Raw (Poop) Questions

[Swissy Mom]

Okay, today is day 3 on raw for Cash. He really likes it. He takes his time, chews nicely and doesn't have any inclination towards resource guarding at all. This is all good.

Now, let's talk poop...He's been getting chicken leg quarters. Yesterday he was quite runny. He even woke me up at 4:30 this morning (something he has never done before) to run out in the rain and have some very runny poop. I have increased his bone intake a bit just for now to see if that helps. His poop is more firm today, though still a bit runny at the end. Just a few minutes ago he left a pile with a bone in it....not a whole bone, but a piece of bone which looked to be that rounded end piece off of a leg.

So my questions:
1) Is the runniness probably just because it's new and will correct itself with time? Would a little pumpkin or something maybe help?

2) Is it normal to have some pieces of bone come back out looking essentially just like when they went in?

Thanks for your help!

[Terry]

He is going through the detox phase. This can last up to a week or so. You will soon see his poop really firm up. I wouldn't be too concerned about uping his bone at this point.
Yep, it is normal to have bone in their poop. No worries.
The beauty of raw poop, that within 24 hrs it turns white and if stepped on, turns to powder. I haven't picked up poop in a year. yea me!

[sam.i.am]

The runny poop will definitely get better. If you are not de-fatting or de-skinning the chicken, you can try that to help keep the oils down and produce solid poop.
My dogs have taken more than a week to acclimate to chicken when they first switched. I keep them on this simple diet for a couple of weeks. Then, I add a quarter-sized piece of liver and then inch my way up when each level is shown to be tolerated.

Bone in the poop is normal at first. It should go away after your dog's stomach is used to digesting bone. It takes a lot more acid to digest bone than kibble, so they have to get that in order. Bone in poop of a dog who has been eating raw for a while is not really normal, ime. But, for now, it's totally normal. He may also throw up bits of bone if he's not able to digest them. That will also go away soon.

Poop should look firmer after a couple of weeks. Adjust for poop that is solid but not dried out. Dried out poop causes too much strain and is a sign of too much bone. It should also diminish in size compared to most kibble poop.

It sounds like you are doing well.

[Swissy Mom]

Thanks Sam and Terry! My gut said we were doing fine, but it's so nice to have confirmation. I really didn't up his bone much at all, but I won't worry about it anymore. We'll stick with just the chicken leg quarters for a couple weeks for sure before we add anything else. I am removing skin and excess fat for now and will probably continue to do that until we get good poops. He did throw up a small pile of bone fragments last night, but I figured most of this stuff is just his body adjusting.

I am looking forward to poops that disintegrate!

[ToBScholarly]

I agree with everybody.
Although occasionally I do still see bone in Reggie & Maxine's poop and they have been on raw for between 1-2 years. Although it should be said that Reggie often times tries to swallow the chicken whole rather than chew. So when he poops it out, it still may be considerably less bone than when it went into his belly.
They both also puked up bones for awhile when they first began too. That is a fun clean up. Neither of them have done that in many many months however.

Good luck!

[Itsapyr]

I was going to suggest taking the skin off or at least part of it off until he gets used to it.

[AkNeoLover]

Tinker was weaned right onto ground raw, so she has never had a problem with the bones, but Troll... well, he was a very picky eater and had soft poops for about a week. And like Jodi said, we still get a few bone pieces in the poop, but nothing I would really worry about. Just wait till he "liquidates his assets" and then gobbles it back up...ummm, yeah - grossness. Glad Cash is taking to the raw diet!!

[Swissy Mom]

Oh! The smell when he pukes up bone fragments!! Ewwwwwwwww!!! He has vomited a small pile of bone fragments last night and tonight... at 10:30 both nights. He eats at 8:00am, 1:00pm, 6:00pm and 11:00pm so I don't know why he only does it at 10:30, but the smell is just awful! I'm hoping that this is a passing trend.

Also, on a funny note, since he started raw 3 days ago, I have had to pick up all of the stuffies because he keeps trying to eviscerate them. I'm sure it is a coincidence, and it's kinda funny, but since he likes to eat tags and stuffing I have put them away for the time being and left him only things like kongs, antlers and other relatively indestructable toys.

[sam.i.am]

Those bony pukes are awful and they definitely pass.
The chicken quarters are fairly high in bone content and it is tough to digest them, so there is just extra bone.
Is he getting 4 chicken leg quarters a day?

[Swissy Mom]

Well, he gets about 2.6 lbs of chicken per day. Since he is still young, it is hard to know what his ideal adult weight will be. He is 80 lbs at 6.5 months so I calculated for a 130 lb adult weight. Since the rule is 2% of ideal adult weight that is 2.6 lbs/day. So, it depends on the leg quarters, I cut them apart if needed to get him the right weight in food. He looks skinny right now, but it's only been a few days. I'll make adjustments as needed to keep him looking good. I plan to take him to 3 meals a day before too long, but I didn't want to change the schedule and the food at the same time.

[sam.i.am]

That makes sense.
If his poop gets solid after a week or so and he is still puking bone bits, you can try to supplement boneless meat in place of some of the bony stuff. But for now, it sounds like he is just adjusting to digesting bone. It takes a bit of time to adjust. Since he's so young, he'll probably adjust pretty fast, though.
Oliver was switched to raw as an older guy and his adjustment took a while, but puppies are much quicker (I've heard) and that was my experience with Delilah. We got her at 6 months and switched her and she was fine really fast. Although, she did puke a little bit for a week or maybe two (not every day, but here and there). Now (after almost 7 months) she is soooo rock solid. Actually, she was rock solid with all raw food after that short adjustment period. I hope Cash feels good and adjusts really quick.

Their growth spurts change so much that it's hard to adjust up and down for those. Delilah has fluffier fur so it's harder to see her exact form, but maybe with shorter hair, you can see when you need to adjust Cash's intake better. Delilah doesn't need anywhere near the amount of food she used to now that she is a year old.

[Bigdogs]

I'm not feeding raw (yet) but thanks to Jodi I am feeding my dogs a high quality food now. I still pick up their poop but if I leave it a couple days longer it turns to powder instead of a sloppy mess. I think I just pick it up out of habit (and for my husband) but I don't think I really need to anymore. Thanks Jodi!!

[Swissy Mom]

Okay, we have achieved solid poops the last couple days. Tiny, tiny poops though. He used to leave about 6 piles a day, now it is just 2 itty bitty ones. I expected smaller poops, but I think my friend's chihuahua produces bigger piles....normal? Also, he is drinking a LOT less, but I assume this is because fresh meat has a high moisture content? He is still peeing normally, though maybe a little less frequently. Sound okay? I know you guys probably think I'm nuts for worrying about every little detail, but this whole raw thing is so new to us and I just want to be sure we get it right.

[mezmerelda]

Yup, all normal and ok.

[Swissy Mom]

YAY!! Thanks for the reassurance Mez. I am really liking this. It is so easy and he loves it (he was never excited about kibble.) I love not having to do poop patrol all the time and the yard doesn't smell like poop anymore. Before, he created so much that even though we cleaned it up the yard was never "fresh."

[Itsapyr]

The change in the amount of water these 2 drink was one of the biggest things I noticed. I used to fill up a huge water bowl x3 a day and now they hardly drink one.

[ToBScholarly]

Yup, way less water, way less poop. And they do not need their anal glands expressed. At least mine don't. I still have to clean their teeth occasionally though. The bone chewing doesn't clean them entirely.
Glad it is working out well for you!