Too Young for Raw?

tasham · #1 09-23-2009, 11:08 AM

I'm transitioning my 2 older boys, Baxter and Cyrus, over to raw. They are loving it so far. Cyrus has been recently diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, so I've been doing many hours of research on things that we can do to help him through this. There's so much information out there that it's overwhelming.

We have our adorable little Charlie, who is 3 months old. He is currently on Blue Buffalo Puppy food. I have read all these things about not putting puppies on a high-protein diet until they are 2 years old. Should I wait to put Charlie on a raw diet until he is 2 years old as well? I'm nervous to mess with his diet too much at a young age and don't want to give him too much protein that will cause him to have any problems.

**gmacleod** · #2 09-23-2009, 01:04 PM

Fair question - but no, I don't think there is any need to wait. Plenty of people (myself included) have and do change their puppies onto raw food from the day they come home. My own dog, for example, has not had a taste of kibble since he came into my care at 8 weeks. There are plenty of breeders who wean their puppies onto raw food - that is, first solids, from 3-4 weeks of age.

The apparent (possible) issues around high protein foods and puppies appear to apply solely to dry foods, and not to raw, grain-free homecooked or to most canned foods. In fact, those pups who don't get fed kibble diets appear to grow at a slower and more even rate. This, of course, is one of the things that calls into question whether or not protein itself is truely a factor in the development of growth problems/disorders (there are contradictory research findings on that - whereas pretty much everyone seems to agree that high calorie, supplemented diets, or just plain overfeeding, are clear factors causing problems).

**Jan** · #3 09-24-2009, 07:01 AM

Tara has had raw all her life as she came from a breeder who fed raw. Moto started on raw as soon as he came home at 8 weeks. As gmacleod said, high protein doesn't seem to be an issue when feeding raw natural diet. I would go ahead and switch Charlie too.

tasham · #4 09-24-2009, 11:29 AM

Thanks gmacleod and Jan! I started transitioning Charlie this morning over to raw. Gave him a little of the raw patties I made for the other boys this morning along with his normal kibble. They are all just loving it so far! I'm so glad I asked about this. I think Charlie will be happier with his food too.