Hello, Are you able to give your dog a bit of both kinds of foods? I would like to give my dog some raw treats but he gets dry food and not sure I want to change that. Thanks Mel
I feed my boy one meal of kibble a day and one meal of raw. I had been giving him raw as a treat occasionally but I decided to change this to a meal as he enjoys it so much. I'm undecided whether I will go over to a full raw diet but I think there are lots of forum members who feed their dogs a mixture. I do know that some of the die hard raw feeding forums on the internet say you should never mix raw and kibble but this hasn't been a problem for me or Ripple. Hope this helps .
Sam has enjoyed a mixed diet for years now and we`ve not had any problems at all . He has his kibble only for breakfast , then his tea is a mix of some kibble with raw meat or raw fish , with lightly cooked veg x
Hattie & Charlie are kibble fed with tinned sardines including the olive oil 2/3 times a week or raw chicken wings, thighs, meaty totally consumable bones and any left over veg, no problems here either, they are both extremely fit, healthy and active.
Saba won't eat kibble, so now he's totally raw fed, and has one meal daily. If I put kibble in his kong, he'll have a lovely time scattering the kibble all over the floor, but he won't eat it! Raw treats shouldn't prevent a problem; in the days when Saba behaved like a Lab and ate everything, he enjoyed bones and raw chews with no ill effects, although of course, every dog is different!
I never understood the "don't mix raw and dry". What was going to happen? A blockage?! Snowie only eats raw meals. But what he scavenges is another thing! And as far as treats, he gets whatever is going, or more precisely, what we're eating! I have a jar of Orijen fish kibble I give him as treats when I am prepared to put up with the stink on my hands! His poos are much smaller and harder with raw food. If he raids another dog's kibble, he gets softer, puffy poos and he farts! He doesn't fart if he's been sticking only to his raw meals.
My first dog only got kibble when there were not enough scraps of a cooked meal for us, and the raw bits that didn't make it into the meal, to fill a dish for him. No problem. Some dogs might have a problem so go easy to start but you can even mix raw and kibble in a meal for most dogs. There is some interesting reading at the link and some good source links. https://therawfeedingcommunity.com/...s-kibble-may-actually-digest-faster-than-raw/
Thank you for posting that link -- very interesting reading. Although, as the author says, question everything you read online! And I'd say, while I'd like to believe this sample of one to be true for all dogs, it is after all a sample of one. But my logic tells me that, yes, processed kibble would be digested faster than raw meat, particularly given the knowledge we have of glycaemic factor and how highly processed carb-rich foods are digested much faster than less processed foods (and if feeding whole meat and whole meaty bones, the least processed of all). I think there's been the concern of fermentation of kibble (the gas production!) and the interaction between that and the raw meat, but I don't know why that's a problem (other than the gas!) so I am happy to remain open-minded until I read some good research. I still don't get the "don't feed raw and kibble together" thing. Of course I do believe raw-only is the healthiest because I believe the less processed the better and the less highly-processed carbs dogs eat the better (kibble is very high in highly-processed carbs), but I do get that there are many other factors that dictate why people feed the food they do to their dogs and that there are many dogs that are luckily very healthy while eating kibble. But I'd assert that some raw with kibble is better than no raw at all.
MF, do you mind describing what Snowie eats (meals not scavenging - the scamp)? If you have preciously described it please link the thread and I will read it.
Snowie has allergies that make him itchy. He has seemed worse after eating chicken, duck and pork. So he doesn't get that (unless scavenging!! All the KFC leftovers!). He doesn't get a scientifically measured out meal. It's all approximations. I get a month's delivery and eats his way through that. I give bone and meat at each meal - 300gm for breakfast, 400gm dinner. Here's a typical order for the month - quantities are in kg. 4 Venison Hearts (if available, otherwise Sheep Hearts) 1 Beef Kidneys (if no kidneys, then replace with Sheep Hearts) 1 Sheep (or Beef) Liver 9 Game/Venison Meaty Bones - neck vertebra with some rib attached 1 Beef Marrow Bones 2 Beef Trachea 2 Tripe - dirty green tripe 2 Ostrich gizzard My supplier had no venison bones last time so I bought lamb bones from elsewhere - massive hit with Snowie. I also bought him ostrich neck with meat. He also gets a raw egg about 2-3 times a week. And sometimes middle cut fish (tin) if we're running low on meat. I worry that he's not getting enough muscle meat (yes, the heart is a muscle! I mean from limbs) but I'm limited given we don't feed him chicken. Ideally he'd be getting the whole animal - like a rabbit. But I'm limited with what my supplier provides unless I go out to a country butchery (butcheries in town don't have all the cheaper parts - like brains, etc). He also gets his meds every morning in steamed sweet potato (a few tablespoons) and through the day he gets raw carrots (must be peeled!!!) and other veg we're cooking, bits of fruit, and of course some raw almonds - loves to chew them! And he gets salmon oil capsules plus butter every evening as his nighttime treat - about a teaspoon or two.
Ostriches are common here. Although those ostrich neck steaks with central vertebra weren't the cheapest! But I had to get something as I'd run out of meaty bones and delivery was a few days to come. The place I bought from was, however, a lot cheaper than a regular shop - kind of like a wholesaler. Why I usually get it delivered? I'm vegetarian and I must confess going to a butchery is my least favorite activity.
Shame MF, that really is love for Snowie, being a vegetarian and preparing and feeding him meat. Our Bengals used to be on a raw diet that consisted of ostrich meat, heart and chicken wings, necks and chicken meat. When they came from the breeder they were on this diet, we slowly weaned them onto dry food with some raw, just as a treat at night. I must admit that feeding raw for the cats was a huge time and effort commitment and I finally couldnt keep up. They were not very flexible about different types of meat or suppliers, so if they didnt like the ostrich hearts, toughies, they wouldnt eat them. Thanks for the break down. It is great to know.
My girl has a version of (barf - minced meet and bone) in the morning and kibble with some kind of fish in the evening. She has a very sensitive tummy but does really well on this mix.
