I had an email from"barfworld"an american site I subscribe to,Saying the AVMA are going to be discouraging vets,and owners from feeding raw, on health grounds,i believe.Im sorry,I havnt had time to read the full article yet,but I was mildly alarmed,has anyone else heard anything?Surely its personal choice what you feed your dogs? Id like to put the link here,but Im not that clever,if anyone would like to read the article,I can forward it if you pm me your email address.

send me a copy pam please. Wonder what "health grounds " they have come up with
click on the website address then control and c go to you champdogs reply and place cursor then control v that should do it if you want to try sending it here or I will do it for you x

I read it a while ago -basically it wants American vets to not be allowed to recommend their clients to feed raw.

I will send it to you!then you can put it on here!Im not that bright!cheers,chris!

> it wants American vets to not be allowed to recommend their clients to feed raw.

That's probably wise, particularly in the US where they are likely to be sued if the client makes a hash of it or the dog does suffer an injury from a bone for instance :)
I don't see why there should be any fuss about this.  This can't and won't take away anyone's personal choice to do it anyway.

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/very-bad-news-for-raw-feeders.html

Is one that came up on one of my breed's US based lists

That's a bit dramatic.  There is nothing in it to prevent people feeding raw if that is what they want to do so can't see why it is "Bad news"

agreed stooge. It is a shame that kibble risk isnt hilighted a bit more to give a more balance picture

Would they have the power to get meat suppliers shut down?Or price it out the market?I know people could buy from a butchers,but probably lots of people couldnt afford thatWheres Tom lonsdale when you need him!

> Would they have the power to get meat suppliers shut down?Or price it out the market?

Put a stop to free trade? In America?  I don't think so :)

I know people could buy from a butchers,but probably lots of people couldnt afford that

Well I have no idea what people pay butchers in America, but I pay mine £10 for a month's worth of meat enough to feed 11 large dogs on but around £80 to order raw food for 9 toydogs for a month.

It's bad news to the extent that many pet owners believe their vet is the authority on all things to do with their animals, which they patently are not,e ven if many like to foster that impression.

I would have thought though that anyone seriously embarking on natural feeding would be able to work that out though, that nutrition is not most vets area of expertise and is barely covered in their training.

> Well I have no idea what people pay butchers in America, but I pay mine £10 for a month's worth of meat

You should be here in Bristol, I have to pay for £1 for a marrowbone and get charged for soup type size bones at abotu a £1 per pound!

> It's bad news to the extent that many pet owners believe their vet is the authority on all things to do with their animals

It's only stopping vets recommending raw feeding.

> You should be here in Bristol, I have to pay for £1 for a marrowbone

When I asked our local butcher he said £1.00, and then told he cut them into quarters!

Marianne, what do you get for your larger dogs from the butchers? All of our local ones (Bar a really good one that does 'exotic' meats who saved me some lamb spine once) are a bit rubbish and don't really have anything, carcass or otherwise.

We get a right mixture -offcuts, carcasses, bones, and also meat left unsold at the end of the day that won't be good enough for the next day (market butcher so not open every day). I've spotted sausages in the dogs' bowls at times! But I don't know exactly what's what because it's all just dead animals to me, as a vegetarian I leave it all to my husband to sort out, he sorts it all and freezes it, bins any pieces with too much fat on etc. Even if I did it myself I wouldn't know what it was! (Well once I spotted a pig's head complete with teeth being eaten in the back garden -yuck!! I knew what that was!) One of our dogs has been fed on nothing but this for 3 ½ years now, since he was 6 months old -he was the first to go 100 % raw and he's in fantastic condition.

You are better off finding a meat wholesaler, the kind of place that receives whole carcasses to chop up and supply to regular butchers. They have the kind of carcasses that you want for a big dog, and they have to pay for it to be disposed of. So, if you befriend one, you might get a supply for free or a nominal cost.

oh god,marrianne,I know how that feels(being veggy and the "yuck"factor!)Last order I had from d a f,had a "cows leg"on it,in my innocence I assumed it was a marrow bone(thats leg,isnt it?)Well,when it arrived in its polythene bag,it looked a bit odd,so I opened it,and  Euuwh! Two legs,as they come,complete with muddy hooves,black fur and cute little knees!I was nearly sick,and Im not usually squeamish.I left them out,hideously,on the garden,to see if the dogs would be interested,they had a good sniff round,but clearly didnt consider them food!So I bagged them,3 bags each against flies and smell,and binned them!Shudder!

I am a veggie too and I don't have anyone else that feeds Nando so I have to do it myself.. I know exactly what you mean about squeamishness, but unfortunately I've had to just stomach it, I am getting better... I butchered a whole heart myself a few days ago!

I will have a look for a meat vendor to see what I can get! I do a monthly order from DAF at the minute.

dont order the cows leg,heheh!

LOL, The bones etc bother me a lot less than the mince!

trust me-you dont want them!Skin,fur and hooves,Id expected at least theyd be peeled!But as my son said,what did I think I was getting,when I ordered a cows leg?

Well I have seen "Postmans Leg" listed in one supplier's price list, so the mind boggles!

Would recommend you dont try and find out-wonder if you could have them under the trade descriptions act,if its NOT a postmans leg!(sorry,getting silly now!)

Well I have seen "Postmans Leg" listed in one supplier's price list, so the mind boggles!

Isn't a Postmans Leg not an American expression for a marrow bone? ;-)

Thank goodness for that I hope so :)