Help With Raw Feeding

[LoveisGolden]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the subject folks, not very pleasant, but i would really like to know if this is normal when converting to raw.

I began feeding my 3yo golden retriever Max completely raw one week ago today. He'd had reasonably regular chicken frames, lamb necks and pet mince but sadly his main staple was a not very good kibble (which I recently discovered to my horror). On day 2 of raw I was putting him out to bed about 11pm and he went off to poop which he has never done before.

Max did a poop while I was outside and it got stuck on his backside. He was jumping around and trying to turn around to see it - I thought he might lick it off but he didn't. He was obviously distressed so I ran inside and grabbed a handful of papertowel and pulled it off. He was immediately calm as if nothing had happened. The next morning I noticed that the poop he did the night before was black, I mean so dark it was black. He also seemed a bit quieter than his usual self for a day or so.

The next afternoon I checked his poop and the first part was still black but the rest of it was more normal brown. I convinced myself that he was just eliminating the last of the junk from his junk food kibble and he'd be ok from then on. He was back to his usual self after a couple of day but then I was outside with them in the evening and Max went and did a poop and it didn't all fall off again and he was again jumping and spinning around until it did. He then came running to me on the back verandah and was about to do some more poop there right next to me. I was shocked as he had never done that before but took him back out on the lawn where he pooped again. It was a normal brown colour.

I was a bit worried that raw was seeming to make him constipated. Then on day 6 the first part of his poo was almost black again - it looks really terrible. The rest of it was actually quite light (which is what I've read raw does).

So I'm wondering if black poop is usual when a dog's eating all raw meat and bones or whether I should take him to the vet for a check up although in all other ways he's now completely his usual exhuberant self after the first couple of days on all raw when he seemed a bit quieter than usual.

By the way I was so excited to give Max and his sister Meg (8) a whole raw fish each (scaled and filleted) for dinner tonight for the first time ever. Even Meg who usually scoffs down everything in sight seemed unsure what to do with it. My dainty boy Max only licked it and had a coupe of chews at it. I ended up having to cut it into thirds for him (still wanted it big enough so his teeth would get a good clean as he has lots of plaque even at 3 which is what drove me to learn about raw in the first place). He really is the cutest little thing!

Sorry again for the subject but any help would be much appreciated.

[Sandra777]

Black poop is almost always a sign of dried blood. The bleeding is so far up the digestive tract that it has dried and gone black by the time it's expelled. As he now has normal colour poop I wouldn't freak out about it, but keep a food diary for a while and note changes to demenour, poop, energy levels etc so you can track things if they become recurring. I have a bitch who reacts badly to beef, it took almost a year to figure out what it was because I really wasn't paying proper attention to where-when-what. A diary can be a simple as a sheet of paper on the fridge. Doesn't need to be a permanent fixture for the rest of his life.

My dogs have almost white poop, very dry (a bit less so if they've had something quite meaty) - the white is the bone residue. When starting on raw it isn't unusual for the dog to have digestive unpsets and even a bit of the old dire-rear or constipation, it's their system getting used to the hard work now required of it.

It's also not unusual for them to have 'serial poops' as he did - instead of one big sausage it's more small portions and sometimes they seem to get caught out - almost like "hang on for the last three years it's all happened at once, I already DID that".

Is your vet supportive of raw feeding? You might find it very difficult to get helpful advice if they are very anti...

[Tiggy]

Have you been feeding offal? Too much gives them runny black poos.

[Golden Rules]

My dogs get fed mainly raw and their poo is almost always black. I find the higher the protien in the diet, the blacker the poo. When I feed a lot of bones or chicken frames, the poo is lighter.

If your dogs have only started having black poo since you started a raw diet, then yes it is likely it is just the changeover. The consistency will obviously change as well as there is usually less fibre in a raw diet - and you may have to adjust the diet more slowly rather than totally switch from one to the other.

Just keep an eye on your dogs poos for another few weeks, sometimes something new just scares us a little until we get used to it

[ozjen]

My dogs get fed mainly raw and their poo is almost always black. I find the higher the protien in the diet, the blacker the poo. When I feed a lot of bones or chicken frames, the poo is lighter.

If your dogs have only started having black poo since you started a raw diet, then yes it is likely it is just the changeover. The consistency will obviously change as well as there is usually less fibre in a raw diet - and you may have to adjust the diet more slowly rather than totally switch from one to the other.

Just keep an eye on your dogs poos for another few weeks, sometimes something new just scares us a little until we get used to it

Given time and experience you will work out the raw balance and you will be amazed at how much less poop you get than you did with kibble because there is less wastage. If your dog seems constipated or the poop is very dry and white then you are feeding too much bone if it is runny then you may be feeding too much offal, introducing new proteins too quickly or feeding too much. Don't stress if in the beginning your dog throws up bile with small slivers of bone, it is sometimes part of the adjustment to raw and seems to settle after the first week or 2. A bonus with feeding raw will be a much healthier dog with a better imune system.

I was told several years ago that one of my dogs was on medication for life because he has a bad heart and would die within a year without it. He has been off medication for at least 3 years and has never been healthier and I atribute it to the change of diet. I wish I had gone raw long ago, but at the same time I like having the internet to educate myseft further on the correct ways to feed. Not saying raw is the only way to go, just that it is the right way for MY dogs.

[LoveisGolden]

Thanks for your responses guys, it's reassuring to know black poo isn't abnormal but I will definitely be keeping an eye on Max (and his poop!). He is his usual perky self which is a good sign.

I haven't fed them any offal yet. I thought to start with I'd feed them what they've had before like chicken frames, lamb necks and beef but in hunks rather than minced or diced. Then once a week I'd introudce a new food they haven't had before. Last night I gave them a whole fresh fish each and next week I was planning on giving them some liver or heart. I don't want to overload them with too many new things all at once.

Thanks for the suggestion of keeping a diary Sandra777 I will definitely do that so I can hopefully pick up quickly on any bad reactions to the new foods I introduce.

[cashew]

Liver, lungs and intense red meats (roo) cause darker poo for my MS. If he had a meal with liver, his poop is always very very dark. It is sticker than usual as well. I once fed my dog beetroot because I was eating some---he peed red. I cried because I thought something went wrong. vet could not help laughing.

[Gretel]

Liver, lungs and intense red meats (roo) cause darker poo for my MS. If he had a meal with liver, his poop is always very very dark. It is sticker than usual as well. I once fed my dog beetroot because I was eating some---he peed red. I cried because I thought something went wrong. vet could not help laughing.

Would have scared me too!

[persephone]

:rolleyes: Yep- it's just rich red meat causing that...

[Red Fox]

I once fed my dog beetroot because I was eating some---he peed red. I cried because I thought something went wrong. vet could not help laughing.

:rolleyes: OT but someone gave my son these red jelly cups when he was about 2 and his poop came out fluro pink.

Black poop is not a big problem unless it ongoing or there are other signs that something is wrong. My dog does them when he eats too much red meat and offal.