Which brand of raw do you prefer?

[tokipoki]

Hello!

I'd like to start feeding one raw meal in the morning while feeding kibble in the evenings and I'm looking into different brands of the premade raw food. The choices available near me are Stella and Chewy's, Nature's Variety, and Primal. I have a small sample bag of the chicken NV and the Primal starter pack. I've been giving Toki little samples with her kibble to see if she has a preference and of course she likes it all!

I have been comparing the same proteins over the different brands and it seems like Primal and S&C are much higher in fat than NV! NV has a kinda gross glue-like consistency holding the meat together which I don't like the looks of but Toki doesn't mind lol! I am just not sure which to go with.

Anyway, I just wanted to know what you raw feeders feed if you do the premade raw and why. And how do you decide which protein source to try!

Thanks!

[Cherie6446]

I started Zoey on Primal and after a while she started getting eye buggers. I switched to Naure's Variety and have been feeding that for over 1 1/2 years. I did try Stella & Chewy's a few months ago and the fat content caused Zoey to get pancreatitis only after 3 weeks of feeding S&C. I just found out that NV rabbit comes from China (learned that here on YT) but all the rest of their products are from the USA or New Zealand. If you go to their website and register you can download a coupon. They send out coupons every so often. I just received one yesterday introducing their duck. I e-mailed them and asked where the duck came from and they said the USA.

[RileyDC]

I have fed Primal, Nature's Variety, Stella & Chewy's and Answers raw... and I think out of all of them, I think that I prefer Nature's Variety. Right now I am feeding a bag of their Organic Chicken. I feed the Nature's Varierty raw in the a.m. and Acana/Pacifica kibble in the p.m. I will sometimes do raw both meals... sometimes kibble both meals... it just all depends... I cut about 4 - 5 long skinny frozen green beans and a baby carrot for both meals. I also add a few drops of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Pet and crumble a teeny bit of Cocotheraphy Coconut Chips.....
Riley Loves Mealtime!!

[my2boyz]

Originally Posted by tokipoki

Hello! I've been giving Toki little samples with her kibble to see if she has a preference and of course she likes it all!

I would not feed kibble and raw in the same meal, I've been told it can cause stomach upset. Maybe you could do a morning meal raw and the evening meal kibble...or visa versa.

I have been feeding Nature's Variety Organic Chicken but I just ordered Darwin's, it will be here Friday and I can't wait to see how it works for us. I was home cooking before I switched to raw.

[RileyDC]

Giving samples with her kibble is fine....
Actually Primal's website has a section on "transition" and they recommend starting with as little as 1/4 raw to 3/4 of your pet's current food.

I also emailed Primal and they said it was fine. If you have any questions you can always email or call the company or most of them have a Facebook Page. I have contacted Primal and NV with questions and they are both pretty quick to respond.

When I feed Riley raw a.m. and p.m. I am usually giving him the Acana Kibble as treats throughout the day.

[jeane]

natures variety

[tokipoki]

Originally Posted by RileyDC

I have fed Primal, Nature's Variety, Stella & Chewy's and Answers raw... and I think out of all of them, I think that I prefer Nature's Variety. Right now I am feeding a bag of their Organic Chicken. I feed the Nature's Varierty raw in the a.m. and Acana/Pacifica kibble in the p.m. I will sometimes do raw both meals... sometimes kibble both meals... it just all depends... I cut about 4 - 5 long skinny frozen green beans and a baby carrot for both meals. I also add a few drops of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Pet and crumble a teeny bit of Cocotheraphy Coconut Chips.....
Riley Loves Mealtime!!

How long does it take for you to get through a bag of medallions? What are some of Riley's favorite flavors? There are so many options!

[RileyDC]

Originally Posted by tokipoki

How long does it take for you to get through a bag of medallions? What are some of Riley's favorite flavors? There are so many options!

Well, Riley is between 8 & 9 pounds.... I usually give him a little over 1 1/2 medallions per meal... that with his green beans and baby carrot usually fill him up until dinner. There are 48 medallions in a bag of NV.... it will usually last me about a month, maybe a little less if I am doing raw both meals.

I have only tried the chicken and beef in the NV.....
I can't really tell which he likes better. He eats them all
so enthusiastically.

On the Primal, He has had the chicken, beef, venison, duck and Lamb. He had a Really BAD reaction to the last bag of Lamb, even though he had had it, before.... and he has eaten lamb in Acana Ranchland & Grassland...
He Broke out in really bag UGLY Red Hives.... I talked to a primal rep. and she said it may not necessarily been the Lamb but maybe one of the ingredients in the bag.... she said since he had such a bad reaction it was probably best to say away from it. So now I am really hesitant to feed him anything with Lamb. They were great though. She told me to take the bag back to the store for a full refund.

I think one of the reasons I prefer the NV is because it has more meat and less veggies than the Primal. It has 95% meat and 5% veggies.
I was also told that some dogs can be sensitive to Primal. I know Riley had some eye gunk on it.... He has no eye gunk on the NV or the Acana.

I just got an email from NV for their new Duck formula, so I am thinking I may try that one, next.

[carmen in nj]

I use Natures Variety, but I been reading and I think Darwins is a good candidate for us to try..
hugs,

[ChicagoSoul]

I will be in opposition to the other posters here who recommended Nature's Variety. We tried everything and every flavor within every brand and we decided to stick with Primal for the following reason.

