Mixing commercial tinned food or kibble with raw food

[SirChenjins]

Big girl pants on here as I know raw feeding convos often get a bit heated, but here goes!

I’m transitioning ChenPup who’s 20 months onto complete raw (Just Natural) and so far he absolutely loves it. I’m using some kibble (Lily’s Kitchen) in the morning and on the odd day when he’s at daycare or at my son’s house.

I know some people say absolutely not, it should only be one or the other, whereas others mix for practical reasons as per above.

Does anyone else on here mix? If so, what do you do and what do you use?

I mix. Very fussy dog and on raw (natures menu nuggets with free flow mince) and kibble. Very happy dog, compliments on how well he’s looked recently since we’ve settled into the mixed routine.

Oh that’s great to hear 😊 ours is also very fussy and would only touch home cooked mince, liver, a small bit of brown rice, sweet potatoes and green beans, with his kibble at breakfast. It was becoming a complete faff to batch cook and freeze. He would literally not eat at all unless he got this, but has wolfed down the raw and licked the bowl.

No problem with mixing raw and other foods.It is thought that as the dog is on raw they have the best stomach acid ever to deal with a variety in their diet.

Some of the websites and SM pages have been vehemently against mixing raw with kibble - something about digestion rates. It’s a bit of a minefield out there, but good to know it can be done.

We have a lab with very sensitive stomach but she's happy on a mix of Harrington's kibble and 25% fat beef mince from the supermarket, with the odd lamb heart, kidneys, carrot and egg thrown into the mix. It's very easy for us, as available everywhere when we travel and she wolfs it down. No digestion issues.

@DogDaysNeverEnd is that raw mince and hearts etc?

Our lab has a mix of all sorts, kibble and wet food mainly day to day but also raw treats, e.g. duck wings, liver, some beef mince if that's what we're cooking etc.

Dogs are scavengers so I find the idea that you have to stick to one thing and transition between foods slowly etc. mystifying.

It seems to work for us, pup has never had a single stomach upset, bar the occasional not quite as firm as usual poo.

We've never mixed in the same meal because of this reason. But I do wonder if it is outdated advice.

As it stands we feed raw. However, we are very flexible on food in general. Sometimes they have raw, sometimes they have wet food, sometimes they have sardines and sometimes they have our leftovers. A dog trainer we know said if you feed your dog (or yourself) the same thing at every single meal of course you are more likely to get an upset stomach if you have a sudden change of meal. By varying their diet we are making their digestive systems more resilient.

I do know some dogs have allergies so this rule doesn't fit every dog - but for us it works very well!

I’m doing the whole transition thing and introducing one protein at a time on the advice of my friend who’s been raw feeding for years and it seems bonkers really - he eats horse poo, drinks puddle water and was having a good old chomp on a dead squirrel recently before I prised it from his jaws. I think his digestive system can cope with a good kibble and a mix of protein - he’s been eating all sorts from an early age. Still, I do worry.

In my experience it’s fine. You’ll soon know if your dog’s stomach can’t manage from his poos!

As long as both components are nutritionally balanced, I can't see it would be a problem. Dogs eat all sorts of rubbish without ill effects so decent foods should be fine.

Personally I wouldn't feed kibble and raw in the same meal or close together. Kibble can take longer to digest which would leave the raw sitting in the stomach longer.
Personally I don't feed very much (or any) kibble but that's because I have a dog who really doesn't tolerate it well.
I use forthglade trays for licki mats and freeze dried and dehydrated treats for training. But when we go away I intend to use the trays for their main meals too.

I’m giving him kibble at breakfast and then raw at dinner- that should be OK?

Its totally fine and a bit of an urban myth about kibble digesting slower - it is actually the other way around

Feeding raw and kibble

Thanks so much for posting that link @IngGenius - it makes a lot of sense.

Tonight he had his raw food and then I caught DD giving him a bit of her pizza. I don’t even want to think about the combination of those! Not sure why I’m stressing about it really, I’m sure he’ll be fine.

My 2 ate Nature's Menu minced tripe or mixed tripe/chicken with plain kibble (terrier mix) with occasional sardines, raw carrot and safe human scraps. Rabbit ears as treats. They were active and healthy for 13 and 15 years respectively, never had diarrhoea, and only rarely stinky gas. (Usually after they'd picked up something vile on a walk) I never gave it a thought, it was what my friend who (accidentally) bred them suggested.

I'm a 99% raw feeder for our dog (she has kibble in treat dispensers, as well raw doesn't really work well for that 😂)

I follow this raw supplier on Facebook and they posted this last year Can you mix raw and kibble?
Can you mix raw and kibble? Yes you most definitely can.
At Tilly’s, we firmly believe a raw diet is best but:
If you’d prefer to feed kibble, adding even a small amount of raw, fresh food has benefits to a dog’s health.
Kibble can be cheaper than raw so bulking out raw food with kibble is much better than using an unbalanced mixer or feeding just kibble
if you are feeding kibble in any quantity, make sure it’s the best quality you can afford.

We stock a small range of kibble at Tilly’s and you can guarantee it will be the best available.

Read more about why mixing kibble and raw is completely safe here: Raw Feeding Myths: Can You Mix With Kibble And Raw?

Brilliant, thanks! Looks like he’ll be just fine on raw and kibble 😊