Primal raw (pronto food)

[tonytones]

So my girlfriend and I finally decided to make the change. We went into our local pet store and they did a great job of convincing us to switch over to primal raw food. Now quick question is anyone on his right now? Also it says to feed him 2 cups a day. But these things aren't cheap. Can I give him 1 1/4 raw and rest dry kibble (taste of the wild) $30 a week for dog food is a bit steep. Let me know

 

[MaplesMommy]

Hi & thumbs up to you for making the switch
You could technically feed raw and kibble BUT never together as the digestion(rate) is totally different from one another. But you could have one kibble meal and one raw meal a day.
Instead of kibble you could feed some Quinoa and cut back on the meat. Rice is ok but its very starchy (810 gramm pro kilogram). Quinoa is healthy and not a grain (its a seed).
Keep in mind his food will only cost less the older he gets (once he passed puppyhood and teenage growth spurs). We sell some of the Primal Tubes for as little as 17 cents per ounze. Does your pet store offer the 5 lbs tubes? These are a little cheaper than the patties/medaillons because you would have to cut it in portions and refreeze it,since it pasteurized it is absolutely fine and isnt actually too much work lol

 

[tonytones]

Hi & thumbs up to you for making the switch
You could technically feed raw and kibble BUT never together as the digestion(rate) is totally different from one another. But you could have one kibble meal and one raw meal a day.
Instead of kibble you could feed some Quinoa and cut back on the meat. Rice is ok but its very starchy (810 gramm pro kilogram). Quinoa is healthy and not a grain (its a seed).
Keep in mind his food will only cost less the older he gets (once he passed puppyhood and teenage growth spurs). We sell some of the Primal Tubes for as little as 17 cents per ounze. Does your pet store offer the 5 lbs tubes? These are a little cheaper than the patties/medaillons because you would have to cut it in portions and refreeze it,since it pasteurized it is absolutely fine and isnt actually too much work lol

I wrote a response but I didn't go through sigh haha

Haha well chowder is 5months now (still feeding 3time a day) what is the best way to transition him from kibbles to raw? *we don't cook much at our house so quinoa and rice and chicken is pretty much out of the question)
Also the feeding calculator on primal website suggests we feed him 2cups a day (we're used to feeding him 1 1/2 cups of kibble per day is that normal to jump 1/2 a cup for raw?

I want this transition to be smooth for chowder (he's stool never really got too firm so we're hoping this will help) his first feeding was about 20mins ago we gave him 1/2 cup of primal and 1/4 cup taste of the wild with pumpkin on the side (I guess I won't be mixing anymore) he gobbled it up and is now fast a sleep

I really hope this food will help chow to be happy any suggestions or help would be appreciated

P.s this is the food we hae chow on http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/detail/c/15/id/60
So there's not much thawing, I just keep it in his bowl for about 5 mins and feed him. Is that okay?

Ahh 1 more if we need to go out of town or need to bring his food with us and don't have access to a freezer can we feed him the freeze dried version as a replacement? Let me know.

Thank you!

 

[eeturk]

Don't have much info on most of your questions but just wanted to say that once we started Hudson on frozen raw his stools firmed up for the first time in his life! Good luck!!


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[MaplesMommy]

1 cup primal pronto equals to be about 4 ounzes. So 2cups a day would be about 8 ounzes. Maple is now almost a year, 22 pounds, very active and eats around 8.5 ounzes of meat a day unless its Quinoa day(about 2x a week).
How much does Chowder weigh?

There arent any set rules in transitioning to raw. Infact a lot of people say you can switch from one day to the other. In the end it all depends on your dogs body and how sensitive it may be. In your case you can go right ahead and feed two raw meals and a kibble meal. Depending on the amount of kibble you can then feed only 1 - 1 1/2 cups of raw. I would also suggest feeding the kibble meal for supper to give it more time to be digested (it can take up to 12 hours). Raw only takes 4-6 hours to be digested.

The freeze dried option would definitely be a good way to go for vacations/trips. Since it hasnt been cooked and only the moisture was removed its still very nutritionus and healthy.

And yup it thaws really fast so as soon as its not frozen or super cold anymore you can feed it.
This is however the most expensive way too. People nowadays are so busy its really convenient to just scoop and serve. This is why the pronto formula is (at least in our store) the most expensive Primal food . A lot of people go for the 5 lbs tubes (either grinds or mix) ,thaw them,cut and portion them and refreeze them

 

[tonytones]

1 cup primal pronto equals to be about 4 ounzes. So 2cups a day would be about 8 ounzes. Maple is now almost a year, 22 pounds, very active and eats around 8.5 ounzes of meat a day unless its Quinoa day(about 2x a week).
How much does Chowder weigh?

There arent any set rules in transitioning to raw. Infact a lot of people say you can switch from one day to the other. In the end it all depends on your dogs body and how sensitive it may be. In your case you can go right ahead and feed two raw meals and a kibble meal. Depending on the amount of kibble you can then feed only 1 - 1 1/2 cups of raw. I would also suggest feeding the kibble meal for supper to give it more time to be digested (it can take up to 12 hours). Raw only takes 4-6 hours to be digested.

The freeze dried option would definitely be a good way to go for vacations/trips. Since it hasnt been cooked and only the moisture was removed its still very nutritionus and healthy.

