Raw Feeding Guidelines

The key point to remember with a raw diet is balance. The approximate ratio to aim for overall is:

70% meat, sinew, ligaments, fat
10% edible bone
5% liver
5% other organ meat
10% vegetables

Meats are high in phosphorus, bones are high in calcium. When meat is fed with 10% bone you have the exact ratios of calcium to phosphorus required by a dog.   Whole prey, fish, eggs and tripe have a balanced ratio.

Organ meat should not exceed 10% of the diet overall and 5% of that should be liver (beef liver has the highest nutrient levels).

NEVER feed cooked bones of any type as when bones are cooked they become harder and are dangerous for the dog as they can splinter and pierce the stomach or intestines. Raw bones are soft enough to bend and digest easily. Dogs are carnivores so are designed to digest raw meat and bones – they have a stomach PH level of 1 or 2 which is highly acidic – perfect for digesting raw bones. It is therefore important to remember the difference between raw and cooked bones.

Feel free to feed ‘weird and icky things’ such as chicken feet, beef trachea, tails, lung, kidney, testicles and pizzles (penis). Beef trachea, trim, chicken and turkey feet are loaded in natural chondroitin and glucosamine which help to build healthy joints.

Avoid the weight bearing leg and knuckle bones of large animals such as beef – also the vertebrae as these are too dense and dangerous to teeth.   Remember! ALL bones must be fed raw – cooked bones are dangerous as they are too hard and could splinter and pierce the stomach or intestines as well as damage teeth.

Carbohydrates, in particular grains, are not a natural part of the dog’s diet and we do not recommend they form any part of the diet. Dogs do not have the ability to digest grains properly, so instead, an extra strain is put on the liver as it has to produce more bile to break down the insoluble fibre.

Ideal body weight means that an overweight cat or dog should be fed 2-3% of the weight they should be, a day. A more active pet would probably require a bit more. Some small toy dogs also tend to have a higher metabolism and activity rate. If the ribs are starting to get prominent (and it’s not a breed trait), start increasing the quantity. If they disappear, however, under a growing layer of fat, it is time to cut down on these portions. For a mature healthy dog the weekly quantity can also be divided by six. Puppies and kittens should eat much larger quantities and much more frequently. They may eat from 5% of their body weight up to what they would as adults (depending on their age). Pregnant and lactating mums should also have extra food, 5% of their body weight per day, with extra bone content.