Raw food - Anyone else find it too disgusting!?

[puppyl0ve]

I've just joined mumsnet so apologies if this has come up before.

We brought home our puppy on Saturday and everything is going pretty well so far - we're completely in love!

He was weaned on a raw diet so we have been continuing that at home with Honeys who are great. All the animals are free-range and killed ethically (as ethically as possible). As a vegetarian this is very important to me.

On the other hand, as a vegetarian I am not used to handling meat and frankly find it disgusting!! It comes in large sausage shaped tubes and it's impossible not to get blood etc. on your hands.

I also worry about the safety aspect of handling this in the kitchen and it sharing a freezer/fridge with our human food. Particularly the chicken.

I do understand that the raw food diet is commonly believed to be the best for dogs and of course I want the best for my pup but if anyone can offer any advice/support it would be very welcome!

Is there another way of buying it? I used Natural Instincts which comes in plastic tubs of different sizes so easier to get out.
With regards to sharing a fridge/freezer I do think you are being unreasonable, non vegetarians have raw meat in their freezers and fridges even if they don't have a dog and food poisoning is a lot rarer than you would think. Just follow normal practices of putting meat on the lowest shelf and it will be perfectly safe.
Remember that dried food will have meat in it too, you just won't know where its sourced.

You could look at Nature's Menu, which is frozen in smaller blocks and probably easier to deal with. However, if you really can't deal with it there are plenty of good dry foods on the market, just find one that suits your dog.

I buy frozen blocks from They Love It and I feed it frozen too so no mess. I break it up in the garden with a hammer (lamb is the easiest to break up)
They also do loads of snacky bits, I bought chicken feet last week which are really good for dogs' joints and they do necks, wings, beef chunks. All free delivery.

There should be no issue with it on your fridge or freezer, meat for animals isn't subject to hugely different rules or anything.

When I raw fed, I gave him whole pigs feet and chicken backs and stuff, lol, my meat eating friend was disgusted by it, but I quite liked the idea that he was using bits that would have been wasted.

But yeah, try different brands, they come packaged differently.

Thank you so much everyone!

I'm going to have a look at some different options now.

I'm a strict vegetarian but it doesn't bother me. It bothers more meat eaters than it does me and in a strange way I love watching her tuck in!

Contaminating things with meat doesn't bother me because it doesn't happen. As long as you wear gloves or/and wash your hands and surfaces as you would do handling meat anyway you won't have a problem.

I used to keep all my dogs meat in the same fridge and freezer as our food but I ended up buying a cheap freezer so I could keep a proper eye on whether I was running out

Bella and Duke do good meals in pots with no blood. If you are squeamish stay away from brands like paleo ridge and Manifold valley meats. Nutriment seems to be good with food in easy to use pots also (not tried it).

Poppy's Picnic is a great food and comes in convenient packs. Each pack contains 4 meals for my girl - I've mastered the fine art of slicing into portions and lifting into her bowl without getting blood on my hands.

I always use rubber gloves to serve the food too. Makes a big difference for me as although happy to eat it, I don't like handling raw meat