Feeling Like a New Dog: Four Months on a Raw Diet

If your food is right for you and feel great, that's pawesome!  I think every dog needs to eat the diet that is right for their needs. 

Four months ago, Ma bravely switched me to a prepared raw diet by Primal Pet Foods and since then, we have not looked back.  I am feeling like a new dog and I swear it is due to finding the food that is right for me!

The Convenience of Prepared Raw

That's right...I said convenience.  I've been asked several times "how difficult" it must be to feed raw...even prepared raw...and many have said that it must be so inconvenient when I travel and camp with my family.  But it's not at all.

At home, I eat mostly the Primal Frozen Formulas.  The Formulas are a well-balanced meal and Ma finds it very easy to prepare - just defrost, break up and serve.  When we travel (like when we went to BarkWorld) and/or go camping, I eat the Primal Freeze-Dried Formulas.  The Freeze-Dried Formulas are well-balanced too and they store well in their packaging in either the camp kitchen or my carry bag.  They are easy to serve - break up, add water and serve.

How Much Prepared Raw is Enough?

I get asked this a LOT.  Primal makes it really easy to figure out; we used their Feeding Calculator to determine how much food I should get a day.  Most dogs that eat a raw diet get anywhere from 2.5 - 3 % of their body weight in food a day.  For me, that is half a pound or eight Primal nuggets.

At home, Ma gives me 7 nuggets a day...I am a treat hound so she leaves some wiggle room for treats by serving me one less nugget.  However, when we are camping or hiking, I get 8 or 9 nuggets a day plus a few treats to fuel my extra activities.

Ma says it is a balancing act and she adjusts my food according to my activity level all the time.

Like a New Dog

No More Extra Weight

Within the first month, I lost 3 pounds...and yes, I needed to lose those extra pounds.  Those pounds have stayed gone so with my weight "in check" now, I have reduced my chance of getting weight-related disorders like diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. 

No More Food Allergies

My food allergies no longer bother me.  I credit that to the Primal Foods as they are single-protein foods (which allows me to avoid chicken completely) and contain no corn or wheat, known triggers of food allergies in dogs.  With my food allergies gone, I no longer scratch and chew my skin raw.  My fur is growing back in places - like on my paws - where it hasn't grown well for ages.

New fur coming in on my paw

No More Big, Stinky Poop

Obviously, I still do my "business" twice a day - what goes in, must come out.  But Ma says my "business" is smaller, more firm and less odorous which makes it very easy for her to #ScoopThatPoop.

A Lot More Energy

Like I said...I feel like a new dog.  I have so much more energy now.  I am enjoying longer walks, hunting lizards with vigor and digging holes in the back garden like when I was a puppy (and by "puppy" I mean until I was about 4 or 5 years old).  Ma says I am even playing like I was a puppy again...especially when my good friend Bentley is around.  The other day when he came over for a few hours, we played like this the whole time (but for a few cat naps that lasted maybe 5 minutes each):

Summing it Up

At four months into this new diet, Ma finally has been able to find an average of what she spends on my new food.  She says it is roughly $100 per month so about $1200 a year.  That's a lot of money but Ma figures that is about what she has spent on me each year buying my old kibble, all the fixings she had to put on it to get me to eat it plus all the money she spent at the vet's office on visits, medicines and shampoos to help alleviate my allergies.

I hope being on a food that is right for me will make vet visits a "thing of the past" except for my annual check-up and maybe one visit during my pollen allergy season (which we had to do a few months ago).  Then the cost of the food won't seem so bad.  I guess only time will tell.

How did you find the food that's right for you?  Did you find it on the first try or did you have to switch?