# Not eating or drinking



## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

I recently switched all of my dogs to a raw food diet. I bought a mixture of meat, bone and organs that are all blended together from a well known company. They have been on this diet for about a week and I did a test run with them a few weeks ago for about a week to see how they liked it.It has all been going well until today. My Border Collie refuses to eat or drink anything and had very bad diarrhea last night and today. Should I be worried or could this be that her tummy just isn't tolerating the food? My older German Shepherd had very dry almost white poo today. He had a chicken carcass for dinner on Wednesday (my collie did not) though so I am thinking that is why.

I understand that going to the vet would be the best option but she is terrified of the car and so I only want to take her if it is necessary as a trip in the car will cause her to regress after all of the training we have done for her nervousness and fearful behaviors.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

If the stool is very dry and white, you need to cut back on the bone. 
It's really hard to say when a trip to the vet is needed over the internet. If your concerned, it's time.


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## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

Saphire said:


> If the stool is very dry and white, you need to cut back on the bone.
> It's really hard to say when a trip to the vet is needed over the internet. If your concerned, it's time.


 Great thank you for the info. I am new to raw feeding so I wasn't sure how often I should be feeding bone. I think I will leave her of her food tonight and try feeding some cooked chicken in the morning. She happily went for a walk and even bribed me into playing ball so once she is not lethargic I am not overly concerned. However if she is still not eating tomorrow I will be straight to the emergency vet.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

My dog gets bone in every meal, it's combined with muscle meats and organ.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

It's actually very normal for them not to eat when they have digestive upset. Their instincts tell them that it is best not to further irritate an inflamed intestine with more food.
I would fast the dog for 24 hours.


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## Augustine (Nov 22, 2014)

By blended together I assume you mean it's grinded? That kind of removes one of the main purposes of raw, which is that they eat the whole, raw bones. It's good for their teeth.

Also, make sure you're feeding them all at a set ratio. (i.e. 55% RMB, 40% MM, 5% OM, etc.) you'll definitely have to take the time to find the right ratio for your dogs, but once you have a decent outline (for example, you really don't need more than 5% OM, and having more RMB than MM usually works best) it won't take too long to figure out the right ratio. 

It also helps to weigh everything as accurately as possible; I have a little digital scale I use when I cut up and portion Butters' meals, and she gets roughly 2.25 pounds of meat per day. 

There are a lot of good websites out there that can help you figure everything out to make sure you're feeding raw properly. I'd highly recommend some of these: 

- Raw Feeding
- http://puppybutt.weebly.com/uploads/7/6/9/2/7692088/beginners_guide_to_prey_model_raw_rv.4.1.pdf
- How to get started feeding a Prey Model Raw Diet - Raw Chat - PMR Articles - articles - Prey Model Raw


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

If I were switching a dog to raw, I would do it without the organ meat at first. I would stick with one protein source for a couple of weeks and see how they do and then add new ones one at a time to make sure they are ok. Organ meat (liver) is very rich and can cause some dogs to have loose stool. So, I would want to add that separately and start in very very small amounts and slowly build up. If you add too many things at once, it will be harder to tell which is causing the problem(s).


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Augustine said:


> By blended together I assume you mean it's grinded? That kind of removes one of the main purposes of raw, which is that they eat the whole, raw bones. It's good for their teeth.


I would disagree that keeping teeth clean is the main purpose of feeding raw. Many people feed a ground mixture topped up with turkey necks and some bone occasionally for the teeth.

The health benefits of raw overall would be the reason I feed it. The OP has been feeding chicken frames as stated in first post.


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

not eating is one thing (especially after a food switch), not eating OR drinking with "very bad diarrhea" would concern me enough for trip to the vet asap.


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## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

Saphire said:


> I would disagree that keeping teeth clean is the main purpose of feeding raw. Many people feed a ground mixture topped up with turkey necks and some bone occasionally for the teeth.
> 
> The health benefits of raw overall would be the reason I feed it. The OP has been feeding chicken frames as stated in first post.


your right the reason I switched was because of the health benefits. They also get chicken/ duck bones although my collie won't eat them she just licks them until her mouth goes dry


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## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

Augustine said:


> By blended together I assume you mean it's grinded? That kind of removes one of the main purposes of raw, which is that they eat the whole, raw bones. It's good for their teeth.
> 
> Also, make sure you're feeding them all at a set ratio. (i.e. 55% RMB, 40% MM, 5% OM, etc.) you'll definitely have to take the time to find the right ratio for your dogs, but once you have a decent outline (for example, you really don't need more than 5% OM, and having more RMB than MM usually works best) it won't take too long to figure out the right ratio.
> 
> ...


No it's not really grinded the bone is kind of chunky, however I feed them duck/chicken necks and carcasses once or twice a week also. I think I have the proportions worked out for each individual dog as I spent hours researching before I made the switch.

Thanks a million for the links! I'm still new to this so any articles I can read will help


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## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

mspiker03 said:


> If I were switching a dog to raw, I would do it without the organ meat at first. I would stick with one protein source for a couple of weeks and see how they do and then add new ones one at a time to make sure they are ok. Organ meat (liver) is very rich and can cause some dogs to have loose stool. So, I would want to add that separately and start in very very small amounts and slowly build up. If you add too many things at once, it will be harder to tell which is causing the problem(s).


Thanks for the advice! I will just stick with meat and bone for now and see how it goes before I add the liver. Also I know fruit and veg aren't necessary however my female shepherd is in love with veg she would happily sway veg for meat if she had too. Is there any fruit or veg I should not feed them? at the moment I add a few slices of courgette and pear to their dinners every so often.


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