hopenfox

Was it diarrhoea or just runny poo? When my dogs have runny poo (nearly always caused by too much fat or too much of a new food), I usually fast them for a day, then start them off with smaller amounts of (raw) chicken with the skin removed...that's always worked for us. I've never tried SEP, but have long intended to have some on hand - just haven't got around to it yet. I've heard it works really well by coating/soothing the digestive system...

Have you changed the time/s you feed him recently? Sometimes bile vomit happens when a dog's stomach is empty and the digestive system is preparing for food, then when it doesn't arrive on time all the unneeded bile/swallowed saliva is brought up. Just a thought... Maybe change the time you feed his last meal the night before to a little closer to his bed time?

Nicky, my Cavalier, started getting very old when he was around 7. By the time he was 8 he was affected with arthritis in his neck, back and legs and was so stiff and slow. He was also going blind, had lost a lot of hearing and showed the beginnings of Cushings Disease. He slept all day and his walks that used to be for many blocks, were reduced to up the road a bit at a snails pace and back. Then everything changed when I brought 4 month old Hope (Koolie) home - Nicky came alive and that afternoon on the walk with Hope, he practically galloped, head and tail held high around an entire block trying his best to impress her. We also added Apple Cider Vinegar to his meals which practically ended the stiffness and pain of his arthritis within a week, and changed his diet totally over to raw. By his ninth birthday he was acting as young as when he was 2 or 3! He'll be 15 this year and still going great! It's hard to believe I was contemplating his burial when he was only 8!

Suggestions you may not have tried yet - *feed the pieces frozen...a lot of dogs don't like the gooey texture of raw liver & kidney. *mince the organs very finely and mix into ordinary meat mince. *blend a very small amount of the organs very finely with an egg in a blender. *try and feed the organs before the main meal, only bringing out the 'good stuff' when the icky stuff is swallowed. *trick your dog into swallowing his organs - have a handful of his favourite treats (cut/broken really small), and start feeding him like a conveyor belt, then when he's swallowing each piece really quickly slip in a sliver of organ and quickly follow up with another treat - with any luck he'll swallow before he realizes what you've done! *remember to keep calm and relaxed - dogs will pick up their person's anxiety or discomfort and will react similarly. Don't hover, cajole or beg either - just hand over the organ and move away. *and of course there's always 'tough love' - offer him the little bit of organ meat every meal time until he gives in or gets hungry enough and eats it. Don't feed anything else till he eats it. Healthy dogs can comfortably go for 5 or 6 days without eating, and remember - you aren't starving him, you're offering him food, he is the one choosing not to eat! Hope some of those help and good luck! ~ hopenfox ~ P.S. Just thought I'd share how my dogs eat their organs. My oldest dog, Nicky the Cavy, loves all his organs raw...he'll eat anything! Hope, my Koolie likes hers chopped roughly and mixed into chunks of lamb or beef. Fox will only eat them frozen solid and is more enthusiastic when the previous days main meal was small and he's hungry.

A friend had a dog with a small injury that didn't heal. Eventually when she was cleaning out the puss, she discovered a grass seed, removed it and it started healing straight away. Maybe your dog has some dirt or hair in his wound still?

I feed a raw prey model diet. Having various food allergies and intolerances myself, I was very aware of how detrimental processed food was for people, so I was never comfortable feeding processed food to my dogs. If whole natural (preferably raw) foods are best for our health, then logically they would be better for dogs too. To me processed dog food is like 'nutrient bars' are for people - it'll keep you alive but isn't ideal to live on. I was feeding a part raw, part dry diet to my dogs till I discovered Hope, my Koolie appeared to be allergic to grains and processed food. I moved all the dogs over to a BARF type diet and Hope's itching disappeared almost overnight. The dogs did well on BARF, but I still wasn't happy with all the veggie processing, and after heaps of (ongoing) research, I moved them all to prey model and have never looked back...It's just so logical, I can't believe it took my so long!

Where do you get your boiler chickens from Tess32? I've never seen chickens for less than $5 and usually just buy normal ones when they're marked down close to $5. I'm jealous!

I think this is a great idea! And I definitely think there needs to be a part about raw/prey model myths - some people have some really weird ideas! I also love this calculator - perfect for working out amounts to feed when you're just starting, then it can be adjusted up or down later... Also a section of suitable links like this one, this one and this one, to help cover the basic FAQs... And I love this place for recipes!

If you do a search, you should come up with some more info - anal gland removal does come up every now and then. A few of the search results; Anal Gland Removal, Anal Glands, And this one. Hope they help

Nicky (Cavalier) had his anal glands removed many years ago without any problems at all. He suffered through countless uncomfortable infections and painful vet visits for over a year before the Vet recommended he have them removed. The operation went well, and he was so much happier after. He had no nerve damage or incontinence and recovered very quickly. He's been great ever since (he's 14 now).

Mine get fed twice a day - a Kong stuffed with raw meat/mince in the morning to keep them occupied while I'm busy doing stuff, then their main meal in the late afternoon (a RMB, whole prey, whole fish or large hunk of meat). Mine don't actually fast, but I do feed them almost nothing on the day or two after an extra large meal.

