To all who have responded:

I have been slowly introducing raw food to Hambone over the last 5 days...

He appears to have no problems with bowel movements or keeping the food down. He is dancing in the morning and evening waiting for his food.

Oddly enough, I was getting ready to brush his teeth and the tartar is gone on his canines. I checked his molars and tartar still there, but plaque build up is gone...WOW!

I'm not feeding organ meat, just the regular chicken and smaller game hen=back and part of the breast or thigh quarters (very small bird).

Am I doing this correctly? I am trying to go slow, but he is excited for his change.

One other question:
I have hard water and use a rust remover salt. His sodium level and magnesium level on his senior panel was max. Should I switch to plain well water or distilled water?

 Quote: Jo Harker

He is dancing in the morning and evening waiting for his food.

This is the most common side effect.

 Quote: Jo Harker

I'm not feeding organ meat, just the regular chicken and smaller game hen=back and part of the breast or thigh quarters (very small bird).

Am I doing this correctly? I am trying to go slow, but he is excited for his change.

How much are you feeding? Just my curiosity.

Sounds like everything is perfect.:smile:

Are you removing fat and skin? If so, you might start leaving a SMALL amount in a day or two. If that goes good, leave a little more, and so on.

 Quote: Jo Harker

One other question:
I have hard water and use a rust remover salt. His sodium level and magnesium level on his senior panel was max. Should I switch to plain well water or distilled water?

My ignorance of the subject tells me yes.

After he has settled into his diet he will probably drink less making bottled water more reasonable to do. Most raw fed dogs do. Mine never drinks, unless he has just finished exercise. Even then, it is just a lap or 4.

I agree with Michael. Bottled or filtered water (perhaps a Brita filter?) would probably be wisest.
My raw fed dog also is not much of a water drinker since the switch.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

How much are you feeding? Just my curiosity.

I am feeding him 1 chicken wing and chicken thigh in the morning and of an evening,some wet food (1/4 can of Wellness)with about 3 small chunks of breast meat (splitting cartilage with the kitten) or the back and wing and thigh of the game hen. I don't have necks to give him, yet. I do have a lovely turkey leg with half the flesh removed and all the fat....

Haven't been weighing, just trying to figure out portions from weight of packages. He has trouble keeping weight on so I will have to be vigilant.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

Are you removing fat and skin? If so, you might start leaving a SMALL amount in a day or two. If that goes good, leave a little more, and so on.

I've been removing the fat and skin, but will leave some on to see how he does with it. Maybe just one meal with a bit of skin and fat, the other without for a couple days.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

After he has settled into his diet he will probably drink less making bottled water more reasonable to do. Most raw fed dogs do. Mine never drinks, unless he has just finished exercise. Even then, it is just a lap or 4.

Thank you the concern about the water (you too, Alyssa!). For now, I will get distilled water for him and occasionally well water from mom and dad who don't have cold water hooked up to softener. He has had it in the past with no ill effects.

I should get my catalog in the mail next week and will be looking forward to ordering the book and other goodies.

 Quote: Jo Harker

I am feeding him 1 chicken wing and chicken thigh in the morning and of an evening,some wet food (1/4 can of Wellness)with about 3 small chunks of breast meat (splitting cartilage with the kitten) or the back and wing and thigh of the game hen. I don't have necks to give him, yet. I do have a lovely turkey leg with half the flesh removed and all the fat....

Clarification:

I am feeding him 1 chicken wing and chicken thigh in the morning w/egg two out of the five days and salmon oil and 400 I.U. of Vitamin E daily.

In the evening,some wet food (1/4 can of Wellness)with about 3 small chunks of breast meat (splitting cartilage with the kitten) or 1/2 the back and the wing and thigh of the game hen. I don't have necks to give him, yet.

Do you think he is getting close to the 1+ lbs. of raw food?

Still sounds like a good start, though. Are you planning on taking the Wellness out?

Poop "normal"? Not too hard, not too soft? Not trying to be gross, just checking.

And do I read right, that the kitten is already eating some raw?:smile:

No, I don't think we are close to 1 lb of food. He only weighs about 36 lbs and needs to be about 37 or 38 lbs at max. Basically, I was going to start low end of "36*16*.02 or .03" which rounds up to 12 ounces, and I am accomplishing that. I feel I need to increase intake a little, but am going to wait until our regular Saturday drive and walk. I can stop in at the vet's and weigh him. If he is still under 37 lbs, he will have to start getting more calories.

I do plan on taking the Wellness out once he is completely transitioned.

So far, poop hard to discover. What I have seen is perfect, but he poops in tall grass. And, I have watched him (more than once), balance on his front feet so he can poop on top of a clump of "lush" grass. That kind of grass is on the back 40 and I don't get there. Remember, free-ranging, perimeter-trained, on the go Husky. (He won't poop in the yard.)

Noodle, the kitten, did discover chicken and he is raring to go, but I am working him slowly too. Wellness CORE and his bits of chicken are all he gets. (No fish ever. Bad for bladder).

Wish us luck on the weigh in Saturday.

Can I just say, your animals have very cute names... Hambone and Noodle. Adorable.

Sounds good.:smile: You're right about starting low on the amount of food and then working up. Diarrhea will be from too much food, fat, organs, or a new kind of food. Sounds like you have tabs on all those.

I tend to ask too many questions to people who ask questions. Makes alot of sense, huh? Since I can't see what you are doing, I want to make sure I've got everything straight.:smile:

Noodle might not be that tough after all.:smile:

Thanks Alyssa! (A link to my kitten's picture is this:
http://s499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/weathermoon/?action=view&current=noodlechair.gif )

I was going to adopt another sweet Husky girl...her name was Pumpkin.....then I would have had Christmas dinner.