I switched my dogs to raw food yesterday, and I heard some things about detoxing. One of my dogs is refusing to eat, so he's not any different, but one of my dogs is loving the raw food, and she's showing some symptoms. I couldn't find these symptoms online, so I wanted to make sure these are detox symptoms and not something more serious.

When I woke up this morning, I found watery poop all over the rug, and my shoe, by the back door. Also, there were a few chunks of poop about 4 1/2 feet high on the wall. I have NO idea how they got up there. I know it was the dog that is eating the raw food. She didn't get in trouble because it was diarrhea and she obviously had to go but my husband was at work and I was upstairs asleep.

Later, when she knew she wasn't in trouble, she went outside with the other dog to use the bathroom. I watched to see if she would have diarrhea again. She did. Liquid was coming out. While I watched, I saw kind of a reddish liquid come out that kind of looked like blood. I went and got a closer look once she was done. It DID look like blood, but usually blood makes poop look black, not red. As I was getting a closer look, the smell hit. It smelled like a dead animal that was beginning to rot. I decided not to do anything and wait to see if it happened again. Maybe it was blood from the chicken or from her anal glands or something. She seemed fine and happy for the rest of the day.

Tonight, when I got home from a class, my husband told me she had thrown up on one of the dog beds. I looked, and it looked like bile with tiny shards of bone in it. She still seems fine. I took them outside to use the bathroom and she jumped out of bed and ran downstairs with her tail wagging. She doesn't seem sick or in pain at all. I know watery poo is a detox sign, but I'm a little worried about the red liquid and the vomit with bone shards. As long as she stays healthy, I'm not going to worry too much. But I would be reassured to know it's normal and will get better once she gets over the switch to raw food.

My other dog is refusing to eat, so he's not having any symptoms at all that I can compare with.

Oh, and the dog is a beagle/min pin mix, about 28 lbs, and around 5 years old. And the animal of the week is chicken. Chicken legs, to be precise.

What other "cuts" of meat are you feeding? Dogs should be eating muscle, organ, and bones every day, not just one part.

There are many RAW feeders on here that can probably help you more.

I've never heard of "detoxing" off kibble. What an odd concept.

I think that you need to work on amounts; in general terms, since I don't know your dogs at all, I will suggest that over feeding can cause diarrhea. Also, some dogs do have a period of transition, sometimes about a week, that is their digestive system shifting over from the enzymes needed to digest the alien diet to those needed to digest the natural diet.

"Horking up" chunks of food is normal in raw feeding, especially at the beginning, when the eager feeder overestimates how big a piece she can swallow. Usually they chew the chunk into two pieces and try again.

I'll suggest that you do some research here: these people know more about raw feeding than I do.

http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://www.rawfed.com
http://www.rawfeddogs.net
http://www.rawfeeding.net
http://www.barxx.com
http://www.rawlearning.com
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/groups.rawf…

this isn't always the best forum for educated answers about a raw food diet.
some people who answered you are but you'll get a lot of people like you did here who don't have a clue and spout myths.
might try these 2
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding
and
http://dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet
i have heard of kibble de-tox, whether it was from different kibble or kibble to raw food, but not this way, usually it was things like temporary dulled coat, shedding, eye discharge, etc. but i wouldn't rule detoxing out, however i'd more likely blame this on either coincidence and the stool is not related to diet change (i would take a stool sample to the vet in that case) or maybe the chicken is enhanced (some brands like tyson chicken are awful with chemicals) or you should cut the skin and extra fat off (for now, until they're used to the raw diet more)

um..Im not sure i agree with some of the things Jon Attwood wrote..like chicken legs are 35% bone, that's plenty. feeding too much bone can cause diarrhea and/or constipation and possibly obstruction. and i always recommend 2.5%of the weight to feed. what you should do though is fast for 24 hours after diarrhea/vomit.

edit- I was told on rawfeeding's group that bones will disintegrate/turn soft right away in the stomach, except for steak cuts would be sharp enough to maybe cause injury.

Main reason I am answering is to debunk the respondent who said you must feed bone and organ every day – not at all true.

You simply need to hit the 80/10/10 guideline over time … I would recommend using one or two week periods as your guardrails.

The diarreah is not troublesome in and of itself

The red in the 'reah … since your dog is passing the food so quickly, maybe it is blood from the raw food itself? I suppose it could be blood from a bone shard related injury too, but I will defer to more knowledgable veteran raw feeders on that.

