August isn't just August in the pet world, it's RAWgust!

RAWgust is a month all about exploring raw foods for dogs and cats!

Using raw food as a topper, replacing a portion of your pet's regular meal with a complete and balanced raw food, or even offering an occasional raw meal are all ways to incorporate raw without completely changing your pets diet. It can also make exploring raw more budget-friendly, especially for larger dogs or multi-pet households.

Before we get into how to add raw, let's talk about why you might want to add raw in the first place.

Why Raw? 

1. Minimal Processing

One of the biggest differences between raw foods and traditional kibble is how they're processed.

Kibble is cooked using heat, while frozen and freeze-dried raw foods can be produced without the same high-temperature cooking process. Freeze-drying, for example, removes moisture from frozen food under a vacuum. This allows the food to become lightweight and shelf-stable without traditional cooking.

Most frozen raw manufacturers may also use a food-safety process called High Pressure Processing (HPP). Instead of using heat, HPP uses extremely high water pressure to help kill harmful microorganisms such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. Packaged food is placed into a chamber filled with water and subjected to intense pressure, up to 87,000 PSI. That pressure disrupts microorganisms while allowing the food to remain uncooked.

Ultimately, raw gives pet parents another option for incorporating minimally processed ingredients into their pet's diet.

2. More Variety in the Bowl

There's nothing necessarily wrong with feeding the same complete and balanced food every day, but incorporating raw can be an easy way to introduce some variety into your pet's bowl.

Depending on the products you choose, you can experiment with different proteins, textures, flavors, and ingredients without completely changing your pet's regular diet. You can also use rotation to discover which proteins and textures your pet enjoys most. Rotating between raw toppers could be helpful for pets who seem less enthusiastic about eating their food! 

  1. Highly Palatable

The aroma, texture, and meat-forward nature of many frozen and freeze-dried raw products can make them especially appealing to dogs and cats.

For picky pets, you don't necessarily need to replace their entire meal to make their bowl more exciting. Try crumbling a small amount of freeze-dried raw over their existing food! 

  1. An Opportunity to Add Moisture

Frozen raw naturally contains more moisture than dry kibble, while freeze-dried raw can typically be rehydrated with water before serving.

You can also experiment with hydrating raw toppers like bone broth and goat's milk. Bone broth can be an easy, flavorful way to add liquid to a meal, including when you're trying to make a simple meal a little more appealing. Raw goat's milk offers another tasty source of moisture and contains natural probiotics. 

Adding moisture can be particularly useful for cats, since cats naturally evolved to get most of their water from their food. Adding raw foods or hydrating toppers gives you another way to increase the moisture in their bowl.

Dip Your Paws Into Raw

Interested in raw but aren't ready to completely change your pet's diet?

There are plenty of ways to dip your paws into raw, and you can choose an option that works for you and your pet!

Option 1: Sprinkle It

Start small! Crumble some freeze-dried raw, add a small amount of frozen raw, or try another raw topper alongside your pet's regular food.

A small amount lets your pet experience a new flavor and texture while keeping their normal diet as the foundation. Using raw as a topper can also make one package last considerably longer than it would if you were feeding it as your pet's entire meal.

Great for: First-timers, picky eaters, larger dogs and budget-conscious households.

Option 2: Mix It

Ready for a little more?

Replace a portion of your pet's normal meal with a complete and balanced raw food.

Great for: Pet parents who want raw to make up a larger portion of their pet's diet without the expense or commitment of going fully raw.

Option 3: Make It a Meal

Occasionally replace your pet's regular meal with a complete and balanced raw food.

It's another way to incorporate different foods into your pet's routine without committing to feeding raw for every meal.

Option 4: Go Fully Raw

If you discover that raw works well for your pet and your household, you can explore transitioning to an appropriately formulated complete and balanced raw diet.

But here's the important part:

You don't have to reach Step 4!

A little raw can still be the option that works best for your pet, lifestyle, and budget.

Bonus: Put It in Their Toys!

The bowl isn't the only place you can experiment with raw.

Try adding freeze-dried food, bone broth, goat's milk, or a veggie blend to a stuffable enrichment toy and freezing it.

Freezing can make the activity last longer while giving your pet something fun to lick and work on.

Some of Our Favorite Raw Combos

Still not sure where to begin? Here are a few combinations to inspire your RAWgust experiment.

Green Juju Bailey's Blend + Freeze-Dried Turkey

If you're looking for a fun topper combination for your dog, try pairing Green Juju Bailey's Blend with some freeze-dried turkey.

Bailey's Blend features turkey bone broth alongside a colorful blend of vegetables and other ingredients, making turkey an easy protein pairing. It's a simple way to bring different textures and ingredients together without completely changing your dog's dinner.

Bailey's Blend is formulated for dogs.

Goat's Milk + Freeze-Dried Pumpkin

A pumpkin latte for your pet! A great boost for their digestive health while also adding moisture to their food! 

Oma's Pride Grab N Go + Bone Broth

Oma's Pride Grab N Go products offer a variety of raw options, including products featuring ingredients like organ meats and green tripe. Depending on the particular formula, products may be complete diets or intended for supplemental feeding, so make sure to check the package.

Try adding a splash of bone broth for extra hydration and flavor.

 

Celebrate RAWgust With Us!

Whether you're crumbling a little freeze-dried raw over tonight's dinner, replacing part of the bowl with a complete and balanced raw food, experimenting with a frozen enrichment toy, or exploring fully raw feeding, there's more than one way to participate. Start small, introduce new foods gradually, follow the feeding recommendations on the product you're using, and don't be afraid to ask the Rumford Pet team for help finding a raw option that works for you.

We're offering a variety of RAWgust sales throughout August, making it an even better time to try a new topper, explore the freezer, or add a little something special to your pet's bowl.