Raw food HELP PLEASE

[Mammaaof]

So I posted a couple of days ago about switching to raw food. I ordered the one I wanted (nature menu) arriving on Friday. I'm just so confused/stressed/worried about the amounts. I used their food calculator and said he should have 342g a day. But then if I used a general one it says 200g a day and then another says 90g I'm so confused. I don't understand as they are all 80/10/10 so how can the amounts vary so much. I don't want to give him too little. Any help or advice would be so appreciated! He is 7 months old, cavapoochon and weighs 4.5kg he has stopped growing now as hes a toy, not sure if that's relevant! Thank you!

You need to use the food calculator on the actual food you are using and then move up / down by watching his weight / energy levels .

Use what is on the actual packaging.

Also, you need to swap the food over slowly: introduce raw over about a week by swapping some of their usual food for the raw and increasing that ratio each day.

It just seems such a jump from 90g to 342g 🙈 for exactly the same ingredients! @SatsumasOrClementines yes thank you I will be doing this 😊

Raw feeding tends to be around 5-8% of the dog's body weight each day. The 90g is wrong somehow, so I think a miscalculation? Maybe it means per meal vs per day?

At 7% that would mean a 4500g dog would eat about 315g, split between 2-3 meals.

You would then vary, depending on dog's body condition (loses weight = feed more, gains weight = feeds less).

@GhostPepperTears everything I read and what others adviced me on my other thread is that it's 2%-3% of their body weight 🙈

Puppies should get around 5-6% of their body weight in food dropping to 2-3% once they are an adult.

@SlothMama I'm having so much different advice. I got told that because he's toy and fully grown now that he should have 2%-3% of his body weight now 😓

Yep, apologies, OP. I read your post as him being a puppy.

I perosnally would split the difference' and see how he gets on. Weighing regularly to monitor weight and adjusting accordingly.

Maybe start with 4% and see?

[quote Mammaaof]@SlothMama I'm having so much different advice. I got told that because he's toy and fully grown now that he should have 2%-3% of his body weight now 😓[/quote]
Have you noticed that he has completely stopped growing? Although they are a toy breed and they do stop growing sooner than larger breeds I'd still be cautious about cutting out his food.

The best indicator if a dog is being fed too much is their poo, so you can increase and decrease the amount depending on if his poo is too soft or too solid. My larger breed dog is 9 months now, so I go off this as a guide as I still thing he has some more room to grow!

@GhostPepperTears thank you I think I will do that, I'm sure I'll find my feet with it, but starting off is worrying I just want to do the right thing 🙈

@SlothMama I thought it was too soon for him to stop growing but the vet is confident that he has now stopped growing

My 11kg spaniel is on 250g a day. So that first amount of food seems a massive amount to me. There are a lot of raw feeding groups on FB so maybe someone there may be able to help?

For older dogs the guide is 2-3% of body weight but just use the guide on the food you use (raw still differs between suppliers).
Dont over think it, you'll get into the habit. Some days mine have bones/wings so their daily total of grams is higher than overs. It evens out in the end 😊

My cavapoo is 6kg and has 80grams twice a day and my cockapoo is 14kg and has 160grams twice a day. But some days I'll also add sprats, bones, wings etc.
And some days they have tinned sardines and scrambled eggs which I don't even weigh out!

We use nutriment frozen food in 500g trays for our 20kg staffie, the guide on the packaging suggests 400g a day for her size so we feed that over 2 meals. Over the first lockdown she was being walked a lot more and we had to up her food to 500g per day.

I think it's a bit of trial and error.

If you’re not happy with the amount natures menu suggest then why not try a different brand? I found www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/ really helpful.

You make a straight swap to raw, no need to titrate the kibble down. Nature's Menu is the one with a lot of veg added isn't it so that might be why the amounts vary from other calculators. My 15 month old 14.5kg dog is on 3% but my ex's 5 year old 11kg spaniel needs to be on 4% to maintain weight.

@bloodywhitecat it's 80% meat. this is all making me anxious as some say straight swap and some say I need to do it slowly.

@NattyDiamondDoll the 80g twice a day seems a good amount, my dog is 4.5kg so can't really see him needing 342g a day 🙈

@SatsumasOrClementines I've just put in a £60 order arriving tomorrow so can't really change now unless he doesn't like it 🙈

Straight swap. Dry food or whatever you are feeding for dinner, then onto raw from the next day. It can affect digestion if you mix feed.

Also try and avoid anything with tripe in for the first couple of weeks. It can make their digestive system work quicker (eg a nice poo on the kitchen floor to greet you in the morning!). I learnt that after that incident

@Strawberryshortcake40 thank you for that tip as I would have mixed it otherwise! 😅 There is soo much to learn but I'm determined to stick to it as I've read so many positives about raw feeding

@Strawberryshortcake40 @bloodywhitecat where did you find the guidance to go for a straight swap from? Everything I’ve read and heard says gradual. (Would like to know as I don’t want to be giving wrong/outdated advice.)

Follow the instructions from the food you are using, and just keep an eye on poos, and weight. Then you can adjust amounts accordingly (I’ve heard it recommended that you change by 10% when finding the correct portions, as in a dog having 200g/day would start having 220g)

There are lots of people who felt raw never worked for them and their dogs, so don’t feel bad if you don’t stick with raw.

Agree with PPs about a full swap. Kibble and raw are digested very differently, so best to just switch I think, from what I’ve read

paleoridgeraw.uk/switching-to-raw-food-diet

I would actually just follow the advice from the company you have chosen