Combining raw food diet and non-raw "kibble" diet

[Tina McNerthney]

Hi everyone,

My puppy Baxter just turned 11 months old. 

I am planning to keep him on his Fromm puppy food (kibble) for 2-3 more months. I have been doing research into the raw food diet and am interested in trying it out.

I was wondering if anyone has experience or knowledge of feeding Baxter a mixed diet of one meal of raw food per day combined with high quality grainfree dry food. Is it possible to feed, say, a raw breakfast and kibble for dinner and his lunch snack?

Another option would be feeding him something I've found called a "mixer" - it's basically dehydrated raw food that you mix with kibble and add a bit of water to. Several folks in Portland have steered me to a mixer made by "Stella and Chewy's".

Will it upset Baxter's digestive system if I feed him raw and kibble that's grain free? 

Thank you.

Best,

-Tina

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm going to assume you are talking about using a commercial raw diet, since you mentioned the Stella & Chewy's dehydrated raw product, rather than a "do-it-yourself" prey model raw diet, i.e. toss your dog a hunk of raw meat or chicken, lol.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding one meal of a reliable, commercial raw product such as S & C's, Honest Kitchen or many others (see our Recommended Brands List) and another meal of grain-free kibble. It won't upset his digestive system in the slightest. The nonsense you see on hard-core raw feeding websites about not mixing raw food with other types of food is just that, nonsense. There's no reason, in fact, that you can't combine raw and cooked foods in the same meal; for example, adding some cooked meat to a bowl of one of the Honest Kitchen dehydrated raw formulas. 

While there are some differences between a dog's digestive system and a human's, they are far more similar than you might think. We can digest both raw foods and cooked foods, and so can dogs. We can eat raw vegetables with our broiled salmon or chicken at the same meal without digestive upsets, so can they. 

Many Food Group members give one meal of a commercial raw product and one meal of a good quality kibble every day, without issues. Many also use a raw product like Kiwi Peak or Stella & Chewy's as a topper with kibble, too. Hopefully some of them will chime in. 

[Tina McNerthney]

Thank you, Karen,

Yes, your assumption is correct re commercial raw diet. I am a vegetarian (since 14 years old) and, though I cook basic meat dishes for my family, it's not realistic for me to cook a lot of meat for the dog - though I have found he loves chicken when I prepare it for him, so I'll do that sometimes.

My plan is to feed Bax a morning meal of a commercial raw diet patty (from recommended list) that I defrost a day or two in advance for breakfast and then feed grain free for lunch and dinner - possibly with a topper of Kiwi Peak or Stella and Chewy's as you suggest.

Thanks for the reassurance that this is a reasonable, good plan!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara gets every kind of mix imaginable-raw, raw with cooked,  Acana kibble, raw with Stella & Chewy's topper, etc. on the same day.  It never seems to upset her digestive system at all.The only thing she doesn't get is grain.

[Tina McNerthney]

Thanks, Tara. I'll try the S&T as a topper - seems to be a popular option.

[Joan]

I do Darwin's raw for one meal a.m. or p.m. and the other meal is a grain-free kibble (rotate brands) -

Never have had a problem. Sometimes put a raw egg in the kibble, or boiled chicken. Any mix-up

is devoured!

[Tina McNerthney]

Thanks, Joan. I also like to feed Baxter chicken every once and a while and he loves it. Glad to hear there should be no issues with my planned approach.

[Shari Becker]

We mix kibble and raw all the time with no issues, but I do find it easier to just do one meal kibble, one raw. We've been experimenting with the Stella and Chewy's mixer, the fish version, but it's pretty pricey, and it seems to go fast. I'm not sure it's as cost efficient as some of the other options. 

[Tina McNerthney]

Thanks, Shari. I agree with you about mostly doing meals that or raw or kibble vs. mixing - mostly because it seems easier to plan.

Stella and Chewy's is pricey. I'm definitely going to do some research into options that are high quality and, in relative terms, cost effective.

[Shari Becker]

Hi Tina, You may want to check out Steve's Raw for kibbles. They sell bulk boxes, which are a little cheaper. Oma's sells in chubs, which is much cheaper than buying pre-made patties or nuggets. There are other chub brands, too, and a good store will have more local selections. We are going to experiment with Oma's because we are switching over to full time raw for a few months. Lexi's chronic yeast infections went away when we took her off kibble last month and returned when we put her back on it this month. The vet is encouraging us to stick with raw full time for a bit to see if she stays infection free. Our vet has two standard poodles and she does half raw, half freshly cooked quinoa to keep her own costs down ....