Considering switching over to a raw food diet for your dog or other pet? If so you’ve probably heard about BARF from Cotswold RAW, which stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food Diet and involves feeding your pet food which is similar to what their natural diet would be, i.e. raw meat, bones, fruit and vegetable. One of the major benefits of this is that your dog gets a lot of nutrients such as natural minerals which will improve your pet’s overall health and well-being.
There are also many more advantages to serving a BARF diet to your dog. All those extra nutrients will improve the health of your pet’s skin and the shininess of their coat whilst also enhancing the strength of their bones and joints. They’ll also have better teeth and an overall improved level of dental hygiene whilst also benefiting from a better balanced body mass. Best of all, their temperament will improve – a healthy dog is a happy dog!
There are various online suppliers of raw food including Cotswold RAW, a brand who pride themselves on providing meals which offer all the enzymes, minerals, proteins and minerals that your pets need. The important thing to remember is that cats and dogs are carnivores by nature which means that a diet which is high in what would be natural prey for them is much more suitable than processed food. Cotswold RAW deliver meals which contain all the health benefits of such a diet combined with the speed and simplicity of ready-made pet food.
Drawing on the expertise and advice of experienced and knowledgable canine nutritionists, the Cotswold RAW recipe offers just the right ratio of raw meat to vegetables. There are essentially three different versions, so you can choose the one which will work best for your pet. These are:
- 80/20 – this is the standard recipe which contains 80 percent meat to 20 percent fruit and vegetables.
- 90/10 – this recipe has been designed especially for dogs who need that little bit more energy. It’s 90 percent meat to 10 percent veg and, as such, is perfect for working dogs.
- 70/30 – could your pet do with losing some weight? With 70 percent meat and 30 percent veggies, the 70/30 solution is ideal if you want lower fat pet food.
Switching to a raw diet is very easy and you’ll probably find that your dog will get stuck in right away. If you prefer, you can alternate between raw food and your dog’s current diet, switching over for each consecutive meal over a week or so to allow your pet to get used to their new raw diet. You may notice that your dog drinks less water after switching to a raw diet. This is nothing to be alarmed about – there’s a perfectly good reason to be this. Raw food contains naturally more moisture as opposed to kibble and the like, which means your dog will be naturally less thirsty as a result. You should of course always ensure your dog has a plentiful supply of fresh drinking water all the same.
For more information on feeding your dog raw food, check out the Cotswold Raw feeding guide which contains lots of valuable information such as how much to feed and how often to do so. It’s designed to offer information on all sizes and breeds of dog. Aside from this, the website is laden with useful facts and information. If you have any queries there’s an FAQ or you can also contact the Cotswold RAW team directly – they’ll be more than happy to address any questions you may have about feeding your pet a raw diet.
Very interesting post. I considered feeding my dog a RAW diet when we first got her but soon realised that we just didn’t have the space to store her food nor the time to source it fresh. We ended up just sticking to dry food with the odd raw food as treats – which she loves.
It certainly does look best for them and it makes sense as a regular diet for them. Thanks for sharing this company, I might take a proper look at them at a later date.