Making the Switch to a Raw Food Diet

Tollden Farms is made from humanely raised, government inspected, human-grade ingredients, and where possible we’ve used organic products. We have the widest variety of diet options available with either the meat and vegetable blend diets or the meat and botanical blend diets. We recommend you rotate between a variety of protein sources for the widest range of available nutrients.

IMPORTANT:

Always use safe handling practices when feeding raw meat products. Never cook products that contain bone. Information contained herein does not substitute veterinary advise. Tollden Farms does not assume responsibility for the care and handling of one's pets.

Most dogs and cats can make the switch to raw foods cold turkey. Unless your pet has an intolerance, we recommend starting with the chicken diet, either with vegetables or the botanical version. Stick with the same protein source for about a week, then start rotating between a variety of proteins.

If your pet is straining to defecate, increase the mammal meat diets, like beef, lamb or venison. This straining simply means your pet is not utilizing the calcium of the ground-bone type diets of chicken or turkey. Conversely, if your pet is having too many loose stools, increase the poultry diets. As animals age, we find they use less calcium and require a greater portion of mammal-meat diets.

You know your pet best, if you feel your pet suffers from any severe illnesses, it may be best to make a slower transition. Talk to your veterinarian (who is not opposed to raw food feeding) on how to make the switch.

Some Additional Information

  • It’s advisable to have your veterinarian’s support in feeding a raw food diet. If you need the names of veterinarians who support raw feeding, ask the owner of the store where you purchased Tollden Farms.
  • Because processed/cooked foods digest at a different rate than raw food, we recommend that you don’t feed a com­bination of kibble/cooked with raw in the same meal. If you choose to include kibble as part of your rotation, simply feed as a separate meal.
  • Always supervise bone chewing as bones represent a choking hazard.
  • The object is balance over time, variety is essential for delivering the widest range of nutrients to your pet.
  • Salmonella and bacteria that are dangerous to humans are generally not harmful to dogs and cats.