Raw food for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and heart health — you're right to be thinking carefully here. The breed has an unusually high prevalence of mitral valve disease, and while diet isn't a cure or a guaranteed preventative, what you feed absolutely matters: sodium levels, taurine status, and overall nutritional balance are all relevant conversations to be having at age six. Raw feeding done well can be genuinely excellent — but done badly it creates nutritional gaps that cause real harm over time, and the difference is balance and sourcing. To point you in the right direction: has your Cavalier been diagnosed with anything formally, or are you in precautionary mode right now? And are you thinking ready-made complete raw meals, or preparing food yourself at home?

That's exactly the right instinct — a grade one murmur at six in a Cavalier isn't an emergency, but it's a clear flag to get things in order before they need to be. Ready-made complete raw is the sensible call here too, because homemade raw genuinely does require a lot of knowledge to get the calcium-phosphorus ratio and micronutrients right, and that stress isn't worth it when good complete options exist. Before I recommend one specifically: what does he weigh, and is he currently on dry kibble or something else? I want to make sure I'm matching the right product to his size and transition starting point.

Perfect — 8kg, good gut health, no complications. That gives you a clean starting point. My recommendation is Nature's Menu Country Hunter 100% Raw Nuggets, specifically the Chicken with Superfoods variety to begin with. Here's why it makes sense for your dog specifically: it's a genuinely complete and balanced raw meal — not just meat — so the nutritional profile is properly formulated, which is what you need given you're not supplementing yourself. The sodium content is naturally low compared to many processed foods, which is relevant for a dog with early cardiac changes. Chicken as the protein is highly digestible and a good transition base coming off poultry kibble, so his gut won't be shocked. The nugget format means you defrost what you need and portion accurately for an 8kg dog — roughly 120–160g per day depending on his activity level. Nature's Menu is widely available on Amazon UK, it's cold-pressed and not heat-treated, and it has a solid track record. I'd transition over ten to fourteen days — start with 20% raw mixed into his kibble and increase gradually. His stools will tell you if you're moving too fast.

Good question, and worth being precise about. For a complete raw food like Country Hunter, you shouldn't need to supplement the basics — the formulation covers those bases. For a Cavalier with early cardiac concerns, the one addition genuinely worth discussing with your vet is omega-3 from fish oil. EPA and DHA from a good quality fish oil have reasonable evidence behind them for cardiovascular support in dogs, and the amount in most complete foods is modest. A pure, unflavoured fish oil capsule — Nordic Naturals or similar — squeezed over his food a few times a week is low risk and potentially useful. Taurine is more of a concern with grain-free kibble than with raw meat-based diets, so you're moving in the right direction already. I'd hold off on anything else until you've spoken to your vet — ideally a vet with some nutrition interest — and got a baseline on how he's doing after a few months on the new diet.

Good — you're approaching this thoughtfully, which is half the battle. Nature's Menu Country Hunter Nuggets on Amazon UK, transition slowly, add a quality fish oil once he's settled, and keep your vet in the loop on the murmur monitoring. At grade one you have time to do this properly, and proactive nutrition genuinely does make a difference over the long run for this breed. If you hit any snags during the transition or want to look at a different protein rotation down the line, come back and we can work through it.