If you’ve ever wanted to switch over to raw feeding for your pets but have felt overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Many people are interested in switching their pets to a fresh, more species appropriate diet but get turned off because they didn’t know where to begin. At Raw Rations we strive to help every customer that walks through our door or reaches out online, to stay informed and help keep their pets happy and healthy.
If you are wanting to switch your pet to a raw diet think about how much of their diet you want to transition to raw food. Is it 50%, is it 10%, or is it 100%? Whatever you’re thinking, even replacing just 10% of their kibble based diet with a fresh option, your pet can start to thrive. There are so many health benefits that go hand in hand with feeding raw to your pets. Just to touch the surface of benefits it can help with weight management, shiner coats, dental hygiene, longevity, improving gut health, strengthened immune system, reduced stool waste, and so much more.
There are a couple different ways to tackle raw feeding, Do It Yourself (DIY), or feeding a pre-made raw diet. DIY feeder’s diets are typically based on an 80/10/10 diet which stands for 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ. This diet is also known as a Prey Model Raw Diet (PMR.) To go one step further with a PMR diet you can break it down to an 80/10/5/5. The 5/5 is split within the organ portion of a PMR diet, this is broken down to 5% liver and 5% of another secreting organ (kidney, pancreas and spleen). Please note, lung and heart are classified under muscle meat when feeding raw.
For pre-made raw diets they typically come as a complete or balanced diet. Complete means they follow all AAFCO standards and the diet does not need anything else added to it. Whereas a balanced diet means it is balanced to a 80/10/10 format but it is suggested to add vitamins, minerals or some sort of supplement to hit AAFCO standards. With any pre-made diet you are always welcome to add other items to the diet to make sure your dog is thriving.
When transitioning to a raw diet full time you can go as slow or as fast as you would like. Some dogs have more sensitive stomachs and they transition better with a gradual switch over. Other dogs do great switching over on a faster schedule, this could be as fast as switching overnight or taking a couple days to get them fully switched over.
Our staff are passionate about providing the best care for your pets and can help answer questions. We also offer New to Raw Feeding Consultations with our Canine Nutritionist if you ever need help transitioning your pet to a raw diet.
