Adding fresh food to kibble for a Basenji

Introducing fresh cooked food alongside kibble is a genuinely good move for some dogs — but the balance matters a lot, and Basenjis have a few quirks worth knowing about before you start. They're a lean, active breed with a fairly sensitive digestive system, so the transition needs to be gradual and the ratios need to be right or you'll end up with an upset stomach and a confused dog. To give you a useful steer: what are you currently feeding, how much does your Basenji weigh, and is there anything health-wise going on — any digestive issues, skin flare-ups, or food sensitivities?

That's a really sensible approach — keeping the kibble as the nutritional backbone and using fresh food to add variety and palatability. The occasional gas and pickiness in Basenjis often comes down to boredom with the same meal day after day, and some dogs genuinely do better with a bit of real food mixed in. At 10kg you don't need huge quantities of fresh food to make a difference. What I'd suggest is using a complete fresh-cooked mixer rather than plain meat, so you're not unbalancing his diet. You want something that's formulated to complement kibble, not replace it.

Exactly right — subscription fresh food is mostly aimed at larger dogs and the portion economics rarely work well for a 10kg Basenji. What I'd actually recommend is Forthglade Complete Natural Wet Dog Food in the grain-free chicken or turkey varieties. It's gently cooked, uses whole ingredients, has no nasties, and is specifically designed to work as a standalone or as a mixer with kibble. For your dog, I'd replace about 20–25% of his daily kibble with one of the small trays, keeping total calories the same. It's affordable, available on Amazon UK in multipacks, and the grain-free option should help with the gas. The variety across flavours will also sort out the pickiness — Basenjis tend to respond well to rotation.

Good instinct — overfeeding is the most common mistake when people start mixing formats. For a 10kg adult Basenji at a moderate activity level, you're looking at roughly 700–800 calories a day total. Simpsons Premium is around 340–360 kcal per 100g, and Forthglade Complete comes in at about 85–90 kcal per 150g tray. So if you use one tray per day split across two meals, drop your kibble portion by about 15–20g. Weigh everything for the first week so you're not guessing. If his weight stays stable and the gas improves, you've found the right split. If he starts looking a bit rounder, trim the kibble a touch further.

With a dog that already has a tendency toward gas, I'd introduce it over five to seven days — start with a quarter of a tray mixed in and build up to the full tray over that period. His gut bacteria need time to adjust to the new protein and moisture level. If the gas gets worse in the first few days, don't panic — it usually settles. If it's still bad after two weeks, try the turkey variety instead of chicken. Basenjis can be protein-sensitive and sometimes one source suits them better than another. But honestly, most owners find the fresh food addition actually reduces gas because the meals are more digestible and the dog eats more calmly when they're enjoying the food.