We believe a raw, natural diet provides the best nutrition for our pets, however we understand that a 100% raw diet just isn’t always possible for everyone, for various reasons. If you prefer to feed a mixture of diets, also known as co-feeding, on an ongoing basis, this is totally okay and we’ve got some suggestions to help you out.
Half and half
An easy way to co-feed your pet, while ensuring they are getting all their nutrients they require, is to choose an easy ratio split – eg. 50/50. This means you will split your pet’s diet into 50% of a Big Dog diet and 50% your chosen kibble, and we advise to only feed half the recommended feeding portion for each diet.
A raw meal and kibble treats
A lot of pet parents choose to feed fresh, raw food as their pet’s main meals, and use kibble or cooked rolls for treats. These might be used for training treats or for their enrichment toys (eg Stylish Hound’s Hercules) to make them work for their food. Sometimes parents will opt for processed foods for these toys and feeders because they are easier to prep and clean. If choosing this method to co-feed for your pet, you’ll just need to factor in the amount of food they are having in their enrichment toys, or as treats, and deduct this from their meal amount eg. 90% raw and fresh, with 10% processed foods.
Boost your pet’s kibble
We believe that any inclusion of healthy raw food into your pet’s diet will benefit them tremendously. For example, adding a whole raw egg to your pets kibble you can boost the nutrients enormously.
Some ways to boost your pet’s kibble are:
Soak kibble in bone broth
Add canned sardines (unsalted, in Springwater – not oil)
Add fresh, raw meat, eggs and bones
Add fresh vegetables and fruit (make sure to check they are pet safe)
Add kefir or kombucha
Add a Big Dog probiotic supplement
Daily intake
You’ll need to allow for their daily nutritional intake, depending on the amount of ‘boosters’ or ‘toppers’ that you’re adding to your pet’s meal. We recommend you find a ratio that’s nice and easy to start with, it might be 50/50, 70/30, or 90/10, and just adjust from there to suit you and your pet. Don’t sweat it too much, we recommend that you refer to our healthy weight guide to monitor your pet’s weight and adjust their food intake accordingly.
For dogs and cats that have more sensitive stomachs, their diet can still consist of a raw diet and a kibble diet however if you notice any issues, it could be advised to feed these two diets at different time, for example feed raw in the morning and their other diet at night, or vice-versa.
Co-feeding from the experts – our customers!
We asked pet parents how they co-feed kibble and our Big Dog raw food to suit them and their pets, and this is what they had to say.
Georgia
I use an air dried raw as part of the diet for the crew here - for the dogs it allows for snuffle hunts in the grass (so I don’t get yelled at for taking too long to dish their raw course), and for the cat this allows for an automatic feeder to dispense some of his daily allowance to stop 4am wake ups and so he can stay overnight if needed and be comfortable with where his meals will come from.
Wendy
I add mince, sardines, mackerel or raw liver sometimes. I feed kibble for their treat ball /wobbler when I go out. Treats are mainly carrots apple n chicken necks/wings. I feed twice day using lick mat or slow food bowl.
Suze
We feed our boys Big Dog with a scoop of Rehydrated Air Dried Raw in salmon on top of the patties. Bones - brisket or kangaroo ribs.
Chris and Vik
We co feed our two. They have kibble for breakfast and Big Dog for dinner with blueberries and a spoon of natural yoghurt on top.
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