Hi everyone,

I wonder if someone could tell me whether the time it takes to digest kibble is altered by it being soaked for approx one hour before eating?
The reason - I'm starting Murphy on raw, chicken wings at present, and I don't want there to be too much of an overlap with digesting raw and dry. At the moment, he's having his supper of Oscars at night which hopefully gives him a good night's sleep - and me! but also has finished digesting by the morning.
Gosh - I do go on, don't I?.

Ruth

Hi Ruth, don`t know about the soaking bit. Just know raw food is digested a lot quicker than the dry. I do believe the dry can take at least 12hrs to digest. Sorry can`t be of more help.
Christine, Spain.

Hi Christine,

Yes, I think dry does take about 12 plus hours to digest - it was just a thought really.
Murphy seems to like his chicken wings although I've only had the nerve to let him have two - the rest has been minced!
Fot some reason, I'm so nervous about giving him bones etc. even though I know they're okay. I think perhaps it's could be because this time round I want everything to be okay.
We'll get there eventually:)

Ruth

Hi Ruth,

I don't know about soaking the kibble either, but I would suggest feeding breakfast (raw) as late as possible for your routine, and feeding supper (kibble) as early as possible. Then he has maximum time overnight for the kibble to get digested. I think I have read that the raw only needs about 4 hours, whereas the kibble does take a lot longer. When I've had to starve a dog for 24 hours, it has taken about 18 hours after resuming food before the dog has needed to empty himself again - if you know what I mean. That is why I would suggest giving the kibble as long as possible.

I am assuming a dog on two meals a day here, but just had a thought that you may be talking about a puppy on 3/4 meals. In this case, I would also make sure that supper is only a small meal. Perhaps someone who has raised a puppy on raw would be able to help you out with further advice.

Hope this is of help.

Best wishes, Monty's Mum

Thanks Monty's mum,

Murphy is eight weeks old so still on four meals a day. His supper is usually a small one and at the moment, I'm still getting up to three 'poos' in the morning! His system is too small to hold much and he wants to eat more than he can cope with:) He's a lab!!:D.
Any help with raw feeding would be great. I raw fed Sonny but don't remember him ever being as small as Murphy who seems to be much more of a 'baby' than Sonny was. I've got 'Give A Dog A Bone' which is great but it would be lovely to hear from folks who've raised their puppies on raw and their experiences.

Thanks

Ruth:)