# Mixing kibble & Frozen Raw - advice please?!



## Linz (Feb 7, 2010)

So I've come to the conclusion that I want to give Winnie Nature's Variety Frozen Raw food along with her kibble. I'm going to eventually rotate her on a variety of kibbles - CORE, EVO, and maybe instinct. Is it OK to give her both kibble and the raw? Should I give her one meal of each (morning meal kibble then evening meal raw) or both for every meal? 

Or is it better to just go 100% kibble or 100% raw?


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## phoebespeople (May 27, 2009)

Well, I am a huge RAW dog food supporter, so I would advise anyone to go 100% RAW, cold turkey. I don't think anyone would suggest mixing or alternating meals of RAW and kibble. I just told someone this on another thread, but mixing RAW and kibble is a mean trick to play on your dogs digestive system.


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## littleboodog (Aug 19, 2008)

I totally agree that 100% is the way to go. It's easier, it's cheaper, it's healthier, it's more fun to buy and more fun to feed and more fun for the dog. The fact is, kibble is simply not what the petfood industry wants us to think it is and if you can get up the courage to kiss it goodbye, do it.

But if you are going to waffle (cold turkey is best though!), consider adding plain old raw meat to the kibble. Adding NV patties to the menu is overkill. You don't need to spend the money and your dog won't particularly benefit from from the product. 
Marie


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

I used to give Cadence one raw meal and one kibble meal a day. He was fine with that schedule. Recently I decided to go with "raw days" instead. So he gets raw a couple of days a week for all his meals. As long as you keep meals separate and many hours apart, it should be fine. Don't mix in the raw with kibble, though.


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## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

Maybe no one has had a problem with feeding raw and kibble at the same meal but I do. Kibble takes longer to digest than raw so if you feed them at the same time, the raw food will remain in your dog's stomach until the kibble is fully digested. This gives the raw food time to ferment. I may be wrong but I personally would not feed at the same time. At separate meals, okay. 

For some people, it may be a little cheaper to feed kibble at one meal and raw at one meal (if they choose the frozen raw like I do). If you choose to make your own raw diet, then I would suggest a lot of research to make sure you give your dog the right balance of nutrients. Some people feed a total meat and organs diet whereas others feed meat along with fruit and veggies. It's up to you but you need to do the research. There are also some people who are members of groups that buy raw meat in bulk and can get it at cheap prices. This would require a lot of freezer space too. If you can find a good butcher who will give you meat cheap, then this could be theway to go.


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## StellaLucyDesi (Jun 19, 2008)

When I first started feeding NV medallions, I emailed the company and asked if I could feed raw and kibble together. They replied, "Yes, you can with no problem, just like you can with canned food." So, I did it for awhile....with no problem. But, with all the advice on the forums against doing it, I started to feel uneasy and I decided to use kibble/can in the a.m. and raw medallions in the p.m. I may decide to go with raw days and kibble/can days. I continue to feed kibble because my dogs are boarded every once in awhile, and the I'm not going to ask (or trust) the boarder to store/fix the raw medallions for my dogs. So, kibble is still in their diets for that reason. They are doing fine with this method. I am rotating between Instinct, Wellness CORE RF & Ocean, Orijen Sr. kibble with lots of different can foods and NV medallions and Primal nuggets.


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## DJsMom (Jun 6, 2008)

I'm 1 of those who does not like feeding my dogs kibble, which is why I switched to raw in the first place, so I figure why feed kibble at all. I haven't fed my dogs kibble for over a year.
But I do realize that cost of raw can be an issue for some.
I have heard that raw food & kibble are digested at different rates, but I've also heard many people say thay've had no problem feeding both to their dogs. But I guess if I were to feed both, I would rotate it on at least a daily basis (a day or 2 or more or 1, then the other) rather than on a meal basis.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

something else to consider.....

the dog and his or her system and ability to adapt.

i have a dog who is ten years old and i have a dog who is 2. the two year old happily flung her raw chicken around the kitchen, chewed as if starved, regurgitated that which he tried to swallow whole, ate again...and loved every minute of it. 

my ten year old didn't do so well....with going cold turkey. she didn't do so well with raw...as she has bloody stools from a bone scratching her bowel.....and they are black and pure liquid and she groans, so we know she is not comfortable at all....spent most of sunday at the ER with her.

i think, my point is....if you know your dog well, then go cold turkey...if you don't....or your dog is one of those whose stomachs require a slow transition then do that, too.

just because one dog can make the switch successfully, doesn't mean all dogs can or do.

we will try again when she's better....but we will do it more slowly this time.


