I asked a while back about changing to raw and got some fab advise but im still tottering on the edge of the changeover.
I have spoken to alot of people who are so alien to it and have come up with so many horror stories that i started to have doubts.
Yesterday he had completley raw and today also. For the first time in months he has solid stools and not sludgy ones (sorry!)
Tonight i was going to give him 2 chicken thighs but am a bit dubious because he is a real greedy guts with food and im worried he will not chew properly.
My mum is having him the weekend and im not sure she is ready for a raw feeding schedule.
I have noticed today that Oliver doesnt have as much energy as usual and is lazing around so im worried he isnt getting enough calories to keep him going.
Does anyone combine RAW with kibble diet?

Sorry to keep bothering everyone but i dont know anyone else who feeds raw.

my two have kibble as their main feed with the odd bone and chicken wing thrown in for good measure.

would think it was ok to give kibble for one meal and barf for the second feed of the day but sure the experts will be better to advise you

I feed raw and homecooked, and I use laughing dog terrier mix biscuits with homecooked porridge- handy for when I am away at college with the dogs.

You can give both kibble and raw and if you are unsure of swapping it isn't a bad way to gain confidence. Remember not to feed kibble and raw at the same time though as it is digested by different enzymes and may confuse the tummy.

The downside of mixing is you kind of have the worst of both worlds, don't fully see the benefit of raw feeding but till you are confident you do have the reassurance of knowing your dog is getting a balance in their diet.

I was given a guide that an adult dog should receive approx 3% of its body weight per day. Now the ratio of raw meaty bones to meat was given as 60% of the diet to be made up of carcasses/wings/ribs and then 40% meat including offal once or twice a week. That for my guys is rather too much bone and bungs them up, I have played around with their quantities till they look right, are muscled and fit and my vet is happy to support me feeding this way.

Freddy 22kg 6 yr old active welshie male is fed 3 large chicken wings (or half a poussin or 2 big pork ribs) for breakfast and around 400g of meat for supper.

Chase 21kg 15 mth very active Brittany gets the same breakfast and 450g of meat for supper.

Mugi 18.6kg nearly 12 yr old Brittany male who remains active gets 2 large chicken wings for brekkie and 400g meat for supper.

Brice the deeriehound gets his rations too but I won't bother telling you how much as I hope Oliver doesn't weigh in at over 46kg .

Hope that helps a bit.

Yes you can feed raw and kibble, although some people advise to feed at different times (kibble morning, raw at night or vice versa), BUT the idea about raw feeding goes out the window IMO. We feed raw as it is natural, uncooked, unprocessed food, some of us without (unnecassary) grain/cereal, feeding kibble at the same time doesn't make all that much sense. If raw is right, then why not at every meal time? But it's entirely up to you. It's quite normal to have a wobble in the beginning.

think sandra is thinking about this weekend when her mum is dogsitting and might not be keen to feed raw

Soooooo me again.

If they had the kibble in the morning and say a bone, meaty at lunch,small lamb rib, spine, just cos its the weekend and hey ho I am working on it, would this give the squits that we are getting ?

It's maybe the lamb, some dopgs tums can be funny with lamb. my lot are fine with lamb, are you thinking of changing, if so ask Sandy to send you her starter menu. I can't get the rabbits ets, my raw comes from a supplier all in frozen packets, they get chicken wings/ quaters, turkey necks, chicken carcasses and (pork and lamb bones from the Tesco's) and local butcher will give me bags of bones for free

Are they all getting the squits?

By the way, it's no surprise you get horror stories from people who are alien to the raw diet

still keeping with the raw. He had lamb this morning, gonna gie a chicken thigh lunch time and sardines tonight.
Does anyone order on line?

We've got Daisy on a 99% raw diet, with the very occasional kibble meal when we're out of raw or I forgot to defrost something!

The only thing I would add to what's been said is Sandy advised me that if I do have to mix then feed raw in the morning and kibble at night, as raw is digested faster.

Good luck though, I'm sure you'll see benefits.

Might be an idea to feed just one type of meat at a time for so many days before switching over to another one, chicken for 3-4 days, pork for 3-4 days etc. I've heard that this can help them get used to a raw diet better than giving them a huge variety in one go although I've not had a problem. Mine will sometimes get a bit loose after lamb but nothing to worry about and certainly not to the extent of the 'squits' stage, just a bit softer than normal.
Fudds it could well be that you are mucking up their digestive system a bit by doing it the way you are, why not if you are home all weekend try a weekend of no kibble and just raw and see how they get on, keep away from the bones though and go for whole chunks like chicken quarters with bone in and not just a meaty spine type bone. Or leave well away from the raw for a good week and see if they return to normal, the more they get the squits ther more chance there'll be of them getting inflammation in the bowel so I would try and get them stabilsed for at least a week on one type of food instead of feeding them 2 types be it kibble or raw, you have to nip these squits in the bud before it turns into something long term which will lead to more problems and at least that way you'll know which food suits them best

Sandy

hey, just thought, when your mum dogsits at the weekend - why not get some of the frozen packs they sell in pets at home - that way your mum doesnt have to worry too much about handling any of the food

Havent tried them myself but have seen them in there

Yes that is what i am going to do, and possible some mince