Should I Supplement Raw Diet?

[FrankEinstein]

Hi all. I love reading the advice on these forums because I get so many great ideas about feeding our own pup, Sugar. She has just turned 5 months and is still a bit small, but she eats like a champ. We've been feeding her pre-packaged raw (Nature's Variety), but we were curious if it was necessary to supplement her diet. The manufacturer states that nutrients are added to, and not just contained in, the meat, but what else is necessary or beneficial to a growing pup? Also, we'd like to feed more raw of our own (rather than pre-packaged), but there aren't many butchers in the city that I know of. Anybody know of a good way to get access to such delicacies as offal? Thanks for any advice.

Frank

[Chris&Eti]

Wholefoods sell hormone/antibiotic free and humanely raised chicken backs/necks packaged as soup bones-and its relatively inexpensive.(They also sell organic chicken necks, heart, liver separately.) Eti is fed a homemade raw diet and ground chicken backs/necks is a regular evening meal for him- he gets other types of meat and veg in the morning. I looked on Nature Variety's website and it seems that flax, kelp ,apple cider vinegar and salmon oil -all highly reccomended supplements for raw feeding -are already in their list of ingredients.

[gmacleod]

I'm not a big fan of supplements, except where a known dietary deficiency exists. That shouldn't really be the case on a raw diet anyway, and natural products (ie. raw food articles) are a better source of vitamins and minerals than any pills or powders.

Any butcher, and possibly supermarket, ought to be able to supply you with offal though. Every carcass has heart, lungs, liver, kidney and tripe... Does it not come in the pre-made mixes? Rather a serious oversight, I'd have thought, if they've left it out.

[FrankEinstein]

Thanks for the comments. Nature's Variety does include "quality meats, organs, and bones" according to their general ingredients, and the Chicken and Turkey mix that my pup prefers contains, among other ingredients, "Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart". I just wanted to know if others felt it necessary to supplement further. It looks like these pre-packaged mixes are an all-in-one sort of thing. Thanks again.

Frank