Raised Right Gently Cooked Pet Food Review: Whole Food Nutrition for Dogs and Cats

Introduction

Choosing a fresher diet for your dog or cat often starts with understanding how pet food is manufactured and what actually goes into the bowl. Raised Right is a family-owned brand that makes gently cooked pet food with a focus on whole food ingredients, human grade standards, and transparent safety testing. This review covers what sets the brand apart, how the recipes are formulated, and what to consider before making the switch.

What Makes Raised Right Different

Raised Right was launched after the 2007 pet food contamination outbreak, when the founder’s mother began cooking food for her own pets because she no longer trusted commercial options. Word spread, and what started as home cooking grew into a company built around food safety and ingredient quality.

The brand makes a human grade claim, meaning every ingredient has passed the same standards necessary for human consumption. All food is lightly cooked in a USDA inspected human grade facility. Every single batch is lab safety tested for pathogens like E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella, and the company uses a hold release program, so no food ships unless it passes those tests. Test results are posted publicly on the website, along with a map tracing ingredients to their source and a video showing how the food is made.

The company also emphasizes environmental sustainability. Shipping is carbon free, with emissions offset through reforestation and forest preservation. Raised Right is plastic neutral certified, removing as much plastic from nature as it uses, including packaging, shrink wrap, and tape. Shipping boxes are recyclable, and the refrigerated liners used to keep food frozen in transit are compostable.

Ingredients and Nutrition

The recipes were formulated with veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker and pet food formulation expert Steve Brown. The adult dog recipes meet AAFCO’s requirements for a complete and balanced diet using only whole foods, without added synthetic vitamins and minerals. All adult dog recipes have 10 ingredients or less, with some recipes using as few as seven or eight.

A typical turkey recipe includes turkey, turkey thigh, turkey heart, turkey liver, carrots, and a few other whole food ingredients. There are no synthetic vitamin and mineral packs, and no high carb fillers like potato, rice, oats, barley, or pasta. Most recipes have less than 2% carbohydrates, with only the original pork adult dog recipe coming in slightly higher at around 3.5%.

The low carbohydrate content is a key focus. High carb diets convert to glucose in the blood, and elevated glucose levels can cause inflammation, which is linked to many chronic conditions. Because the food is so low in carbs, it functions as an anti-inflammatory diet. Veterinarians have recommended these recipes to help dogs and cats prevent and recover from a variety of health issues.

The puppy recipes required a slightly different approach. Because puppies have increased requirements for nutrients like calcium and phosphorus, a few minerals were added from a human grade supplement supplier. The brand uses the bare minimum amount of supplements needed to meet AAFCO’s requirements for puppies, and adult recipes remain complete and balanced using only whole foods.

Recipe Variety and Life Stage Formulation

Raised Right offers four proteins: beef, turkey, pork, and chicken. Each protein is available in the original recipes and in the newer pate recipes. The original recipes are predominantly meat with shredded carrots and either blueberries or cranberries, plus organic herbs like dried kelp and spearmint, along with cod liver oil. The pate recipes use pureed pumpkin instead of shredded carrots and berries, creating a slightly softer texture with higher moisture.

The brand formulates stage of life specific recipes rather than all life stage recipes. Many companies use all life stage formulas because they are cheaper to produce, but adult dogs and puppies have different nutritional requirements. Adult dogs eating an all life stage diet for their entire lives receive far more calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, and sodium than they need, which some experts believe contributes to health issues like high blood pressure, heart problems, and urinary issues. The minimum calcium requirement for puppies is more than double that of adult dogs, so feeding an all life stage diet essentially means feeding puppy food for life.

Raised Right offers separate lines for adult dogs and puppies. Puppy recipes are available in beef, turkey, and chicken. The brand also makes cat formulas.

Food Safety and Transparency

The human grade claim is central to the brand’s identity. Most pet food on the market is feed grade, which allows ingredients that do not meet standards for human consumption, including 4D meat, which stands for dead, dying, diseased, or down. Raised Right uses only ingredients that pass human consumption standards.

The USDA inspected facility follows strict protocols. If any procedure is not followed to specification, the USDA inspector can shut down the production run. Every batch is lab safety tested, and results are posted on the website. Customers can match the best buy date on their bag to the corresponding lab test result online.

This level of transparency is rare in the pet food industry. The ability to trace ingredients back to their source and see actual test results provides peace of mind for pet parents who want to know exactly what they are feeding.

Feeding Options and Flexibility

Raised Right can be fed as a complete diet or used as a topper. For pet parents transitioning from kibble, replacing up to 20% of the kibble with Raised Right adds natural moisture and fresh food to the bowl. This is a popular option for owners of larger dogs, where feeding 100% fresh food can become expensive.

The food has a moisture content ranging from 62% to 74% depending on the recipe, compared to kibble, which typically has only 10% to 12% moisture. Dogs are designed to absorb moisture through their food, and kibble’s low moisture content can leave dogs in a constant state of mild dehydration.

The website offers a custom meal plan tool where pet parents can enter their dog’s size, activity level, and other information. The tool recommends how much to feed, with options for 100%, 50%, or 25% Raised Right in the bowl. There are also individual recipe calculators for the most accurate feeding guidelines, since calorie content varies slightly between recipes.

Sample boxes are available with four one-pound bags that can be mixed and matched across any recipes. The brand offers a money back guarantee if the food does not work out. Full boxes come with 16 bags and can also be customized. Orders can be placed one box at a time without committing to a subscription, though a custom meal plan subscription service is also available.

Treats and Meal Toppers

Raised Right also makes a line of single ingredient treats called meat bites. These are crispy, chip style treats made from a single protein source: beef liver, turkey liver, pork liver, or lamb liver. They contain no preservatives and are lab safety tested like the food. The treats come in small squares that can be broken into smaller pieces, making them useful for training or for small dogs.

The brand also offers shake flakes, which are the meat bites in crumbled form. These are designed to be shaken on top of a dog’s bowl to stimulate appetite. They work well for picky dogs, and the liver base makes them high value. They can also be used in snuffle mats or puzzle toys for enrichment.

Buying Advice

Raised Right is positioned as a premium gently cooked pet food. The whole food ingredients, human grade standards, and per batch lab testing justify a higher price point than conventional kibble. For pet parents who want to feed a fresher diet, this is one of the most nutrient dense options available.

For those on a budget, using Raised Right as a topper is a practical way to add fresh food to a kibble based diet. Replacing up to 20% of the kibble with Raised Right provides natural moisture and whole food nutrition without the full cost of a 100% fresh diet.

The brand is available through independent pet stores and online. In the United States, customers can order directly or ask their local pet store to special order through distributors. In Canada, home delivery is not available, but distribution exists through Abafina in Western Canada and Freedom Pet in Eastern Canada, and local pet stores can place special orders.

Conclusion

Raised Right stands out for its commitment to whole food ingredients, human grade standards, and transparent safety testing. The low carbohydrate recipes, stage specific formulation, and variety of proteins and textures make it a strong option for pet parents looking to move toward fresher food. The sample boxes and money back guarantee make it easy to try without a large commitment. For those who prioritize ingredient quality and food safety, Raised Right is a brand worth considering.