Gross TMI question re: dog elimination & raw food diet

[ihugtrees]

I adopted my dog, who is 6 years old, a few months ago. His family said they switched foods all the time & he never had tummy issues. The first food we bought for him was Beneful, because it was what they had at the store we bought at, but got a small bag as we knew we wanted him on something higher quality. So, we started him on Canidae soon after. Since pretty soon after we got him (I can't remember if it was before we started Canidae or not!), he has had sporadic tummy issues. He throws up a few times a week and has diarrhea a few times a week. This is part of the reason I switched to raw a few days ago. Since he's been on raw, he's thrown up twice and had horrible diarrhea every time he's gone to the bathroom. Here's the gross part: it's mucousy or gelatin-ish, or totally liquid, which is different then the watery poop from before. However, his watery kibble poops were the ones that seemed sick, from the smell--these ones are not smelly really. He also seems like he has to go REALLY bad because he is whining frantically at the door and running to the part of our yard he goes potty in when we take him out. The family we got him from said he was totally healthy & had no issues, so I haven't taken him to a vet yet. Also, since it's sporadic, it doesn't seem like an ongoing medical issue.

He does eat all the food my daughter drops from the high chair...could this be making him sick? She eats mostly fresh fruits and veggies right now, with occasional cheerios or toast or yogurt that he may have gotten some of.

Should I take him off of the raw diet? Will his tummy adjust? Is this maybe normal for the first few days of the raw diet?

[greenmagick]

can definitely be normal. It can take a bit for the stomach to get used to raw. Are you only feeding one protein source? You may want to up the bone percentage and skin the meat..trim extra fat too.

Try adding some probiotics to help with the switch.

[ihugtrees]

There are probiotics for dogs? Or do I give him people probiotics? I don't even take probiotics regularly

[greenmagick]

They do have them for dogs I often just use people ones though. I do not give them regularly but when first switching a dog to raw I do...also after a course of antibiotics or bouts of diarrhea/vomitting.

[Ola_]

Mucousy poops generally just means that the digestive tract is irritated. You may also see a few spots of blood (should not be a lot though!) as that can also be a result of the same.

You said you've been feeding raw for a few days, so this is not that unusual. Some dogs are perfect from the first day of raw, some have an adjustment period. It's important to go really basic at first to try and prevent this. What are you feeding, how often, how much, how big is your dog?

[livinzoo]

Get some canned pumpkin (100% pumpkin NOT pie filling). Feed that to him along with the raw. His poops will get better formed. Slowly wean off the pumpkin and his stomach should have adjusted to the raw. Pumpkin works for runny or constipated poops.

[Miasmamma]

Purnia makes a probiotic for dogs specifically with diaherra. It's called Fortiflora. It comes in a powdered form that you sprinkle on their food once a day. My parents use it with one of their dogs. VetRxDirect is about the only place I've found it online.

[Ola_]

Personally I'd simplify the diet and troubleshoot that instead of adding more things into the mix. So:
- make sure you're not overfeeding
- remove organ meat, if any
- limit to a single protein
- remove skin/fat (only if none of the above help)

All of these can be causes for runny poops in new-to-raw dogs and the first three especially are what I recommend when you first transition to raw.