question for other raw dog feeders

[tracyB]

Hey! I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on this:
(not the most pleasant conversation starter, but this is becoming a problem, so I am looking for some help)
I have been feeding my dogs raw the past 2 months- they are truly thriving on it, but the one issue that I am having is off & on diarhea amongst both dogs. This probable happens atleast weekly- then they will form up & be fine for a few days. My dogs are fed once a day, but are given veggies or fruits in the afternoon. They get into my compost pile a lot as well. One of the dogs has awful gas in the evenings (but not every day). Any advice or insight would be appreciated.
I used to feed them twice a day (morning & afternoon) but the diarhea was way more frequent, & they'd have to get up in the middle of the noc to go out. They do better on morning only feedings.

thanks! Tracy

[Ilse W.]

What exactly is it you are feeding them in the morning? You should be feeding 80% muscle meat, 10% bones and 10% organ meat such as liver or kidney. Usually loose stools are a sign that they are getting too much bone. I would not feed them fruits and vegetables. That would be what gives them gas, poor dogs. It's as unnatural for a dog to eat fruit as it is for us to tear into raw liver.

[Ilse W.]

Another thing, you should feed 2-3% of adult body weight of your dog. That might be a little much to feed all at once. I feed my golden retriever in the morning and the evening. I just hand him a 1/4 chicken or a piece of beef, which he takes outside to his favorite spot. Feeding has never been that easy.

[tracyB]

I feed them typically 2 chicken thighs each w/ 1tsp codliver oil, 1 tsp flax ground up, mixed w/ some water. I used to give them about a tbsp of ground up veggies (one root vegetable like carrots & the other like celery), but now I have been giving the veggies as their own thing later in the day. That is their staple food, but I vary that w/ eggs & beefybones a couple days a week. I do liver once a week, don't want to overdo the vitamin A.
I use a couple of books as reference & the one that resonates the strongest w/ me is the one that I follow & she urges once daily feedings for dogs over 1yr old (for optimal digestion she says). She also recommends giving occasionally whole chickens- which I was leary of, but I did this yesterday & now both dogs are having diarhea. I gave them the chicken plus the innerds, but no veggies yesterday. maybe it is the bones. I am never giving them a whole chicken again- they will eat whatever they can get their paws on & yesterday was a trial for me to see if they would actually eat everything & I wanted to see how they would tolerate it. Well- they ate everything & started having mucousy diarhea by the evening. It is better now, but this went on throughout the noc & into today.
Thanks!

[carolg]

Molly, akida, 9 years old, eats usually 2x daily. She lives and loves her diet of 8 years BARF (raw):

game meat when in season for several months otherwise ground burger...actually game is ground too....bought that way....she eats about 1 pound daily...45 pounds, but super active and running tons during day on this acre after the rabbits.

She has canned tuna daily.

She has about 1T or whatever she receives of Barley powder from hacres.com.

She hates chicken, liver, turkey or any other meats. She hardly gets fruits/veggies unless I sneak it in and also remembering but barely.

No gas, no stink, no problems ever.

Compost pile may not be a great thing for dog to dig around in. Can you cover it or move it?

Wish I could help more. I am on a BARF list if interested but there are many if you google barf groups for dogs.

I hope the pooch feels great. Thanks for coming here for help.

carolg

[Halo_effect]

What I would do if I were you is sort of go back to square one. Fast them both for a day (they'll make you feel guilty about it, but do it anyway, LOL) Then add in one protein source. Usually chicken... skin and fat cut off. Over the next week, start leaving the skin on bit by bit until they're just eating it how it comes. Then when they're fine with that and they have good poo, start feeding another protein source. Then when that's good, add in something else, etc. That way if there is something that makes them have diarrhea (this is how we found that pork is NOT something our one dog can eat) you can pinpoint exactly what it is. I also think it's best to add organs in slowly, as well as fish. Two months really isn't a long time so they may be just still getting used to it, so you might just have to take it slower. :) I would also try adding MORE bone to the meal as bones firm up the poo.


Feeding too much can also cause diarrhea. Here's a handy calculator that tells you exactly how much to feed: http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

It's weird about the gas, I noticed our dogs hardly have any, def. not like they did when they were on kibble! ;)

And if the diarrhea persists, I would take them to the vet and get them tested for giardia as that causes intermittent diarrhea.

[Eva]

Wow, halo, good ideas! :)

[goobygirl]

pure pumpkin out of the can (don't know about fresh) like you would use for pumpkin pie (but NOT the spiced pumpkin in a can, just pure pumpkin) will stop diarrhea.

My dogs are vegetarian and THRIVE also. I don't have to handle/use meat in my house either. I have a yahoo group about vegetarian feeding if anyone is interested, PM.

I also read Ani Phylo's recipe in the back of her book for dog food, but haven't tried it. It's basically nuts,veggies, fruit.

Dogs are actually nutritional omnivores, which mean they will eat anything.

My dogs get either ground up veggies/fruit added or part of my GS on their food every day. You have to chop veggies very fine because it is harder for them to digest if you don't.

[goobygirl]

Made the nut pate in Ani's book and gave some to the dogs every day. THey loved it! I would have ate it myself, except I made it with sunflower seeds which I can't have :(

Basically it was sunflower seeds, pecans, garlic, and a bunch of greens and carrots.

They snarfed it up!