Raw diet.

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I never looked back since switching from commercial wet food to raw/cooked home food for my two little boys.
The stool is a lot firmer smaller and less frequent, they are less hyper and more calm, have fresher breath, they are more alert, as well as smooth shiny soft fur.
They always finish and lick their bowls clean.
They still have the odd meal of plain kibbles every now and then.
For me it has been a good thing switching over.
But I am just wondering if there are people who switched and it didn’t work out and what were the reasons?
Has anyone’s pet suffered gastro problems from raw diet? I know their digestive system is shorter than ours and is capable of handling bacteria which are harmful to humans. Any pets suffered from parasite/pathogen problems from raw meat?

Oh he doesn't panic - just looks at it like he's trying to work out what on earth it is, lol.

He's...well, I love him, but, honestly - I'm not sure he's running on all cylinders, rofl.

Cooking made no difference for him, I've never had a dog that refused to eat a bit of cooked meat I was totally prepared to start off with cooked meat and reduce the cooking time, but he was having none of it.

If he doesn't like a food he just won't eat - he's that way with commercial dog food too. I've finally got him on a mix of grain free dried food and butcher's tripe mix that he does well on digestively and eats enough of that I can give him his pain meds, if he was otherwise healthy I'd try again, but for him it's better to stick with what he's ok on I think.

But in general I think if anyone is thinking about raw feeding it's better for them, he's just got bigger issues.

Nuttie - why do you say Science Plan is not a good kibble? I'd be interested in your views. We use it because the breeder was using it but I'm not that happy with our puppies digestive system but have no idea of whether it's just how he is, how the breed is on the whole and whether changing his food would make any difference.

Science plan isn't awful...but it's not great either, it's got a whole load of maize in it which doesn't agree at all with my dog and added salt and flavour enhancers.

Basically it's a lot better than supermarket brands, but there are better foods for the same or less money.

Science Plan is Awful - it has maize and rice why does it need both or either. It also has BHA a preservation with dodgy health concerns attached to it. It has an artificial stool hardener in it which is impossible to digest.

this may help you choose some dog food

Is there an age limit for starting raw? My pup is 9 weeks nd I would like try NI or Nutriment for some meals.

No you can wean on to raw Pufflemum The above do do weaning paste though I'd not think that required now.

Puffle my old Belgian Shepherd x Border Collie girl went on at raw when she came to us at 6 weeks. (Just to clarify she was an emergency rescue case not an irresponsible purchase.) She loved it and went from a very weak poorly little girl, with a multitude of health problems to a big strong glossy (and very naughty ) pup in just a week or two.

Oops, that should say 'went onto raw'.

Nuttie - thank you for linking that website. I'm horrified about the make up of science plan. I realise I could have checked the ingredients list on the side but I wouldn't have known what was good or bad without the information on that website. Oh dear I think that explains our puppies poos - huge (often pale) ones in the garden then the first one on a walk is smaller & darker but well formed but 2nd or 3rd on every walk will be pale again but sloppy. I've always thought that was his reaction to the excitement of a walk as he is bouncy & sociable. But now I think the huge garden poos and soft ones on walks might be due to his food not being right for him.

I'm really interested in raw feeding but have too much going on in my life to consider DIY - a poorly Dad, a Mum who needs me to help out & work etc - so might try Nutriment.

Would I get away with clearing only 1 drawer of freezer though? Like Moose we also need almost a whole drawer for gluten free food!

What does your dog weigh Mint?

Another Nutriment fan here too :) I actually do 80% Nutriment to 20% DIY and my lot are thriving :) Fantastic quality and a great page on their site about WHY they use the ingredients they have :)

Oh and how old is the dog Mint as puppies are fed slightly differently amount wise as still growing.