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## littleboodog (Aug 19, 2008)

It may not work to feed bones with kibble, but adding raw meat is not likely to interfere with digestion. Too many people on too many reputable forums and list and groups have been doing so successfully for too long a time. It's not how I choose to feed my dogs but it is one way to get more high quality, easily digestible animal protein into a carnivore that eats a high carbohydrate diet.

I think the "no meat with kibble" is myth. It's a theory I would happily support if it were true, but it's not. Just like "raw meat makes your dog vicious", another myth. 

There is a species appropriate diet for every dog. Finding it can be a bear, and time consuming and frustrating. Most of the time lack of success is a result of raw feeder mistakes, these can be remedied. 

Sometimes lack of success is caused by disease. However, it's often the case that a highly customized, fine-tuned raw diet will help resolve disease or mediate disease. It's really difficult for me to understand how kibble can be healtheir than a well-fed raw diet.
Marie


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## Linz (Feb 7, 2010)

*Kibble takes longer to digest than raw so if you feed them at the same time, the raw food will remain in your dog's stomach until the kibble is fully digested. This gives the raw food time to ferment. *


Just out of curiosity, does anyone have a source for this information or evidence that it is true?

How is feeding raw/kibble mix different than feeding canned/kibble mix as far as this goes?


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## phoebespeople (May 27, 2009)

"How is feeding raw/kibble mix different than feeding canned/kibble mix as far as this goes?"

Kibble and canned wet food are both bade with rendered protein sludge from an animal rendering plant. They are both mixed with grain filler, salt, and preservatives. The kibble is dehydrated and cooked to remove more moisture, but otherwise they are the same.
RAW is uncooked and unprocessed meat, bone and organ without salt and preservatives. The molecular components and chemical composition of the two substances are different. We don't need a scientific study to tell us this, it is obvious for anyone to see.


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## Linz (Feb 7, 2010)

I wasn't asking for the chemical makeup of raw vs kibble. I meant the fermenting part. What evidence do you have that this food globulus ferments inside the dog's stomach? Like I've said previously, I am new to the idea of RAW all together and don't feel that I need to have my head bit off for asking questions.


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## littleboodog (Aug 19, 2008)

_Kibble takes longer to digest than raw so if you feed them at the same time, the raw food will remain in your dog's stomach until the kibble is fully digested. This gives the raw food time to ferment. _

This is not now digestion works, at least not in a dog. The easily decomposed stuff (raw meat) gets broken down first, and the difficult stuff gets moved along later. There is no fermenting in the stomach, there is hydrochloric acid; the bacterial decompostion happens in the upper intestine. 

I don't know why it doesn't work for you and I surely would not recommend you pursue anything you are not comfortable with, but the fact is, adding raw meat to kibble absolutely will add nutritional value to the meal. 
Marie


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## FilleBelle (Aug 1, 2007)

Alvin eats a high quality kibble for breakfast and dinner. At bedtime, when he takes his joint supplement (and sometimes pain meds), he also gets a single medallion of frozen raw food. I didn't like feeding him his meds on an empty stomach, so I wanted something that was quick and easy to feed him at night. A big ol' bag of frozen raw turned out to be more economical than a bunch of cans of wet food.

Alvin doesn't have a problem with the raw supplement to his diet. My kitchen floor doesn't like the way he plays hockey with the patties before eating them, but it's getting along.


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## Sunshyne (Feb 5, 2008)

Chloe eats 2 NV raw chicken medallions every am (down from 3, needs to lose 2 pounds!), and has Innova EVO small bites Chicken kibble for dinner. She has been on this schedule for the past year. 

She has had some health issues in the past that are still undetermined. We did a food elimination diet, allergy testing, bloodwork 4x, etc.. and it showed absolutely no ill effects from eating this diet. I originally started this way because she was so picky. She also gets a few raw marrow or rib bones a week. The vet said her teeth look fabulous, her eyes are bright, coat soft and shiny and she doesn't have stinky breath. 

Chloe poops 2x a day, on schedule at 8:30 am and again at 4:30. I have found absolutely NO digestive issues feeding her this way. However, all dogs are different so obviously I am just speaking from my own experience. I was "warned" about doing raw and kibble but, honestly, it's what works for her and I'm not changing it unless something negative crops up. 

Edit to add: I usually stay with the chicken flavor. She hated the beef, and will pick at venison and lamb. 

Good luck!


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