There is an increasing number of companies now supplying “pre-made raw”.

This tends to be an inferior product, includes things your dog doesn’t require (eg: cheap fillers such as fruit and veggies), and is often ground. I rarely ever feed ground food and do not recommend it. Also, and very importantly, pre-made raw food is often being processed in such a way (including radiation, preservatives, and gasing) to reduce the bacterial levels, which are vastly increased when food is ground. When meat is ground, an unnaturally large surface area is exposed to bacteria often resulting in a much larger bacterial count. You know food hasn’t been treated with these when it “goes off” after 24 hours.

Let’s evaluate one product:

I visited my local pet store. They were selling a pre-made raw product that was in the fridge. It was Australian made. I know the people who developed it actually. The main ingredient was ground chicken, including bone. What that actually is, is ground chicken carcass, which is available from most places for under $1/kg. They had added in some veggies – none of which a carnivore benefits from, but the advertising on the packaging just lies about the so called benefits. Those veggies if you bought them yourself – probably $2-3/kg. Added in a few vitamins which probably do nothing other than make the humans feel like they are doing the right thing.

Final price: $15/kg. An inferior product packaged nicely that you could do yourself (please don’t feed the veggies), for under $1/kg.

Jane’s top 10 reasons for not feeding pre-made raw products:

1. The food is not presented in a “natural state” – dogs need to have their food presented in as natural state as possible. When you deviate from this, you decrease the benefits of an appropriate diet.
2. There have been a small number of cases where dogs have had impactions caused by the glob of pre-made and ground food hitting their stomachs, before their digestive system has had time to produce the necessary chemicals to process the food.
3. It is invariably based on the incorrect premise that dogs are omnivores. Dogs are carnivores and yes, it does make a difference!
4. The food contains unnecessary supplements.
5. It contains food your dog doesn’t need – many pre-made foods contain things your dog doesn’t need (they don’t say this on the label though, do they!)
6. You cannot be assured of the processing procedures used
7. It is far cheaper to go down to your local butcher or supermarket and get your supplies
8. You know exactly what goes into your dog’s food when you get it yourself
9. When you get your dog’s meals ready yourself, you can make adjustments yourself
10. Your dog should not have a “balanced” meal everyday. It should vary. “A daily balanced diet” is great as a sales pitch for pet food companies, but does nothing for the health of your dog.