Pros
- Premium raw food that can deliver the best raw benefits, such as better immune system, gut bacteria content, allergy resistance, oral health, and skin health. Cats can share in the food as well.
- Features comprehensive meal plans to help dogs’ bodies make the best use of their all-natural raw meals.
- Customers can order in bulk for a sizable discount and to save on shipping costs.
- Recipes use 100 percent of the animal, from meat to organs to bones. This minimizes food wastage.
Cons
- More expensive than most fresh dog food because of the high meat content.
- Keeps for a shorter time than fresh cooked food, lasting only 4 days in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer.
Despite a fair amount of controversy, raw diets have been rising in popularity since the first commercial human-grade brands started selling their products online. After all, studies abound about how raw food is better for carnivorous pets, as it gives them a much more complete nutrient profile than cooked food.
Among the best fresh dog food brands was We Feed Raw, which was founded by a husband-and-wife team who discovered that feeding their dogs raw meat was ideal, and extended what they’d learned to a full-fledged dog food subscription service. But what exactly are the strong points and disadvantages of this brand? Let’s find out if this is the best dog food delivery service for you.
Features of We Feed Raw
USDA and BRC Compliant
Much like other fresh dog food delivery services, We Feed Raw’s products are 100 percent USDA compliant from farm to bowl. What’s more is that their meat products are not only rated USDA Human-Grade, but compliant with the BRCGS food safety standards as well. This means that customers are assured that there aren’t any artificial flavors, coloring, or any other unwanted substances used throughout the preparation process .
Diverse Meat Variety
Since the majority of the nutrients in We Feed Raw’s recipes comes from meat, they offer a wide variety of meats for all dietary needs and budgets. This includes lamb, venison, and duck alongside conventional meats such as beef and chicken.
Uses the Whole Animal
Being a meat-focused brand, We Feed Raw makes it a point to use the whole animal, including organs and bones. All of their recipes are at least 10 percent organ meat. They also sell bony parts such as necks for dogs to chew on. As you may know, chewing on bones helps promote oral health in dogs [1].
100 Percent Raw, 100 Percent Nutritious
We Feed Raw’s recipes are 100 percent made up of raw, all-natural meat. The animals were all pasture-raised and grass-fed all their lives, leading to the most organic meat products once slaughtered. This results in ideal fat content averaging at 31-33 percent, protein at 44 percent, and carbohydrates only constituting 15 percent. This is around the ideal carb content for dogs based on analyses of their ancestral diets. You can also boost the protein content of the recipes using add-ons like flaxseed.
Stringent Quality Control
We Feed Raw doesn’t pretend that raw is some magic cure-all that will instantly make your dog’s diet better. They understand that there are as many health risks as there are health benefits to eating raw, especially with meats such as raw chicken. Thus, they take every step necessary to mitigate these.
Their main method of sterilizing their food is cold pressure, which doesn’t make use of any heat or chemicals to get rid of harmful bacteria and other unwanted microorganisms. This technique has been proven effective against common harmful microorganisms such as salmonella and E. coli.
Ground Animal Bone
Many recipes include ground animal bone mixed in with the raw patty. These bones are finely ground so you can be sure there’s no choking hazard. This way, they receive all of the mineral and protein benefits of the bone without you worrying about them choking or swallowing sharp splinters.
Convenient Packaging
Since their recipes are almost entirely made up of ground meat, they’re very compressible, and this leads to compact, easily stackable packaging. No more fretting over how much fridge space their food consumes! Meal packet size varies depending on the specific meal plan you’ve laid out for your dog, but thanks to the excellent packaging, you shouldn’t have too much trouble fitting them into any kind of freezer space.
Fast Results
Many customer testimonials talk about how their pets quickly took to their new diets and became healthier as a result. The core theory behind feeding pets raw meat is so that they get to take advantage of all the nutrients that are lost during cooking, after all.
Bulk Ordering
To save on shipping costs—and not to mention reduce your carbon footprint—you can take out bulk orders of up to 120 pounds (54 kg). Bulk orders are also much cheaper than regular ones. The one downside here is that these orders aren’t pre-portioned, but it’s easy enough to figure out proper portioning for yourself. You can also contact customer support for help.
Is This the Right Choice for You?
If you’re a big believer in the power of raw meat when it comes to nourishing dogs, then We Feed Raw is potentially the right brand for you. Their minimal food wastage and carbon footprint measures are a nice plus as well.
It’s worth noting however that it’s best to start dogs out with raw diets when they’re only puppies. A dog that’s been fed processed food or even scraps all of his or her life may have trouble adjusting to a raw diet. Likewise, dogs who have been fed raw their whole lives may run into some problems if they have to eat anything else.
And although We Feed Raw employs sophisticated techniques to remove bacteria and other harmful things from the raw meat, you may still be wary of how effective these methods are. You’ll have to completely put your trust in their sterilization methods to be able to feed your dog their products without worrying. You can always browse through negative reviews and recall reports to find out whether their techniques have failed in the past.
