Feeding FUR....

[ChristineL]

Hello - I recently watched a video by Billy Hoekman of Green Juju (He was with Answers before the change) and he recommended feeding a whole animal (I.e. rabbit with fur) to our dogs. Has anyone here had experience feeding fur? @Dr. Jeff will that work for Hope since she has no teeth?

 

[GinnyW]

I don't think there's anything magical, or anything the effects of which cannot be met by other diet items. But it's fine to feed if your animal likes it. Dogs with no teeth would seem to be disadvantaged here, but no great loss. Some will chew on it, some will peel it off, some will "tractor-feed" the entire carcass. My coop gets whole, unpeeled rabbits. I don't bother. Whole prey is a noble aim, but just in principle, to be observed as practical.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

I agree with Ginny that it's really not a biggie either way.

There are lots of other ways that Hope can get the chewing exercise that eating fur can give (and without the risk of a hairball from eating fur?).

 

[Dr. Christina]

For those of you who do feed fur, have you ever had problems with hairballs? Since they do eat this in the wild, I would think hairballs would only indicate an imbalance.

I recently read that fur contains a lot of manganese but most fur passes through undigested.
Dr. Christina