More raw feeding advice please

[liz&Obi]

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Hi all,

We have been feeding Obi (1yr old JRT) a raw diet since he was about 5months old. He really enjoys his food and has a healthy appetite.
He has a variety of meats on the bone and off but generally it's a 80/10/10 with veg and fish.
He has on and off runny poops and I am worried that he is not getting the right food. I really do not want to change his diet to kibble as it contains a lot of processed ingredients.
I would appreciate any tips or opinions on how to deal with this.
Thank you

 

[JudyN]

It could be worth getting a stool sample checked in case there's any parasites.

You could try upping the bone and reducing offal, as long as this doesn't end up with some poos being a bit too firm. Or try giving him just meat and bone from one protein source for a week - no offal either, and ideally just bits of the meat as treats, no leftovers, etc. and see what happens. If things improve, gradually introduce other proteins/offal/veg and see if you can work out if there's one rogue ingredient.

But some dogs do seem prone to the odd runny bum so if it's not happening too often it might be 'normal for him'.

If all else fails, remember that the best food for your dog is the one that works for your dog.

 

[Hemlock]

Don't forget - as my vet says, we don't get a perfect bowel movement every time either! I think your dog is showing that he has a healthy gut and deals with each meal according to his needs on the day.

 

[arealhuman]

We fed raw until recently - our dog had really runny poo from time-to-time and needed to go out twice in the early hours to go to the toilet (not helped that he wont go in our garden, so a walk was always in order). Other than that, he seemed to enjoy his food and the diet definitely benefitted him - he is a rescue dog so we don't know what he was fed/scavenged before he came to us.

After the last bought of night-time outings, we sought our vet's advice, as obviously something wasn't right and we were becoming tired having to go out almost every night for a week or so at a time. A blood test revealed vitamin deficiencies and pancreatitis, so he is now on a hyper-allogenic food (and no other types of food/treats), antibiotics and vitamin supplements. We recently reduced the antibiotics and will see how he's going with regards to the vitamins. He may have to stay on the HA food for life, we will see, but it's definitely helped sort him out over the last 3 months or thereabouts. I do like the idea of a raw diet but it might be we can't return to it. If you're in any doubt, speak to your vet.