[Loolaw]

I have two puppies on raw. Chicken quarters and breasts comprise about 98% of their diet and I throw in a small amount of organ meat from time to time. They have been eating nothing but raw for the past 6 weeks. The pups are in beautiful condition - in fact the dog food rep at the local pet store commented on their beautiful coats. They both are very active and have healthy appetites.

My problem is that they both continue to have mostly runny poop. I may get one day of nice sold, formed stools, but then they go back to the runs. In fact, the older (4 months) is soup condition and has been for two weeks. I had started her on pork butt + chicken a couple weeks ago but after 4-5 days of the runs, I went back to all chicken. The stool situation hasn't, however, cleared up. She is not going more often - just once per meal several hours after the meal (I am currently feeding 2x a day). The other puppy (3 months) has more formed stools but definitely on the runny side as well.

Because of their condition and activity level, I am not overly concerned other than possible dehydration (water intake is being monitored) but am wondering if any others have experienced this during transition. The question is am I being too unconcerned. Have others experienced a long bout of runny stools during the transition period? These are puppies and are experiencing a lot of new exciting things which can lead to stress so this may be one explanation.

fyi - this is my feeding regime:

4 month old Boerboel - current weight 47 lbs, prob adult weight 120 lbs. 2 meals a day of 20oz each of chicken quarters and breast with very tiny amount of liver and gizzard 2-3 times a week. I was feeding her 24 oz each meal and cut back to see if being over fed was causing the diarhea.

3 month old German Shorthaired Pointer - current weight 12 lbs, prob adult weight 55 lbs. 2 meals a day of 12 oz each of chicken breast. Opposite of the Boerboel, I recently upped her food from 10oz each meal because she appears a tad underweight.

Anyway - any experiences or ideas are appreciated.

thanks for "listening"

Carol

 

[whiteleo]

I don't believe that there is enough bone content in your feedings to really firm up your poo in the dogs.
Usually dogs on a raw diet are fed other varieties of meat before they are introduced to any form of organ meat as it is very rich. Going through the other varieties of meat first, ie;turkey, pork, beef, fish, beef heart, get the system ready for the organ meat as it has had time to adjust.

I would hold off on the organ meat for now, do bone heavy chicken meals, no breast as that is not bone at all. Good sources of bone heavy are chicken backs. or you could stay with the chicken quarters. Good Luck!

 

[xxshaelxx]

I started my dogs off on chicken backs, and they never once had runny stools. You can go to your local butcher and order some. My butcher calls them chicken carcasses, and they're mainly made up of about 50% of bone, a constipating agent. You may want to keep them on hand if your dogs have issues with runny poops after meals of pork. I'm sure you can get them through any butcher, too.​

 

[RawFedDogs]

The main causes of soft, runny, or watery stools in newly switched dogs are:
1. Too much food - Feed smaller meals.
2. Too much fat - Remove skin and excess fat from food IF you have a problem.
3. Organs added too early in the diet - wait a couple of months to feed organs. Drop the organs from your dog's diet for a couple of months.
4. Too much variety too early in the diet - I don't think this is your problem.
5. Not enough bone in the diet - Feed more bone. Get some chicken backs to feed.

You might also want to go to 3 meals a day for a while until your pups mature a little more.

 

[Loolaw]

thanks all - I'll go back to chicken backs. They both transitioned on backs for 2 weeks. I switched to the quarters & breasts to add a little more meat.

I don't really think it's an organ meat issue - they maybe get 2 oz a week.

I was feeding 3x a day with the first puppy & switched to 2x a day when the 2nd arrived as a compromise because she was only being fed once a day. That may be the biggest factor now that I think about it more

thanks again. Always nice to have a sounding board