Question: Puppy started raw diet - Help please?

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Answer #1:

Basically when we feed kibble - the stomach has to completely alter its ph levels to cope with the stuff. So we bring our dogs up with an unnatural stomach environment.

When we go to raw all of that has to change and although it is better for the stomach to change from kibble to raw, rather than the other way round, the stomach still does have to change.

Don't worry too much at the moment, although I would of recommended just straight chicken to start with so that you are not hitting the stomach with too much in one go.

By the way - when she's mowed your lawn do you think you could send her round here !!!

Congratulations on your choice and don't worry too much about initial little hiccups. The stuff you have chosen with all the ingredients already in it sounds good. Do check that it also has bone in it.

Add on -- have a quick read of this which might explain what I am trying to say.

Several people have recently asked why it is best not to feed a mixer with raw or a complete as a 2nd meal. Briefly, it goes back to the difference in pH the they create, a carnivores digestive physiology is suited to an acidic environment, not the more neutral environment that is created by dry food. A dogs digestion should begin in the stomach.

It is Pepsin which is responsible for starting the digestion of protein in the stomach. Pepsin is pH dependant and does not become activated until the pH drops below 4. Complete dry diets alter the stomachs environment which directly affects the action of Pepsin.

As the environment of the stomach becomes more neutral pepsin becomes denatured and its ability to digest raw food is reduced.

A dry diet shifts the start of digestion to the small intestine rather than the stomach this places a burden on the pancreas to work harder in producing enzymes. This is why so many dogs fed dry diets end up being fed supplementary enzymes.

Dry diets introduce insoluable fibre into the dogs system. The fibre binds bile which prevents reabsorption of the bile.

When bile is lost from the system the liver must work harder to increase its rate of production in order to maintain a pool of bile. Under normal phisilogical conditions 95% of the bile would be recycled.

Just keep asking if you have questions - just don't be tempted to go back to the kibble as you'll be sending the stomach backwards and forwards.

Answer #2:

I would not give a pup or dog raw food, can't you get some science diet dry or wet dog food in your area? you are spending too much on that food you just bought, is not good for animals, would you like to eat raw food? no wonder its has the runs!!

Answer #3:

Im starring because I have a lot of raw feeding contacts....they will be more help than I.

I do know that many of them choose to feed from the butcher, rather than the prepared raw foods.

I think the grass eating could be a sign of tummy upset BUT that would happen with ANY food switch. It doesn't mean the raw food won't sit well with her eventually.

@Lorraine~ Awesome answer. The additional add on details you provided are very interesting to me.

Answer #4:

LOL - dogs don't eat grass for any medical or emotional reasons.

they eat grass because they LIKE It. my dog, 70lb border mix, eats it so much i sometimes feel like i'm walking a goat.

and no, he doesn't puke up. when he is feeling a bit sicky, he eats a particular type of hard, stringy grass - that's when i keep him outside because i know it's coming back up. he's a year and a half old and he's vomited twice after eating grass and he eats it on a daily basis.

to puppy ailens: "expensive"!? i haven't paid for food for my dog (and now my mother's 62lb goldendoodle) in months! i get it all from the butcher. vet just recently gave him top, top marks for body condition. even if i paid for it, it's 50c/lb from the poultry processing plant. at a pound a day, my 70lb dog would cost me a grand total of $15 a month!

Answer #5:

(applauding Lorraine's answer)

All I can add is - the more your learn about RAW, the more you will master it - and the cheaper you can make it.

I feed RAW and I have never bought pre-packaged raw. Too expensive.

Here's some RAW for beginners: all of this can be done at Wal-Mart or even at your local grocery if it carries the organs.

Red meat - avoid high fat. For beginners - stir fry or stew beef are fairly cheap, lean cuts that you can feed as-is.

Chicken - don't bother w/chix breasts - too expensive. For beginners - get chicken drumsticks and feed them as-is (wash them first).

Fish - salmon, herring, sardines. Look for markdowns

Bones - beef ribs marked down, the chicken drumsticks. Turkey necks. Avoid weight-bearing beef bones - too hard, can fracture teeth.

Organs - everybody sells chicken livers. Your grocer may not sell beef liver, chicken hearts & gizzards, tripe, but Wal-Mart does. Thank god for poor/ethnic people!

I think the above is a good way for the average person to ease into RAW. It's how I did. From there, you can take it as hardcore as you want (e.g. more prey-model), or not.

@BeanBell:
I don't see how you could view my offhand statement as "bigoted" unless you yourself view "poor" and "ethnic" as inherently perjorative terms.
For the purposes of my brief offhand quip, I didn't substitute "economically disadvantaged" for "poor". My bad - but I believe PC wordsmithing is largely a superficial, hollow game - a bandaid that makes some people feel better and that they don't need to do more - and yet solves very little.
"Bigoted" means "intolerant of those of other creeds, ethnicities, races, etc." I politely suggest that if you see 'bigotry' in my brief quip, perhaps you're looking too hard.

Answer #6:

cjrossi-- From your response, it sounds like you're a pretty educated and responsible dog owner. However, what on earth did you mean by, "Thank god for poor/ethnic people"?!?

I'm no prude, and I love wry, dark humor. But that was a bit... insensitive... to say the least. You're writing to a bunch of strangers; we don't know you or your sense of humor, so you come off sounding awfully bigoted. I don't think it's appropriate to use this forum (which is supposed to be about dogs) to make fun of people's economic situation or their ethnic traditions.

I liked what you had to say, until I read that line. The merits of your answer are lost behind the nasty overtones of that comment, unfortunately.

Answer #7:

Eating grass does not necessarily mean anything is wrong. Sometimes they just like to eat grass. I advise you join the Yahoo Raw Feeding mailing list, then you can ask your questions to people who have been feeding raw for many years.

They probably will tell you that the raw patty with veggies that you fed is crap though, just be forewarned.

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Answer #8:

How is raw harsh? Raw is more digestible and faster in half the time of kibble.

Dogs can eat grass if they're thirsty, among other reasons, but it doesn't necessarily mean they have an upset stomach. There was a study done that with results showing dogs ate grass whether they were sick or not. The study was conducted the University of California-Davis vet school Click Here
"Our current hypothesis is that plant eating is a common behavior that usually occurs in normal dogs and cats. It is generally unassociated with illness or a dietary deficiency but reflects an innate predisposition inherited from wild canid and felid ancestors. More studies are needed, but plant eating likely serves a biological purpose. One explanation is that plant eating played a role in the ongoing purging of intestinal parasites (nematodes) in wild canid and felid ancestors (that were always exposed to intestinal parasites)."

Lorraine gave a good answer.





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