Hi InDogWeTrust, Fox eats more meat than bone, so his droppings never come out crumbly and white - though they may turn like that after a few days in the yard. They're usually smooth, firm and various shades of brown. The vet said the calcified pieces were from a previous infection... In regards to oil, I do feed plenty of fresh whole fish (including sardines)... ~ hopenfox ~

And don't forget ! And !

A grass seed! I wonder how it got in there?! Fox went to the Vet and had his anal glands emptied again. Apparently they still had some calcified pieces floating around in there blocking him up again, and the Vet was able to remove them, so they should be okay now. He hasn't started licking again, so here's hoping!

Thanks for your comments everyone! He has plenty of fibre in his diet already, which is why I was confused as to how to help him. He also has a phobia about being touched around that area, so expressing his anal glands isn't just uncomfortable - it's downright terrifying for him (whining/screaming/yelping), so I hate the idea of this becoming a regular thing. I may have to ask for some sedation... I'll be taking him back to the vet on Tuesday...

After noticing my Kelpie Fox licking his anal area repeatedly after sleep and exercise, I took him to the Vet to have his anal glands checked (I tried to express them myself, but nothing came out). The Vet discovered they were very large and appeared to both be 'plugged'. After much effort and distress (Fox's and mine), she was able to dislodge one of the plugs and squeeze out one gland, then sent me home with some tablets (Macrolone) to soften the remaining gland's plug. I then returned in two days and had the other emptied. Three days later, he has begun to lick the area again, so I guess I'll be returning to the Vet. Surely it's too soon to have become blocked again? The Vet was very unhelpful, and didn't seem able to give my any suggestions as to why after 6 years of healthy normal glands, his had suddenly become blocked. Is it a symptom of something else? How do I prevent further blockages? His diet is prey model, so he gets plenty of roughage in his diet and his droppings are very firm...

Fruit are like lollies to dogs/wolves and they'll injoy the sweet sugaryness whenever they can find it. I don't deliberately feed fruit to my dogs, but don't mind if they occasionally snack on fruit found outside.

Meat fillets are fine to feed as long as they don't contain any small cut bones.

Haha, I was thinking exactly the same thing. Wild dogs aren't known for their fabulous body odour or clean fresh breath either. The 'skanky wild dogs' only look like that because they don't get any medical care, no-one grooms them, no parasite prevention and there are never enough large prey animals to go 'round, so they have to resort to scavenging. Think more about wild wolves in untamed wilderness before humans destroyed much of their habitat and wiped out many of their natural prey.

I always used to steer well clear of Pork after hearing all the terrible things about it, but recently I came across a bargain at a butcher too good to refuse. I started introducing the raw pork in small pieces with their normal meals and slowly increased the portion size. There were no problems at all and now I buy pork whenever I can find it cheap. Hope enjoying a pork hock;

DeltaCharlie pretty much said all I was going to. The only thing I will say is the need for a dog to tackle large interesting meals - mince does nothing for the health of your dog's jaws and teeth and also doesn't ready your dog's stomach adequately for the coming meal, like the pulling, gnawing and tearing of meat does (the stomach begins to produce acids during this pre-eating exercise). The whole purpose of prey model is to feed prey as close to whole as you can, providing not just food, but mental, physical and psychological exercise too. I feed whole raw fish, turkey or chicken quarters, beef, lamb or pork roasts (with or without bone), whole rabbits, kangaroo tails, lamb necks, legs or shanks and pig's feet for the occasional treat. For offal I feed the liver and kidney from lamb, beef or chicken and also feed heart as muscle meat. The goal is to feed a variety of animal parts from a variety of animals over time. Another website I would recommend would be http://www.skylarzack.com/rawfeeding.htm

My 14year old is blind and deaf. He lives with my parents and sometimes wakes at night, barking or upset. He just needs a short pat to reassure him he's still safe and not alone, and is happy to go back to sleep. Maybe you could try moving his crate into your room so you can try this the moment he starts barking? Dogs start as puppies, turn into dogs, then in old age, often revert to puppy-ness again (mentally). He may just need reassurance...

BARF feeders seem to be under the wrong impression that dogs are omnivores when it has been scientifically proven that they are carnivores and their digestive systems are too short to digest veggies. All literature 'against it' seems to focus on the 'dogs are omnivores' thing. Yes - would a wolf (dog) look at a deer and think 'Whoah! Look at all that bone!'...of course not it would be 'Look at all that MEAT!'. Plus most large prey animals have bones that are too large or hard to eat, so bone does take up only around 10% of the overall diet (with 80% meat and 10% offal (half of which should be liver).

I feed small portions of raw liver to my dogs as part of their raw whole prey model diet. Feeding too much may cause diarrhea...

All my dogs are fed a raw prey model diet and do exceptionally well. I will NEVER, EVER return to feeding processed food. The advantages are just too great for feeding raw - super clean teeth, sleek shiny coat, excellent health and weight and no vet visits. My Cavy's crippling arthritis even cleared up after the diet change and 6 1/2 years later, at the age of 14 he's still showing virtually no sign of arthritis! Their diet consists of a variety of animal parts from a variety of animals including chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, pork, kangaroo, whole raw fish, goat, and any others I can find. They also get whole raw egg in shell a couple of time a week. My dogs and I are VERY happy feeding this way!