Raw to non raw

[HappiestSleeping]

Has anyone transitioned from raw to normal? If so, what was your reason please, and what effects did you notice, if any?

My rescue lab has been on raw, and we are moving away for a variety of reasons. I've seen no scientific evidence that raw is better. Anecdotally, his flatulence was much better on raw than my previous dog which had normal food, otherwise no noticeable difference.

I have never fed raw myself so can’t help with the transition. I know most vet’s are not very keen on raw feeding. Proprietary dog food had added minerals etc that dogs need and they are missing in raw feeding. The argument for raw feeding seems to be that it is natural for canines to eat raw meat after hunting and catching it. The problem is, wild canines eat the whole kill and gnaw on the fresh bones. There are many minerals they get from that, that will not be in raw meat alone.

Don't they eat bones on a raw diet ?

Raw was terrible for all of our dogs when we switched them to it.

Low energy, shedding hair, dandruff, dull coats, loose smelly stools and flatulence.

They looked like they were suffering.

After six months I said enough is enough and we got them back on a mixture of dry food and a separate meal of wet food and water to aid digestion.

They are back to good health again.

Indeed. As far as I've seen, proprietary has everything the dog needs. Also, the whole 'more natural' argument doesn't take into account the years of domestication and consequent adjustment to diet.

In our case it is more logistics as frozen food is a nuisance when going on holiday etc.

Thank you, that's interesting to know.

In my case, only as much as is contained in the raw food. Bones from the pet shop make him sick, so I've not given them again.

I do both - a good quality kibble for breakfast and raw for dinner (which includes bone). He loves both, but the raw esp. If you’re going to transition back to kibble or wet then I would suggest doing it gradually and check out https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/ which rates pet food

Thank you. Definitely going gradually. I will look at the article 👍

Didn't think you could mix and match in the way you are, so that's also interesting.

Yes, you absolutely can. Some of the raw die-hards will try and tell you can’t but that’s rubbish. There’s a lot online debunking the myth that it’s one or the other - this one is helpful https://www.wefeedraw.com/blog/can-you-mix-raw-food-with-kibble-yes#

Which kibble do you use to feed ?

@AnnieSnap perhaps don't comment on things you clearly no absolutely nothing about!

Vets know bugger all about canine nutrition ( I should know I am studying canine nutrition). They do about half a days training on it in their entire 5 years training!

Dogs fed on raw also consume bones and get all the vitamins and minerals needed if fed a correct and varied raw diet. Q
Kibble on the other hand doesn't provide good nutrition. No kibble on the market can adequately compete with a raw or fresh diet

@needtonamechangeforthis1 Isn't kibble full of crap, or most of it ?

@needtonamechangeforthis1 you don’t need to be so arsey 🙄 My comments are all valid. Most vets don’t rate raw feeding. You may be right about their lack of training in nutrition. I couldn’t comment on that, as I don’t know (see what I did there?). However, any decent Vet will keep themselves, at least fairly up-to-date on the literature, as any other practicing clinician does (evidence based practice).

Also, maybe some dogs are fed all that they need with a raw diet, but others are not. You speaking for all dogs on raw is going beyond what you can possibly know.

Proper raw food should be 80% meat, 10% offal and 10% bone! Best thing i ever did was move my dogs from the mass produced junk kibble to raw!

If you’re moving to kibble make sure you check that it’s a decent one nutrition wise. The all about dog food website is a good resource.

I feed raw as it’s much better for my dog, particularly her digestion (she was on kibble for the first two years of her life and we couldn’t find one that agreed with her). We find that her poos are much smaller, solid and smell less on raw and for that reason alone I wouldn’t change back. If we’re going on holiday without a big freezer we feed the Forrhglade trays which seem to suit her better than dry food.

If you’re feeding raw ‘completes’ they’re formulated to include the correct quantities of bone and all the nutrients a dog needs. Issues tend to occur when people don’t make sure the balance is correct.

Mine was on raw when we got him and I continued it. If his stools prove looser on normal food, that is worth thinking about for various reasons. I can't imagine the smell would be significantly different (hopefully I won't be finding out otherwise).

I was leaving more towards wet food than kibble to be honest, but it looks like I have some reading to do.

@iamwhatiam23 - what makes you say it was the best thing you did? What were your observations please?

@HappiestSleeping my dogs don't smell any more, they don't itch. They don't do massive piles of poo ( which also doesn't smell half as bad as kibble poo). They don't have constant smelly gas either.

You will find raw fed dogs have less poo and it is noticeably less smelly but if you pick up and bin it not really an issue.

If they are used to raw food I would look at least initially for a high meat content food with lower carbs in it. As that is what they will be used to. You can then change if you need to at a later date But generally higher meat will be easy for your dog to transition onto.

Going from raw to wet is easier just add in a small spoonful of wet to eat meal and gradually increase the amount.

Millies wet food or Forthglade would be an ok place to start.

Many dogs do extremely well on raw and owners see marked improvements with their dogs health and appearance.

Equally other owners are happy with different sorts of feeding..

Which sort of bones have you been giving @HappiestSleeping?

@AnnieSnap vets don't rate raw because the vast majority take a big commission for selling really rubbish kibble sold as a cure all for whatever issue your dog has!

If your vet is selling or advertising food then run a bloody mile! Lots of vets are part of big corporations and vets have to tow the party line.

I would like to think vets kept up to date on research on nutrition - but not all do.

My vet is totally in favour of raw feeding and feed their own dogs a raw diet.

Kibble is ultra processed food. It's heated to such a degree that any decent nutrients are long gone. You couldn't pay me enough to feed that rubbish to my dogs. It's often made up of waste products too.

Perhaps rather than slating raw feeding in future you could do a little research and critical thinking?

You are being too defensive. I wasn’t slating raw feeding, just saying what I know. Where did I slate it? I’m sure you will agree that many owner feeding raw, don’t do it properly - making sure their dogs have all the nutrients they need.

@AnnieSnap historically maybe but now no. The easiest way to feed raw is by buying completes which has everything weighed and measures for you. No harder than kibble apart from defrosting it.
It's not rocket science to get it right. So no I don't believe there are too many poorly fed dogs on raw out there.
Not in the same way as there are millions of dogs fed ultra processed kibble which are definitely not getting good nutrition

@HappiestSleeping Choose a good-quality kibble and there shouldn't be a problem.

I use Eden, which is 80% (human grade) meat/fish and grain free. I think Wolfheart is similar. If you buy the 'working dog' eden, it is significantly cheaper because it is VAT free.

Uncooked bones, only twice, and both times he was sick so I didn't do it again. Both beef bones.

@HappiestSleeping , if you want to go wet have a look at Naturediet . This is what we feed . It’s good quality and good value . My dogs poo hardly smells at all and is firm enough that if I didn’t have a bag I could just pick it up in my hand ( I never have btw) . We don’t feed the fish varieties so I can’t comment on them but the meat ones are great .