When I switched dallas and the boys (the pups have eaten raw forever) I did it just like I would have if I were switching kibble- I just combined the raw and the kibble for a few weeks to let their intestinal flora adjust. Some acidophilus or yogurt wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Please take your dog to a Vet as soon as possible. This could be serious. RED blood in the stool could mean something was perforated in your dogs digestive system. It is not true that raw bones can't cause injury. Some dogs swallow big pieces of bones that are sharp enough to do serious damage which is why some people should grind raw meaty bones for their dogs. Further, it sounds like your dog has a sensitive stomach. PLEASE see a Vet.

I really can't say if it's a detox response. Loose stools are common for the first few days, as is throwing up for some dogs. Bloody loose stools, I'm not too sure about. Check the chicken packages, to see if there are any enhancements (sodium level should be under 100mg). Try a different brand, maybe the source isn't good.

Ask on here; they know a plethora of stuff: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfe…

Good luck!

ETA: A few of these other answerers clearly have NO clue as how to feed a proper raw diet. Do not feed organs or any other protein other than chicken for the first few weeks. Do not switch slowly, as that will totally screw with the dogs' digestive system.

i dont have a clue, sounds messay!!

Nope, it's not detoxing. It's just the fact that your dog's body is probably not used to this type of food and is going into overdrive. Sometimes, the dog's body just hasn't started making the enzymes needed to dissolve bone and raw meat yet, because those enzymes have not been needed for eating dog food.

The red stuff in the stool is indeed blood. Dark black blood comes from in the intestines and is usually more serious. Red blood comes from broken capillaries in the colon when the dog strains when having repeated bouts of diarrhea. It is not as serious.

Regardless, you don't want your dog too stay like this, because it's not healthy. I had the same problem with my dog on raw. He never was able to eat bone without shards coming out in his poop, so now he gets raw meat and organs with Solid Gold bone meal powder. It is guaranteed to be free of heavy metals and contaminants, so it is healthy for them. I cut his meat into huge hunks so he still needs to chew hard to get it down, which cleans his teeth.

For a week or so, I suggest changing your dog over to rice and lean, cooked and rinsed ground beef or ground turkey, mixed with some bone meal (follow directions on the package). What I did was after the diarrhea stopped a bit, I kept the ground meat more and more raw, until it was totally raw. I still give a mix of rice and cooked organs along with the raw because that is easier for my dog to eat.

Also, if your dog is eating raw liver, especially chicken livers, she is going to get diarrhea. i would lay off the raw organ meats until your dog's belly is healed.

If you don't give the dog's belly a chance to settle down, you can end up with a dog with permanent colitis. it is not a good thing.

I wrote an article about how to stop doggie diarrhea quickly at the link below. Works pretty much every time. Hope this helps!

http://hubpages.com/hub/Guide-to-Stoppin…

Definite signs of strong detoxing… you may need to switch this pup over a little more gradually. Some dogs can handle a "cold-turkey" switch from kibble to raw overnight, and some need a little more easing into it. Go back to feeding what the dog is used to, but add small amounts of raw food to it. Gradually increase the amount of raw and decrease the amount of kibble. You don't want your dog to detox too hard… it is very hard on the body and the dog will start to feel very sick if too many toxins get released all at once. I experienced a strong detox when I switched myself over to a raw vegan diet, so my resolution was to go back to eating like I used to while gradually increasing my amount of raw plant food. It definitely made the transition a lot smoother and I would imagine it would do the same for your doggy.

Also.. I forgot to address the vomit. That is like because your dog ate too fast, it is not a detox issue. Try feeding larger hunks of meat that require your dog to rip, shred, and tear the meat apart. It will provide mental and physical exercise as well as keeping him from eating too fast.

Why in the world are you doing this to your dogs? More to raw feeding than just suddenly giving chicken legs – put your dogs back on what they were eating and switch over gradually if you must raw feed.

"Detoxing" sure doesn't include diarrhea – and red liquid can be blood, you need to take your dog to the vet, he sounds seriously ill.

There are a number of people here who raw feed their dogs and I'm sure they can give you advice, but anything as catastrophic to your dog as you describe needs to be stopped immediately.
Get your dog to the vet, go back to his normal diet, and then research raw feeding to be sure you do it right if you still want to go that route.

Are these raw food detox symptoms?

Tags: raw plant food, Weight Loss, diarrhea., bone shards

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