My pet isn't eating your food. What can I do?
Occasionally, pets may struggle with change and transitioning to a new, unfamiliar food. This is especially the case when transitioning from processed diets. Imagine going from eating processed fast foods all your life then being presented a meal with fresh, unprocessed, uncooked ingredients… it may take a bit of getting used to in the beginning. However, we do have a list of suggestions to help the process.
• Transition slowly according to our transition guide to make sure your pet is gradually getting used to their new diet.
• Mix in some of your pet’s favourite treats or favourite foods to help encourage them to eat their new diet. Sardines and/or raw egg are common and popular suggestions.
• Feed your pet their new food in a new area to reduce associations with and expectations of their old diet and make the new diet a bit of a novelty for them.
• Make new food look familiar to their old food. This may mean rolling the patty into small balls or add some chunks of cooked meat, depending on what your pet is used to.
• Ensure bowl size suits your pet. Some cats do not like their whiskers touching the sides of the bowl for example.
• Offer the food in small amounts or maybe on a spoon and slowly transition away from this as they start getting used to the food.
• Gently warm the raw food, ensuring not to cook. Do this by putting the sealed patty in a sink of hot water for 5-10 minutes to bring it up to room temperature and increase its appeal.
• Generally, the least popular method is usually the quickest and most effective but also the most difficult for us as pet parents. This method is to offer the food for no longer than 10-15 mins and if not consumed, put in the fridge to try again for the next meal. This tough love method usually gets results within a day but is not to be continued for longer than 2 days. It is rare, but some pets just don’t like some food despite how much you may want them to eat it. Ultimately, it’s more important to have a pet eating something over nothing.
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Related FAQs
How much salt/sodium is in your Big Dog raw foods?
All of our Big Dog recipes are low in salt/sodium.
We do not add any salt to our recipes for dogs, any sodium will be naturally occurring in the fresh produce we use in our recipes. Our recipes for dogs meet AAFCO standards without the need to add salt.
Our recipes for cats have a small amount of sea salt added to make them complete and balanced to AAFCO standards.
All of our Big Dog recipes have a sodium level between 0.3% - 0.55% (dry matter).
Is your raw food grain free and gluten free?
Yes, all of our recipes are grain/gluten free.
Do you have an online ordering option available?
Big Dog products are currently not available to purchase online directly from us. Some of our stockists may offer this service and you can find your closest store here.
Can I cook your food?
No. Our dog recipes contain crushed real bone. Not only does cooking change the nutritional value of the fresh healthy ingredients, cooking bone results in it becoming brittle, potentially splintering and should not be ingested by your dog in this state.
The exception to this is our Nourish Nutrition and cat recipes. While we recommend feeding them raw, it is safe to lightly cook these recipes, if necessary as they do not contain crushed bone.
Can my dog get sick eating raw meat?
Nature always intended dogs to eat raw foods, hence their bodies are biologically adept to process a raw diet, along with the naturally occurring bacteria. The acidic pH of their stomach and accompanying short digestive tract assists passing of pathogens, without any health concerns. To be safe please ensure proper storage and handling methods are followed to avoid development of harmful bacteria. For more information on bacteria and raw food, visit – Bacteria And Raw Food.
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Read about Big Dog Pet Foods quality and safety here.
Can I buy direct and in bulk from you?
If you are a retail outlet looking to stock products from our range through in your store, absolutely! Feel free to get in touch with us via sales@bigdogpetfoods.com and speak with a member of our team.
If you’re a Big Dog customer looking to buy direct, currently our products are only available within Pet Specialty Stores across Australia and some overseas locations, if you’d like to find your nearest store checkout our Where to Buy page.