Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The Road To Raw, Update

Frustrated :(
That sums it up, the first 3 weeks went so well, but now Kort has had soft stools, diarrhea, sometimes with mucous for the last 3 weeks or so, maybe longer.
I am trying so hard to be positive, but at this point it is hard. Today I am going to pick up some digestive enzymes, I feel he may need some help digesting his food which could be his problem.
I am still reading & making my own judgements as to what is best for Kort. I think small amounts & veggies & grains are ok, he has had some acorn squash, & some quinoa, but the main staple of his diet has been meat. I just have to find something he can eat without it going through him !
It was suggested to me he should get more bone, he gets bone in his Urban Carnivore Meaty Bone patties but it is ground up. So, I tried giving him chicken necks, & some Bison bone, all he got was diarrhea again :(
So this is where we are for now, just wanted to let everyone know we are still trying :))

7 comments:

colleen said...

Hey Jo - It's me, Colleen...creepin on your blog!

I feed Ollie raw and it was a struggle at first. We saw a homeopathic vet in North Vancouver and this is what works for us...for what it's worth!

He doesn't do well on poultry - chicken or turkey. Lots of mucous and blood happened with poultry. Ostrich was ok, but it's more of a red meat. Bison, lamb, beef, elk, venison, all very, very good. We like the Red Dog, Blue Cat the best because of the juiced veggies. They carry it at Tailblazers. We really liked Club Canine when we were out in BC but I don't know if you can find it here. Both of those brands were highly recommended by the homeopathic vet for having high quality ingredients in the right proportions of meat/organs/veggie. 3P was another they suggested.

Ollie does okay with the occasional chicken neck, but for the most part I keep him on elk/buffalo neck kind of raw bones. Because he doesn't get poultry and therefore no bone, the vet had us grind up eggshells in a blender and sprinkle it on the raw food for calcium. He is also on a multivitamin called Vetriscience Canine Plus (you can get it through the vet) and a digestive enzyme called Prozyme because he does have gut troubles. And cold pressed salmon oil too.

I'm no expert and have only ever done raw with Ollie, but I really like the raw diet so hopefully you can find something that works for Kort!

Joanna said...

The more stuff you introduce, the longer the loose stool persists. The problem with starting a dog off with raw using one of the pre-mixed patties is that then they have to deal with all kinds of stuff at once and they don't have the right preparation for it. I start them on raw chicken backs only - no veggies or anything else for the first couple of weeks until the stool is normal. Then I introduce some organs, just a nibble at first and then a quarter-pound or so, and very slowly introduce veggies. They're off kibble cold-turkey but they don't get the full diet for a good month or six weeks.

The good news is that If he's pooping on a relatively normal schedule, just loose/jelly-ish, then in my experience (switching 20+ dogs) it'll go away on its own as his gut learns to digest stuff. But the more ingredients he has to learn at once, the longer it'll take to resolve.

Squishy said...

0 carbs.......................

Jenny Glen said...

OK - if we are talking colitis, I am your girl! My Hemp has it bad. He can't eat regular food - not raw not not nothin' unless it is high in fiber. HIGH in fiber, like 15% when most foods are at 3%. I can do one of two things, either I can feed him a cup of an RX diet that is high fiber mixed with regular food of my choice - however, the high fiber food won't allow him to gain weight and it's difficult to get when we travel over the border. SO since you are thinking of adding a supplement, may I suggest Dr. Kruger's Every Day Health formula http://www.drkruger.com/cat-and-dog-food-nutritional-supplements.htm
I am not big on supplements and Hemp gets horrible bloody diarrhea (uncontrollable pure blood) if he isn't on high fiber so I had to have someone give me a sample before I'd try it. It worked like a charm. He can eat any kind of food as long as this is mixed in. It's really wonderful - it has some digestive enzymes and pro-biotics in it. A vet invented it for GSDs with garbage gut and I think it's amazing. I have never had to resort to steriods or flagyl to control his problem.

onecollie said...

thanks everyone!, such great suggestions!!
Jenny, I will check out that supplement too !

Juliette said...

Poor Kort, came back to see how he's doing. I believe in homeopathic remedies too. When my westie got sick and the vet wanted to put him on steroids, I did much research online and said no to the vet and yes to homeopathic. Worked well. Hope Kort gets better, at least he seems to be enjoying himself!

keep your dog safe with a dog seat belt

Rena said...

Hi there, I had the same situation with my Whippet. He had diarrhea the frist two years of his life. After trying different kinds of wormers, tests at the vet and meds from the vet and raw I found a solution. I started boiling potatoes for him. I mixed them up with his food and it firmed his stool right up. I still need to be careful. If I change his diet at all he gets bouts of diarrhea again. Good luck with your guy.