Hi,

I switched my 2 dogs to RAW 2 months ago(this website has been very helpful). Both dogs are looking better, have more energy, and enjoy their food much more. Every question I have had I could find the answer by searching, but now I am stumped.

I had to take Griffin(9.5 year old Weimaraner)to an emergency vet last Friday. He didn't eat that morning and I had to coax him to eat the day before. Griffin has never turned down a meal no matter how sick he might feel. The vet did blood work and took X-rays. Griffin's stomach was extremely full. There should not have been anything in his stomach since he hadn't eaten since the night before. His burps were very foul smelling. Food was just sitting and fermenting in his stomach.

The vet gave him an injection to make him vomit. He vomited about 2/3 of what was in stomach. X-rays later showed that the rest had started moving past the stomach.

I have been feeding him canned Evo and Instinct the last 2 days. I would like to get him back on RAW, but am wondering why the indigestion happened and ideas about how to avoid it. I am curious to know if a ground RAW diet might be easier on his stomach. Has anybody else had this happen to their dog? Thanks!

 Quote: Nora Schlub

.... The vet did blood work and took X-rays. Griffin's stomach was extremely full. There should not have been anything in his stomach since he hadn't eaten since the night before. His burps were very foul smelling. Food was just sitting and fermenting in his stomach. ... The vet gave him an injection to make him vomit. He vomited about 2/3 of what was in stomach. X-rays later showed that the rest had started moving past the stomach. ...

Then there was a blockage and the vomiting moved it or unblocked it? Is that what the vet theorized?

The vet didn't think it was a blockage. He said that there weren't big chunks of bone in the stomach when looking at the X-ray. His conclusion was that it was from spoiled food or a reaction to the food. Both dogs had eaten food from that batch, the other is doing just fine. They had been eating turkey necks, chicken drumsticks, ground beef, and beef kidney around that time, which they had had before with no problems.

How long had the stricken dog been on raw food?

Did anything about the food seem spoiled to you? Did it stink?

Moldy food can definitely cause a problem (a toxin problem as opposed to a G.I. problem, though, as far as I know), and rotten fruit can produce ethanol (again a different presentation, as far as I know). Any chance of dumpster-diving that you didn't see? Is there anything else going on? Diarrhea, more vomiting? Itch? Pruritis?

What did he mean by "a reaction to the food"? What kind of reaction?

Were you giving small meals and poop-watching?

He had been on raw food for a bit over 2 months. I think the food was fine, it smelled alright to me.

When I took him to the vet the symptoms that I saw were not wanting to eat, lethargy, and the foul burps. He never tried to vomit. Wasn't itching either.

He used to be a dumpster-diver so I am very careful about the trash. He hasn't gotten into the trash for months.

Right now he is a little tired but still wanting to play. He looks longingly at the raw food the other dog gets. His appetite is very good. He hasn't vomited or itched. He has a little diarrhea, which the vet thought he might have when that food went though his intestines. The canned food might be part of it because he has never eaten just canned food before.

I'm not sure what the vet meant by the reaction to the food either.

Griffin likes to drink about 1-2 cups of water after every meal. Could the water be lowering his stomach acidity so much that it would inhibit the digestion?

Well, I can only say what I would do -- not what you should do.

I'd reinstate raw, and I would do it as if from square 1 (one ingredient at a time). I would give at least two small meals a day -- definitely not one. (Of course, you probably did not feed this breed one anyway.) I would re-position the water intake so that it was between meals rather than with. And I'd keep an eye on him.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

And I'd keep an eye on him.

Nothing to add, but do let us know how it goes.

That's weird.

Hope everything goes better for y'all.:smile:

Thanks, I hope it was just a fluke that it happened. I thought raw was more easily digestible than any other food. As soon as I get a grinder, I think I will give him ground raw (with extra meaty bones occasionally).

 Quote: Nora Schlub

He said that there weren't big chunks of bone in the stomach when looking at the X-ray.

 Quote: Nora Schlub

As soon as I get a grinder, I think I will give him ground raw (with extra meaty bones occasionally).

I'd start over the way Connie described first.

In that particular instance, it doesn't look like grinding would have made a difference.

If it happens again I would seek the cause and treat. Then start looking into whether the form of the food, whole or ground, would make a difference or not.