Just like humans, our four-legged friends thrive the best when they are eating a complete and balanced diet consisting of variety of fresh raw meats, vegetables, vitamins and herbs. If this is not entirely possible and you have to feed some processed foods in moderation, this is still okay.
We think feeding any nutritious raw food is better than none and I’d encourage anyone to give it a try. You can mix raw and kibble without upsetting a dog's digestive system. Our vet and nutritionist explains how mixing raw and kibble together, instead of feeding a completely processed option can be a fantastic step in the right decision.
Adding some fresh vegetables and raw meats to our dog's daily meals can significantly improve their health. There are lots of pet parents having great success feeding their pets in this way if they are unable to feed a completely raw dog food diet.
We developed our exclusive Poppy’s Picnic POWER BALLS which are not only great for feeding small dogs and portion control, but because they’re an easy way of adding a nutritious boost to the bowl. You can easily remove two tablespoons of wet or dry food and replace it with one nutritious POWER BALL. The nutritional value of one POWER BALL is greater than that of processed wet or dry foods so you can afford to swap it out and replace it with less. It is also a no-bone recipe which means you can serve it raw or cooked too.
Remember, even by adding just a little bit of freshness you are giving your dog extra valuable nutrients! Here’s how you can get started:
- Take out the number of POWER BALLS you need from the pack to defrost in the fridge the night before, and put the remaining meatballs back in the freezer
- We recommend taking the meatballs out of the fridge 20 minutes before feeding as your dog might not like the coldness of refrigerated foodFeed as many POWER BALLS as you like, by removing 2 tablespoons of their usual meal, and replacing with 1 Poppy’s Picnic POWER BALL and repeating as desired
- Alternatively, you can also feed a POWER BALL as a tasty midday treat (just make sure you account for it in their daily meal allowance)
- Easy and waste-free. It really is THAT simple!
Does Kibble Take Longer to Digest Than Raw?
The main concerns of feeding a mixture of raw and kibble is that the dry food takes longer to digest than raw which can cause a tummy upset, and even vomiting and diarrhoea. However, there is no concrete scientific evidence different digestion times can lead to any digestive issues.
Cats
Cats can be a bit different as they can get very fussy about mixing up their food. It's best to stick with one thing, but more for an easy life than for digestion reasons! An exception to this would be if you have a particularly large cat - not overweight, just big - who needs more food than the other cats in a multi cat house. The odd handful of quality, high-protein, grain-free dried food is a helpful top up to their raw diet.
All Poppy's Picnic raw dog and cat food recipes are complete and naturally balanced to FEDIAF guideline. We use fresh, high quality ingredients that are suitable for human consumption and can be stored in your fridge for 4 days.
