Raw food - chalky pooh?

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letrec_fan

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I started the girls on NI complete minces on Monday night, so 4 ish days ago, and one of them went to the loo this morning and it was just like lumps of chalk/dust! I have read that the poo changes but is this okay? I was wondering whether to give her the occasional meal of muscle meat/RMB as well 1) for teeth cleaning and 2) so meals last a bit longer/bit more satisfaction of chewing up the meal because they sort of inhale the mince now because they like it so much. I think NI do lamb necks and says they are suitable for the occasional meal replacement - does this sound okay?

Thanks for any advice. :)
 
Okay, thank you very much. Also, on another note, as of about an hour ago, it seems we are (hopefully!) collecting a new addition to the family on Sunday from a rescue centre. She is a puppy, only 10 weeks old. Now I have the raw routine going, I suggested we just started her on the mince like the other girls - is this appropriate? I know people wean puppies onto raw, I just wondered because of upheaval of the journey etc would it be better to continue her on whatever food she is currently on for a few days and then switch or just go cold turkey?

Thanks again. :)
 
Okay, thanks. One more question about pup - NI page says 4-6% of body weight per day across 4 meals - do they mean 4-6% of ideal weight or current weight? Obviously we don't know her ideal weight as she is a crossbreed so no standard - is it just a case of trying an amount and then adjusting as necessary?

Thank you! :)
 
Excreta which has the properties of, as you've accurately described, Chalk Dust, or chalk bullets, will be because of an excess of fat, and or bones. The dog shouldn't come to any harm, but constipation may well be the result.

Excreta which you've described is neither normal, nor to be desired. Not here it isn't, anyway!

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
Excreta which you've described is neither normal, nor to be desired. Not here it isn't, anyway!

Alec.
Click to expand...

Personally, having a dog which merely farts a puff of dust instead of producing something wet I have to bag and bin is a very desirable trait in this household. :p

OP, I do personally mix up the diet a little if I find they are becoming too constipated - dry pellets are fine, straining to produce them is not, so if they're heading for the latter I will feed a muscle meat meal (beef mince with no bone, heart, lungs etc) or a rare kibble meal (Fish4Dogs with salmon oil or a tin of mackerel in oil on top).

Mostly it only happens in my boy dog as he grinds his 'recreational' beef bones down to dust and eats them so he's getting a lot more bone content than the bitch.
 
I feed on the bone meat and can now adjust the bone to meat ratio fairly accurately to get firm but not chalky poos (dogs are not hyenas!). I personally dislike mince except for pups as not appropriate for dogs with adult teeth and either very expensive or dodgy depending on source.
 
I am not sure this means medieval dogs had a good diet. I expect most of them ate left-overs, and that would mean bones. When I eat chicken that is what is left on my plate after all. On the other hand, we all know how fox poo comes, I really wish it was chalky!
Enough from me on this subject. Might go and do a bit of research on medieval diets, I am intrigued now.
 
My mum used to think we had a cheeky fox poohing in the field, it was the dog :p

I would actually say that dogs had a better diet years ago than they do now. As with our own food, a lot of stuff is bulked up with cereal (which dogs are not designed to eat) and water and has 'scientifically proven' and 'balanced' slapped on the label and that is good enough for us humans.

Our longest lived dogs were raised on leftovers and tripe and butcher's bones.

Without being too minging, I think we anthropomorphise dog poo - we think if it looks like what we think of our own idea of a healthy poo looks like, then it must be good and 'healthy' - we don't think that about horse poo!!
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the feeding amount ratio to weight, is the dogs ideal adult weight.
With raw feeding, it's so easy to adjust the amount, and they respond so much quicker eg losing and gaining weight. With kibble, I always found that it took forever to lose weight, but with raw, you can see the difference in a day or two. Obviously with a pupster, you don't need to worry about that!
 
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