Pork...

tsukitsunetsukitsune
edited July 2008 in Food, Nutrition, & Health
This is a RAW question:

We;ve been 100% RAW since 7/10/08 and we've had nothing but awesome results - shinier softer coats, evenly distributed energy and most of all healthy, smaller, firmer stools :))
We fed chicken (RMBs, meaty meat [which includes heart/gizzard], liver) for the first 6 days, and incorporated whole raw eggs around day 4 with the chicken. we are also giving solid gold seameal and a probiotic.
On day 6 we introduced jack mackerel and turkey, all went well.
Yesterday we gave them pork, let them chew around the bone but took the bone away after 10 mins and they didn't eat it. Then Kitsune and Hachi both had pretty bad runny stools late last night, and Hachi had her first accident this morning with runny stools.
We gave them both canned pumpkin last night and this AM hoping it will help.

Why did that happen? Too much different protein sources too soon?
Is pork something that most dogs cannot make a meal (w/o bone) out of?
We chose to do pork last night b/c it was after turkey necks (very boney!) and before a organ/chicken parts meal tonight so they would not be w/o bone for too long.

Comments

  • brandon_wbrandon_w
    edited November -1
    I'm not sure if pork is usually part of a raw diet. However, it is possible that you may be varying things too much. When you are doing raw, not every meal needs to be completely balanced. From what I have always read it's a "balanced over time" type thing.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited July 2008
    pork can be a part of the raw diet, but the meat itself is notoriously fatty which is why we started with chicken and moved to pork, but I guess we moved too fast (13 days since we started RAW).

    Ultimately, I want to give them a diet that is more natural and biologically correct to their size (and origin I guess). Per their size, I think chicken, turkey, fish (trout, bass, mackerel, sardines, smelt) and pork would be OK base proteins and I wanted to incorporate beef parts and organs, especially RAW tripe, and maybe an occasional whole carcass rabbit and goat here and there.

    Not every meal has to be balanced, but I guess each individual dog has their own needs for each meal, and I think perhaps Kitsu and Hachi aren't as ready for semi-gradual protein changes as Tsuki and perhaps they need more bone in every meal to keep stools solid, whereas Tsuki can go either way I guess. I also have to remember that what we see in the stool should reflect what went in as they are digesting much faster (like 4-7 hours total digestion compared to 12-16 hour kibble digestion!)

    This is all so new to me, and even though I have my research and my binder and my calculations I'm still so nervous to forget something or really screw it up! Its a lot harder than relying on kibble but I'm really glad to be doing it for them. The proof is in the dog, I can see the benefits.
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    hmm... I have no idea, maybe the pork was just too fatty and rich for them???

    One thing about pork - it can have worms... so make sure you freeze it for 48 hours before you feed it, that supposedly kills the worms.

    Also - to your point about feeding them a diet that is more "indigenous" to them... Pork is probably a good choice since most of the Nihon Ken breed hunted Boar and it was a major source of food for the native peoples. So Shiba they would probably eat pork a lot back in the day. That's my thoughts anyway.

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  • zoiegirlzoiegirl
    edited November -1
    I've never fed pork except neck bones and i freeze them forever because of the trichinosis though rare it still freaks me out.

    I agree it was probably to fatty
  • LeonbergerLeonberger
    edited November -1
    Not all pork is too fatty. Actually there are some breeds of pig that have leaner meet than beef. Just be careful about parasites like tapeworm.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    thanks all!
    we took a few steps back, and last night gave them parts of a whole chicken fryer that I hacked with my cleaver.. and this AM their stool was pretty much back to the new normal - small and firm!

    we'll be waiting to reintroduce pork for a few more weeks and then we'll be doing it very slow in proportion to their actual meals.. we might actually wait until after the beef intro goes well but definitely before whole rabbit.

    this raw diet is way too much fun.
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