many ??s---raw, poop, wet dirt--help!

[mmgy]

I'm so addled I don't know where to start. My 14 1/2 year old Homer has been on his "new" diet of 25% prepared raw/75% kibble now for about 3 weeks. He's done great, but in the last day or two, his poop hasn't been so perfect. It starts out great, then the end is a bit loose and mucousy.

This has happened as well to two of my other dogs in the last week, very randomly.

Lots of things going on-----

It's soppy outside. Parts of our dog yard will not dry out, and it's like a swamp. I'm being really conscientious about keeping the water buckets clean, but there are little puddles around, and these are the dogs that also like to nibble on dirt.

About a week ago, I started using a lamb-based food as 40-50% of our kibble base. My dogs had NEVER eaten a lamb-based food before.

My dogs have been getting raw treats for about 6 months, so I think they're used to that. But when we bumped up Homer's quota, should we have added something else? Prozyme, or something like that?

Homer is due to have a complete blood workup done in a few weeks.....should I move it up? My vet will suggest w/d, even though he knows I won't use it. He'll also suggest senior dog food; at Homer's current raw/kibble ratio, would that make sense?

Anybody got any ideas?? What should I look at first??
Thanks in advance...............

[Homerhomer]

Well my Homer didn't do well on lamb at all, IMO your diet is a combination of many things: raw, dry, new dry kibble so it's hard to tell what could be the problem, it could be one thing in the diet, it could be that you are combining number of different things in the diet, it could be the introduction of new kibble. Perhaps simplifying it would give you some answers.

[Carina43]

I agree with Peter, there's way too many variables. Digestive enzymes & probiotics probably wouldn't hurt...how about just fasting him for a day or two; perhaps just a little boiled meat and rice?

[moondog]

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a stool sample checked for giardia? Especially since he's not the only one recently to have sloppy stools. Giardia loves the conditions you describe and can pass from dog to dog. It doesn't always show on the first sample and can take more than one stool sample to diagnose it. If nothing else, it will eliminate one concern and then you could focus on the food angle. :)

[mmgy]

Absolutely I agree there's a lot going on, but I have no control over this totally queer weather, and I thought that he had adjusted well to the raw by the time I started with the lamb. Could giardia look like colitis? We lost Delilah four weeks ago today, and that week was the worst of the rain, and Homer and Chalice both developed mysterious cases of colitis. Both cleared up in a couple of days.

[moondog]

Giardia can cause colitis. Some dogs carry it around without any clinical signs, too. When Luna first got sick, giardia was the first thing we checked for. Boy, don't I wish that's what it was! :D

[Rott-Wiley]

I just want to mention this, especially due to 1.) his age and 2.) being new to digesting raw. Some of the "experts" say that when feeding a raw diet you should fast the dog one day a week to give their digestive system a rest.

Personally I could never do that however on one day a week I'll feed a regular AM meal and for the evening meal I'll just feed 2 cans of sardines in water along with juiced veggies and wheat germ and vitamins.

I have posed this question to Dog Nutritionist and they have said what I'm doing if fine but that was regarding a young dog, I don't know if that makes a difference?

[mmgy]

Well, I understand about fasting, but Homer won't!!!:D He is a foodaholic, and with five dogs eating together, he's not about to be the only one skipping a meal.

We did, however, cut him back this morning, just to give him a bit of a rest. And probably I'll put him back on the kibble (and raw) I know he tolerates, and then Saturday I'll try to get him or his poop to the vet. I've now done some reading about giardia, and it, or something very similar, could be a distinct fit for all this.

I just felt like I couldn't get a grip on this today.....sometimes you need an objective opinion. Ain't this place great!?!;)

[Carol Burke]

You've gotten good answers, but I have one comment. I am assuming Homer is a Rott, why would you change his diet at 14 1/2? I feed raw, so I'm certainly not against it, but at 14 1/2 I wouldn't change anything if it's working.

[mmgy]

Homer is a Plott hound, a medium-sized bred-for-bear-and-boar dog. I guess I'm changing because of my research, and I just started with the oldest first. Good question.

I lost my cancer dog Delilah 4 weeks ago, and had just purchased 50 lbs of a prepared raw diet for her. The other dogs had been eating it sort of on a snacking basis, and Homer would just flip every time we brought it out. So I have it, and since he loves it so much I decided he should be first. Of my other dogs, two are 10 years old, and two are almost 3.

I'd like to eventually feed all of them at least half raw. Do you think I should have focused on the younger dogs first?