Introducing raw food

Hi there

I fed my cocker spaniel raw complete a couple of years ago for quite some time but the bone content was always too high and he was permanently constipated so had to stop. The reason I tried it was because he always had digestive issues i.e. upset tummy including (without being too graphic) gellified poo. Had blood tests etc but nothing conclusive and the vet prescribed mild antibiotics which worked. I wasn’t happy with Toby being permanently on these so that was the reason I converted to raw. Unfortunately it had the opposite effect!

Since that time I have tried untold wet foods which all end up with the same digestive issues.

Sorry for the long post by the way :). The upshot of this is that I am now trying a boneless raw food called ROR which includes the right ratios of calcium and phospherous and also added veg and minerals. I don’t know much about this company but the ingredients look good.

My question after all this, is I’ve been told you can’t mix kibble and raw but there are quite a lot of varying opinions. I like to give Toby some in a treat ball and other “beyond the bowl” games after his meal but wonder if that has to stop now I’m introducing raw. Any views would be appreciated.

If you haven’t fallen asleep by now thanks for reading.

We have a thread about mixing raw with cooked food here. In that thread there is interesting information about rates of digestion here.

Your dog’s raw food constipation might be alleviated by exchanging one of the meals with cold pressed food. One of the brown rice varieties might be suitable due to the fibre content. Cold pressed food is reputed to mix well with raw. We have a thread on this type of food here.

Hi there. Thanks for the information. I’ll read

Hi Dottie. That was a very interesting and informative article. Thanks for sharing

Hello Pam and welcome to the forum. I have often replaced a couple of meals of raw with cold pressed to help with constipation without any issues. These days I tend to add some oats cooked in water to my dogs breakfast and some veg from our dinner with a little brown rice, quinoa or whatever carb we are having with our dinner, to her dinner. This seems to work well. I usually cook the oats and keep enough for a few days in the fridge. You have to check that the vegetables are dog friendly. I tend to stick to carrots, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, kale. Occasionally sweet potato or squash. Because I am adding carbs, I do reduce the amount of meat.

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Hi. Thanks for the welcome and information. I’m trying to finish the rest of Barking Heads wet food atm as have quite a lot of it so give Toby one meal of that and the other the ROR food which is boneless. I have added some kibble but only a little for fun seek games. So far so good so am hoping the ROR is going to agree with Toby. Thanks again

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