Barf Diet

[rebecca_reddish]

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Hi,

This is Ian, Rebecca's OH just want some advice about poor old Rosie .

We had been reading about the BARF diet and decided to take Rosie off the Science Plan Senior she was on and gave her a bowl of Chicken and Tripe with liquidised vegetables mixed in to it (following one of the receipies in the book)at 5 pm last night.

She absolutely loved it and scoffed it all down in seconds.

At about 9.30 however she started crying and and pacing up and down the room obviously in some discomfort. We tried taking her for a walk to get what ever was inside her out but without success.

At about 11.00 she was still crying and pacing and we decided to take her to the vets.

The vet diognosed gastric entoritous (sorry wrong spelling)and gave her anti biotics and something to settle her stomach

By 1am she eventually calmed down and went to sleep.

She is curled up asleeep at the bottom of the bed now recovering.

Has anyone else experianced similar problems when changing to the BARF diet?

It is possible that this is unrelated, but given the coincidence we are making the assumption that this is linked to the change in food.

Please help......should we revert to the old diet? or continue with the BARF? Is there anything we can add to the BARF patties that might make the change over easier on her stomach?

Thanks

Ian

 

[Mark Roberts]

Hi Ian,

it could be down to the fact that you made the sudden change from compleat food to the Barf Diet.

when changing dogs to a new food (especialy from dry to barf) your better off doing it gradually say 25% at a time over a week.

so day 1 & 2 change 25% of the food over, then days 3 & 4 50%, days 5 &6 75% then after that make the change to 100%.

any sudden change of food often upsets a dogs tummy and it was more than likely wind that was causing your dog the discomfort rather than Gastro Entritus.

We changed to Barf about 9 months ago the younger dogs took to it no problem but our 2 old girls kept getting upset tummies so we had to wean them over slowely, they are now all on the Barf diet with no problems at all.

Good luck with Rosie and hope her tummie settles soon.

 

[alfyn]

I agree with what Mark has said,i think the sudden change was a shock to her system & caused her discomfort!

Don't be put off my feeding her a much better quality diet,once she's fully onto it,there'll be no looking back :thumbsup:

 

[Karen]

definately a massive change in diet, like giving a weaning baby a curry Im afraid.

As mark say add a very small amount to each meal over time, she obviously likes it. Best of luck :thumbsup:

 

[JAX]

Completely agree with my fellow whippeters :- " No diet should be changed as suddenley as that , but dont blame yourself . Im sure she will be fine ,and once used to the diet will be so much better for it :luck:

 

[alfyn]

definately a massive change in diet, like giving a weaning baby a curry Im afraid.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[chelynnah]

If you're into the yahoogroups lists, there's a great UK list out there called BritBarf - just go to http://www.yahoogroups.com and type in BritBarf and you shoudl find it. There's lots of great info on the list and the people are really friendly.

Wendy

 

[Martina]

When starting with BARF choose simple and easy to digest food. As far as I know most dogs do well on a 'cold turkey switch' (Is that what you say in English?). Never feed BARF and kibble in the same meal - the digestive proces of each is different so it might upset the tummy. If you have to you want to start BARFing in the morning and feed kibble in the evening or viceversa.

The row food causes also a detox reactions - the dog's system eliminates itself from toxins over a period of few days. All non-natural ingrediens that kibble might include are 'coming out'. The dog can experience a bit of vomiting or loose stool - do not worry too much but watch him/her closely - and consult with yout vet.

My advice is to start with chicken necks-only. Keep it simple for few days or even weeks. Dont get exciting about the recipes on tge net - simplicity is the key.

After a week start adding chicken wings and possibly some veggies. Dogs will do well on only bones/meat for few days.

As far as the veggies - do not add the offals to them at the beggining - they are not easy to diggest at first. Liver, heart - start adding them after week, two or even three.

Best thing is to have raw bones/meat and veggies as separate meals. Breakfast are veggies and bones/meat for dinner.

Tip: you dog might have 'gulped' the chicken and the bones - the impact on the stomach is quite big. When starting with BARF feed the chicken necks/wings with your hand. Hold one end of the neck in your hand and let the dog chew on it. He will eventually 'get it' and start chewing the stuff instead of swallowing it.

Good luck!

 

[rebecca_reddish]

Thanks for all the advice.

I decided to go easy on the veggies, and fed Burns kibble in the morning, and just raw meat in the evening. This seems to be going down very well....and Rosie absolutely loves it.

I will slowly add liquidized veggies over the next two weeks.

This gives me time to adapt Rosie's diet in time for little Alfie arriving (who is already a total BARF'er at 6 weeks old). I would have felt cruel giving Alfie a nice chicken wing for breakfast, and poor Rosie get a bowel of dried kibble!!

Thanks again