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've had a good read of the above websites, but there doesn't appear to be any reference to scientific study that I could find. I'll keep reading though, and report back my findings and experience.

@rbe78 thanks for the tip, I hadn't noticed the VAT free aspect of working dog food.

My dog eats and thrives on raw, plus he loves bones when he gets them. Small poos, very little wind, plenty of energy vet says he's very healthy. I find it easier to manage his weight too.

But I only really transitioned him because he seemed to be getting more picky on kibble and even wet. He seemed to get bored of it so something he would love to start with he lost interest in. He did always like the different flavours of Carnilove but also the James Wellbeloved as well- I get those, and feed him a mix of wet and dry if we are somewhere that I can't keep the raw. He'll perfectly happily eat the odd tin of any old food if that's what I have! I don't think you have to be too purist.

I'm more in the fed is fed camp, and you know your dogs- if they are doing well on something you know! Good luck.

Mine can be sick if I feed beef bones, knuckle bones, too big a carcass.

I tend to stick to windpipes, lamb ribs, chicken wings etc.
I’ve had to change groomers recently, they are Standard Poodle specialists and commented on what great shape mine is in and how fantastic her teeth are, she’s 11 but you would never know it. She’s full of life and I really believe raw food has done that.

I have two dogs. One is fed a raw diet, the second used to be fed a raw diet but now is on a commercial wet food. Why? The second developed a digestive issue and is fibre responsive and therefore needs a lower protein higher fibre diet which I still need to supplement with physllium husk.

My overall preference is for a raw diet, the one on raw has a much better coat and her teeth immaculate. The one on standard wet not quite so good in those two areas. I'll take it though as her digestive issues are now gone - she's well in herself (and previously she'd been very very unwell), full of energy and that's what matters.

So at the end of the day it's about what works for each of my dogs.

Im not sure why raw feeders are being so aggressive. My vet has never asked about food or promoted anything, just focuses on the health of my dog. I’d still trust a qualified vet over some unknown person on a forum.

I don’t feed raw, I’m also not judgemental and nasty towards what others feed their pets.

@lightinthebox the raw feeders are always quite vociferous on threads like this , as if there choice is the A* and non raw feeding is second class

We fed raw and were very happy with it but moved to steamed food when our boy was poorly and was vulnerable to infection. Our vet suggested we changed over for a while. He had no agenda in doing so as was very supportive of us feeding a raw complete diet and definitely didn't try and push the food they sold.

Sorry forgot to say there were no ill effects at all.

There's nothing to stop you using raw at home and cold pressed for holidays.

From my perspective, and not wishing to upset anyone, all the evidence about raw is anecdotal since there hasn't been any actual research. Not that I can find anyway (although I'd be very happy to find some). As such, other owners experienced here are a valid a source as any.

I don't think my lab has a particular good coat despite having been on raw all his life (according to his previous owner). I'll be looking into that as part of the whole feeding journey.

I await the status of his wind as this seems to be the most commonly identified benefit of raw. I'm now a week into transitioning away from raw, and although it's probably too early to tell, there is no discernable difference. Then again, I'm doing it gradually, so the full impact may be yet to come.

Not a dog but a cat..
I have a new cat who I wanted to get off crap food and onto raw. The cat has other ideas and let's just say that Not My Cat has done very well out of all the abandoned food!
He just won't eat raw. I've compromised with a really good quality grain free dry food and a grain free wet food that he tolerates
I've never had a cat that prefers dry biscuits over ham but this weirdo does

Raw feeders tend to talk about kibble as though it's all the same when there's massive variations in quality. There are poor quality kibbles and better quality kibbles and equally it's possible to feed a poor quality raw diet.

I had every intention of feeding a mix, we know a few people who do raw for one meal and dried food for the other but my lab had other ideas and refused the raw. Little bugger won't even eat a raw egg, prefers them slightly scrambled!

Both our labs get extras on top of dry but have great coats, good teeth and are rarely windy.

Raw feeders tend to talk about kibble as though it's all the same when there's massive variations in quality. There are poor quality kibbles and better quality kibbles and equally it's possible to feed a poor quality raw diet

Absolutely agree with this.

If you ever want to see the raw feeders (esp the whole prey feeders) really getting their knickers in a twist about kibble go onto some of the raw feeding facebook pages - wowser.

