Offal such as liver, lungs, heart, kidney and spleen contain many important nutrients. There are two simple ways to prepare the offal.

The 1/3 rule:

Here you feed 33% liver, 33% heart and 33% spleen, kidney & lung.

According to Swanie Simon & Nadine Wolf:

Another option is heart, kidney, spleen and lung at 17.5% each and liver at 30%.

Of course, you can also feed a ready-made offal mix like our beef offal mix.

Rumen is one of the stomachs of ruminants. It usually comes from cattle, but there is also sheep, lamb or goat tripe if beef is not tolerated. ⁠
The omasum and tripe contain a lot of connective tissue and less fat than muscle meat. It is generally difficult for dogs to digest. But why should you feed it at all?
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Tripe is particularly healthy for dogs because it contains lactic acid bacteria, which in turn has a positive effect on digestion. In contrast to white tripe, green tripe is pre-washed or just shaken out and contains remnants of the animal's already pre-digested plant food. This means that plant components have already been broken down and the dog can also utilize the plant-based stomach contents.
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However, tripe is not a must in a dog's diet, although it usually makes up 20% of the ration in BARF plans. It can also be replaced with muscle meat and fruits and vegetables. If you want to feed it, you can put a smaller amount in the bowl every day or feed it once or twice a week.⁠

Bones are rich in minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. They are essential for achieving a balanced diet and should make up about 10-15% of the feed.

⁠When BARFing, we also speak of raw meaty bones (RKF), which means a ratio of about 50% bone and 50% meat. The latter stimulates the production of stomach acid and ensures that pieces of bone can be processed properly.

The most important rule when feeding bones is that they should never be cooked. This can cause them to splinter and become dangerous. You should also only feed bones under supervision.

If your animal does not like or cannot eat bones, you can feed bone meal or ground bones as an alternative.

In addition to various vitamins and antioxidants, fruit and vegetables also contain a lot of fiber. They help cleanse the intestines, support intestinal movements and provide the body with important digestive enzymes.⁠

When BARFing a dog, 20 to 30% of the bowl should be fruit and vegetables. The lion's share, 2/3, is vegetables, the rest is fruit. Cats, on the other hand, should only be fed vegetables. However, the proportion in the bowl is much lower at just 5%. ⁠

In order for dogs and cats to optimally utilize the vitamins and fiber from fruit and vegetables, they should be grated raw or lightly steamed and then pureed. This is because four-legged friends lack an enzyme that is necessary for the breakdown.⁠

To make it easier for you, you can use one of our fruit and vegetable mixes or vegetable flakes that only need to swell in water.

Fat

Fat is the most important source of energy in BARF feeding. It is also necessary for a healthy metabolism. In a normally active, healthy dog, the fat content in muscle meat should be 15-20%. With higher activity, the fat can be increased to up to 25%.

Cats have a very high tolerance threshold for animal fat, so the fat content can be higher.

How do I calculate the fat content?

If the fat content of the muscle meat is below the ideal value, fat must be added. You can easily calculate the amount using a BARF fat calculator or a rule of thumb.

Rule of thumb

(Target fat content % - actual fat content %) x muscle meat g / (100 % - actual fat content)

Means for 250 g of muscle meat, a 12 % fat content and desired 18 % fat

(18% - 12%) x 250g : 100% - 12% = 15 : 0.88 = 17.04545

The additional fat must then be deducted from the muscle meat. In this example it would be: 250 g muscle meat - 17 g fat = 233 g muscle meat + 17 g additional fat

oil

Oil vs. Fat

The animal fat in muscle meat cannot be compared to oils, as animal fat is there purely to provide energy.

Vegetable oils such as linseed oil, hemp oil or fish oil such as salmon oil or omega-3-6-9 oil are there to enrich the food with omega-3 fatty acids. However, they have nothing to do with energy supply. The daily requirement for oil is assumed to be 0.3 g of oil per kg of dog/cat.

Supplements or complementary foods for dogs and cats are nutritional supplements that contribute to the complete nutrition of your four-legged friend and prevent deficiencies.

Dog supplements include, for example, vitamins, oils and minerals that are either missing or present in insufficient quantities in conventional foods.

For example, a cat needs omega-3 fatty acids, which the body cannot produce on its own. These can then be supplemented with salmon oil.

A supplement composition can, for example, consist of seaweed flour (for iodine), rosehip shells (for vitamin C), OptiMSM (for the joints) and omega-3-6-9 oil.

With supplements you can support your four-legged friend individually according to his needs.