Pre-packed Raw Meals

The raw-feeding canine and feline community has increased and is thriving. There're so many meat and offal suppliers out there now that one is spoilt for choices. Choya is on a fresh raw diet 80% of the time. However, for a few meals a week, I still maintain a base of dehydrated raw (to rehydrate) and air-dried 'kibbles' for Choya. This is to keep her stomach used to the ratio should her diet changes if and when I travel and she has go to boarding or to a trusted caregiver.  

I've spent a lot of time researching, reading, seeking advice (paid) from super qualified vets and canine nutritionists in order to prep for Choya's diet. Her sensitive digestive tract drove me crazy. While the initial transition to raw meals was a breeze, fixing the proteins, fibre and offal to go into her body weren't that smooth. Fibre has to be given in measured amounts, otherwise her poop becomes soft serve. Her ratio of offal has to be super low because she can't take the fresh rich organs. Those guarantee shitsplosions. Yet she still needs it, so I've to constantly tweak it, and eventually settle for freeze-dried or dehydrated organs. 

I've always balanced Choya's meals myself. It isn't much of a chore. It's a challenge and it's super fun. There's nothing that pre-packed raw meals offer me beyond convenience. It's not difficult to match their nutritional value or whatever it is the brands tout. Her poop and detailed bloodwork tell me that I'm on the right track. 

For a change, I bought two weeks' worth of pre-packed food from BOMBOM. She needs 175g of food a day. She could sometimes go up to 250g. She averages at 200g. BOMBOM brand trots out vacuum-sealed packs of balanced meals. I buy a la carte items from their Basic BOMBOM anyway, so I thought to check out how much I like the convenience of these subscription packs. I'm after the ground bone, which makes my job easier. I also like it that I can exclude offal/organs from these packs. I simply top up the difference with muscle meat, extra beef and eggs.  

I added on iwashi to this order. They arrived, and they are indeed iwashi. The man is stealing her sardines. The smol dog can't (and shouldn't) even finish a whole sardine on her own in one meal. They can share. ⅓ for Choya and ⅔ for her Daddy. I'll just have to salt and grill his ⅔ for a snack. HAHAHAHA.

The add-ons to the pre-packed portions are always fun since these offer a way to test new foods. However, there's always trepidation in doing so. No one wants our floofies to get the runs and wince in pain for a day or so. Portion control is key. Get ready the mashed pumpkin, or simply sprinkle psyllium husk or slippery elm in the food just to manage the potential soft serve to drip out at walkies, instead of having them as shitsplosions. Say, salmon roe. I literally count two beads to put in Choya's food. She's only 7kg, so two beads would be fine in her gastrointestinal tract. Any more would wreak havoc. Unless she's bigger and is a 12 or 15kg Shiba-ken.