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Bullmastiff puppy in pain after RAW diet

S

ShortestStraw

New Member
Hello all, I'm new here and the new owner of a beautiful 8 week old BM puppy. I decided to change over to the RAW diet and after reading up I decided to start with raw chicken wings. For the initial few days I was feeding him 3 times a day, kibble for breakfast, 3 wings each for the other two meals. Everything seemed to be going great until I took him out for a poo a couple of days after I changed to RAW (he had been pooing fine up until this point). He started to poo and then yelped loudly. At first I thought he had stood on something sharp, but he was clearly biting towards his tail. He kept trying to poo and was continuously yelping and biting at objects. I took him inside and the yelping and biting continued. I rushed him up to the vet having noticed he had what looked like a bone protruding from out of his anus. He was then sedated by the vet and sure enough a bone like object was removed. He would never have passed it on his own as it was too big.

Personally the bone looked too wide and flat to be a chicken bone, so I can't be 100% sure it was one, maybe it was something else that had taken time to pass through his system? something he ate at the breeders home?

But this has obviously made me wary in regards to giving him more bones. I can't go through that again as it was heartbreaking. The vet told me she has seen it before but it was rare.

I have since been feeding chicken breast and beef (no bones) as he now refused to eat kibble. I'm just scared to introduce bones again. When I was feeding the wings, I held them for him to ensure he didn't swallow them whole and chewed them instead.

Any advice would be appreciated?

Also I am in the UK and was wondering what you think of the following site? Each food seems to contain a nice balanced meal?
Puppy - Natural Instinct

And also this mixed RAW meal too....
Chicken Beef minced blend 400g - Natural dog food


Thanks
 
angelbears

angelbears

Well-Known Member
I have been feeding and following raw chats and groups for around 5 years now. While I do recall another instance, they too weren't certain that it was bone. I'm not 100% certain about puppies but when you first start feeding raw, your pups stomach acid is not as strong as it will be in a few weeks. I personally don't like wings. I mainly feed thigh and drums. I think breast would be best the first few weeks.

I don't have a great variety in the bones i feed. I try to get variety in with my boneless meats.

The bony meats I use are:

Turkey butts and some necks.
Chicken drums and thighs.
Pork ribs.

I'm sorry I don't know anything about the other foods. Go with what you are most comfortable with. Raw is not the end all be all.
 
QY10

QY10

Well-Known Member
Angus got a chicken bone stuck in his butt when he was a puppy. He yelped and it was painful coming out, but he managed to solve the problem. It has only happened that one time, too. It was definitely a bone in this case (my boyfriend inspected it thoroughly lol).

This site has a good piece on starting a puppy on a raw diet: Raw Fed Dogs - Natural Prey Model Rawfeeding Diet

If you shy away from bone for a bit due to this experience, the pup will still need to get calcium from somewhere. Bone broth or bone meal powder might be alright substitutes for a bit.
 
DennasMom

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
For a growing puppy, I'd either go back to a high quality kibble, or be ready to dive into Prey Model Raw, bones and all (don't forget organs, when the puppy's ready for those, too).

The pre-made ground mixes are good for variety, but I wouldn't want to base a puppy's diet on them, 100%. You don't know for sure what's in them (%bone vs meat, versus organs ... that second food you mention doesn't show any organs at all, so not a complete food).

Denna also had some boney poops... still does on occasion... if I give her too much bone, her system just shuttles the extra out without digesting it. So, pieces come through the back end. The rawfeeding groups I asked about it didn't think it was a problem at all (I'll feed just boneless meals for a day or two when I see she's had too much). For your small puppy, it definitely was a problem, so I would say, just feed more meat and less bone.

You only want the bone content to be 10% by weight (maybe a little higher when starting out, but not too much), and wings are about 50% bone, so you definitely want to add some bone-less meat and not just feed wings.

Mixing kibble and raw might also be slowing down the system's adjustments to eating the raw diet - the stomach needs to gear up to make more acid to digest the raw food - which is a good thing, as the higher acid in the stomach is better at knocking out bacteria and viruses before they become a problem.

Things you can do to make the transition easier:

* Start with a pre-made product with whole ground bone in it - ask the producer what the % bone content is, so you can adjust and add boneless pieces as necessary. Different pre-made foods I've asked about range from 6% to 30% bone, so you really do need to ask... or you may end up with a constipated puppy - even if the bones are ground.

* Whack bones with a hammer to break them up a bit so they're easier for the puppy to chew and digest.

* Give bigger pieces, so the puppy gnaws on them and bites off pieces that way (less prone to swallowing whole pieces that way).

The link QY10 posted is a great resource!
 
B

Beta Man

Active Member
You can always feed him ground chicken with the bones ground Up too until hes a little bigger. Eventually you want him chewing/eating the bones though
 
cj-sharpy

cj-sharpy

Well-Known Member
We are in UK too (lovely weather we are having eh)
Bones form an essential part of raw feeding but I'd steer clear of wings. The bones are just small enough to be swallowed with not a lot of chewing. As said above thighs and legs would be better.
Have a hunt about online for a supplier that provides minces including bone but remember to check the %. My suppliers chicken mince is 20% bone so we balance it out with a bone free mince for other meals.

I'd also stop feeding kibble altogether. The stomach acid need to be at a more neutral level, around 5ph I think, to digest the grains and stuff used in kibble and a mucher lower ph level to get the goodness from meat. So by feeding both his acid levels will be all over the place and he won't be getting the full benefit of either.

Where abouts in the UK are you? If your in the NE I can send you the names of some suppliers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
S

ShortestStraw

New Member
Firstly, thank you for all the replies, you have all been really helpful. As an update, Odin (his name) is now completely off kibble.

I have been feeding him the following meals (4 small meals a day, but I will move to 3 normal ones shortly)

Minced Tripe
Natures Menu Freeflow Frozen Minced Tripe Dog Food 2kg | Pets At Home

Chicken Mix
Natures Menu Freeflow Frozen Minced Chicken Dog Food 2kg | Pets At Home

As well as a few others, I alternate them so he doesn't get bored. The bone content is around 10%

His tummy seems to have settled now, so I plan to introduce him to some veg. I have a blender so I can blend a bunch of veg together and then mix it equally with the mixes mentioned above. I'm not sure about the organs though, do I still add them even though some of the meals contain liver etc

I also plan on giving him some chicken thighs this week, but I'm unsure as to how many to give him a week? I've read a few thighs each week should be fine combined with the ground bone and meat mixes above?
 
cj-sharpy

cj-sharpy

Well-Known Member
Ah I dont think the local lads deliver that far, Its a canny hike from sunderland haha.

We do te same with veg, once a week anything that looks a bit limp in the veg drawer goes in the blender. Quick tip if you freeze said veggy soup flat in freezer bags you get soup sheets that defrot in minutes or just snap them up over his dinner.

A chicken leg or pork rib here and there is great. I dont even count them towards his daily feed, just a very very good treat for good behaviour.

Lush looking pooch too.
 
cj-sharpy

cj-sharpy

Well-Known Member
There's a new supplier on a local raw feeding page called rawtdoor. They have a Facebook page and so far I'm only hearing good things.


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