Switching from Raw Food Diet to Kibble?
I recently got what I believe is a Shih-Po or Shih-Su mutt. He is only a year old and the Previous owners had him a a raw meat diet. I have never put my dogs on a raw meat diet, and I really don’t have the funds for that. How would one go about switching from a raw meat diet to good kibble?
Thank you for the great answers so far.
Tagged with: dogs • kibble • raw meat diet
Filed under: Raw Food Diet
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Every article I’ve read says not to mix raw food w/ kibble. The raw meat digest faster than kibble, so the kibble can cause blockage/constipation. If you’re going to switch food, getting the runs is inevitable. It should only last a couple weeks.
http://www.jakeanddaiseys.com/faq.shtml#mixkibble
http://www.thepuppyexperiment.com
I fed mine with raw for a while and it was such a pain and so expensive. I switched her over to kibble right away when I ran out of raw and she was ok.
It’s a mutt. B.A.R.F. feeding is actually cheaper. I would stick with it, but if you can’t, just do like you would if you were switching brands of kibble. Good luck. Expect diarrhea, but good luck. :)
I suggest slowly backing away from the raw food and slowly mixing kibble in for a while. Little by little adding more kibble and less raw food. That way his system gets used to the change gradually and doesn’t put his system into shock.
You have to mix a little kibble with his meat and slowly swap him over by increasing the kibble and decreasing the meat. If you do it immediately he would get an upset stomach.
Raw diets and kibble diets are digested at different rates in a dog’s stomach. Just as the switch from kibble to raw should be done "cold turkey"–it’s best not to mix the two if you’re changing the diet. You can fast (no food) the dog for 12 hours, and then start him off on a grain-free kibble, which is closest to the type of food he was fed in a raw diet. Good luck
Sticking to a raw food diet will save you a fortune in the long run!
I feed my boy raw at about $3 per day!
Add; I prefer Prey Model to B.A.R.F.
When changing any foods, you want to do it gradually. I always recommend switching over about a week’s time, slowly adding the new diet on schedule such as this:
Days 1-2: 75% old diet + 25% new diet
Days 3-4: 50% old + 50% new
Days 4-5: 75% old + 25% new
If after switching to 100% the new diet, if he gets some diarrhea, you may switch back to the 75/25 for a few more days to allow for more adjustment.
Just make sure you choose a good quality kibble diet of an adult maintenance formula. In short, no convenience store brands. This is definitely a category in which you get what you pay for.
Actually a whole prey raw diet is about the same price as feeding a very high quality kibble because you feed less of it. But if you’re not comfortable with the idea, switching is best. I have found that gradual is not the way to go in switching between raw and kibble. After the last feeding of raw, wait 24 hrs and then feed kibble. I’d recommend going to something that only uses high quality ingredients like wellness, solid gold, nature’s variety, natural balance, etc. I have not had any upset in switching dogs from raw to kibble like this.