Chicken reaction or not?

[k9kreationz]

Bentley threw up the other day, I think, as a result of his raw meal. I think he does what Crouton's owner explained...eating way too fast. He still thinks we are going to take it away from him. So he chews a little, and gulps. I was thinking of trying a thigh instead of a drumstick. That way there isn't a huge piece of bone that can get lodged in his stomach and make him feel sick if he doesn't chew it correctly.

I'm surprised it's Miko I'm having issues with. He's not a big foodie like Koji. Have you tried the half frozen leg? Just wondering if that makes/made a difference.

I'm thinking it's eating too fast too. At one point, Miko looked like he was almost done, but then he dropped it and there was still about half a leg left. That's how much was in his mouth/down his throat. I was like, oh no, he's scarfing it down. Bad.

I gotta say (this is for anyone). The other night, I gave Miko some Honest Kitchen, he puked that up twice. LOL. Poor guy.

 

[marymrumfelt]

There's no reason to cut it up. I do cut up boneless meals when they get down to the last bit about the size of my fist because I know that she gets lazy with the last bit of boneless meals and doesn't chew it, but other than it's fine to leave food whole. When first feeding raw they don't think that it's their daily food and eat with gusto. I know with Crouton she ate like I was going to take it away at first but then as I continued feeding it and she knew it was a forever thing she calmed down a bit and now eats normally.

Couple of questions, how much food are you are you giving them? Is it appropriate for their body weight? (ex.2%-2.5%) Sometimes they will regurgitate food if they eat too fast (which sounds like Miko is doing) and it is not sitting well in their stomachs, it's really not a big deal. A lot of raw feeders I know including me will just let their dogs eat it back up again (no need to waste expensive food) then they re-chew the food and it stays in the stomach, if you're open to them eating throw up . I was watching my sister's dog and Crouton regurgitated her whole prey lamb into two neat even piles and before I could do anything about it they each ran for a pile and ate it up, each keeping an eye out for the other, lest their pile of vomit gets stolen. That time since she was eating a whole prey lamb I think she just ate too much. You would think by their teeth showing that the regurgitated lamb was like gold! But regurgitation is a natural thing and I would just let them re-chew and eat it back up, at first Crouton was weird about eating it back up because she thought she did a bad thing (based on my grossed out expressions, which I changed) and now she sometimes throws up because it's not sitting right and she eats it back and I just have to deal with clean up. But regurgitating only happened with us in the beginning because she was too excited about her food and ate really fast.

It was easier for me to start out raw feeding with bone in chicken breasts because the bone % is less than drumsticks or leg quarters and it might be easier on the stomach. Also you can feed their food partially frozen and that will slow them down a lot. That's great that you're not getting poop issues, give thanks for the little things

AH! I just realized you're the crouton who put up the pictures of the whole prey lamb.... Crouton is a blue merle right? I have Hadley the blue merle I responded to and showed you a picture!! Small world!

Yeah, if I freaked out every time my dogs threw up we'd be in trouble. I'm actually happy when they eat it back up as that just means they ate too much. Now if they didn't eat it back up is when I try to find out what I did wrong... which usually turns out to be giving them TOO much food like she said. I wouldn't think a leg is too much food by any means, however. Hadley will eat a leg in the am on bone days and then another 4 ounces of just meat a day... so I don't think that's it.

I think you're thinking the OP is feeding her dogs raw as a diet, but she's solely wanting to do it as a once a week treat for their teeth. I would probably stop feeding him any at all if you're not willing to do it enough to get his stomach used to it. I would imagine the back and forth of an appropriate diet to a processed diet is just too much for him. I would maybe try pigs feet as mine don't eat it as much but chew on it. I don't ever give it to them as a meal...

It's a good thing you guys aren't feeding an exclusively raw diet b/c when you start feeding boneless meat... that's when the problem comes in. Mine love to gobble their food down, choke it back up, and eat it again. And I give them pretty big pieces, always bigger than their head. This is just how dogs eat. They get excited, swallow, puke, crunch a bit, swallow, and sometimes even go through that routine again. We're just not used to seeing how they naturally eat.

 

[BarbV]

Oops! I missed another week in the "raw food experiment". Guess I've been a little distracted.

Tomorrow my plan is to feed the drumsticks agains, partially frozen, except more frozen than last time.

I'll let you know how it goes. So far I've had no problems with vomitting or poop. Just that the boys seem to scarf the chicken almost as fast as they do kibble.

Just does one do a Heimlich on a dog, anyway?

 

[marymrumfelt]

Just hit them on the sides if they appear to be choking or reach down their throat. Today hadley was eating beef heart and swallowed too big a piece and choked n i cld feel it stuck between her ribs!! She honked it back up and crunched it a bit better lol watch a youtube video also! Def know how to do it but with bone meals you prob dont have to worry.

 

[Crouton]

To answer some of your questions.

1. I think Miko may be scarfing it down because he gets it once a week (and no, I won't be going full-time raw). So that could be part of it like Crouton was doing at first too.

