Stitch Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) Over the last week I have switched my older girl over to BARF Kangaroo which she absolutely loves. She suffers from colitis, so she has been on Eukanuba Low Residue for some time now so I guess she is just so happy to have some real food for a change. She was doing OK on the dry however all my others eat BARF and Dr.B said that the kangaroo mix was suitable for dogs with pancreatitis so I am giving her a go on it. If she can eat it successfully then I figure it will be a whole lot better for her than dry dogfood in the long run. One thing that is becoming obvious though is that on the BARF she isn't drinking much water so her poos are now very small and very dry & hard. She is also doing poos about 4 times in 24hours which is twice as much as she was doing on the dry food. When I saw how dry the poos were I mixed up some Lectade which I know is her favourite thing to drink. She will drink about 125ml in one go if I let her. This helped the poos not be quite so dry but I don't think I should continue to give her that as I really only give that to sick dogs. Has anyone had any experience with this kind of thing??? I am thinking that perhaps I should mix the BARF with some water before I feed it. (OMG I hate the smell of kangaroo meat!!! :D ) Edited June 30, 2009 by STITCH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Dogs fed a raw diet naturally drink less and those small round poos are normal for a raw fed dog. I'd not worry about trying to get her to drink more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rijbiz Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 You can try adding a "small" amount of milk to her water. That usually encourages them to drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 This dog was on raw all natural (not BARF) for several years up till we worked out that her colitis problem could be controlled by feeding the Low Residue diet. All my other dogs eat raw so I am familiar with the drinking less and smaller poos thing however this problem is different. She is straining to get the poos to come out and is wanting to poo more than she has ever done before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) I have been adding a watery chicken broth to my boys food as a way of increasing his fluids. He loves it. Because he had a tummy bug and wasn't well - he was getting chicken breast and pumpkin in a watery chicken soup :D Edited June 30, 2009 by Tilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Sounds like her colitis is playing up with the diet change??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 You can try adding a "small" amount of milk to her water. That usually encourages them to drink. I agree. I have a dog here who has had bladder stones and that's what I do to encourage him to drink more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Do you feed pulped veggies & fruit? I would be adding some of this to the BARF patties. It will contain the water she needs and help with the rock hard poos. Otherwise just add some water in with her food. She will drink it because it will be flavoured by the food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redarachnid Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I have an 11.5yo afghan with colitis. She only eats premium dry food that has been soaked in hot water, and has done for years. If i were to change or add to her diet even a little, there would be hell to pay from her bum!! I wouldn't change her diet ever. I think you should stick to what was working. Too dicey to mess with colitis. Just my thoughts...good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Actually I agree that the boiled chicken is usually the way to go as I do that for some of the other dogs but a whole patty of BARF is definitely quite enough for this girl without any extras. But you have got me thinking, maybe I should feed half a patty and combine it with the boiled chicken. Yesterday I added additional water to the BARF and the poos today seem greatly improved and she seems happier - which is encouraging. I really am hoping that the BARF is more suitable, once I get over this initially problem, as I have always had the suspicion that the dry food isn't an exact fit. Even though she doesn't have any colitis episodes when she is on it, she still gets bloated. I always gave her chicken with juice after the dry food because if I put the chicken juice over the dry she wouldn't chew the dryfood, just gutz it down whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiffanyAmber Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Yesterday I added additional water to the BARF and the poos today seem greatly improved and she seems happier - which is encouraging. I was going to suggest that. I do this at summer time as when its hot and my guys dont drink. You'd think being hot they would. Anyways, when the poos are hard and very dry, that usually means more bone content than meat. I dont know what the contents are in the patty that you give, but adding more meat will help. Also have you thought of adding oily foods like Sardines? A touch of Sunflower Oil or Fish oil capsules help too. (OMG I hate the smell of kangaroo meat!!! ) Some dogs cant handle Kangaroo meat as it is strong. Try different meats or even mixing different meats together. I do. As with colitis, watch any weight loss/gain and up/down the meat quantity to see if it makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted July 1, 2009 Author Share Posted July 1, 2009 I have refrained from giving this girl any oils because of the colitis. I was unsure if it may inflame it again. What do you guys think?? I give all my other dogs a capsule of fish oils every day and it does help with their skin, etc. I use Dr.B's BARF which should be the right balance of meat, bone, veges and shouldn't really need any additives. I actually contacted Dr. B who suggested Kangaroo meat as being the best one to give as it is the lowest in fat. It may be that this girl needs a bit more fat in her diet so that the poos are not so dry, but it is difficult to know exactly how much she will tolerate. I think I am safest by just adding the water to the food, seeing as she won't drink much otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianed Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I have the same problem with my older girl being feed chunky pieces of roo meat. I give her milk with psyllium husks mixed in it a couple of times week. If your dog can,t handle milk and if the roo is minced try adding the husks to it with a bit of water. My dog prefers it in milk and it defiantly adds fibre and moisture to her poos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted July 1, 2009 Author Share Posted July 1, 2009 Thats a thought. I add white millet and linseed seeds to one of my other girls BARF. I am surprised that BARF would need anything else added to it ie. more fibre. Perhaps the cause is the kangaroo meat because it doesn't have much fat content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianed Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Thats a thought. I add white millet and linseed seeds to one of my other girls BARF.I am surprised that BARF would need anything else added to it ie. more fibre. Perhaps the cause is the kangaroo meat because it doesn't have much fat content. Roo meat does have some moisture content which may be why your girl doesnt drink as much. If you microwave it (make sure its covered and watch out for the smell, yuk) you will get a juice out of it with little or no fat. In fact one day I zapped the chunks too long and got beef cherky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 Thought I would just update you on the outcome of this. I had to switch her back onto the Low Residue diet (Eukanuba) as she was pooing every couple of hours during the day. The raw had obviously inflamed the colitis. No diahorrea but just continually pooing small amounts. She will just have to stay on the Low Residue diet which is a shame as I would prefer to feed BARF but it just goes to show, dry food does have benefits. The moment she went back onto the dry she went back to pooing twice a day and drinking normally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I had to switch her back onto the Low Residue diet (Eukanuba) as she was pooing every couple of hours during the day. The raw had obviously inflamed the colitis. Glad she is more comfortable now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 Thanks Persephone, it's all a learning experience. I hoped that it would settle down, seeing as there was very little fat but there are obviously other aspects that came into play. I presume it is the bone that is in it although to look at it (BARF) you wouldn't know it and maybe too much fibre for colitis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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