# Barf and poop...HELP! Slightly long.



## Gilly1331 (Apr 16, 2011)

So like an earlier post I started feeding both dogs a new diet last week. We started them on Royal Canin GSD in the AM and Raw for PM. In the am both dogs only get the dry food only about 1-2cups and at night get approx 1lb of chicken (eiter full wings, legs, half breasts all with bones) and depending on the weight of the chicken I added in some chicken gizzards, chicken hearts or slices of beef liver.) Some days at night they get a packet with just chicken in it and some days (I did 3 days this last week I believe with the extras in it). I have another week of chicken to make the transition and then will be adding in other rmbs into the mix at night. They do get pureed veggies mixed in this week its kale, celery, spinach and bean sprouts, along with plain yougart, olive oil, apple cider vinergar, whole egg/shell 3x a week, and sardines 3-5 days/wk. They also get a natural feed through powder for ticks with all natural ingredients. ALL of these ADD-INS they were getting on a regular basis for the last 6 months. They ONLY changes were the dry food and going half raw. Also we took them off flax oil/ground flax and added pure coconut oil instead.

MY CONCERN is their poop. I believe it is only my 14 month old male GSD but his poop is back to yellow mush again. Sometimes its formed yellow mushy poop and other times its just a yellow watery mess. I havn't gotten to watch my female yet she tends to like to hide when she goes so I don't know what hers looks like. I have found some smaller formed brown poops which may be hers. I clean the whole 2 acres every week and I try to keep track of what I see.

What can I do to fix this yellow watery mushy poop again?? We had SO many problems with both dogs and poop/food. Our vet tested them for all diseases and worms and they are 100% clean. I don't know if i want to do allergy testing or not. I'm not sure if it is the new dry food or the raw food that is doing this. We tried so many foods and never really found a happy medium before bwt poop/food. Most recently their poop was yellow/brown swirls but formed. We tried iams, beneful, totw, wellness, blue buffalo, purina, purina one pro plan, sciene diet.

I do plan on buying bulk from Omas Pride and another whole saler once we start adding different meats into the mix. Could it be the chicken that is causing this maybe a chicken allergy? Any help would be great!


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

Did they do a Giardia ANTIGEN test?

Oh, and how much liver are you feeding? I see you are feeding "slices." I would skip the liver completely (for now) and probably all of the extras (simple is best - keep in kibble and chicken only). Liver is really rich, and I would personally start giving a dog maybe 1/4 oz and SLOWLY increase from that point.  I would add the extras back in one at a time so you know if any of them are causing the poop issues (maybe too much oil?).

I would also not add any new meat protein sources until you have your dogs poop under control. 

And lastly, I put my dogs on a bland diet (boiled rice and cooked meat) until their poops are solid and then slowly transition back to their regular diet (which is raw).


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## DeeMcB (Nov 28, 2010)

I don't feed veggies at all but I have a couple thoughts that might be helpful:

1) It's common for chicken meals to make poop yellow. Fatty meals can lighten stool as well. In and of itself, no big deal. Output should equal input.

2) It's much too soon for liver. Liver is notorious for producing loose poop unless your pup's GI tract is adjusted to a raw diet (and sometimes even still). Lay off that for now. You can add it back in small amounts (miniscule amounts) after stools are consistent.

3) Consider giving some bone in chicken breast. Bone will help firm up the stool. 

4) Agree with mspiker03, stick with just chicken & kibble until things are stable.

5) RELAX! You're doing great!


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## DeeMcB (Nov 28, 2010)

Couple more things:

1) Just realized you changed the kibble at the same time. It might be easier on you if you got stable on kibble before you added in raw or vice versa. Changing both at the same time will make it really hard to pinpoint what's going on.

2) Forget the allergy thing for now. Nothing you've described above is uncommon for new raw feeders. Most all newbies go through a period of loose stools before they get stable. 

3) Could you be overfeeding between kibble & raw (also known to result in loose stool). My dogs get between 1.25 & 1.5 pounds of raw a day. I'm wondering if you're giving a pound of raw and 2 cups of kibble if that might not be too much?


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## Gilly1331 (Apr 16, 2011)

Thanks everyone. I'll back off on the liver. They had been getting liver for about 6 months once a week per the vet but I'll drop it for now. I asked my fiance to back down on the kibble since thats easier to control the amount of. Ill also stop the veggies for now until they settle in on the kibble/raw. My female was getting a bit chunky so I said to back off on the kibble anyways for her. My male gsd looks a bit skinny now he has always had the indent but I can see his ribs a bit more then usua when walking. l I should prob up either the raw or the kibble to just get that rib cover back.

Could I add in turkey to the chicken since its semi close to chicken? I have to order bulk as I only have about a week left of the raw chicken I bought and I was considering doing turkey necks/backs. 

The chicken they have been getting has ALL been bone IN. Breasts, legs, thighs, wings all have bone should I get more bones to add to it?

Would it also benefit them to add in a probios or something to help aid digestion or a vitamin? 

I want to thank everyone for being SUPER helpful during my change over to raw. Once I get it down and the dogs used to it we might try all raw once we find a good bulk dealer.


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

Other thoughts..
You should be weighing the raw food (you measure kibble, you should weigh raw). I agree that overfeeding could be an issue. I would NOT add any other meat protein source until you have their poops normal - I would stick with chicken. I would also consider skimming off some of the fat from the chicken (could be another trigger). Also, since you were feeding liver once a week - how much did he they get at once? I would not just back off for now, but would completely stop until you get the poop under control. When you go back, I would feed a little each day (starting off at 1/4 oz and slowly working up to see what amount starts causing loose stool - and by slowly I would probably incrase by 1/4oz each and give it a few days - better safe than sorry).

Also, I didn't catch this before...but switching between two kibbles cold turkey could also cause the poop issues you are having.


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## Gilly1331 (Apr 16, 2011)

I weighed out all the raw. I made 1lb (give or take a few oz) bags. I stopped the veggies completely and stopped the liver. One dog has great poop now for 2 days and the other has 50/50 some poops are great and others are yellow mush. I notice that the yellow mush is now only happening when we go out for hikes with my friends 2 dogs could it be the excitement/lake water now? When hes home and calm his poop has changed to normal now. Im going to keep watching and not add anything until we have nice solid/reg poops for a few weeks then start trying to add in.

Im gonna order a bulk of chicken backs from Omas Pride as I am running out of legs/breasts.


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

Chicken backs are pretty fatty and boney...you will need to add some more MM to the backs and I would probably skim some of the fat off, especially with the dog having poop issues.

Yup - could be lake water. I know they ran a fecal, but did they run the Giardia ANTIGEN test (there is another Giardia test, but make sure the Antigen one was run). I never allow my dogs to drink lake water (well, as much as I can help it). Could also be the kibble not agreeing with him - or the chicken. I would also try skimming off any fat that is on the chicken you are giving him. But honestly, the yellow poop makes me think giardia.


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