Raw food for Bulldogs with digestion issues

Bulldogs and digestion issues go hand in hand — that combination of a squashed airway, deep chest, and sensitive gut makes them one of the trickier breeds to feed raw without making things worse. Raw feeding done well can be excellent for a dog like yours, but done badly it creates nutritional gaps that cause real harm over time, and the difference is balance and sourcing. Before I point you in a direction, a few quick things: is your Bulldog currently overweight, or just prone to putting it on easily? And have you fed raw before, or would you prefer a complete ready-made option rather than building meals yourself?

Good news — a complete raw with a single, novel protein and no added grains or fillers is exactly what your vet is pointing you toward, and it's very achievable. With Enzo being 3kg over, you'll also want something you can portion accurately without a lot of guesswork. Can I ask what he's eating now, and does he have any known food sensitivities or has he reacted to any proteins in the past?

That supermarket kibble is almost certainly contributing to the gas — high cereal content, lots of filler, hard for a Bulldog gut to process cleanly. Since beef is uncertain, I'd steer away from it for now and go with a single-protein duck or turkey option to start. Duck is particularly good here: it's naturally lower in fat than chicken or beef, easy to digest, and novel enough that if there's any low-level intolerance to common proteins, you sidestep it entirely. My recommendation is Natures Menu Country Hunter Raw Nuggets in Duck. It comes in frozen nugget form so portioning is precise — which matters for Enzo's weight — it's nutritionally complete with no cereals or fillers, and the single-protein duck recipe is about as gentle on a Bulldog digestive system as raw gets. You defrost in the fridge overnight and serve cold. Start with roughly 2–2.5% of his ideal body weight per day, not his current weight, and adjust over a couple of weeks.

There's usually a transition period of one to two weeks where digestion is adjusting and things can be a little unpredictable — some loose stools, possibly a bit more gas initially as the gut microbiome shifts. The way to minimise that is to transition gradually over five to seven days: start with about 25% raw mixed with his current kibble, then 50%, then 75%, then full raw. Once he's fully over, most owners with Bulldogs on a clean single-protein raw report a significant reduction in gas within three to four weeks. It won't eliminate the anatomy-related element, but the diet-driven component should improve noticeably. Keep a simple note of his weight every two weeks so you can fine-tune portions — Bulldogs can lose condition slowly on raw if portions are too conservative, or plateau if slightly over.

Natures Menu Country Hunter nuggets are genuinely complete — they include the correct bone, organ, and muscle meat ratios with added vitamins and minerals, so you don't need to supplement on top. The one thing worth considering once he's settled, after a month or so, is a canine-specific probiotic to further support his gut microbiome — something like YuMEGA Itching Dog or Dorwest Tree Barks Powder can help with ongoing digestive sensitivity in Bulldogs specifically. But start clean with just the raw for now, let his system stabilise, and only add things if you feel he needs them. Less is more at the beginning.