Any Raw food advocates?

[Neversleepingever]

I keep seeing snippets on feeding your pets a raw diet. I love Ddog (3) and DCat(6) as if they were my own children and so want what's best for them.

They're currently on iams and both their ideal weights according to our vet at the annual checkup is 4.9kg

I've tried to do some research but it's very overwhelming and I keep getting directed to frozen food subscriptions. I'm keen on making the food up myself to keep things more cost efficient.

Any advice for a full-on newbie? Its a bit of a minefield and I don't know where to start!

IAMS is owned by Proctor and Gamble, they animal test, including on dogs, including for pet food.
If nothing else I’d switch immediately to a more ethical brand.

I feed mostly Natures Menu tinned now but I have fed raw in the past and my dog did great on it.
For a dog my size it takes up a fair bit of room which is why I no longer do it.

We used Luna&Me for raw, comes in 100g patties so defrosting and serving is easy. Also used Paleo Ridge as it was rated one of the most ethical pet food companies, all or most of the meat they use is free range. We only switched because it came in 500g boxes which we had to defrost and cut up into 50g portions then refreeze so it was a pain and I didnt like chopping it up.

I'm keen on making the food up myself to keep things more cost efficient
Also, really wouldn’t advise this!
The idea is ‘balance over time’ but in practice I suspect you’d be inadvertently overdosing and/or underdosing on nutrients.
I’d stick to a balanced complete.
There are loads to choose from.
I used Vince the vet and nutriment when I did raw

If it ain't broke don't fix it

Unless you're a veterinary nutritionist with a specialism in public health and adept at handling raw food pathogens of course.

My cats are in Iams and they are very healthy. The vet said they have amazing teeth for the age.

Dog is on grain free He seems well on it. I also add veg and Greek yogurt and banana to give him some bulk and fibre for anal glands

@MrsAntiSocial

IAMS is owned by Proctor and Gamble, they animal test, including on dogs, including for pet food. If nothing else I’d switch immediately to a more ethical brand.

I feed mostly Natures Menu tinned now but I have fed raw in the past and my dog did great on it.
For a dog my size it takes up a fair bit of room which is why I no longer do it.

That is a really good point which I hadn't actually considered which is really stupid because I have been checking for animal testing all my life.

If anyone knows of a good quality dry dog food from an ethical company that would be very helpful although of course I can/will do my own research. I do mostly feed wet food and am trying raw with ddog at the moment but I do supplement with a handful of the biscuits he had from his breeder which are Purina and I have just realised that they are Nestle and implicated in animal testing.

It really isn't the be all and end all that the evangelists would have you believe.
Only positive we had was small poops. Trying to get the right ratio of bone to protein was tiresome. Poor dog struggled to pass crumbs of poo at time.

There are plenty of decent wet food and kibble out there, don't just change for changes sake.

We tried it because we have an incredibly fussy eater but she wouldn't eat raw either, wouldn't have bothered otherwise.

We feed raw. Ours has allergies and found it kept his gut healthy and the worst of his reactions at bay. He gets a complete.

My spaniel didn’t do very well on dried food so I swapped to raw several years, currently using Poppy’s Picnic which he does really well on.

We've been raw for a few years since ddog had terrible skin and tummy issues. We use a local raw food supplier that supplies a box as we need it and add a variety of mixed veg, bananas, blueberries. It's the same cost wise as dried possibly cheaper than some of the biscuits and he's a hay hound.

You're right, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. They both are doing well on iams so I will use up the last of their bags and I'll look into more ethical companies. Thank you for your suggestions!

I just give my dog raw food from wsitrose 😀 I feed a mix of minced pork, beef, or pork chops chicken legs and wings, and liver - usually whatever is on special I buy and freeze

Plus a good quality 'raw food' pellet - orijen or acana

Neversleeping would love to hear what you come up with. Our dog would eat anything but I figure we should give her the best we can without compromising other animals welfare too much. I was looking on all about dog food but then another poster suggested it wasn’t that helpful. It’s a bit of a mine field.

