# Help! Solid month on raw and nothing but wet stools!



## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

I adopted my gsd from a rescue in early May and he was being fed the very basic kibble. I switched him to raw diet right away. I can tell he loves eating raw. 


Problem is that he doesn't constituently have hard stools. 90% of the time it's wet stools. Several weeks ago I came home to two big piles of diaherra on the carpet. 

I've tried pumpkin but that only seems to help little. I've been feeding him chicken and nothing else. I don't know what to do. 

Please help. I don't want to switch him back to kibble but I don't know...


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Have you had him checked for parasites? What exactly are you feeding (other than chicken and pumpkin)? Whole chicken? Leg quarters? Any organ meat?


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

How much bone are you feeding?


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

Had him checked for parasites and he came back clean. 


I did try some organ meat and it just seemed to make it worse. 


So right now I take a whole chicken, cut it in half down the middle neck to end. Then I take each half and cut it in half. He gets one half in the morning and the other at evening. So half a chicken a day. No organ meats


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

Should I try pro-biotics?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Yes, get some probiotics/digestive enzymes and or raw fresh(frozen) green tripe. Have you looked at the raw forums for balances and portions?


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## Mrs.P (Nov 19, 2012)

Over feeding can cause loose stools


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

Mrs.P said:


> Over feeding can cause loose stools


I'm kinda worried I might be under feeding him. He is at 56 lbs


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

Forgot to mention that usually he drops stool twice a day, in the morning and Evening. If he doesn't at evening he usually wakes me up at around 2 or 3 am to be let out. This really messes up my schedule caused have to be up at 5 am 


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## lmuns349 (Mar 22, 2012)

I'm having the same issue with both our dogs... We switched back in April and I never feel like the stools are the way they are supposed to be. Wet, a lot of the times runny... We've tried pumpkin, give yogurt every day, tried less OM... Can't figure it out  it's worse for our senior dog... I'm wondering if we should just switch her back to kibble... But coat, doggy smell, breath, teeth, etc. have all improved with raw! I just hate seeing them have digestive issues.... It can't feel good.

I'll be following this post to see if you have any improvements... Good luck :/


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## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

My girl has loose stool on chicken quarters, she needs necks or backs to keep it firm. If I overfeed the necks and backs then its like shes pooping croutons it looks so dry. It may be my dog but I never wake up to let her go, she stays in the crate fine if I sleep in also.


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

lmuns349 said:


> I'm having the same issue with both our dogs... We switched back in April and I never feel like the stools are the way they are supposed to be. Wet, a lot of the times runny... We've tried pumpkin, give yogurt every day, tried less OM... Can't figure it out  it's worse for our senior dog... I'm wondering if we should just switch her back to kibble... But coat, doggy smell, breath, teeth, etc. have all improved with raw! I just hate seeing them have digestive issues.... It can't feel good.
> 
> I'll be following this post to see if you have any improvements... Good luck :/
> 
> ...


Yeah and he seems to enjoy chomping down on the chicken so much more. He teeth look better and his coat! 

I don't want to switch him back to an high end kibble. I would much prefer to stay on raw if I can figure this out. 


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## FoxyMom (Feb 9, 2013)

Have you thought of the possibility that he may be allergic to chicken? It's not unheard of. Maybe try a different protein source and see if that helps. Just a thought.


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

Try some prepared or dehydrated raw, if you are sure there's no parasites or anything.
Some petfood stores have prepared raw in a freezer section, and I like The Honest Kitchen, it's dehydrated in case I forget to thaw something out.

suggested portion sizes are on the package.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Try adding a couple of chicken necks to each meal and see if it makes a difference.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I would check him again for both coccidia and giardia (the latter can be tough to find). Adding probiotics and/or digestive enzymes are also a good idea. You should also look into other protein sources like maybe turkey or rabbit. Like chicken there isn't any part of the rabbit he can not have though I have had a couple of dogs over the years that won't eat it (they will eat the wild ones, but not the domestic). It is possible that he has an issue with chicken. 

I would also thoroughly wash and rinse off of the chickens if you haven't tried that. Some are packaged in a broth/brine that he might be reacting to.


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

FoxyMom said:


> Have you thought of the possibility that he may be allergic to chicken? It's not unheard of. Maybe try a different protein source and see if that helps. Just a thought.


Think I am going to try some turkey and see how he does


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

I only had time to go grab a bottle of kefir from the store. Says it is probiotic with 12 species of microbes. 

