Question About Changing To Raw Feeding

[Garden Girl]

Hi all raw feeders

Is it normal to expect the doggies to get a bit of an upset tummy when changing from processed (Proplan) to raw. I'm giving them 50/50 at the moment - proplan in the morning and raw at night - which probably isnt the right way to do it...

Got a ton of raw salmon from the fish shop yesterday - all the backbones with a very generous amount of flesh still attached - plus a few tails - will the dogs eat the tails do you think? It looks so good.

Edited January 12, 2009 by Garden Girl

[chris.p.day]

When I started feeding raw, I nearly the mistake of not swapping the chicken necks for wings as she got older and also a good idea is to give it to them directly from the freezer, otherwise they may choke on it because they try to eat it too quick or it's a bit too small so they try to swallow it whole. And our pup doesn't seem to have a problem eating it when it's still frozen, even when it's cold! Just holds it in her paws and munches away, looks pretty cute

[Garden Girl]

The pup is fine with anything - she's a delicate little eater - the boy who is nearly 12 moths gulps - so i just make sure I give him a wide berth so he doesnt think I'm going to steal it - he still eats quickly but doesnt gulp it.

The boy has been sick today but I think it is more likely from some medication he's taking at the moment - maybe a bit of both. He seems to have a sensitive tummy at the best of times.

They both love raw food (any food actually) and the last time I started to switch over they both started getting runny poo so I stopped - but I read something the other day that mentioned an upset tummy when switching over.

[MissAloof]

I was wondering about the diet change too, last night I gave my puppy some raw chicken mince - flesh and bones mince, not a lot - and she loved it.

Had been a bit off colour on Saturday but seemed fine until a storm hit last night, then the usual shivering and shaking. When we went to bed she kept on doing the shivering thing and started breaking wind. Soundless, but .... oooh, lethal. At one stage I wanted to chuck her out of the bedroom. I wondered if it was the raw stuff. But today she seems fine. Hasn't got the runs or anything, but gee whiz. Stink bomb! And she wanted to kiss me after one of 'em. oooooh!

[LoveisGolden]

I switched my two goldens to raw one week ago today. I had always fed chicken frames, lamb necks and fresh meat now and then but not every week or anything. My 8yo was fine - she always eats anything but my 3yo seemed a bit quieter on the 2nd/3rd day. He also did a couple of very dark, amost black poops that I was a bit worried about. Then he picked up and is back to his usual self. He's always been a fussy and very slow eater (kibble meals were always interupted for toilet breaks and ball collecting) but now he just loves his new food and doesn't stop eating until its all gone. Yay!

[hopenfox]

None of my dogs ever had any problems changing from dry/processed to raw, but they did occasionally have 'episodes' during raw feeding caused accidentally by me.

I believe that most problems are caused by the *Too Much's;

*Too much food (loose stools/vomiting/gas)

*Too much new (loose stools/vomiting/gas)

*Too much fat (loose stools/vomiting/gas)

*Too much bone (constipation/loose stools/bone&bile vomits/bone in stools/mucous coated stools)

or

*Too much organ (loose stools)

And can usually be fixed/avoided by cutting back...

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Oh, and just a comment on stools - with raw fed dogs, what goes in, comes out, so

boneless red meat = dark soft stools

chicken with bone = firm pale yellow stools

organ meat = dark soft stools

red meat with bone = brown coloured firm stools

And sometimes with a mixed meal, stools will come out multicoloured!

All of which is totally normal for a raw fed dog.

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hopenfox

[Tiggy]