Help! I'm about to give up on the raw diet!

[Auggie's Mom]

Auggie's on Week 3 of a raw diet. The bile barfies are getting worse, not better. He threw up five times this morning (yes, again in my bed) and there were flecks of blood in his vomit. Although he seems better now (and ate some canned food this morning), I am very worried about this.

I think the problem is that he eats too fast and doesn't chew his food adequately. He's eating 1-2 chicken thighs per day (with a little bit of canned food in the morning and the occasional healthy table scarp [vegetables, brown rice, etc.]). When I give him the chicken, he just scarfs it down. No matter what I do, I can't slow him down. When he throws up the next morning, there are often undigested bits of bone in the vomit.

I'm tempted to give him boneless meat, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of raw feeding?

Thanks for your help.

[Jen]

How about the Stella and Chewey's raw medallions or Nature's Variety? Metropets is supposed to carry it:

http://stellaandchewys.com/manhattan.asp

The medallions have ground up bones, so they still get the benefit! Tasha loves the chicken ones!

I think blood in the vomit is a bad sign, and I think you're right, raw with bones might be too dangerous. :(

[Courtney]

You can't feed only boneless meat - bones are crucial. You can feed ground bone.

If you want to continue with raw feeding, you need to teach Auggie to slow down. And it can be done. Since he is gulping the thighs and getting two of them a day, why not try leg quarters? Those are bigger and he will have to chew them. The other option is to hold onto the food while he eats and MAKE him chew it. Adding a digestive enzyme about 20 minutes before his meal may also help. I get mine from www.b-naturals.com but you can probably find them in stores. Obviously just the thighs aren't working, so I would try those things, or switch back to commercial food if you like.

[samandissy]

here is a link to a group of raw feeders on yahoo. it is a quiet list until someone starts asking questions. there are real knowledgeable people on that list. HTH Susie

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/raw_weenies/messages

[catstamm]

Wow none of that sounds good....I hope he isn't getting dehydrated w/ all the barfies, have you talked to your vet about it?

[Patt]

There are some dogs that are unable to tolerate RAW food, perhaps Auggie is one of them. I suggest you go back to whatever you were feeding him before he really takes ill. If the vomiting etc., keeps up please see your vet.

[oceangirls]

I think whatever diet you ultimately decide to go with, you probably need to give his GI tract a chance to relax and heal - right now it is probably very irritated (as evidenced by the bleeding and recurrent vomiting). There is also the possibility that he has an infection like gastroenteritis. If you give him something bland (like unseasoned chicken broth and rice or Science Diet canned I/D for instance) for a few days, the mucosa should start to heal and then you can start to slowly reintroduce whatever food you'd like to try him on.

Just my 2 cents! Sending rayz to Auggie!:bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz:

[katierose ballerina toes]

we have a gag reflex problem with katierose she eats like a maniac like she hasn't ever been fed ,then of course vomits.the vetlady we love said to go outside to the garden and find a really big rock .put it in the middle of the bowl water and food(2) rocks and the food gets placed around it.they then have no choice but to eat carefully and slowly as its harder to gulp!it really really works!also i'd start freezing pedialyte into ice cube trays to help w/ the possible dehydration also i'm not too sure on the dosage or size of your baby but my vet is a huge advocate of pepcid before they eat if nauseau is something their experiencing!hope it helps:hug99: monica press agent to katierose ballerina toes

[Alex's Mom]

I wonder if Auggie has the same problem as Alex (for your sake, I hope not!! :rotfl:) She has an "inefficient" stomach, by which I mean that it doesn't empty completely, leaving some sitting in there causing huge amounts of stomach acid to collect, which in turn leads to nausea and vomiting, hours after eating. She gets 5 mg of metaclopramide(sp?) 3 times a day, 20 minutes before each meal. This does 2 things...1) it's an antinausea drug, and 2) it encourages the stomach to be more active in clearing out the food. Since she started on it (when she had her cancer surgery), she's stopped the vomiting thing. the other thing I do (at my vet's suggestion) is to break her food up into 3 meals a day, including one just before bed (Alex :hearts: her bedtime snack!), the idea being to have something on her stomach so that acid doesn't have a chance to collect in a relatively empty stomach. (It's also easier on her compromised liver and gall bladder to have smaller meals more often...she really likes this idea a lot :rotfl:!).

Maybe something to ask your vet? I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of the raw diet (don't yell at me, everyone!), and maybe her digestive system is too sensitive for it? At any rate :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: that poor Auggie is soon feeling better!

[oceangirls]

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of the raw diet (don't yell at me, everyone!), and maybe her digestive system is too sensitive for it?

No one will yell at you :)! Many of us do not choose to feed raw. There are lots of different theories on healthy diets for dogs. I do think it is important to know when to try something different (for instance, I wanted to feed my girls Evo because I liked the ingredients and absence of additives... but it just is a little too rich for them).

I have heard of putting a rock in the bowl - a great idea as long as the rock is big :D (Cassie would probably snarf down a small rock and not even notice it :lol: ). And Pepcid and metoclopramide are very good drugs if the dog has an actual physical pathology (like Alex) that cannot be remedied by a diet change alone.

My first cocker had chronic pancreatitis so she couldn't have foods with a lot of fat, but we were very lucky that it wasn't so bad we needed to use meds. This might be something to have your vet rule out with Auggie if you haven't already.

[Alex's Mom]

I think I mentioned on another thread that when I was feeding Alex dry (she's now on i/d) I put a glass bowl upside down in her dish and she had to push it around to get at her food. It worked the same way as a rock would...slowed her down a lot! it doesn't work that well with meat, however, because it's too smooshy and gets stuck, and her royal pigginess is back to inhaling!

[Auggie's Mom]

Thank you for your many suggestions everyone. We've switched back to the IVD Potato & Venison food for the last two days. No more barfies and good poop. I think we'll stay on that until we have a chance to get to the vet.

There are a lot of opinions out there about raw feeding-- some good, some bad. I'm taking both into consideration at the moment and will add my vet's two cents to that to make a decision.

I thank you for your help! :hug99:

[Patt]

I'm glad to hear Auggie is doing better. More :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for the little man.

I feed Innova or Wellness which Trixie is quite happy with. Whatever works to keep Auggie in good health is best.

[Lisa]

Raw is NOT the answer for all dogs, and no one would make you feel bad because you have to find an alternate to put Auggie in his optimal health!

I don't think there are two people on this board that feed exactly the same! You have to find what works for you and Auggie.

Glad to hear he is doing much better!!!

:hug99: :hug99: :hug99:

[Michelle]

Glad to hear that Auggie is feeling better, he just may not be able to tolerate the raw food and as long as you can find a good kibble that keeps him healthy that is the most important thing,,

I am just fortunate that Heidi and Princess do so well on both diets, they love the raw food and have no stomach upsets at all, and they still will eat the kibble in the morning, I have found a good balance for them that has them very healthy, so that is ultimately what you are looking for,, whatever keeps him healthy...

[Jen]

Auggie was on Evo wasn't he? But there was a problem with that?

Glad he's doing well on the IVD Potato & Venison. Let us know what your vet recommends.