And yup it thaws really fast so as soon as its not frozen or super cold anymore you can feed it.
This is however the most expensive way too. People nowadays are so busy its really convenient to just scoop and serve. This is why the pronto formula is (at least in our store) the most expensive Primal food . A lot of people go for the 5 lbs tubes (either grinds or mix) ,thaw them,cut and portion them and refreeze them

Thank you for your response

Chowder is now 12lbs @ 5months. He is a low/medium energy dog (her rather cuddle and nap than play)
So this is the plan my girlfriend and I came up with since chowder is feeding 3 times a day still

On the primal feeding calculator (provided by their website) it says chowder will need 4% feeding percentage which is 2 cups of primal pronto a day/8nuggets of freeze dried primal

(When access to freezer all day)
Breakfast 1/2 cup of primal pronto
Lunch 1/2 cup of primal pronto
Dinner 1 cup of primal pronto

(When out and no access to freezer)
Breakfast 1cup of primal pronto
Lunch 2 nuggets of freeze dry
Dinner 2 nuggets of freeze dry.

Do you think that will be a good feeding option?

Also when did you transition from 3 meals a day to 2?

 

[MaplesMommy]

Yup I think that'd be perfect You will see if he slims down or becomes too chubby in which case you can feed more or less.

I started feeding twice a day at around 6 months of age.

 

[tonytones]

Yup I think that'd be perfect You will see if he slims down or becomes too chubby in which case you can feed more or less.

I started feeding twice a day at around 6 months of age.

Thank you so much for your help

Last question after feeding (because our dogs eat with their nose and face) will I need to wipe him due to all the bacteria with raw food? Let me know thank you

 

[MaplesMommy]

You're more than welcome

Primal food is pasteurized, this means bacteria like salmonella and E.coli wouldnt have stand a chance to survive. So its absolutely safe. However if he has big pieces of food sticking to his face I would wipe it off but moreso for the fact that I wouldnt like walking around with food on my face lol

 

[tonytones]

You're more than welcome

Primal food is pasteurized, this means bacteria like salmonella and E.coli wouldnt have stand a chance to survive. So its absolutely safe. However if he has big pieces of food sticking to his face I would wipe it off but moreso for the fact that I wouldnt like walking around with food on my face lol

I feel like I'm overloading you with questions but here's one more.
Chowder just passed his stool and I've noticed that there were small bits of raw meat in his stool- is that normal? Like you suggested, we stopped feeding him kibbles, we completely switched to are at once. Also, to help with the transition, we added some pumpkin and probiotics to the food. Let me know what you think.

 

[MaplesMommy]

Sorry for the late reply.

No, youre not overloading me, feel free to ask as many questions as you' d like

You shouldnt see any undigested meat in his stool, however just monitor it over the next few days and Im sure it'll work itself out

Probiotics are always good. I am a huge fan of Kefir. Here is an interesting article about it
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/so-long-yeast-hello-kefir/

 

[tonytones]

Sorry for the late reply.

No, youre not overloading me, feel free to ask as many questions as you' d like

You shouldnt see any undigested meat in his stool, however just monitor it over the next few days and Im sure it'll work itself out

Probiotics are always good. I am a huge fan of Kefir. Here is an interesting article about it
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/so-long-yeast-hello-kefir/

Hi Maple's mommy (sorry dont know your name haha )
i had a question. Chowder is doing well from the raw food. Stool was a DRASTIC change and its Firm,Small,and Odorless.

My new question is, as i said before chowder is feeding 3 times a day. and when we switched the Raw food it seems like hes always hungry. Waking up earlier and whining for food etc. Is this normal?

also i can see that hes getting skinnier, he is filling out and hes already on the smaller side for frenchies 5months (12lbs) so i want to make sure he gets everything he needs. is there anything else i can add to his diet or something to balance the weight and maintain? I've been giving him cheese as a snack.

Thank you!

 

[MaplesMommy]

Hi there

Yes, quite a few dogs appear hungry after switching them on to a raw diet. This is because Kibble takes up to 12 hours to be digested so they are used to always having something in their stomach. This is not healthy though because the stomach expands when full and is supposed to go back to its original state at least once a day. But on kibble this is not possible so kibble fed dogs digestive tracts are altered and they may sooner or later develop issues.
He will get used to the fast digestion soon
If you notice he is getting skinny you can either up the meat content a little or supplement with cooked Quinoa or sprouted rice. Plain Oatmeal (cooked/microwaved) is ok too. But plain rice is very starchy so take it easy with that. And other than that all Fruits and vegetables (exception of grapes and onions) are fine to give as a snack througout the day. For example a carrot will give him something to snack on for a litte bit

Oh and my name is Lisa btw

 

[tonytones]

Hi there

Yes, quite a few dogs appear hungry after switching them on to a raw diet. This is because Kibble takes up to 12 hours to be digested so they are used to always having something in their stomach. This is not healthy though because the stomach expands when full and is supposed to go back to its original state at least once a day. But on kibble this is not possible so kibble fed dogs digestive tracts are altered and they may sooner or later develop issues.
He will get used to the fast digestion soon
If you notice he is getting skinny you can either up the meat content a little or supplement with cooked Quinoa or sprouted rice. Plain Oatmeal (cooked/microwaved) is ok too. But plain rice is very starchy so take it easy with that. And other than that all Fruits and vegetables (exception of grapes and onions) are fine to give as a snack througout the day. For example a carrot will give him something to snack on for a litte bit

Oh and my name is Lisa btw

thank you so much Lisa

 

[MaplesMommy]

You are more than welcome

How has Chowder been doing?

 

[tonytones]

You are more than welcome

How has Chowder been doing?

chows been doing really good on raw! his stool is so firm now, and im not embarrased or worried when i see his poop. He looks more lively, and less pink around his mouth as well.

thank you for your help I cant wait till he fills out now. Im thinking about adding some goat milk to his diet as well.