, the less stress I go through. I'm probably missing out on sales or opportunities to try new things, but it takes me a couple days to recover from shopping, that is how stressful I find it. So, by limiting where I go and how often, I cut out a huge amount of stress for myself. And that helps me to avoid burnout in other areas, too.
A lot of great insight, thanks so much for sharing!
I love to get new variety for my dog. He is 90lbs so he eats around 2.5lbs a day. That means I have 2 chest freezers and a fridge freezer.
I buy a TON at a time and then do what you said prep it all in one day. Except I prep 60 or more meals at once.
It always turns into a multi day event and I usually just start with one organ meat. Prep as many bags as the amount I have will account for. Then continue down the line from there.
I was always left with bags after prep that was missing a couple things here and a couple things there. I always told myself I would remember what's missing.
Nope I would not. I would be so tired after prepping from 2pm-2am and then again the next day that I would just leave them in the freezer to be "completed later"
Well if you can't seal the vacuum bag and later never comes then that stuff goes bad.
I have since started using your batching feature and I want to prep 14 days worth of 1 meal at a time. I still want to do bulk but this video gave me an idea.
Instead of just throwing everything I can fit in my fridge when it arrives and prepping that night + the next day.
I want to take and separate each thing into 7 days worth in quantity and get some good markers that actually stay on plastic baggies. Label what meal it is for and then group each meals 7 day organ meats together. (Seperate bags for each organ but together in 1 bigger bag maybe)
Then when it's time to prep I just need to buy my muscle meats and prep those 7 or 14 days.
I am building relationships with my locals farmers though and will be able to hopefully source more odds and ends from them but for now I love Raw Feeding Miami. I mean where else am I going to find Bison spinal cord?!?!
I thought about doing this but never started for this very reason. My local butcher does it for me, seals it in the size bags I ask for, and I throw it in the freezer. Done.
I make a grind made of multiple meats, organs, eggs, modest low glycemic vegs and berries, salmon/sardines, green tripe, etc. then i use the grinder to stuff 2lb sausage chub bags i usually end up with 55 lbs of food. then freeze them and then cut them into 4oz disks with a band saw. When im ready to feed it i defrost in micro for 1.5 min enough to make it able to be broken into partially frozen pieces. He loves it and this is typically what i feed him for his evening meal. Other meals are pork neck bones, chicken legs, sardines, organs on occasion. I would rather do a big grind project that takes a good part of a day once every 6 months than having to be creative.
I really feel..grossed out because I'm Plat based however Her health is everything to me..she is only a year and She don't understand and it's not her fault.. I'm determined to have her live happy and comfortable 💞💞💞 so I do what I have to do!
yes, too many dogs and not enough energy or sick. So I get bulk, I quick break it down into smaller bulks, so I use sandwich, quart and gallon bags and some boxes for bigger sizes, so I know how to handle it, labeling is something I sometimes forget, so I use the boxes to load a bunch of liver in it. Then I bake the whole thing later, recut it and freeze that, or I partially cook it, I have one dog who only likes liver cooked. Just her. So I do it for all and its fine. I never work more than one hour in a day and I get help as it can be heavy. After a while one gets used to sizes and amounts to it is easier to guesstimate.
Been raw feeding both my house cats and ferals for 10 years now (about 30 cats total) and it's every 2 weeks going to the store and getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 160-175 pounds of meat and organs combined and 8 dozen eggs. The overwhelming and burnt out feeling kicks in about every 2-3 months and I question the sanity of it all. Then I look at the cats, how much better they are than when they ate commercial foods; decide I couldn't justify feeding house cats raw and ferals commercial just because they are living outdoors; couldn't get the cost of quality canned for all of them close to raw. So, out comes the grinder and I go elbow deep in cold meat/ organs every other weekend. When I really get overwhelmed, I come to the internet-channels like this one-for ideas, new vendors, anything else I can find to improve the recipe I use and a little bit of perspective. Just knowing I am not alone in the burn out boat, makes it easier to get back to it. Thank you for your time and the thoroughness of your videos. Taught me a bit.
I really appreciate people who are able to make recipes for their pets. I know that feeding raw is important, but unfortunately meal preps or something I cannot do. And that is why I buy a commercial mix. Right now I am feeding a product from Carnivora that is just whole ground animal. That way they get the benefits of eating whole prey essentially
I have felt burnt out. Now I prepare for two weeks (3 cats, all different sizes and needs...) instead of four weeks. It makes the prep less overwhelming. And I also have some premade raw on hand so I don't feel this pressure anymore. Also I alow myself to use grounded raw meaty bones or a calcium supplement, saves me a lot of time.
