Arnie has been having the occasional loose poo, and I have been uncertain what it was from. I have been experimenting with things and I think I have worked it out. He has been fine all day, after I fed him kibble, and then I gave him some BARF raw food for dinner and about an hour or so later he had a loose poo. How can a raw meal, which is supposed to be better for them than kibble, give him a bad stomach? I'm confused
I am feeding him according to the feeding instructions. But maybe it could be too much for him. Maybe I will only give him half the raw stuff. He has kibble for breakfast and lunch. Yesterday he had kibble for dinner as well and he was fine, but a raw dinner tonight upset him a bit. It is upsetting because I wanna switch to raw eventually, but if he can't deal with it how can I?
http://www.foothillpethospital.com/pet_info-fecalscoring.html How would you score him on the chart at the link? It helps to use the chart as what one person calls "loose" might not be what another thinks. I took this chart to both VEts when Oban was sick so we'd all know exactly what we were talking about. In my readings it's common to have loose stool (maybe a #5 or #6 on the chart) when starting raw. Since you are feeding BARF you could try cooking a larger quantity of sweet potato and using that for the vegetable component to see if it helps. Yes, you can feed one meal kibble and one raw. You can feed kibble and raw in the same meal. Some dogs don't do well with the two mixed and since your pup is having trouble already it might not be a good idea to try that right now. I agree as well, too large a meal can also be a cause of loose stool.
Thanks, @Snowshoe it is either a 5 or 6 on the chart. Maybe I should make the meal smaller then. I have been only giving him one raw meal a day so as not to make the transition so sudden, but I guess even that is too much. At least I know it's not because he's sick. He eats and drinks well, is full of life and energy, just some loose poo's every now and then
Coco had stools of 5-6 on the chart for several days after he had a couple of raw chicken drumsticks over his birthday weekend. I despaired after a bit and gave him some Logic Diar-Stop for 2 days which cleared him up. Belle had no such effect with her drumsticks - but she's always had a cast iron constitution. That was his first go at raw food. I only intended to give as an occasional treat.