Primal has the lowest protein content especially in its poultry flavors as compared to other brands. Yorkies in general and my baby in particular are predisposed to digestive problems such as hepatic or pancreatic abnormalities. It is hard for them to process only protein. Any mammal needs to have an especially strong liver to be able to produce extra large quantities of enzymes to break down products of a 100 % protein diet. In other words, eating too much protein is hard on the liver. It is better to have a mixed diet of protein and veggies and/or fruits.

Aside from what I said above, Primal is not better than Nature's Variety or S&C in terms of quality, look or taste. In fact, S&C looked and smelled the most palpable, organic and home made to me. However, my dog, as I said, felt sick eating both S&C and Nature's Variety. Primal was our best choice. Her stools and the overall health became stable only with Primal.

It is also worth to mention that, before using commercial raw foods, we tried to prepare a home made version according to Dr. Pidcairn's recipe and it was also not as good as a commercial preparation. However, if you want to try preparing your own raw recipe for your dog to save money, you can try it. Maybe your dog will do fine with the home made version.

As far as flavors go, my dog loves any and all flavors. She is obsessed with the raw food. Any dog is. So, whatever you choose, they will like it.
I chose what I thought would be the most appropriate flavor for a sensitive stomach. So, my dog is on Primal's Pheasant. My second choice is Primal's Venison. However, they are the two most expensive flavors. Chicken is the cheapest. My only concern with chicken is that chickens are typically bred and raised so inhumanely and with so many hormones, etc, that is hard to ensure that whatever is placed into a Primal's chicken is free of junk. Pheasant, on the other hand, is wild and is not as commonly abused. Other than this possibly flowed logic, chicken is perfectly fine for a sensitive stomach.

As far as portion control, it is super easy to feed my dog Primal. My baby is 3.5 lbs. So she gets exactly one nugget in the morning and one at night. Perfect portion control and perfect freshness is guaranteed because you defrost only what's needed the day before. You can calculate how long the package lasts by dividing the contents by the number of ounces consumed daily. As I said, my dog is 3.5 lbs and she consumes 2 ounces daily. I don't know how big your dog is but there are guidelines on Primal's website, so you can calculate accordingly. I've heard other people also buying larger packages with medallions that they break down themselves. It is not as convenient as buying a smaller nugget packages but you end up saving approximately 25% over the cost of a smaller package.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Raw diet is the best for sure. I am glad you are choosing this option for your baby.

[Mom to Hot Rod]

I feed Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw. I like the ingredients and the convenience of freeze dried. I sometimes add some cooked veggies to it.

We go boating and it travels very well and I don't have to worry about refrigeration. Both of mine love it and their and have been very consistent with it. Lamb is their favorite then Surf and Turf. I sometimes will give them a half of different patties to add up to a serving size just so they can a variety.

I carry 4 of the flavors, Lamb, Beef, Chicken and Surf and Turf.

[tokipoki]

Toki weighs 9 pounds but she is still a puppy at almost 10 months. Based solely on her weight, she would need either 3.5 small chicken patties from S&C, 3.5 chicken medallions from NV, or 3.6 nuggets from Primal. For her one meal, I'd just round up half the daily recommendation and make up the difference in kibble for her second meal.

So if I'm just feeding one meal a day raw, I'd need to get a new bag every 16, 24, or 32 days, respectively. Each has brand seems to have its pros and cons. Price isn't so much an issue (since I plan on only a single raw meal per day) as finding a food that will not cause any health problems or episodes. One of my most major concerns is fat content. I'm not sure if I'm overly concerned about Toki getting pancreatitis or what but raw foods seem higher in fat and she's on Fromm's Grain-free Beef Frittata Veg which also seems a little high in fat compared to other dog kibbles. It seems like most of you have had mostly positive results from switching to raw which I like to see! I just want to make sure I'm not giving Toki a diet that is too high in fat if it is something that will trigger some health episode

[xoxodoglover89]

I had tried NV back when Sasha had just turned a year old. She liked it at first but halfway through the bag she began turning her nose up to it. Then about 3 years ago I decided to try Primal and she loved it! I also had been feeding raw one meal and then kibble the next meal. I continued to feed raw for the next 3 years and up until a few months ago she was doing great but she started refusing her dry kibble, so I began adding a spoonful of canned food to it which has worked wonders. Now she doesn't care for the raw anymore so I decided to take a break from it. Unfortunately for me I had just bought a bag of Primal Venison but luckily the shelf life is quite some time so I may try raw again eventually just to see if she would be interested again.

[tokipoki]

Okay! I just bought a 3 lb bag of NV duck medallions since I had a $3 coupon! Ill probably rotate brands at the end of the bag but hopefully Toki likes the duck!

[RileyDC]

Originally Posted by tokipoki

Okay! I just bought a 3 lb bag of NV duck medallions since I had a $3 coupon! Ill probably rotate brands at the end of the bag but hopefully Toki likes the duck!

Ohhh YAY!! I got that same coupon... so I am going to buy a bag of it,
also. I'm feeding Riley the Acana Duck & Barlett Pear kibble for dinner,
last night and tonight and he seems to like it. How much did you pay
for the bag of NV Duck?