There is a close connection between diet and health, as with humans we can use food to help alleviate and prevent medical conditions. There are only a few exceptions to feeding raw food for example if you have a dog who is immunocompromised, a home cooked diet would be more suitable. Other than that raw food is suitable for most dogs, even with medical conditions. If you have a dog suffering from a medical condition but still want to feed raw then please get in touch, we will be happy to advise you on an appropriate diet.

​Some minor illnesses you may be able to deal with yourself by making a small change to your dog’s diet. If your dog is showing signs of constipation, this may be due to dehydration or too much bone. You can treat this by increasing soluble fibre (apples, pears, oily fish such as sardines and pilchards) and reducing the bone content and adding in more offal which has a laxative effect.

​If your dog is showing signs of vomiting and diarrhoea, then keep offering food as their gut cells need energy to repair. Stick to chicken, tripe or turkey and add in pre and probiotics. If signs continue for more than 24-48hrs then consult a vet.

If your dog is showing signs of a skin or food allergy which can be manifested as scratching, licking, raised skin lesions or diarrhoea then you can perform your own exclusion diet. Try your dog on a novel protein (one they haven’t eaten before) for four weeks, this is the minimum time needed to see an improvement in the skin, if after this time there is no improvement then try another protein. If there is an improvement then you can continue to feed this protein, you can also introduce other proteins to see which ones cause a reaction. Over time you will be able to work out which combination of proteins is perfect for your dog.