[Jem]

I am switching my parent's 11.5 yo dog to raw tonight or tomorrow. I did an extensive blood work up on him and everything came back normal (with the exception of a few elevated levels that aren't too much of a concern right now). He has bad teeth with a lot of tartar which is the main reason I want to switch him (or at least the reason my parents finally caved and are letting me switch him). His remaining teeth are still intact and can handle chewing chicken bones. He is a small dachshund so i think i will start with skinned chicken wings. I think chicken backs would be a good size, but they have too much fat and organs on them and I want to avoid anything that might upset his stomach.

My biggest worry is that he is going to have really bad diarrhea from the initial switch. Because he is older, I am not sure how his body will react to the switch. Also he has lost weight recently just from getting older, so I would hate to see him loose too much more weight from diarrhea. But who knows, he could be like my pup Jemma and have an iron stomach and switch with no problem!!

Anyone have experience with switching an older dog to raw? Did you do it cold turkey? Any digestive issues? I will keep everyone posted on how he is doing :smile:

 

[luvMyBRT]

Just wanted to wish you luck. That picture of Yogi is just adorable. :smile:

 

[redspoo]

Can't help with advise for switching an older dog, but like saraj2878, I just wanted to say that Yogi is soooo cute. Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[GoldenGirl]

I am switching my parent's 11.5 yo dog to raw tonight or tomorrow. I did an extensive blood work up on him and everything came back normal (with the exception of a few elevated levels that aren't too much of a concern right now). He has bad teeth with a lot of tartar which is the main reason I want to switch him (or at least the reason my parents finally caved and are letting me switch him). His remaining teeth are still intact and can handle chewing chicken bones. He is a small dachshund so i think i will start with skinned chicken wings. I think chicken backs would be a good size, but they have too much fat and organs on them and I want to avoid anything that might upset his stomach.

My biggest worry is that he is going to have really bad diarrhea from the initial switch. Because he is older, I am not sure how his body will react to the switch. Also he has lost weight recently just from getting older, so I would hate to see him loose too much more weight from diarrhea. But who knows, he could be like my pup Jemma and have an iron stomach and switch with no problem!!

Anyone have experience with switching an older dog to raw? Did you do it cold turkey? Any digestive issues? I will keep everyone posted on how he is doing :smile:

What a great photo! How precious!

Good luck with the switch - I'm only 4 days in but things are going well. Hopefully Yogi will surprise you and make an easy transition.

- Jean

 

[DaneMama]

I don't personally have experience but I would just do what you plan to and be extra cautious with him. Most likely if he does have diarrhea in the beginning it will subside within a few days if you stick with high bone density meals and remove all skin/fat/organ from the cuts of chicken. You might want to feed him 3 times daily, small meals of course, so he doesn't get too hungry in between meals.

That is a really great photo of Yogi, he is such a sweet old guy and is lucky to have someone watching out for him like you do. I can say that making the switch will definitely pay off and you'll be happy with the results! Keep us posted on his progress!!

 

[SuriLove]

Good luck Yogi and he is so adorable!!

 

[xxshaelxx]

GOOD LUCK, adorable, little Yogi!!!

 

[JayJayisme]

Wow Jem, he's cute! One of my dogs is a 1-1/5 year old, 17 lb. Cocker/Dachshund mix. Not an older dog but size-wise he does well with chicken and duck wings although sometimes I separate the drumstick from the rest of the wing and give him both parts which seems to be easier for him.

He also does well with whole chicken necks, and turkey necks if I cut them down to a manageable size for him (about 2" long). He also does very well with chicken thighs but I have to cut some of the meat away and give that to him separately. He gets thigh meat and a thigh bone with some meat attached and that works for him. He cannot eat a drumstick very easily, but he sure tries! :biggrin:

He can also devour a small pork rib completely. He has trouble with the larger ones, which I give to my larger female. But he loves the small ones and has no trouble with eating them completely.

I also feed him chunked pork and beef and I cut it a little smaller for him than the female. Overall he does really well with all but the larger pieces. He doesn't seem to be able to deal with chicken backs very well for some reason so I give those to the female.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Jay

 

[rannmiller]

I switched my lab/shepherd mix when she was about 10 years old cold turkey to raw and she had a bad history of having a super sensitive stomach. It is so far the only thing that has managed to make her stools consistently firm (about 90% of the time anyway) and she loves it and it definitely helped turn her brown and yellow teeth nice and white again. She's now 12 years old and still going strong!

 

[Jem]

Well...Yogi has now eaten a total of 2 raw meals consisting of 1 chicken wing each. So far he has had 2 solid stools!! YAY! I know there could still be some diarrhea coming at any point, but so far this is better than I was expecting!!

And Jay, thank you very much for your information about what you feed your dog. That will be helpful because I am used to feeding a 70lb dog! I think I will try breaking the wings in half and give him each piece separately. He has no trouble chewing, but it does seem a bit awkward for him to chew and try to swallow the whole wing...he hasn't yet chewed off pieces and swallowed them separately. He kind of just makes sure the whole wing is chewed completely then swallows it whole. I know that he is a newbie and he will figure out what works best for him :biggrin:

Ill keep ya all posted!

Oh and he absolutely LOVES the fact that he now gets to eat raw. For the past 6 months he has been DYING to eat what I feed Jemma...now he finally can!

 

[magicre]

i am in the process of switching my ten year old corgi whatever mix and my three year old pug.

they are both doing better this time around....raw fed dogs had advised me to feed chicken backs with excess fat and skin removed, which is what i'm doing....

we're still not perfect...can't seem to find that happy medium yet....but it's only three weeks and we're not having the cannon butt we had before....

i think, while dogs are made for raw, they are also throwing off years of eating home cooked or kibble...so this is a huge adjustment for their digestive systems....i don't, however, think age would be a reason NOT to change...maybe a reason to change really slowly....

good luck!

 

[DaneMama]

Woot!!! Great news about him doing well so far, keep up the good work and keep us posted on his progress!

 

[Spaz]

Glad to see Yogi is doing well so far! He is a cutie pie!

 

[Jem]

I cleaned up the yard today and all I found were little, white, solid, yogi poops! :tongue:. He is doing very well with the transition!

He has been eating dirt and grass more frequently, but I remember Jemma doing this at first too. I am not concerned about it.