I do home cooked but I'm still burnt out. It takes the entire day with my mom's help because our kitchen is small and we don't have large-enough pots or bowls to prep comfortably/ efficiently. No idea how to make it better 😣
Hi😊 about your cheat sheet for raw food diet? I just wanted to know if you have to pay for it just once and you can use all the time you want or if you have to pay for it every time you want to use it?😊
I got a meat grimder and restaurant containers for storage. I als invested in more mason jars for fruits , organs, and eggs. I advance prep every week and grind every week for meals. I feed 10 animals raw every day
I was feeling brun out when I was preping for 7-14 days for my two dogs. We got cat and it became too much to handle every week or two so I started preping for a month. The problem is that I need 20 days just to gather all the parts I need, and because of thet I started preping evry 60 days (180 meals) which usualy takes me 3 days, 10 hours or more each but it's fun and I don't feel burn out at all. (I'm still in high school and meal preps every week are harder to handle when I have to study)
After buying a Weston Butcher Series #22 meat grinder, feeding raw is very easy. Everything from entire whole chickens to a variety of wild game, organs, even ground beef offers a weekly variety of meat/organs to feed my 4 year old female Standard Poodle named Ara (Ara is also the species of Macaw parrots sharing our home). I prep for one week at a time, so the time required is minimal; and each week different meats/organs are used, so a constant variety of foods can be provided. Vets are NOT trained in canine, feline, or avian nutrition, so avoid their advice at all cost. Commercial pet foods are the biggest cause of disease in dogs, cats, and parrots. Feed fresh and raw food for all species, never see a vet unless there is an emergency, and simply continue your research from others, especially breeders that also avoid vets.
My overwhelm and burnout is related to processing a lot of meat (there's no way I'd want to prep meat to the extent you do), making sure the food is balanced, and now having to figure out meat sensitivities and track down novel proteins. I'm pretty darn close to trying to find suitable canned foods. 😔
Thanks I needed to hear this. I’m a little crazy 😂
I prep for my dogs meals for 7 days, since I can't fit more than that in my freezer. I was actually planning on buying a chest freezer so that I can do bulk meal preps for him. Maybe not 30 days, but 14 days.Maybe weekly instead of monthly meal preps is the way to go then?
Here is what works for me. I have two dogs. All organ meats are cut into small pieces and laid in flat glass freezer dishes. The meat is is stored in a large chunk in several round glass freezer dishes. RMBs are separated and stored in large glass freezer dishes. In the morning I get out the glass jar with meat chunks and set it in frig and also the container with RMB for the day. Around noon, the meat is slightly thawed so I can cut off what they need for that evening and next morning. I also select their RMB for the evening. At dinner time, I get out my glass flat containers with their organs for the day. I can easily pry them out after only a few minutes and add them to the meat and RMB for that day and next morning. This is so simple and takes no time at all. So basically I prep each day for that evening and the following morning. The only real prep time is if an organ or RMB container gets empty and I have to refill them. I think I would go insane preparing many meals at once.
Great method!
@Paws of Prey It took many years before I figured out this method which works very well for me. I was also trying to eliminate the use of plastic containers. Anyway hope this helps.
I only have enough containers for 23 days worth of meals. So that's kind of self limiting :-) and it actually works out pretty well.
Are used to do the day and a half prep, fine everything out in the bathtub all night, then spending the next morning getting it all ground up or cut up, etc., and then all the clean up. Starting with the grinder. Hated it. Although it did work much better. If you have two people it goes much faster. That way. But still, it was a pain in the butt. Running it through the grinder and ending up in big bins and ending up elbow deep trying to get it. All stirred together was not fun. So now the smaller scale is much easier to deal with.
oh dear i can so extremly relate to this. before I found your channel, I was absolutely not looking forward for Barf prep day for the whole month for my 2 cats... it went so far, that I stopped prepping and started to just buy 250g of meat and add felini complete to it every day (i used over 8 different types of animal meats, to hopefuly "balance"). I was so burned out just thinking about the whole day of prep and buying all the things for the kitties (and hope they had all in stock). My containers to put the supplements in was ti small and i had to buy a very large one. I had to keep in mind, to put certain supplements fresh to the meal because it could spoil the meat (like beer-yeast).
But then I found your channel and it truly inspired me to to the prep again. but only a week in advance. you made it seem so fun and I also started to feed my new puppy a raw diet too. It's now 8 Month and I have fun everytime. Fun, i thought i lost for meal prepping. but here I am and all (now) 3 cats and the puppy love it too 😀
I just started mixing in raw with store-bought food for my kitten I’m just buying a few things at a time cutting it up freezing and then bagging it then adding it to his meal at dinner time
I was right now I’m still looking to better alternatives to what I’m already feeding him
Wow! I wish we had those raw food options. We don't have that variety here in the Philippines especially the wild game. Consider yourself still lucky.
I certainly did!