The Truth About Your Dog's Food airs on Thursday 30 January on Channel 5 at 9pm

Commercial dog food

He is 6 months and weighs 21 kilo. He was underweight a few weeks ago due to giardia - very skinny and vet agreed he needed building up but on 450g of science plan a day the weight is back on and I think he needs to reduce the amount he eats now as his ribs are padded now. He is an old English sheepdog and a total scavenger!

I have two Pugs who are thriving on a raw diet. We have recently switched from Natural Instinct to Nutriment (slightly cheaper and lower minimum order but quality the same IMO) and they turn their noses up at anything else. Pugs are very prone to putting on weight but my two are a really healthy weight with the bonus of small, firm stools that aren't smelly.

Will watch with interest to see what exactly dog food manufacturers are putting into what they produce.

Right Mint I have had the calculator out and based on the raw feed group I use, a pup of 24 - 36 weeks is fed between 4.5 and 5.5% of their bodyweight daily. This drops to 3.5 - 4% at 36 weeks, 3.5% at 56 weeks and 2-3% at 68 weeks.

That means your pup would need 945g to 1155g a day. It is worth baring ain mind that this is a guide and you have to see how they gain/lose and adjust accordingly. In general bigger dogs do better on lower % than little dogs.

I have the tubs and can fit 8 kg in one drawer. That gives you 8 days at a time give or take. You could also order an extra 2 or 3 days per order to put straight in fridge on a slow defrost. The 1.4 kg chubbs are better value but you would have to message or ring them for advice on how many you'd fit in...they may be more space flexible for cramming in?

Fan - Thanks so much for working that out for me! Really great to have clear idea of what he'd need. I think we might go for this though we have a full 11kg bag of kibble - at least a months worth and a full freezer!

Maybe I'll get organised for doing this in a month.

Can you mix and match? So could I save the kibble for our holiday when we all have a week away - kibble be easier to manage with long car journeys and a holiday cottage, with no freezer.

The programme sounds interesting.

It isn't advised to. Kibble and raw are digested differently so shouldn't be fed together. I managed to raw feed a week in a caravan shopping from Asda with chicken wings and mince but I don't need a kilo a day!

But staying with family I fed a wet food (naturediet) as they had a dog and I knew bones were a huge aggression issue for their dog and I was DIY'ing then.

If you decide to go ahead in a month, ring Nutriment as you can order on the phone and tell them you are new to raw. They'll talk you through it all including quantities, they'll have more experience to advise with pups as I know they all grow at different rates, breed dependant.

Oh, and no reason why you can't feed some chicken wings here and there to make your food a little further between orders and the bone crunching is great for their teeth.

Not feeding kibble and raw at the same time is due to the gut transit time being slower for the bulky, fibrous ingredients in kibble. Raw food that's fed too close to kibble can, theoretically be stalled in the gut while the kibble digests and there are some concerns this could cause problems with bad bacteria multiplying.

You can mix and match, raw and kibble, but it's best not to feed the same food on the same day, just in case.

Feeding one or the other (being the opposite of whatever you normally feed) for a week while you are on holiday is fine. Some people feed alternate weeks of kibble and raw with no problems and I do know some who also mixed feed with no issues, but I wouldn't do this with a pup, especially one that has already had digestive problems.

I mix and match - as has been said, not at the same time, but some days I might feed kibble because I've run out of raw - I also use nature diet and that's an easy one to take to doggy day care when I have to use it. Luckily my current dog is not at all fussy, he will eat anything. I started on raw about 15 yrs ago when I had an elderly fussy eater and we were just trying to keep her weight up while she was still enjoying life so I tried raw. She blossomed - the vet was about raw but said 'you have nothing to lose'. She started enjoying her food, put on weight again and lived a happy 9 months beyond the vet's predictions. Wish I'd done it years before to be honest.

What about feeding kibbles and raw daily at say 11/12 hours apart with the odd snack during the day? Would this be problematic?

I wouldn't but your dog and your choice. There is lots to read out there on the matter so that is probably the best thing to do and then you can make a decision for what you'd prefer to do.