Raw feeding advice please

[Gubanc]

There must be some raw feeders here. I feed my cats (diy) raw food that I feel like I've cracked but I'm new to dogs' needs.

It appears as it's a lot more difficult to put a dog's diet together, I've been looking at online companies but they're rather pricey for a large dog.

I'm looking for advice for more affordable pre-mades or diy recipes if you have some.

Our vet said don't. He said it's hard to get right, risky with the raw stuff in your house, and just generally let the pet food companies who are regulated and have to adhere to certain standards sort it out for you. Also much easier if you are travelling.

Our daughter in laws dog is raw fed and it's the bit of her visiting I find difficult. Though our dog does love a raw chicken wing - she gets tinned stuff and she's fine.

Check out Benyfit Natural. It is a complete Natural food which comes in 1kg tubs and bundles. My little dog thrives off of it and has done since puppyhood. They have a great FAQ section on their website and people on hand to give more tailored support and advice. Good luck!

I thought cats were more difficult as they need more taurine than dogs?

80:10:10 - is what you need, meat, offal, bone. 2-3% of their ideal weight to be fed.

I buy completes from Durham Animal Feeds and have done for about 9 years. He gets additional chicken feet as they are his favourite treat haha.

10% bone
80% meat
5% liver
5% other offal is basically the diet for dogs.

However for some dogs the bone content may have to be changed. Also introduce the offal gently.

There is a lot of really good ready made raw food available. Nutriment,Natural Instinct (not to be confused with Nature menu which is pretty rubbish)

Landywoods and Daf supply just the ingredients and meat on the bone plus minces and you can mix up the ingredients yourself.

It is pretty easy to raw feed a dog (freezer space makes it easier and cheaper) if that is way you want to go.

Re travelling a raw feed dog will be able to tolerate diet change much easier than a kibble fed dog so putting them onto wet food or a very hihg meat content kibble is no issue when away from home.

Some of the raw completes are a bit more on the pricy end, but if you shop around and have a freezer so that you can buy in bulk, it makes things a lot more affordable. Also depends if you want your dog on prey model raw (80/10/10, no fruits/vegetables) or BARF (with fruits/veg/supplements). Independent raw suppliers are the best for this I've found, have a look to see if there are any that deliver in your area.

Here are a couple of prey model raw complete brands I've used : Furry Feasts, The Raw Factory, The Dogs Butcher, Henley. They tend to range from about £2.80 to £3.80 per 1kg. Which does work out cheaper than most high end dry foods actually.

Some BARF model completes : Nurture Them Naturally, ProDog Raw, Natural Instinct. They're a little more expensive.

Just as a few examples I've pulled off the Pets At Home website, 1kg of Lily's Kitchen is £8.29, 1kg of Forthglade cold-pressed is £6.79 - I find I'm spending less on raw than I would be on dry food.

I do a bulk order for about 25-30kg worth of food which lasts roughly 2 months for 2 cocker spaniels, comes to about £100.

@TheBearBones

Some of the raw completes are a bit more on the pricy end, but if you shop around and have a freezer so that you can buy in bulk, it makes things a lot more affordable. Also depends if you want your dog on prey model raw (80/10/10, no fruits/vegetables) or BARF (with fruits/veg/supplements). Independent raw suppliers are the best for this I've found, have a look to see if there are any that deliver in your area.

Here are a couple of prey model raw complete brands I've used : Furry Feasts, The Raw Factory, The Dogs Butcher, Henley. They tend to range from about £2.80 to £3.80 per 1kg. Which does work out cheaper than most high end dry foods actually.

Some BARF model completes : Nurture Them Naturally, ProDog Raw, Natural Instinct. They're a little more expensive.

Just as a few examples I've pulled off the Pets At Home website, 1kg of Lily's Kitchen is £8.29, 1kg of Forthglade cold-pressed is £6.79 - I find I'm spending less on raw than I would be on dry food.

I do a bulk order for about 25-30kg worth of food which lasts roughly 2 months for 2 cocker spaniels, comes to about £100.

Where do you buy from? Is it those you have listed above?

I'm just asking as I spend between £80-90 for 5 months for my cocker from DAF. I buy their dinners so they are more expensive than the bulk 'minces'.

I use Natural Instinct mainly and then mix it up with duck necks, chicken or duck carcasses, lamb ribs. Natures Menu do a good selection of these but they are expensive to use as the main food source. Cotswold Raw are also good or They Love It.
Bella & Duke usually do 50% off for new customers.

@Dipsydoodlenoodle I get mine from a raw supplier called Davids Doggie Dinners - may need to check that they deliver in your area, they carry a fair selection of different brands so I just pick and choose :)

They have Bulmers and DAF on there, I don't tend to use them though as they only come in the 454g packs.

Thank you all for the advise above, I'll look at those websites.

@TheBearBones

Some of the raw completes are a bit more on the pricy end, but if you shop around and have a freezer so that you can buy in bulk, it makes things a lot more affordable. Also depends if you want your dog on prey model raw (80/10/10, no fruits/vegetables) or BARF (with fruits/veg/supplements). Independent raw suppliers are the best for this I've found, have a look to see if there are any that deliver in your area.

Here are a couple of prey model raw complete brands I've used : Furry Feasts, The Raw Factory, The Dogs Butcher, Henley. They tend to range from about £2.80 to £3.80 per 1kg. Which does work out cheaper than most high end dry foods actually.

Some BARF model completes : Nurture Them Naturally, ProDog Raw, Natural Instinct. They're a little more expensive.

Just as a few examples I've pulled off the Pets At Home website, 1kg of Lily's Kitchen is £8.29, 1kg of Forthglade cold-pressed is £6.79 - I find I'm spending less on raw than I would be on dry food.

I do a bulk order for about 25-30kg worth of food which lasts roughly 2 months for 2 cocker spaniels, comes to about £100.

Just to be awkward...

The price per weight isn’t comparable with dried food - a kg of raw was one days food for the dog I tried raw feeding with, a kg of dried food would have been about 2 1/2 days worth.

I found I could do it for about the same price as dry food, if I really shopped round and used practically free stuff from the butcher as well - but no way was it cheaper.

@tabulahrasa Ahh I wasn't aware of that, the more you know :) The only experience I have with dry was the first week of having my first puppy and then the vet recommended we switch to raw and haven't used other foods since. I'm guessing it has something to do with the water content of raw? Is it a similar situation with wet food?

[quote TheBearBones]@tabulahrasa Ahh I wasn't aware of that, the more you know :) The only experience I have with dry was the first week of having my first puppy and then the vet recommended we switch to raw and haven't used other foods since. I'm guessing it has something to do with the water content of raw? Is it a similar situation with wet food?[/quote]
Yep - dry food has had all the water removed so you don’t feed the same amount.