2. I give him one chicken leg. And he weighs 18lbs. Now granted though, it may be too much food for him, I dunno. I seem to on the lower end of how much I feed kibble compared to others (1/2c per day).

3. Not so much a big fan of allowing dogs to eat their own vomit. Besides, it smelled very sour (as in it was a lot of stomach acid, yuck).

4. Hmmm...chicken breast huh? You wrote to feed 2-2.5%. Of what? Their weight? So, Miko should be getting 0.35 lbs a day? I bet you that chicken leg weighs WAY more than that. Hmmm.....I feed their regular kibble in the AM, then feed the raw at night. Then feed kibble again the next morning. Is that too much food? Uh-oh.

5. My next feeding was going to be partially frozen, so he'd SLOW DOWN!!!


Thanks and I hope that answers some questions, and hopefully you can answer mine (about the amount). I'll also skim some more threads while I'm waiting for a reply.

1.2.and 4. Oh I overlooked that you were only doing it once a week so it doesn't matter that you give them 2-2.5% of their body weight as their daily intake. And a leg is great but just not as much of a challenge for teeth cleaning once a week purposes. You should give them some cuts of meat that are more challenging and take longer to eat, also producing more saliva lysozyme enzymes that help clean teeth. I would suggest pigs feet like maryrumsfelt also suggested, Crouton loves split pigs feet (tried whole but she thought they were too big for her mouth) or beef, elk, venison, pork ribs (Crouton gets 3 smaller ribs or 2 big ribs), pork necks are also good, beef tails left whole are excellent, anything with skin helps clean teeth as well (pork shanks are good and half a shank is a good amount for Shelties)

4. If you were to be feeding raw then the 2-2.5% is the amount you would feed of the dog's body weight. Crouton gets about 8 oz. of food a day. But you wouldn't need to follow this guide since only feeding 1x a week won't affect their weight drastically. I would suggest that on the days you give them raw don't feed them kibble, I think you might be feeding them too much. Also raw and kibble digest at different rates (raw digests faster) so this isn't great for digestion.

I think you can go back to kibble again the next morning.
5. Yes! partially frozen really slows them down

AH! I just realized you're the crouton who put up the pictures of the whole prey lamb.... Crouton is a blue merle right? I have Hadley the blue merle I responded to and showed you a picture!! Small world!

Geez! I remember! Hadley is so cute, she is a clone of Crouton! It is such a small world definitely.

 

[k9kreationz]

4. If you were to be feeding raw then the 2-2.5% is the amount you would feed of the dog's body weight. Crouton gets about 8 oz. of food a day. But you wouldn't need to follow this guide since only feeding 1x a week won't affect their weight drastically. I would suggest that on the days you give them raw don't feed them kibble, I think you might be feeding them too much. Also raw and kibble digest at different rates (raw digests faster) so this isn't great for digestion.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm writing the other things to try down. Not sure about the beef, because when I have bought him tail bones, it gives him a very upset stomach, and these are bones w/little meat on it. It was more as a chew.

Also, when I feed the kibble, I feed it to them about 12 hours apart. I don't feed anything 4 hours prior and after their raw meal.

I may have to cut their raw in half and give it to them as one meal, but twice in one day (otherwise they'll whine up a storm if they only get fed once....lol). I'll give that a try too.

 

[ClantyreSheltie]

Aren't tail bones really fatty? I haven't fed them, so I'm not sure.

You can try beef heart, trim the fat off, and just cube the muscle meat to feed. It's cheaper than regular muscle meat, and you can control the fat better. My dogs love it.

 

[marymrumfelt]

Aren't tail bones really fatty? I haven't fed them, so I'm not sure.

You can try beef heart, trim the fat off, and just cube the muscle meat to feed. It's cheaper than regular muscle meat, and you can control the fat better. My dogs love it.

Yeah, but does beef heart help in cleaning the teeth? I feed beef heart two times a week usually and yes, they do love it. but don't overdue it bc I've made Hadley puke before because it's so rich :/ Puppies have never had a problem though..

 

[ClantyreSheltie]

Yeah, but does beef heart help in cleaning the teeth? I feed beef heart two times a week usually and yes, they do love it. but don't overdue it bc I've made Hadley puke before because it's so rich :/ Puppies have never had a problem though..

I think anything that isn't kibble help keeps teeth clean.

When I was feeding straight raw, I had very little issue with "richness". They could have whole chunks of liver or heart without any issues. As long as there was a bony meal the next day, life was good. I can't wait to get back to it.

 

[marymrumfelt]

I think anything that isn't kibble help keeps teeth clean.

When I was feeding straight raw, I had very little issue with "richness". They could have whole chunks of liver or heart without any issues. As long as there was a bony meal the next day, life was good. I can't wait to get back to it.

Well, agreed anything that isn't packed full of sugar and starch and everything else inappropriate for a dog is better!!

I haven't had any problems with the puppies as far as richness but man, I've made Hadley throw up twice... lol and she didn't eat it back up so she wasn't feeling too hot. However, she eats whole meals of pork heart, duck heart, and chicken heart with no issue whatsoever. So maybe it's just the beef?! Either way it's good floss for them!