Switching from Raw to Kibble (temporarily)?

[mjjensen]

  I've decided that for Max's upcoming cross-country trip and hospital stay that the raw diet he's been on since he was 10 weeks old isn't going to be practical, for him or for Sam and Duncan who are being left in my daughter's care. I want to switch them over to a good quality kibble temporarily, probably Canidae, which is what they were on when I transitioned them to raw, but I'm not really sure how to go about it. I have several books and web sites that I've used for raw diet ideas but none of them talk about switching back to kibble(not surprising,I know). I know when switching brands of kibble it's recommended to do it slowly over 2 or more weeks but this is going to be such a drastic diet change that I'm not sure if this is enough time. Any suggestions? 

[doggylover]

  I've decided that for Max's upcoming cross-country trip and hospital stay that the raw diet he's been on since he was 10 weeks old isn't going to be practical, for him or for Sam and Duncan who are being left in my daughter's care. I want to switch them over to a good quality kibble temporarily, probably Canidae, which is what they were on when I transitioned them to raw, but I'm not really sure how to go about it. I have several books and web sites that I've used for raw diet ideas but none of them talk about switching back to kibble(not surprising,I know). I know when switching brands of kibble it's recommended to do it slowly over 2 or more weeks but this is going to be such a drastic diet change that I'm not sure if this is enough time. Any suggestions? 

From what I have read, dogs can get pretty sick going from raw to kibble.  Is there any possible way to keep him on the raw food?  I think you can get pre-prepared raw patties for travel.  I don't know, I am hard core on the raw thing, wouldn't want to have to make this kind of switch...best of luck with whatever you decide.

[shangrila]

I would recommend looking into Timberwolf organics kibble. It is pretty expensive, but that shouldn't be a problem since you are only going to be on kibble temporarily. I am recommending it because their Black Forest kibble is the only kibble I have heard of that is designed to be mixed with raw meat, so it would probably be easy to start by mixing it in gradually and then fade out the meat. Then when you go back to all raw you can do the same in reverse. To my knowledge, it is not advisable to mix raw and kibble with most kibbles, but that one is specifically designed for it.

[doggylover]

I would recommend looking into Timberwolf organics kibble. It is pretty expensive, but that shouldn't be a problem since you are only going to be on kibble temporarily. I am recommending it because their Black Forest kibble is the only kibble I have heard of that is designed to be mixed with raw meat, so it would probably be easy to start by mixing it in gradually and then fade out the meat. Then when you go back to all raw you can do the same in reverse. To my knowledge, it is not advisable to mix raw and kibble with most kibbles, but that one is specifically designed for it.

Wonderful info Shangrila, I didn't know about this. 

[mjjensen]

 

From what I have read, dogs can get pretty sick going from raw to kibble.  Is there any possible way to keep him on the raw food?  I think you can get pre-prepared raw patties for travel.  I don't know, I am hard core on the raw thing, wouldn't want to have to make this kind of switch...best of luck with whatever you decide.

  I'm not too keen to switch either but my vet, who unlike a lot of vets, has no problem with raw diets feels that the hospital is not going to want to deal with it. Plus we have 4 days of driving each way so I'm not sure how I would ever keep food from spoiling. I also worry about my daughter trying to do the raw diet for Sam and Duncan while I'm gone. I'm going to be away from them for a minimun of 18 days and there are so many things that can go wrong. I want to make the babysitting job as foolproof as possible, mostly for my own piece of mind.

[SA_horses]

I'm not too keen to switch either but my vet, who unlike a lot of vets, has no problem with raw diets feels that the hospital is not going to want to deal with it. Plus we have 4 days of driving each way so I'm not sure how I would ever keep food from spoiling. I also worry about my daughter trying to do the raw diet for Sam and Duncan while I'm gone. I'm going to be away from them for a minimun of 18 days and there are so many things that can go wrong. I want to make the babysitting job as foolproof as possible, mostly for my own piece of mind.

Have you looked into the freeze-dried pre-packaged stuff?  I think it requires re-hydration but keeps pretty well and doesn't need refrigeration.

Just a thought.

Sofia

[mjjensen]

I would recommend looking into Timberwolf organics kibble. It is pretty expensive, but that shouldn't be a problem since you are only going to be on kibble temporarily. I am recommending it because their Black Forest kibble is the only kibble I have heard of that is designed to be mixed with raw meat, so it would probably be easy to start by mixing it in gradually and then fade out the meat. Then when you go back to all raw you can do the same in reverse. To my knowledge, it is not advisable to mix raw and kibble with most kibbles, but that one is specifically designed for it.

  I'll have to look into this as well as the freeze-dried raw food. I hate that I'm even thinking about doing this because they've done so well on the raw diet. And I don't mean to act like an old mother hen but even though the trip is still 2 months away I'm already worrying about being away from Sam and Duncan for so long almost as much as I'm worrying about Max's surgery. Thanks for your help!

[doggylover]

ROFL it's OK, I can totally relate.  We raw food people tend to be as bad as the people on the atkins diet if they come into a room where there is a sugar granule. 
 

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Here is a link and I'm sure you can find one at a target or some store in the mall's but they now make coolers reasonably cheap that plug into the cigerette lighter in your car. They would probably keep a frozen packet fine for your trip. Just a thought?

www.  compactapplian ce  .com


then scroll down to Specialty area and click on 12V / travel coolers

Link didn't work, so just remove the spaces and got to compact appliance .com and scroll down

[Kermit]

Isn't Innova Evo supposed to work well with raw? I thought I had read somewhere that it was designed to be used when people didn't want to feed 100% raw. You might check into that. 

Good luck!

[shangrila]

I'll have to look into this as well as the freeze-dried raw food.

That reminds me. I also wanted to recommend that you look into nature's variety. They make kibble, frozen raw, and freeze dried raw. I would suggest that you look at their freeze dried raw foods, and they also make a 'raw instinct' grain-free kibble that you might like for kibble.

[Kiahpyr]

I've also heard that Nature's Vareity is good. Here's the webiste.

http://www.naturesvariety.com

[mjjensen]

  Thanks everyone for all the great info and links. I've spent most of the afternoon checking them out and I'm leaning toward one of the freeze-dried raw diets you guys suggested. Have any of you used either Natures Variety or NRG freeze dried foods?

[Good Hope]

We are using Natures Variety all meat, no grain, mixed with Wysong freezed dried for our new Pyr, as a transition to raw. We were told the Natures Variety is basically raw in kibble form. (42% protein and 22% fat.) The Wysong freeze dried (50% protein and 28% fat) smells very appealling so we use it as a top dressing for the kibble.

Hope this helps.

Deena

[Saint and Mal mom]

I don't feed raw food to my dogs and don't know the slightest thing about it! But I looked it up on the net for research sake and found a link for another alternative food, don't know if it's been mentioned or not, but it's called Life's Abundance. I thought it looked reasonably priced. Here's the link for you. Best wishes is your decision!
45fghnfnax)/Products/ProductList.aspx?Ath=False&realname=10031244&hdr=&cat=0&category=Dog_Food" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">http://www.healthypetnet.com/HealthyPetNet/(ayutyti2zps5nn 45fghnfnax)/Products/ProductList.aspx?Ath=False&realname=10031244&hdr=&cat=0&category=Dog_Food