Hi Everyone,

I really need some advice here. My 8 month old GSD has been eating "raw" for about 2 months now. I feed him K-9 Kraving, which is a packaged frozen raw meat product. I thaw and feed him several of the patties a day. Earlier in the week I picked up a new batch of food and fed as usual. I noticed that this one pack of patties thawed really quickly and got mushier than before, but they smelled okay and I fed them to my dog. Now I'm not saying that in and of itself made my dog sick, but I've been looking for anything out of the ordinary...it's either food or playing with other dogs.

About two days later my dog has severe diarrhea with crazy bleeding, throwing up, lethargic, etc. Took him to vet - ultrasound and blood work were done, IV's for hydration and antibiotics given...large amounts of clostridium were found in his colon and tract. Basically, HGE. He's been at the vet for 2 days and I can pick him up this afternoon because he is finally able to keep some food down. So, I asked my vet what the cause might be (since it wasn't an object) and was told that it couldn't truly be determined, but the raw diet could be a factor..."raw food is just too dangerous when it comes to the potential for bacteria and other pathogens". It was recommended that I switch to a high-end kibble/canned product. I'm confused after a search on the Internet (no surprise there) where opinions are everywhere about raw food being the absolute best thing for your dog IF DONE RIGHT. Is using a frozen product not a good idea? I'm terrified to think that my dog would have to go through HGE again, it was awful for him...I know there are so many informed dog owners out there that visit this board and I would love to hear your thoughts on this...

Thanks,

Vanessa

Sorry, that you dog has been so very sick. No idea if the food was the issue.

I have few a homemade raw diet to my dogs (4 in all) over the last 6 1/2 years with no problems. My dogs go everywhere with me & are exposed to places that multiple other dogs have been in additonal to alot of widlife on the fields & woods that I work my dogs. I have very healthy dogs. But sometimes things can happen regardless of the care that we take. I am sure that there are others here that have fed raw for longer than I have with no issues, also. Many vets are very quick to blame just about everything on raw diets when they find that you feed that way. So it is questionable as to whether or not the raw diet was a contributor to your dog's illness.

I have occasionally fed Bravo premade with no problems. I haven't fed k9Kraving, but have friends that have feed it for years to all their dogs with no problems. I know that for many owners it is easier to feed a premade, since all the nutritional balance is already figured out for them. Is is posible that there was some problem with that particular package of food that you fed (ie. the store or supplier not keeping the food stored/handled properly etc) anything is possible. If you have feed it in the past, for extended periods of time, with no issues, it would lead one to believe that this may have been the case for that particular package. Is it possible to purchase it from another source if you feel that the handling was not proper? Or possibly consider feeding Bravo or another brand or start making a homemade diet? I'm not sure that I would, myself, be so quick to go to a kibble if I was in the same situation. I would even go to a homemade cooked diet before I'd choose kibble. But that's just me.

Connie, may have some additional info to add, or even Maren if she is around.

ETA....my dogs don't 'play' with dogs outside their pack. JMO

Sorry, correction on the above post ....I meant that I have FED a raw diet for 6 1/2 yrs.

Eating has risks. A dog can choke on kibble, kibble can be contaminated with bacteria or worse--(nobody's forgotten the melamine scare, right?) Nothing's 100% safe. Everything is a risk vs. benefit equation.

If I were in the same situation as you, I'd be looking to a home-made diet in which you control the quality of the ingredients and know exactly what's in it. That's one of the primary reasons I feed raw. Except for green tripe, everything I feed my dogs I would eat myself--it is all food sold for human consumption. I wouldn't want to outsource that responsibility to someone else whether they were making raw patties or kibble.

I'm sorry this happened to you--I'm sure it was scary. And who knows, you might feed these raw patties for the next 10 years and never have another incident. Or it might not have been the food at all--dog could have eaten anything off the ground. Everything has some risk. But the more you can control exactly what the dog is eating, the more risk you control.

Vanessa,
Aside from what the others have mentioned. You might want to try giving probiotics to your dog. It really helps to build up all the good bacteria in their gut and will help with times like these.

I not only feed a good quality plain yogurt, (5 or more strains) I also will feed probiotic powder from time to time, especially if they have had diarrhea as it will help get their gut back to health.
Sorry you are going through this, I know it isn't any fun, I hope your boy gets better soon!

Thanks everyone. Tonto came home about an hour ago and he is chipper and running all around the yard (so very happy to be free). It's rice and chicken for a few days and then I am going to try and incorporate the K-9 patties again a bit at a time. I have faith in the company that makes them,maybe I got a bad batch, or maybe it was handled improperly by someone or myself. Or maybe it wasn't the food at all. My vet did give me a probiotic, and I will incorporate one from now on. I can see her concern about the outside pathogens, but I can also see how any food can have those same risks.

My Jack Russell has had a few bouts of HGE. No fun and scary as hell the first couple times.

I'm sure you've read about it and know that it has a chance of recurring. Sucks, I know.

What I challenge you to do is find the trigger. Easier said than done, and you may find that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to this at all. Strangely, that can be comforting as well.

I initially thought raw had something to do with Turbo's HGE. If enough vets tell you something then you might start to believe it.

It took a few times of this happening before I found a link to something, but it turned out in the end to have nothing to do with food. His trigger is stress.

I can PM you with more detail if you want, but when I learned to manage my stress level better, these HGE episodes in him went away. I can't remember the last time it happened.:smile:

So if this should happen again, take note of everything. Recent meals, his mood, your mood, weather, whatever you think could be a factor.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you that this was IT, though.:wink: