raw food troubleshooting

roximama · 11-28-2012, 09:30 PM

So this is forum is all new to me, so bear with me! we have a fantastic blue pit, Roxi, who we adopted about 2 months ago. she's between 1-2 (not really sure since she was a rescue). she's 50 lbs, which the vet says is good for her. We just switched her to a raw diet less than 2 weeks ago. We decided to go raw for a variety of reasons- but one of the biggest being that she never seemed to have normal bowel movements. They were usually pretty soft, if formed at all. She was consistently getting bouts of diarrhea. I blamed the lack of food consistency at the shelter for the first few weeks, but after that I realized something just wasn't right with kibble for her. She was doing pretty good (initial loose stools, minor spots of blood, but we knew that was to be expected) on the raw- just chicken and bone-in chicken at this point, until this past weekend. We were out of town and she stayed with my in-laws. They fed her the raw meals I had prepared and kept her away from their dog who ate kibble. However, she's had liquid stools the last 2-3 days. I fasted her yesterday morning and fed her last night. But we were up 3 times in the night to go (she rarely gets us up before 6 to go out). The third time, I noticed some bright red, mucousy blood. I made her dinner tonight heavy on the bone, like I have seen suggested. It's almost her two week mark and I want to start introducing more variety, but I don't want to throw her system too far out of whack! Any suggestions on what to do would be greatly appreciated!!!

EckoMac · 11-28-2012, 09:41 PM

Slower is safer. If she just went through a cannon butt issue, wait at least another 2 weeks of solid stool before introducing another protein. Get a sample and take it to the vet. Coccidia can sometimes cause poo issues as well. Also, look into a probiotic to help her in times like these.
Rule of thumb when introducing new proteins is a MINIMUM of 1 week solid stool first. I always waited 2 weeks just to be safe.
Everything should always be done sloooooooowly. Be patient, in time you will learn exactly what you have to do to get her to poo exactly how you want her too.

**Celestial88** · 11-29-2012, 12:47 AM

How to Get Started | Prey Model Raw

Quote:

Don’t Panic

Hopefully at this point you haven’t seen any digestive upset! But if you have…DON’T PANIC! Dogs that have been on kibble for a long time generally have the hardest time with the switch because their bodies are not used to such a new food. Sometimes dogs go through something that some call the “detox” stage, but to me its more just a transition that the body must undergo from digesting overly processed, species inappropriate foods to whole, fresh, raw foods. During this time, digestive enzymes must change to be able to digest this new diet, and sometimes this can take up to a few weeks. Loose stool, and occasional vomiting is seen during this time, but these usually clear up within a day or so. If not, taking your dog to the vet is a good idea.

Seeing pieces of bone in stool is normal in the beginning, you will see less and less of this as time goes on. The body is in its adjustment phase and is still getting used to breaking down bones. Digestive enzymes are changing and their ability to break down bone becomes more and more affective as time goes on. Don’t panic if you see pieces of bone in your dog’s stool. Trust me, its normal.

This “detox” stage is the reason why weeks 1 and 2 are exclusively one protein source. It poses the easiest route for the body to become adjusted to a 180 degree change in diet. If you were to undergo the same change, going from mostly processed foods to fresh, whole raw foods, your body would not be the happiest in the beginning. In the long term your body would thank you immensely for the added health! Keep up the good work and stay strong. Make sure the connections you have made with your support team are there for you all along the way.

**Celestial88** · 11-29-2012, 03:54 AM

Also I wanted to add, if she was doing fine on the food and nothing diet-wise was changed when she started having issues then I'd definitely be taking her to the vet. This doesn't so much sound diet related as it may be another cause.