How much raw food should I feed my dog or cat?

Raw Performance's guide for adult dogs is about 2–2.5% of their ideal body weight a day: around 1.5% to help a dog lose weight and about 3% to help one gain. A quick check is ½ lb of food a day for every 20 lb of dog, so a 50 lb adult at 2% eats about 1 lb a day.

Puppies eat a share of their current weight that drops as they grow: about 9% at 2–3 months, 7% at 4–5 months, 5% at 6–8 months, 3.5% at 9–12 months and 2.5% for puppies still growing after a year. Puppies can start raw from about 4 weeks: begin with Pure Turkey or Pure Rabbit for 5 to 7 days.

Most adult cats eat 2–3% of their ideal weight a day. Kittens need more: about 11.5% of their current weight at 2–4 months, 8% at 5–8 months and 5% at 9–12 months. Cats eat the same Raw Performance recipes as dogs, just far less. Start with one protein, such as turkey or rabbit.

Split the daily amount into 2 or 3 meals. The calculator does the split for you and keeps the daily total the same.

Weigh your dog every few weeks, especially in the first months on raw. To help them gain, add about ¼ lb per meal; to help them lose, take about ¼ lb off per meal. Every pet is different: allergies, sensitivities, pregnancy and health conditions all change what's right, so ask your vet if you're unsure.

Mix raw into the current food over a week: 25% raw on days 1–2, 50% on days 3–4, 75% on days 5–6 and 100% from day 7. For a faster switch in a healthy adult dog, Raw Performance suggests a 12 to 24 hour fast, then Pure Chicken, Pure Turkey or Pure Rabbit for the first week.

Raw Performance suggests sea kelp and an omega-3 fish oil with the Pure and Signature recipes. Gourmet recipes already include kale, spinach and kelp, so they need only the omega-3. Pure Salmon and Turkey & Salmon bring their own omega-3 and need only the kelp. As a guide, a dog needs about 250 mg of fish oil a day at 10 lb, 800 mg at 30 lb, 1,350 mg at 50 lb, 1,900 mg at 70 lb and 2,700 mg at 100 lb.

Pure recipes are 80% muscle meat, 10% organ and 10% ground bone, from one protein. Gourmet recipes are 65% muscle meat, 10% tripe, 10% organ, 10% ground bone and 5% kale, spinach and kelp; Gourmet Pork has no tripe (75% muscle meat). Gourmet Chicken and Gourmet Turkey use beef liver and beef tripe, so they also contain beef. In the Signature line, Performance Blend (chicken with beef organs and beef tripe) and Chicken & Lamb (with lamb organs and lamb tripe) are 70% muscle meat, 10% tripe, 10% organ and 10% bone, and Turkey & Salmon is 80/10/10 with no tripe.