Poppy’s Picnic discuss the benefits of a raw food diet for your pets

Poppy’s Picnic is a UK based business, headquartered in Wiltshire that creates tasty, wholesome, balanced meals for dogs that encourage optimal health and wellbeing. Poppy’s Picnic has been featured on the likes of Dragons Den and have won numerous awards for their business and products. It’s is a rapidly growing raw pet food business, offering a great quality product that their customers love.

We discussed raw dog food with them and the benefits it can bring to your four-legged friend. So, here are some of the potential benefits of changing to a raw dog food diet.

1.         Cleaner teeth

Yes, you must have come across dogs and cats with bad breath and plaque. However, you might not have associated it with their kibble or canned food diet. Most people believe that since their pets actually chew on kibble, they are cleaning their teeth as they do it. Actually, it’s similar to giving your children biscuits and assuming they are cleaning their teeth. Actually, you should know that about 80% of cats and dogs often suffer from periodontal disease thereby needing veterinary intervention earlier than expected.

Giving recreational bones to your dogs will make them have fun but they don’t actually remove plaque. Rather, you should opt for raw meaty bones for your dog to chew through thereby scraping the plaque from the teeth. These bones also provide gum massage thereby increasing circulation. You should be able to find the best raw meaty food for your pet in your nearest pet store. If your dog is showing signs of periodontal disease, usually known as dog breath, they might experience systematic problems in their body due to the bacteria present. Try out this new raw diet and you will see a huge difference in your dog’s oral health after a few weeks.

2.         Improved digestion

Dogs and cats have a short digestive process compared to humans. Their food intake is processed quickly and effectively thereby reducing the threat of bacteria in their body. When you give your dog heavily processed meat, fillers and grains, their digestive system isn’t built to deal with this. Dogs don’t have the digestive enzyme amylase required to digest grains. As such, their pancreas is under a huge strain and works overtime to break down the food that is not built to deal with.

When pets consume dry food, it absorbs moisture from the gut thereby causing long-term bowel problems and diarrhea. Years of eating dry food can cause chronic dehydration resulting in kidney disease and crystals. You need to feed your pets the right diet of raw meat, organs and bones. As such, the digestive system works with the perfect food for their diet without any over-exertion or wearing out. If you want to know why this can be the case then read this post.

3.         Less poop

Pets that feed on a commercial kibble diet will produce faeces with a strong odour. However, when your pets consume bones, raw meat and pureed vegetables, they are digested more completely than meat and cooked grains. As such, there will be less waste. Even better, their stools will be smaller and less frequent. They will also be chalky in texture and firmer. When the poop is left out in the sun for a few days, it will start turning to dust. This is all down to the ingredients in food like that from Poppy’s Picnic.

4.         Allergies

Over the last few years, more pets have started showing skin allergies. The dyes, fillers, grains and preservatives found in a commercial dry diet can cause a lot of allergies. With time, pets may also become allergic to different types of proteins. Yes, your pets might be allergic to cooked food but raw diets are great. Did you know that pets often suffer from itching symptoms for the rest of their lives? If this happens, they are often treated with steroids and antibiotics by a vet but a simple cure involves switching your pet to a biologically appropriate diet.

5.         Arthritis and bone disease

Arthritis and bone disease are often caused by genetics. However, most pets suffer from this due to an inappropriate diet especially those rich in carbs and low in essential fatty acids. Pet diets rich in essential fatty acids or omega fatty acids usually reduce inflammation thereby easing your pet’s suffering. Raw diets for your pet are rich in these various nutritional benefits. Puppies and kittens might suffer from bone disease. When they grow up, they start experiencing structural problems. Many kibble diets are rich in calories and minerals that often cause rapid growth spurts or uneven growth. Eventually, it may cause joint diseases such as elbow and hip dysplasia. Feed your pets a biologically appropriate diet so they can grow slowly and steadily without uneven bone growth or growth spurs.

6.         Bones

When you give your pets raw meat to chew on, they can exercise the neck, jaw, shoulders and forearms as they enjoy the food. Your pet’s teeth will remain clean without any build-up of plaque. Also, the type of exercise that your pet receives will always be relaxing and perfect for relieving stress.

7.         Visiting your vet

One of the most notable benefits of your pets eating raw food is lesser visits to the vet. Preventative medicine is the best way to make sure that your pets are healthy and you can do this by choosing the right type of raw diet. You don’t have to worry about your pet’s health when they have a great diet. You will also end up spending less money at the vet.

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