Might go by petco tomorrow. I don't live in a big town so my options are limited except for the Internet 


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## Nyx (Sep 25, 2012)

I know that the skin can cause runs too.

Dante get runs now an then. I have to balance out his Muscle Meat and Bony Meat; also too much Organ meat makes him runny as well.


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## GatorBytes (Jul 16, 2012)

I vote with the digestive enzymes (pancreatin type),

possible parasites - some on here have used non toxic "Kocci free" with great success.

Could be fat intolerance (so enzymes again - pancrealipase) Bert's blend has a good one that also has L-glutamine (excellent for healing the villi in the GI tract to repair leaky gut)

Slippery elm - tea or capsules

probiotic (I think the bert's blend is also probiotic)

Strip the fat off


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

Just a thought - if you've been getting chicken from the same place or source, try a different store with a different brand.


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## David Taggart (Nov 25, 2012)

Besides drinkable yogurts get him one or two small chewable meaty beef bones just to try, he might have stopped digesting chicken protein, such thing can happen. Normally chewed mass of the bone harden the stool. Push 5-6 garlic cloves into his throat in case it is intestinal infection, garlic also will remove some worms if any new appeared.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

56 lbs? How were his stools prior to starting raw? Were they soft? 

In addition to Lisa's advice below, I would look into EPI



lhczth said:


> I would check him again for both coccidia and giardia (the latter can be tough to find). Adding probiotics and/or digestive enzymes are also a good idea. You should also look into other protein sources like maybe turkey or rabbit. Like chicken there isn't any part of the rabbit he can not have though I have had a couple of dogs over the years that won't eat it (they will eat the wild ones, but not the domestic). It is possible that he has an issue with chicken.
> 
> I would also thoroughly wash and rinse off of the chickens if you haven't tried that. Some are packaged in a broth/brine that he might be reacting to.


Also, you are feeding the whole chicken but maybe he still is not getting enough bone? Maybe add an extra wing in with one of his meals.


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## boomer11 (Jun 9, 2013)

when i started my pup on raw i tried feeding extra bone, bland diet of cooked chicken and rice for a week, pumpkin, etc and nothing worked. my pup still had soft stool. after 2 weeks of soft stool i then fed him green tripe for his dinner. the next day his poop came out firm and in little balls. no longer was it just long goofy strings of poop but a couple of neat balls of poop. the tripe really cleaned up his stomach. i basically feed a chicken quarter in the morning and heart/gizzard in the evening. his poop has been really good ever since feeding him that tripe. im going to start feeding him tripe once a week now just to keep those good digestive enzymes in his stomach. i couldnt find fresh tripe so i got the canned tripett brand. man it stinks so bad! it smells and looks like dog crap but my pup gobbled up an entire can without looking up.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

First of all answer these questions:



How old is he?
How much does he currently weigh?
Is it a GOOD weight (can you feel his ribs by LIGHTLY rubbing his side but no see them)?
How much - in POUNDS and OUNCES - are you feeding?


Saying you feed a 1/4 of a chicken is not going to work. I can get chickens at the store that vary in weight from 2 pounds to 10 pounds! That is a BIG difference in the amount of food a dog gets each day.


Also - a whole chicken is high in muscle meat (the big, fat breasts) and low in bone.


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

Update

So I cut back on the amount of chicken and added kefir to both his meals -morning and night


He is 60 lbs. So I now have his meals at about 1 lbs. 


He ended up having solid stools as soon as I made the switch but I'm not sure if its the kefir or less chicken, or both. 


But now a new problem has arisen: he hasn't a bm in the past 3 days! He hasn't even attempted to go! 

He acts fine and seems like nothing is wrong but not having a bm for 3 days?? This can't be right....?


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Canned pumpkin will help move things along.

Please look at my post and respond so we can be sure he's getting the right amounts.


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

Scratch that last one,

He ended passing stool on a walk. Good size but solid and firm. Not wet nor runny. I was so happy and relieved 


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## RoyalRailer (Nov 4, 2012)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> First of all answer these questions:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


1. He is almost 3. 

2. He is around 56lbs (not pure gsd but good majority. I adopted him from a gsd rescue) 

3. I can feel his ribs pretty easily. The vet thinks he should just be around 55-60 lbs because he has a ligament problem on his right leg that is going to require surgery in the winter time. So his vet doesn't want him to get any heavier to prevent wear and tear on that leg/hip

4. Well I don't have a food weighing scale, yet, but I roughly estimate I was feeding him about 3-4lbs before I got on here and asked for help


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