It is best to stick to a simple diet when transitioning to raw. There are plenty of added ingredients that you may see on social media posts that can make the change daunting. But let there be no fear, Raw Necessity products are tailored with the newcomer in mind, by offering complete meals that meet nutritional requirements in the early days of the transition.
There are no exact rules in switching to a raw diet, just like humans, every dog is different. We have helped many pet owners change their dog’s diet to raw food and here is what we have learned over the years.
Sensitive Dogs – So if your dog has recurring stomach upset then we recommend transitioning slowly. The best way to do this is to slowly introduce raw food into their current diet each day, as you increase the raw quantity, decrease the dry quantity.
Dogs with no sensitivities – So you have not seen any issues with your dog’s digestive tract – in other words, they have stomachs of steel then you can fire ahead and do a straight switch. 95% of our customers have done a straight switch with no issues.
In terms of what meats to start with;
It is best to start with the options that contain bone, for example; Feed Turkey Complete for the first 4 days, then feed Beef Speciality for 2 days. After this you can alter completes and boneless each day.
Raw Necessity offer a starter pack that consists of Turkey Complete and Beef Speciality (5kg & 10kg options available). The breakdown of each are as follows;
Turkey Complete: 80% Turkey, 10% Turkey Offal & 10% Bone (Complete meal).
Beef Speciality: 80% Beef, 10% Beef Heart, 10% Trachea (Boneless meal).
Bone in complete meals helps with dental cleansing and firming/reducing the number of stools – alternating with boneless helps to regulate this, hence it’s important to alter the meals. The benefits of each of the meats are outlined under the Products tab of our website.
Raw Necessity offer single source protein products, such as Beef Speciality and Turkey Complete. We do not add additional ingredients, such as fruit or vegetables added to our products, so as to minimize the reaction to sensitivities. Our aim is to produce a high-quality food, keeping it simple and safe.
As you adapt to feeding a fresh diet on a daily basis, you can begin to introduce your own ingredients (e.g. fruit and veg) if you so wish. See our blog post; ‘Adding extra ingredients to raw‘ for ideas and what is suitable for nutritional requirements.
Welcome to Raw, you won’t regret the decision to transition.
Next up, preparation and storage of raw food is another area and learning curve when transitioning to raw, see our blog post ‘Preparation and storage of raw’ for further information.