Tips That Can Help in Transitioning Your Dog into a Raw Dog Food Diet

Houston Raw Pet Food approves that there are many advantages to feeding your dog a raw food diet. One of the greatest advantages of feeding your dog raw food is the additional moisture it may provide. Freeze-dried raw food contain intercellular moisture, and freeze-dried or air-dried raw foods may be readily rehydrated as required. Houston Raw Pet Food goes above and beyond to assure that our raw dog meals are safe. Routine Salmonella testing by a third-party laboratory is one of these processes, as is periodic cleaning of our facilities and production in small amounts to guarantee that food is always given at its freshest. We also offer free consultations on the transitioning process. Here are some tips that can help you while switching to a raw dog food diet.

Tips That Can Help in Transitioning Your Dog into a Raw Dog Food Diet

1. Feed at specific times

Set meal times (say, 8 am and 6 pm) for your pet if he or she normally grazes on dry food all day long; this will help stimulate your pet’s hunger at the designated times. Unlike herbivores like cows, dogs, and cats are designed to go for extended periods without eating. Free feeding is harmful, particularly for cats, and can make the transition more challenging. Furthermore, avoid leaving raw foods out for long periods.

2. Include bone broth in their diet

A low-sodium bone broth, either homemade or purchased, may be added to your pet’s existing food to aid with hydration, supply nutrients (such as L-glutamine) that are beneficial to the digestive tract, and smooth the tract for a diet change. When introducing raw foods to your pet’s diet, you should begin by soaking their dry food for at least a week.

3. Use probiotics

We advise giving your pet a probiotic supplement two to four weeks before the transition. The gut microbiome (the community of bacteria and other organisms that dwell in your pet’s digestive system) will normally transform if you change your pet’s diet. This sometimes results in a short period of stomach distress, manifesting as diarrhea or nausea. Supporting and maintaining a healthy microbiome in the gut with probiotics can help pets adapt to new diets. This tip is particularly crucial for pets with “sensitive stomachs.” Get a probiotic supplement that contains many different species and strains of beneficial bacteria, has a high colony-forming unit (CFU) count (in the billions), and, ideally, is tailored to your individual species for the best results.

4. Introduce raw treats one at a time

When you are making the transition, you should only feed one raw treat at a time. You will definitely diversify your raw treats at some point in the future, but for now, introduce one raw treat at a time. Keep the changeover as simple as possible for both you and your pet by feeding just one kind of protein at a time.

Call Houston Raw Pet Food for any inquiries on switching to a raw dog food diet.