puppies and raw foods
Sorry for another raw food thread, but this didn't quite fit into the ones that were still open. I'm going back through some of the other raw threads for info., too.
I'm having problems with Oskar and raw food. He's 10 weeks old and still has his tiny baby teeth. I am feeding him Evo grain free, and was adding chicken wings so he could get used to eating raw. He loves them. The problem is, can't seem to tolerate them. He vomits if he eats them, and this morning there were rather big pieces of bone in his vomit. he also had some pooping problems last week, and they were worse when I fed him the ground chicken raw. So I switched over to cooked ground chicken and rice to soothe his stomach, which it did, but it is clear to me he simply is not able to eat the wings yet. Maybe he is going to have problems with chicken, who knows, though he seems fine when it is cooked.
It's a bit of surprise to me, because Toby (Shiba) ate chicken wings from 7 weeks old. My best friend's GSD has never eaten kibble, coming from a breeder who raw feeds, and he was also able to eat chicken wings quite young.
Not Oskar. So it's clear to me I need to wait, but what to feed him in the meantime? I could try some of the prepared raw diet stuff to see how that works (though god knows it is expensive, so I don't want to make that a permanent thing for him given how big he'll be). I can continue with the EVO, perhaps mixing it with the ground meat and rice which he likes and seems to do ok on (huge poops aside).
It's just been so long since I had a puppy, and I've not had a puppy that had this problem before, so I'm kind of at a loss....but clearly the bones are giving him problems right now.
Thoughts?
I'm having problems with Oskar and raw food. He's 10 weeks old and still has his tiny baby teeth. I am feeding him Evo grain free, and was adding chicken wings so he could get used to eating raw. He loves them. The problem is, can't seem to tolerate them. He vomits if he eats them, and this morning there were rather big pieces of bone in his vomit. he also had some pooping problems last week, and they were worse when I fed him the ground chicken raw. So I switched over to cooked ground chicken and rice to soothe his stomach, which it did, but it is clear to me he simply is not able to eat the wings yet. Maybe he is going to have problems with chicken, who knows, though he seems fine when it is cooked.
It's a bit of surprise to me, because Toby (Shiba) ate chicken wings from 7 weeks old. My best friend's GSD has never eaten kibble, coming from a breeder who raw feeds, and he was also able to eat chicken wings quite young.
Not Oskar. So it's clear to me I need to wait, but what to feed him in the meantime? I could try some of the prepared raw diet stuff to see how that works (though god knows it is expensive, so I don't want to make that a permanent thing for him given how big he'll be). I can continue with the EVO, perhaps mixing it with the ground meat and rice which he likes and seems to do ok on (huge poops aside).
It's just been so long since I had a puppy, and I've not had a puppy that had this problem before, so I'm kind of at a loss....but clearly the bones are giving him problems right now.
Thoughts?
Comments
I've read that some dogs have to 'learn' to eat raw because they are so accustomed to gulping down kibble as fast as possible.
There are some alternatives to some of the name brand raw foods if you're willing to mail order, or if you can find a butcher that will grind bones with your meat. Hare today or Oma's pride are a few sites where you can order some more simple ground blends. I'm curious how well he would do with ground meat.
Also, watch his teeth closely, enamel hypoplasia is a common issue in that breed.
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Foodwise, I think he does need ground bones at this stage, so I'll probably go with premade until he's bigger.
What is enamel hypoplasia? Will need to google that too, after I check out the parasite stuff...
I have not tried holding up drumsticks to get him to chew properly, but that's a good idea! I think it's kind of hard to tell exactly what is going on, too, due to the parasites....The first day he had chicken wings, he threw up some bits of bone, but it was just a little, and just little pieces, so I kept going with them, and after a couple of days, he seemed to be able to eat them ok (and his poop was even firming up), but then the poo got bad again, and I stopped, and when I tried the wings again (day before yesterday) he vomited fairly large bones. So it could be a combo of not chewing well yet, but also his digestive system is generally upset, which might make it more difficult for him.
I'll keep on easier to eat things through his treatment, and try the wings again after that.
@Brad: looked up the dental issues....I hope Oskar doesn't end up with that too! and you know, I bet that was what my GSD had! His teeth wore down terribly fast, and a couple broke....I see that it can occur from malnutrition and/or viral infections (among other reasons), and he was malnourished and had parvo as a pup.....I always thought that was what caused his dental issues...