Hmm..raw and kibble?

[Totoro]

Abby is doing great on her Fromm surf and turf. I feed her free choice, but find that she only eats twice a day. Once right after she pottys around 6am and around 6-7pm at night. She looks great, her poo is still soft but formed and she still has slight tear stains...but we havent even had her a week so Im waiting for the fromm to hopefully erase those issues.

She eats her fromm fine, but shes not really, how do you say....excited about eating? Not with gusto or anything..just eating to get full. Maybe I just want to spoil her but I have been thinking more about raw...

However-
I have two of the big bags of Fromm right now and I dont want to let those go to waste. I have two small children in the house so preparing raw meat and shopping especially for Abby would be difficult for me when I can barely get out of the store with my milk and bread before a temper tantrum throws down.

So my plan is for the future to keep her on her fromm in the morning- and at night give her a natures variety frozen instinct meal and/or bone. The patties would be much more convenient for me until I get more free time to make plans for her meals. Spreading the kibble meal and frozen apart should give each time to digest..I assume... but Ive also heard that the kibble digesting faster(or slower?) is a myth.

Natures variety is high, but If im only feeding it once a day it becomes more affordable.

OK-sorry for rambling. My questions on this are....

1. Would this benefit her in any way, or just make me feel better?

2. does anyone else here feed a kibble/ raw mix like this?

3. Do dogs actually LIKE the patties?

Any other info would be appreciated....just in the research phase right now and this wouldnt be done until another month or so after I see the benefits from fromm.

Thanks!

 

[Davidh]

Have never tried both, but don't see it hurting anything. someone will be here soon that feeds raw and can shed some light on the subject.

 

[bullmama]

I used to do a fifth of raw (split one patty between 5 bullies) quite often with their kibble and they loved it. It has been a while since I have done it since I get my food from petflow I don't go to the feed store often. From reading blogs at natures logic and NVI's website they actually recommend doing this (within their brand though... Similar ingredients). I think it would be okay. I have not done it the way you are describing though, so I cannot be sure.

 

[izstigspunks]

I've heard conflicting info too and I've never tried mixing them, but I'm thinking it should be ok. I don't know how much you'd have to feed of each though, and seeing Abby's still a pup, you may need to ask the boutique owner for some advice. And, yes, dogs love raw patties, the fresher the better.

G'luck. Let us know how she does. I'll ask around as well what the portions should be.

 

[cowsmom]

well i feed sarah freeze dried raw patties and nibblets as they call them with her canned food for both meals and other than some slight gas at the beginning she has been fine with it. stools are small and hard. i love it. if i could afford it i would mix freeze dried raw with all my dogs food. i use vital essentials and they have real raw and freeze dried. i have heard conflicting reports also but i know of several people who mix raw patties with their dogs kibble and they are fine with it but im no raw expert for sure.

 

[Sherry]

I'm only 3 days into the new feeding regimen. My latest meal's consist of 50% raw burger / 25% ground up raw veggies / and 25% cooked oatmeal. I put a small bit of this over the food, they go nuts. Thinking I will continue this over their kibble. Upping the ante of raw a bit until it's 1/2 and 1/2
I have 120 pounds of Natural Balance original premium (chicken) that they were eating and they hated it! not to mention the eye buggers, scratching, hair patches, runs and everything else that goes along with the demon kibble.
I talked with a nice woman from pet flow and they gave me credit, after I sent the UPC symbols back. said I can give the Natural Balance to a rescue if I wanted, wow, I will.

Started them on California Natural lamb and rice low calorie. They just love it. Put some home made on top of that and yippee. I'm the queen again to them. Added pumpkin for the transition and poops have stiffened up.

I'll be keeping this on the menu for as long as they like it and do well. No plans on separating the raw from kibble feeding.
I have the freedom to add things like blue berries, sweet potato, brown rice anything I want as long as I keep the ratio of meet to veggies and starch the same.
I know, I know. I had given up on all the kibble and blew a gasket. But I gave it one more try mixed this way - minus the chicken,
and now everyone is happy
Life is good again.

