A Guide to Starting Your Pet on A Raw Diet
There is a compelling reason dog owners are increasingly feeding their dogs raw food. Feeding a raw diet can benefit your dog, including improved digestion, a shiny coat, and more energy.
Raw diets can also help reduce allergies and give your pet essential nutrients they may not get from a kibble diet.
Raw feeding is a great way to improve your dog's health and overall well-being. Not only will your dog enjoy the benefits of a nutritious, natural diet, but you'll also be able to bond with your dog while preparing their meals.
A raw diet comprises raw, meaty bones and organs, vegetables, fruits, and supplements. This diet is closer to what the pets' ancestors would have eaten. It's also a natural way for them to eat, as they would in the wild.
August is the perfect time to start if you're considering switching your pet to a raw diet. Learn about raw diets, where to get pet supplies in Bentonville, and how to switch your pet over this Raw Feeding Month.
How to Start Feeding Your Pet A Raw Diet
Remember a few things when starting your dog on a raw diet. First, do your research and consult with a veterinarian or experienced raw feeder before making the switch.
Second, start slowly and gradually increase the amount of raw food you're feeding your dog. Also, only get high-quality supplies from a local pet store. And finally, be prepared to get your hands dirty!
Benefits of Raw Diet
When fed a raw food diet, your dog will benefit from the following improvements in mobility and ease of movement, simpler weight management, an athletic build, a decrease in allergy symptoms, a smaller, firmer, low-odor stool, better digestion, a stronger immune system, fresher breath, cleaner teeth, and increased vitality in older dogs.
Here are more of the benefits in detail:
Better Digestion
The body's digestive system ensures the nutrients necessary for the complex organs, processes, and bodily functions are absorbed. Consequently, having a healthy digestive system is essential to staying healthy.
The digestive processes of dogs benefit from a diet that only includes raw dog food.
The proteins and bones in a raw dog food diet should be broken down rather than the carbs and highly processed elements in processed meals due to the PH levels, gut flora, and short digestive tract of the canine stomach.
These components have been linked to intestinal fermentation, inflammation, and stress on critical organs (among other things). Natural raw food can clear a dog's digestive tract, clean, and well-functioning.
Boosted Immunity
As you might anticipate, a dog's immune system and internal organ functions can work more efficiently when they consume what nature intended.
Since 70% of the immune system is located in the gut and eating fresh, natural food is good for immune function, and a raw dog food diet would be especially excellent for gut health.
Moreover, given this plus the quantity of healthful, natural, accessible vitamins and minerals necessary for growth, healing, and development, it makes sense that a raw diet will condition your dog from the inside out (meaning the body can readily absorb the nutrients from the food).
Enhanced Skin and A More Vibrant Coat
Your dog will get the vital fatty acids and amino acids they need to maintain healthy skin and a lustrous coat if they eat a diet made up of fresh, raw, and natural foods.
Even though a dog's skin and fur are almost entirely made of protein, the body uses up to 30% of the protein in a dog's meal to maintain healthy skin and fur.
Due to the easily absorbed protein in premium natural raw dog food, a lifeless and dull coat will be transformed into a glossy, bright, healthy coat. Skin can benefit significantly from a raw diet, especially in dogs with irritated skin.
Improved Oral Health
By the time they are three years old, more than three out of every four dogs and cats suffer from a dental condition.
Many dog owners know that brushing their dog's teeth can be difficult and that, depending on your dog's level of relaxation, it might be difficult to reach particular areas of their mouth.
Researchers have discovered that biting and ripping raw meats and bones, which have a higher bother factor, can help prevent tooth decay.
Reduced Sensitivity To Food Allergies
Dogs may develop allergies to corn, wheat, and soy, and a diet high in these foods (and others) can negatively affect their health in various ways.
Most raw food diets are naturally free of gluten and wheat. A raw food diet promotes a healthy gut environment and, as a result, a powerful immune response since it's species-appropriate.
Many unpleasant symptoms are thought to be caused by intestinal imbalance. Therefore, the first step in treating a range of ailments, such as ear, nose, and eye troubles, stomach complaints, itching, paw-licking, and even movement difficulties, is to introduce healthy food and avoid irritants continuously.
If a raw dog food diet is adopted and processed, refined, and synthetic components are eliminated, symptoms usually disappear fast.
Please be aware that food allergies or sensitivities can cause more than just the conditions listed above.
Vitality and Vigor Are Up
A natural diet is excellent for a dog's overall health since it reduces the sugar spikes and troughs that dogs generally experience from kibble and enables much more normal and stable energy levels. Fewer peaks and dips can increase both cognitive performance and attention span.
Fats and proteins are the finest sources of energy for dogs. These essential macronutrients are abundant in a natural raw food diet, supporting more stable and consistent energy levels.
Known to create energy swings similar to those people experience due to highs and lows in their blood sugar levels are foods high in carbohydrates, such as kibble. It's important to remember that a large body of research indicates that carbs are not required in a dog's diet.
What Ingredients Are Used While Feeding Raw Meat To Animals?
When feeding raw to your dog, the four essential components—meat, bone, offal, and vegetables—must be properly included. The components are mixed with the least amount of processing possible to offer the best nutritional value.
Muscle Meat
Meat, particularly the heart, is rich in important vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. The constituent parts and fuel for the physiological and metabolic processes of every cell in the body are found in lean meats. Proteins are more significant than the other macronutrients.
Dogs should eat a lot of meat because they are primarily carnivorous animals and absorb nutrients from animal sources more effectively.
Ground Bone
Important nutrients, intestinal fiber, glucosamine, and minerals like calcium and phosphorus, zinc, boron, copper, and many more are found in large quantities in bone. Fatty acids are found primarily in the abundant bone marrow.
Additionally, they provide a beneficial vitamin blend for digestion, joint mobility, skin, and bone health (leading to firmer stools and a healthier gut).
Organ Meat or Offal
Wild canines prioritize the offal above all other parts of their prey. Various types of meat, pluck, viscera, and organ meats are different names for organs. The body's workhorses are its organs.
The macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins), as well as the micronutrients (vitamins D, B, K, C, and A) and minerals (iron, copper, zinc, selenium, and magnesium), are particularly abundant in organs like the liver, kidney, and pancreas.
For dogs, these organs provide a natural multivitamin.
Fruits and Veggies
A dog's diet has always included plants, which have always been an ecosystem component.
Plants are a rich supply of phytonutrients, which include vital plant minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, and thousands of additional substances we haven't even begun to identify. As a result, plants give our dogs the fundamental building blocks that may not be present in sources of prey-animal tissue.
Primal Raw Freeze-Dried Nuggets Rabbit Formula Dog Food
Conclusion
Raw feeding has many benefits, including improved digestion, healthier skin and coat, and increased energy levels. Raw feeding can be tailored to each pet's needs, and various recipes and pet supplies are available to get started.
Check out Earthwise Pet Bentonville if you're searching for a local pet store that sells nutritious dog food! We provide pet grooming, pet supplies, and much more. We also have trained pet dietitians and pet nutritionists on staff. Shop now!