May 24, 2011
My dog has been on raw for a month but he keeps getting diarrhea. Any input would be appreciated.
Full Question:
I am a firm believer in a raw food diet, we have had our 5 month german shepherd on it now for about a month, but he keeps getting diarrhea. I am super carefull with his food, nothing is cross contaminated, his bowl is thoroughly washed after every meal. I give him chicken, a little bit of pulverized veggies a few times a week, eggs with shells, gizzards, hearts and occasionally liver. We have him on all the supplements as well. He has now had three episodes of diarrhea, no blood, and no other side effects, he acts perfectly normal. I have given him pumpkin and that seems to help. For a couple of days I was on vacation, he had diarrhea before we left, I got some healthy kitchen dehydrated food for him and he ate that for 3 days, and his stools were totally normal, last night I gave him raw and once again he has diarrhea.At a loss, I really don't want to abandon the raw food, but I can't take the diarrhea anymore.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tamara
Cindy's Answer:
I think you are giving too much variety, for a dog that new to raw I don’t add supplements and I don’t add organ meat. When I do add organ meat, I add like a dime sized piece. Gizzards are ok, but hearts and liver can cause diarrhea. Eggs can also give some dogs diarrhea.
I’d back up and go to a very simple diet, single protein source, no veggies, eggs, organ meat or supplements and I’d also add some digestive enzymes for the next several weeks.
Only when you have had a long stretch of completely normal stools do you add ONE ingredient and see how that goes for a number of days. If you are doing all the things you have listed, you have no way of knowing what the problem may be.
The 2 best books for learning about the raw diet are Raw Dog Food and Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats. We give both these books to our puppy customers and rarely have questions about the diet.
Here is a Q&A section on raw feeding.
For future questions, you might benefit from learning to use our SEARCH function, which is located in the top left corner of every page of the website. If you type in your key words or question it will find you articles, Q & A’s, free streaming video and links to threads on our discussion forum. Our website has over 16,000 pages and it’s very likely you’ll find the information you are looking for. I hope this helps.
Cindy Rhodes
I’d back up and go to a very simple diet, single protein source, no veggies, eggs, organ meat or supplements and I’d also add some digestive enzymes for the next several weeks.
Only when you have had a long stretch of completely normal stools do you add ONE ingredient and see how that goes for a number of days. If you are doing all the things you have listed, you have no way of knowing what the problem may be.
The 2 best books for learning about the raw diet are Raw Dog Food and Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats. We give both these books to our puppy customers and rarely have questions about the diet.
Here is a Q&A section on raw feeding.
For future questions, you might benefit from learning to use our SEARCH function, which is located in the top left corner of every page of the website. If you type in your key words or question it will find you articles, Q & A’s, free streaming video and links to threads on our discussion forum. Our website has over 16,000 pages and it’s very likely you’ll find the information you are looking for. I hope this helps.
Cindy Rhodes
100% (2 out of 2)
respondents found this answer helpful
Can't find what you're looking for?
100% (2 out of 2)
respondents found this answer helpful