 

[karenben]

they do have different digestion times,if i remember correctly its 6 hours for raw and up to 12 hours for kibble,karen

 

[Totoro]

[MENTION=2]desertskybulldogs[/MENTION] Yes, I believe even the natures variety website says you can mix the raw patties, freeze dried, and their kibble all together. Its just so confusing when you have some that say dont mix and others who mix the frozen right in with the kibble...

I live in a small town so I would have to order all of mine so there wouldnt be an actual raw feeder I could ask for advice. If I mentioned raw feeding "round dese parts of the woods" I'd just get a puzzled head turned sideways in return.

"You mean to tell me ya dont use ol roy?"


But anyways, I'd really like to try that or the freeze dried...I'd like to get the Raw Boost they make to sprinkle over food too.
I'm going to research it more and then will probablly ease into it, even if its only occasionally as a treat.

 

[Totoro]

[MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] are you feeding this to puppies or adult dogs? I'd like to mix my raw with the kibble but was scared of blockages.
Is that just a myth?

 

[Twisted tails]

I fed my bullies raw for over 2 years , it was a lot of work for us because we have so many dogs.
But the benefit of feeding raw outweighs any inconvenience for sure. My biggest problem was they got bored of it
Crazy I know , but they did. I now feed them acana Pacifica and make small batches of sweet potatoes with chicken maybe a little carrots and they do not breath until they are done. I would mix the two together rather than feed the separate just in case there is any
Digestion issues with that.

 

[Sherry]

[MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] are you feeding this to puppies or adult dogs? I'd like to mix my raw with the kibble but was scared of blockages.
Is that just a myth?

I am feeding this to adult bully's. I haven't had any problem's............yet

I did some research of this on YouTube and there's lots of people out there feeding all kinds of different things/mixes.
I took everything with a grain of salt and made my own decisions. This way they are getting there vitamins and they love the mix.
the poops haven't looked this good in a very long time.

I believe it was [MENTION=2242]karenben[/MENTION] who had mentioned a very long time ago that mixing was not a good thing to do, because of digesting times being different. Annie looks great and Karen gives her the things that I would love to give my pack, but for now this will have to do.

 

[karenben]

sherry you are doing a great job with your dogs,we feed the best diet we can wether its kibble or raw,i have only 1 dog for now anyway lol,i doubt i would have even looked at raw if annie had not developed the itchies though im glad for the teeny tiny poops she does lol,karen

 

[cowsmom]

ditto sarahs poo is so much smaller and less of it than when she was on kibble. i would have never went the raw freeze dried route if she had not been allergic to everything in kibble.

 

[laurendoodler]

Personally, I wouldn't recommend feeding raw mixed with kibble. I've read plenty about the digestive rates of them being different.
When feeding raw you want your dogs digestive system to adapt to that diet. It kind of throws the system for a loop when you're doing both. You can't get all the benefits out of raw feeding when you are adding kibble into the mix.

I am on a fabulous FB group I could give you the link to if you're interested..they know a LOT about the cons of feeding kibble mixed with raw. I can't remember everything off the top of my head right now, haha.

And when you can, I definitely recommend preparing your own raw versus buying the "premade." The premade stuff is better than kibble, yes. But they charge an arm and a leg for it!! I actually find it cheaper to feed Delilah raw than kibble. I fed her for two months for about $40 because I've gotten pretty crafty about how and where I get my meat and what I'll pay for it.

 

[Bella'sMom]

I feed my Bella a mixture of raw patties and kibble. Just be very very careful in what raw you give. There is "processed" raw out there. and I hate to say it but Nature's Variety is one of them. They use a High Pressure Pasteurization and that takes most of the benefits away from raw. There are great raw patties out there, just read the label, look for HPP on the label. Rabbit is now very hard to come by, so most are now sourcing the rabbit meat out from China!!!! Just research.

Your best bet is a regional brand, one produced close to you home. They most likely are a smaller company and use local meats and veggies. Also check for raw food coops. That would be a group of people buying in bulk from raw companies, you can get palates wholesale and save on cost. I actually am trying to get one started in my area.

Their poos should be smaller, less frequent and will basically dissolve in the yard because raw is about 95% digested. I have a pup with health issues, poo issues and her poops have never been more perfect!!!