Paleo ridge raw is probably the most ethical as their meats as far as I know are all free range @Vegiereggie

My whippet is raw fed and I DIY as he stopped eating completes. I buy from a local raw food supplier.

I hate the phrase if it isn’t broke don’t fix it

I mean realistically your dogs diet is poor compared to a raw diet (facts) so that phrase basically means why feed a great diet if you can settle for a poor one?

I’ve been feeding raw for years with several dogs and cats. I cringe when I think back to feeding previous pets dry food

There’s SO many companies that sell blocks of meat which contains all the bone/organ/meat mix you literally just put it into a bowl. Doesn’t have to be expensive either. Mine works out £1 a day.

Honestly, give it a go you won’t look back. And if on the small chance it doesn’t work well at least you tried

I'm a new convert to raw, having fed our wee dog Lily's Kitchen for years, assuming as it was pricey and sounded healthy that it was.... Really shocked to realise I'd fallen for the marketing

Do take a look at allaboutdogfood.... great website run by an enthusiast which rates all foods, and gives you some background.

As soon as I realised I could combine raw and kibble, I took the plunge. Kibble needed for training and travelling - and I've switched to Orijin.

Raw - so clearly much better for him. He's always been a healthy dog but he is only 6. I realised we as a family were feeding ourselves an increasingly healthy diet and just felt a bit mad we were giving him the equivalent of a mcdonalds every day.....

Biggest benefit so far - A VERY HAPPY DOG! After years of boring kibble (and okay we did top it with the odd egg, sardine, bit of mince or chicken) ... he is excited by his food. He really can't believe his luck at having something so delicious in his bowl every day. He even sits next to his bowl hopefully in the evening AFTER supper, clearly thinking he might be up for second helpings if he looks endearing enough.....

I've gone for completes - precisely because I couldn't get my head around it all, so I thought I'd let some one else do the planning to start with and just take it step by step. Just three weeks in and have read lots of excellent facebook groups, and feel ready to start giving him stuff I put together ... in a few weeks, once I'm sure he's settled. So far, no challenges but I do recognise it is a big shift for their diet so good to not take it too fast. Going to start expanding the range of proteins and see what he likes.

Sorry, I know this is an old thread!

So, we've just decided to convert to raw food for our 18 month old Cockapoo. She usually has half a tin of sensitive dog food plus kibble. But, whenever she has a treat eg cheese, rodeo, carrot, she gets diarrhoea. So I'm guessing she just has a sensitive gut. I'm hoping raw food will be the answer!

A raw food shop has opened down the road so it's perfect. We've bought a pack of frozen natures complete turkey/goose nuggets (80/20) and also they recommended a bag of turkey mince 80/10/10.

My question to all you experts is..... would half the 80/10/10 portion mixed with half the nuggets portion be enough for her every day? Nutritionally? Im worried about the increase in cost, and the mince was half the price of the complete nuggets.

Also, I'm transitioning her slowly, phasing out the current food. But once she's on raw food, can I mix and match? So sometimes turkey, then duck next time, then chicken.... or do you have to stick to the specific protein?

Thank you.

Also, do they still need some sort of kibble?

I was looking into raw a while ago as my rescue was on it when I got him.

For logistic reasons, and to reduce the risk of cross contamination, I looked for any scientific research on whether it is more beneficial for the dog. Couldn't find any research other than some that proves significantly higher occurrences of cross contamination.

So, I switched to a quality dry food from a manufacturer registered with the pet food manufacturers association (I'm in the UK), and everything is fine with the additional benefit that it's easier to portion out for training purposes and control his weight.

During the transition, I moved gradually from one to the other with increasing / reducing ratios, so as not to mess with his digestion, and would suggest a similar approach for you going the other way.

Agree with previous though, if it ain't broke. I use Burns Complete dry food.