We have been adding different ingredients to our dog's raw diet, but he has recently been vomiting up his food and having bad diarrhea. What do you suggest to get him back on track?

Question

Dear Cindy,

We have a 9 month old Black Russian Terrier. We bought him from a local breeder when he was approx. 4 1/2 months old. He was being fed raw chicken quarters. Two quarters in the morning and two quarters in the evening. We added some oil, kelp combination and a 'joint' powder as the breeder did. We also added some salmon and organ during the week and daily gave him some raw vegetables and fruit. Recently, we added chicken necks in the mix as the breeder went to a wholesaler and purchased a large quantity and we shared the cost.

We learned of your site from them and bought numerous tapes, collars, etc. After reading your site we have added hamburger, ground turkey as the predominant good sources was only chicken before.

By adding ground meat is half in terms of pounds the correct balance to chicken parts?

Within the last three weeks he has had diarrhea and started throwing up undigested raw chicken necks.

The breeder suggested fasting him for a day because of the heat. We fasted him until early evening and I gave him a small lightly cooked hamburger with success. The next day was okay but the evening meal he started a heave but held the food. The next day he threw up again. The necks were crunched but definitely not chewed well. He is now holding the food down okay but the diarrhea remains a problem. We had to give him medication to stop that and for about 4 days okay but then diarrhea again. I fed him cooked brown rice with chicken broth in a.m. and then same in p.m. but with a small amount of cooked chicken. Diarrhea again early this morning. Should I give him cooked food after diarrhea clears or should he begin his raw diet right away??

My husband is a big fruit eater and of course our pet begs and is given small amounts of whatever fruit he is eating (watermelon, pineapple, papaya, banana, etc). This is usually twice a day and throughout the day he is given a few raw whole cashew nuts. I do give him 2-3 dog cookies a day (from health food store--Puggley) but the breeder gives her dogs any kind of cookie. Can you guide us in a direction that will help us get back on track. We do want to feed raw and while our vet is trying to appreciate the diet he has no knowledge of what to do. Prescribe antibiotics for stomach bacterial infection and pills to soothe the stomach and to add carbs. Do you go along with brown rice and, if so, how much?

I hope this is the right information you need to help us. At the least this will get the conversation going.

Pat & Earl

Accepted Answer

Whenever a dog has a digestive issue, I go to a simple diet for as long as it takes to get the dog back on track. I don’t like chicken necks, I think the bone content is too high and some dogs have problems digesting them unless you add extra boneless meat. If you can get your dog’s system settled down then continue to feed whatever it is that works to clear the diarrhea. Gradually go back to a regular diet from there. I think too many people get in a rush to add all the supplements and ingredients back in, too soon.

I’ve had good results using boiled boneless chicken breast and plain white rice. Canned pumpkin is also helpful for diarrhea.

Read this article on feeding a raw diet. It’s a work in progress but there is a lot of good information there.

I would also recommend these books, Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats and Raw Dog Food.

You can also go to our Feeding Dogs Page for a list of articles and books that will be helpful to you.

Please visit our Discussion Forum. There are thousands of members and many posts on every dog related topic imaginable. You don’t have to register to read the material, but if you wish to post a question or reply you must go through the registration process.

The raw feeding section of the forum is very active with many knowledgeable raw feeders available to relay their experiences.

Cindy