Switching Raw Proteins (Without the Stomach Drama)
Variety in a raw diet does two useful things at once: it broadens the nutritional profile your pet is getting, and it makes future allergy detection a lot easier (because you know what they've been exposed to). Most adult dogs handle a protein switch with no transition at all — open the new box, serve, done. Cats and sensitive dogs sometimes need a few days. Here's the playbook for both, plus the signals that tell you to slow down.
The short version: rotate every few weeks if everything's going well. Don't rotate when something else is going on.
When to rotate
Look for these green lights before you switch:
- You've been on a single protein for at least 2 to 4 weeks. Long enough for the body to fully adapt and for you to know what "normal" looks like on this protein.
- Stool, coat, energy, and weight are all good. If anything's off, fix that first — don't pile a new variable on top.
- No major stress events in the last week or coming up. Don't switch the day before you board them, the day after a vet surgery, or during a move. Wait until life is boring.
Two ways to switch
Cold-turkey switch (most adult dogs)
Just open the new protein and serve. Watch the next 48 hours of stool and behavior. Many adult dogs handle a same-format protein swap without drama — we don't have a published percentage from our own deliveries, because we haven't delivered yet. If it goes well, keep rotating.
Gentle gradient (cats, sensitive dogs, allergy history)
For pets that have had stomach drama in the past, ramp it the same way you ramped onto raw originally. It only adds 4 days:
- Days 1 to 2 — 75% the old protein, 25% the new
- Days 3 to 4 — 50/50 split
- Day 5 onward — 100% new protein
This buys the gut microbiome time to adjust and almost always prevents the soft-stool day or two that some sensitive pets have on a hard switch.
When to slow down
If stool stays loose for more than 48 hours after a switch, that's the body telling you something. Revert to the previous protein for a few days to get them stable, then try a different new protein next cycle — not the same one again. Sometimes a particular protein just doesn't agree with a particular pet, and that's fine. Three of our four standard proteins are still plenty of variety.
Allergy-driven elimination is a different exercise
If you actually suspect a protein allergy (recurring ear infections, hot spots, GI flare-ups that come and go), don't rotate at all during testing. The protocol is strict single-protein for 8 to 12 weeks, with no treats from other proteins, no flavored medications, and no table scraps.
Households often run an elimination on a novel protein the pet hasn't had before — duck is a common starting point because many kibbles use chicken. After 8 to 12 weeks of a clean baseline, you reintroduce one protein at a time and watch for symptoms.
If you're planning an elimination diet, talk with your veterinarian first. You can also contact us or join the waitlist with the protein you want noted.