Raw feeders being adamant that vets are only against it so they can promote kibble is what makes me especially dubious about raw food. I’d always trust a qualified vet over armchair internet research.

If you ever want to see the raw feeders (esp the whole prey feeders) really getting their knickers in a twist about kibble go onto some of the raw feeding facebook pages - wowser

I was in a group about travelling to Europe with pets and someone came on incensed that she couldn't travel to Europe without a rabies vaccination. She thought she should be exempt from that requirement as her pup was raw fed!! I'm sure 'big pharma' was mentioned a couple of times too.

Agreed. My vet is excellent and a great reader of the up-to-date scientific veterinary literature on all things small animal. Being a Clinician in a different field, I also look at the veterinary literature myself. She and I discuss the literature on each subject we touch on.

My lab came to us as a puppy having been weaned onto raw food and his guts were in turmoil. He was bloated, horrendous gas and his bowel movements were silver.

We spoke to our vet who said to put him immediately on puppy kibble and within a couple of days all his bloating had gone, and his bowel movements were normal.

Our vet said that there isn't any benefit to raw feeding - unless you're going to have a dog that goes onto agility or is a working dog, and you would need to make sure you're adding in extra supplements to meet the dogs needs.

I feed raw but don’t have an issue with people that don’t if it suits their dog and it’s of decent quality.

I would have probably continued to feed kibble to my dog if I’d found one that agreed with her in terms of digestion. As it happens she’s massively better on raw (digestion, teeth, coat and actually enjoys what’s she’s eating rather than taking it leaving it) so I’ll continue to feed it.

My vets are also fully supportive of raw feeding if it’s done properly rather than the people that think picking up a few bits of meat from the supermarket is sufficient.

You’ll probably find that the younger vets are generally more knowledgeable about it and therefore more willing to advise/support, although having said that the head vet at our practice feeds raw to her own dogs.

Not all raw feeders are evangelical about it but of course I’ll recommend it to anyone that’s struggling with the issues that we had as it worked so well for our dog.

God why are all raw feeder so aggressive about it?

It literally put me off the idea altogether. Cat raw feeding groups on Facebook are also the same. On most of the yob can't even discuss other feeding options despite the fact that when I tried to move the cats to raw they barely ate a morsel of it so they didn't die and I was throwing away hundreds of pound sod raw meat a month.

Anyway, to answer your question. Have you looked into Butternut Box? It's human grade lightly cooked food and my two fussy dogs do well on it and wolf it down no issues.

An acquaintance who's evangelical about raw used to feed pedigree kibble, no fucking wonder the dogs a lot better on raw!

We started on raw with older lab, as that’s what he had been weaned onto, but he struggled with digestion - IBS , horrible poop, etc. We moved him to Naturediet to no great difference, then on to a mix of kibble/ wet/ fibre and salmon oil.

He’s currently on Royal Canin Labrador kibble, has a stunningly shiny black coat and is at his perfect weight. My second lab needs hydrolysed proteins so has never tolerated raw.

I was disappointed that raw did not work for us as I was so sure it would be ideal for my domesticated wolf, but he is clearly happy on his current diet so all good.

I’ve definitely found it’s the newer dog owners who are swept up in the raw food diet. I’ve had people talk down to me as though I’m too stupid to research food. Had dogs for years, as have family, we’ve seen fads come and go.

We tried our beagle on raw after he went through a phase of being fussy with his food - he wasn't remotely interested 🙈

He loves natural chews and treats so we thought he'd love a raw diet but nope - not a chance 😂 we feed a mixture of kibble and wet, plus he gets human food most days - he's a healthy weight and always gets compliments at the vet as they see so many overweight beagles.

Ultimately the best diet for your dog is one they'll eat and one that keeps them healthy. For some that will be raw, for others it will be kibble, or wet, or a mixture.

We mix - combination of raw complete, raw chicken mince with bone and kibble.

I would never feed any of our dogs Bakers food.

Yet over the years I have met dogs often elderly dogs who have been fed Bakers all their lives and are fit and healthy.

In particular, three golden retrievers one now dead from very old age who have thrived on it with zero health problems.

It's a bit like people. Some people live on junk food and have lovely skin and hair and live to be 98 and other health food fanatics die before they are 45!

What worlds best dow our dogs is not feeding raw. We tried and we wanted it to work as we were caught up with it being the best but it didn't work for them.