After studying up on all sourcing, prep, and assuring balanced nutrition, watching many videos, i just gave up on it. Due to illness, really have limited time to search and have no special markets, hunters, etc. Just could not handle it.😮
I’m curious why people don’t just feed whole prey for most meals? I got burnt out from raw feeding after like a couple weeks. And I have only done whole prey since (live a couple times as well we always thank the animal and show our love and gratitude before the hunt) All that has to be done is the thawing and warming maybe a little trimming which I tend to bring water to a boil then drop in all my whole prey. I do really see the appeal in making their meals especially all gourmet and seeing the excitement in all the animals. I just find doing whole prey so much easier and it’s already balanced. I can see cost being a big issue. If I had the space I would breed my own feeders
Just a question... Doesn't it stink ? 😮
Thank you for creating this channel, it is so helpful! Do you have a discord server? If not, does anyone know of a raw feeder discord server?
You're very welcome! I don't but I do have the Paws of Prey Club! It's a monthly membership hosted through the free app Heartbeat Chat. You can ask any questions you have, watch/attend exclusive livestreams, and also have access to handful of helpful guides and recipes! pawsofprey.com/pawsofpreyclub
Hi!!
I’m trying to feed my dog high quality meat and fish but it’s getting expensive..we just decided that my senior just couldn’t chew raw meaty bones anymore due to bad dental healthy and a weakening jaw…so I know it’s about to get more expensive now that I’ll have to feed him more muscle tissue instead of bones (with a bonemeal supplement). I could either stop feeding him high quality meats like farmers market meats, wild caught fish, some organic vegetables, etc or start feeding him some grains as a filler… maybe instead of 50% (now without bones 62%) muscular tissue feed 25% meat 25% grains like oats or maybe quinoa..? What are your thoughts on that?
this reminds me of jeffrey dahmer. but anyway you are doing a great job - i admire your persistency and hard work! and thank God you got over your burnout! thank you for your videos!
That is not an acceptable comparison, you must be sick.
Hi! Ive got a question. Isnt it bad to thaw and refreeze meat?
Hi love the videos ,can you answer me 1 question please does raw eggs make a dog bioton deficient as I boil them but I would rather give them raw as it easier as he has 3 eggs a day
Nope, not if you feed the yolk with the white, or just the yolk!
i’m in Virginia and my vet turned her nose up at the idea of my boyfriend and i feeding our kittens raw. i’d love to know where you got all these amazing virginian meats 😭😂
Can you drop the names of vendors in Virginia? I’m trying to find local raw meats for my kitty
Once in a while I buy a box with 10kg pre-prepped minced raw food, mostly to give myself a break. I want to mainly feed my dog bigger chunks of different meats for mental stimulation and dental health, but mashing a block of thawed, balanced raw food into a slow feeding bowl and serving is very convenient
I enjoy trying to find different sources of protein for my animals. I have not had any luck at the farmers market, etc. And it's probably a good thing Innoway. Because I would probably end up with the same problem you had. In fact, right now, I just figured out. I have 27 pounds of organ meat that I have to use up. How I got that much I do not know. But it is easy to start hoarding before you even know it. Somebody suggested I get a bigger freezer, oh, heck, no. That would just make it harder, I think.
I just buy raw food from let shops, its easier.
That way I can get some of the balanced diet stuff where it includes all the nutrition they need, then I can get loads of different stuff as well to make them different meals and I try to male sure I give them balanced meals with all that, but I still use the premixed complete nutrition stuff as well just to be safe :)
What about this risk of prepping the. game before freezing exposing your surfaces (and you) to the parasites?
I need help! I find some different information in different places, but I’m getting an 8month old puppy in a couple weeks, and we want to feed her raw. We’ve been researching about it for months but we won’t be able to get her in to a vet the same day that we get her or the next, and we are wondering whether at that age we should cold transition her, or should take a few days to ween her off the kibble basically. Anyone have some good information to help us make the decision? We do want to at least start with a prepared ground mix so we won’t have to worry about whether she can chew bones, but she currently is fed puppy kibble. She is a corgi poodle mix if that helps information at all which is part of why I’ve been so hooked on this channel! Lol
When I have lots of other things going on that need to be done prepping frustrates me. I do 7 day preps for time and space saving reasons but it doesn't save the day every time. Those times I would like to throw a temper tantrum and not do it I catch myself figuratively by the neck, think about our two sphynx boys and that I myself wanted to feed them raw, they didn't demand it. That settles things and I carry on. Most times I enjoy prepping because I know the benefits Ritchie and Dio get from the food I prepare. It's also amusing how Dio tries to run away with huge chunks of meat from the cutting board and growls at me when he doesn't want to let go. At least I know the food is tasty. 🤗
I remember when you got those geese! 😉
I have a question. I know you are a die-hard raw feeder but if you HAD to choose a dry food option, which ones would you buy?
Probably Ziwi Peak because even though it's dry, it's still technically not kibble lol
I prep for 2 weeks cuz that’s how much I can fit in my freezer. I will just buy what I need exactly for 2 weeks and never had a problem like this since my budget is small 🙁.
I prep like 5 to 6 days worth of food, just depends on how I’m feeling while prepping lol