You read up to this point so far on what to feed your companions and where to source it, how to make it and how to store it, so how the heck do you actually feed and serve it? It may seem complicated without a colorful bag with decadent pictures plastered on it, but raw feeding is actually really easy!

​

Each meal or batch should be made of 80% muscle meat, 10% secreting organ meat, 5% of which must be liver and 10% appropriate raw meaty bones.

 

In order to determine how much your companion needs to eat daily first weigh your companion. Than determine a percent of their ideal weight you would like to feed.

 

1.5%-2% is designated for Weight Loss

-Keep in mind that any companion switched to raw will lose weight and gain lean muscle given the nature of composition of the new diet. Any companion that does need to lose weight should be done slowly as extreme weight loss in a short period can result in health problems.

 

3% is designated for Maintenance

​

5%+ is designated for Weight Gain or for those that expend a lot of energy such as agility dogs and pregnant or lactating females

 

Puppies, kittens and baby ferrets should be allowed to eat as much as they would like until adulthood as long as the batch you make is balanced with the ideal ratio.

 

Once you have determined a percentage take that percent of weight your companion weighs or their ideal adult weight. This number will be the total amount of food your companion will need on a daily basis.

​

For example:
If you have a 10 lb adult cat you want to feed 3% for maintenance 10 lbs * 0.03% = 4.8 oz total per day.

If you have a 30 lb puppy that will be about 150 lbs as an adult, you can feed 3% of its expected adult weight of 4.5 lbs of food total per day spread over 3 or more meals. 

 

Next take you will want to determine what 80% of the total food fed for that day to determine how much muscle meat your companion needs on a daily basis.

 

Do the same with to account for the 10% secreting organs (half of which should be liver) and 10% appropriate bone.

 

For Example:

Say you have a healthy adult cat that weighs 10.5 lbs. First determine how much to feed per day. 3% of 10.5 lbs is about 5 oz per day. Take  80% of that number to determine the amount of muscles meat needed per day. Than take 10%  of the daily amount for the 5% secreting organs and 5% liver of the daily amount. Finally do the same for the 10% bone. To determine how much meat organs and bone to feed per week  multiple each by 7 and you get the total amount of food you need per week.

 

​

 

​

​

​

​

Now all you need to do is divide these amounts among your ingredients.

 

For a starter menu check out DYI Menu Database

 

NOTE: if you are including raw egg in your batch this counts as meat.

NOTE: raw meaty bones often are a percent of bone and a percent of meat. Please refer to the Meat to Bone Ratios to determine how much bone your raw meaty bone’s contain. This is important because raw meaty bones also contain meat which must be accounted for in the muscle meat section. Also bones of different species have different percentages. For example chicken necks are 31% bone while turkey necks are around 42%.

 

Meals do not need to be exact as in you do not need to feed a completely balanced meal each and every day. As long as it’s balanced over the week your companion will be getting everything they need!

 

Keep in mind that these bullet points are primarily guidelines. Raw feeding is personalized and custom to your individual companion.

 

The percent you feed is simply a guideline.

 

If you notice your companion is losing to much weight and begging for food, you are not feeding enough so increase the percentage slightly. If your companion is consistently leaving food in the bowl but getting their fill, reduce the percentage slightly. If your companion performs in agility in the summer but not in the winter increase the percentage to adjust for more energy being spent in the summer. If your companion is pregnant or lactating which are both high energy stages a higher percentage may also be needed.

 

Some companions simply do not do well on 10% organs. They may get runny stool more often so lowering this percentage might be helpful.

The best thing you can do is know your companion

1. Watch their weight and figure

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 Borrowed from 24hourpetwatch.com

 

  2. Evaluate the amount of energy they expend

  3. Watch their stool

 

When you are ready to start feeding a meal, feed to your cats, dogs or ferrets in a metal, glass or ceramic bowl. They hold less bacteria than plastic and most are dishwasher safe. Some people feed their pets on paper plates for easy disposal while many feed their dogs outside where they can hose off the area after their pet is done eating. Regardless of how you serve your pet’s food make sure you use new and clean surfaces EVERY time your companions eat. After they are done eating dispose or wash your companions eating surfaces including kitchen floors and eating mats.