Feeding whole prey as part of your dogs raw diet is a great way enrich their meals and add some of the nutrients that might be missing from their food.
But first…
What is Whole Prey
Whole pray is exactly what it sounds like. It’s feeding your dog a whole intact animal. This includes all the meat, bones, ligaments, tendons, organs, glands, intestinal tract, blood, skin and fur or feathers.
Whole prey should not be confused with live feeding, which would involve feeding a whole live animal. I do not recommend life feeding as it can cause injuries to your dog and is unnecessarily stressful and cruel for the animal that is meant to be the food.
Now that we got that cleared up, what are the…..
Benefits of Whole Prey Feeding
1. Balance
Whole pray meals come pre-balanced, or at least as close as possible to being balanced in its natural state. Balanced meal means that it meets all the essential nutritional elements of a healthy diet. It’s important however to know that not every animal has all the nutrients your dog needs. Nutritional content varies from species to species, between sexes of the same animal species, and even differs with age of an animal. For example, chicks are not considered a balanced meal as they are not fully developed and therefore lack some of the nutrients, such as calcium.
If you are feeding raw whole prey as a primary source of nutrients, it’s important to provide your dog with a variety of animals to ensure proper nutritional balance.
2. Fibre from fur and feathers Fur and feathers helps clean the intestine and adds bulk to your dog’s stool. This, in turn, helps to naturally express their anal glands.
Expression of anal glands is important for your dogs health. If not expressed naturally they can become impacted and require manual expression.
3. Manganese from fur and feathers
Fur and feathers contain high amounts of manganese. Manganese is important for your pets energy production, metabolization of protein and carbohydrates, creation of fatty acids and in maintaining bone and cartilage health.
4. Improved dental health
When consuming whole prey, the feathers, fur and bones will scrape on your dogs teeth removing plaque which results in better, cleaner, healthier teeth.
5. Mental Stimulation
Eating whole prey is mentally stimulating and satisfactory for your dog. Ripping and tearing of the animal helps to satisfy your dog's instinctual urges and causes release of dopamine and serotonin. Serotonin and dopamine help to regulate mood, muscle tension, and gastrointestinal health.
It's also stimulating to your dog as it has to figure out how to consume it's dinner.
6. Slows down eating and chewing
As mentioned above, eating whole prey requires work and thought as your dog figures out how to consume their meal. This prevents them from eating too fast. Slowing down consumption helps to avoid abdominal discomfort, reduces chances of vomiting and decreases risk of abdominal bloat.
7. No Waste
Unlike with most commercially processed meat or kibble, every part of the animal is consumed leaving no waste behind.
8. Easy Preparation
Preparation of a whole prey meal could not be easier. Just thaw and serve. No need to add supplements, get your fingers dirty cutting up raw meat, or really do any prep.
I guess there is one more step that I do add. I weigh the whole prey meal to ensure that my dog is getting sufficient amount of food.
If you’re on board so far, you may wonder what are the ……
What Animals Are Fed As Whole Prey
Most commonly animals that are fed to dogs as whole prey meals are: chicks, chickens, squirrels, quail, small ducks and rabbits.
With that sorted…
How to Start Feeding Whole Prey
My daughter, said that the best way to do it is to let the whole prey be whole, put it down and let your dog eat it. :)
But things may not start off that simple. Your dog might initially be confused and not know what to do with a feathery or furry thing that is placed in front of them. If this happens, you will need to help your furry friend figure out that the furry thing in front of them is food.
Here are a few ways you can make that happen.
Cut the whole prey animal into small pieces and then serve to your dog.
Cut the whole prey animal in half or just sufficiently to expose their muscle and organs.
Cut off longer pieces of fur or feathers to expose the skin
Start off with smaller animals, such as chicks, and add them to the both with your dogs regular raw meal
Get your dog used to eating fur but getting them an occasional treat of lamb ears, rabbit ears of rabbit foot with fur still on.
Over time, as your dog gets used to things, you will be able to feed it the whole animal in one piece and your dog will do the rest of the work.
This may all sound good but you still have some…
Questions
Is feeding whole prey balanced?
It can be if done correctly. This would however require a variety of animals to be fed as each species contains different nutrients from another. Feeding whole prey is definitely a great addition to a regular raw diet.
Isn’t feeding whole prey cruel?
No. When sourced reputably, whole pray animals are dispatched in a humane way and live a comfortable stress free life until that moment. This cannot be always said for animals that are processed into kibble.
Can I feed wild caught animals to my dog?
Yes, but precautions need to be taken to ensure your dog is not infected with parasites. Wild caught prey should be frozen at -20C (-4F) for 3-4 weeks prior to feeding. This will help kill off parasites that might reside in wild animals.
As majority of parasites life in the intestinal tract of wild animals, you can also gut them prior to freezing to help reduce the risk even further.
Final Thoughts
Understandably feeding whole prey might not be for everyone. The sight of your dog consuming a whole animal can be disturbing. Your dogs first few raw meals might be messy since your dog is figuring out the best way to eat it's dinner. This can result with guts and limbs spread over the floor. At the end of the meal you may have some blood, organs or feathers left on the floor and on your dogs feet which will make it seem like you're cleaning up a crime scene.
Those are all valid reasons and you should not feel bad if they turn you off from whole prey feeding.
In my experience, the clean up is a little messy, but gets easier as your dog figures out how to approach it’s meal. It’s worth it for me, as I can see the joy it brings my dog.
Happy raw doggin!
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