# poop questions



## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

Annie and Tucker have been on raw for a week now. 

Annie's stool was very hard. She was straining and nothing would come out. I left all the skin/fat/organs on her chicken backs. She gets about 1.5-2lbs of chicken backs and I started giving her an egg a day. Now she is pretty normal, but its still a little sandy. Should I start adding the chicken quarters to up her meat content? She also got pork neck (meaty) with no problems.

Tuckerwas haiving cannon butt issues the first couple days, now it is so hard he can't really go. A little liquid comes out, but its mostly sandy diareah now. I've been leaving some skin/fat/organ on and he is still very firm and straining. SHould I leave all the stuff attached and maybe give him some egg? Yesterday he HD the water works. Today he was so solid he couldn't go.

I'm hoping I'm doing everything right :/

I also found a chicken/Turkey/rabbit supplier!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Makovach said:


> Annie and Tucker have been on raw for a week now.
> 
> Annie's stool was very hard. She was straining and nothing would come out. I left all the skin/fat/organs on her chicken backs. She gets about 1.5-2lbs of chicken backs and I started giving her an egg a day. Now she is pretty normal, but its still a little sandy. Should I start adding the chicken quarters to up her meat content? She also got pork neck (meaty) with no problems.
> 
> ...


Sounds like they are both getting too much bone. Are you feeding them bony meals twice a day? If so, I would make one of those boneless. you are doing everything fine, just need a little less bone.


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

Yes, what xellil said. I would start adding in some boneless chicken at this stage in the game. I had to do the same thing, after a couple weeks of nothing but bone-in chicken, Tux had sand poops.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i think it's too soon for eggs.....

but what i would do is add a little more boneless chicken to annie and a wee bit more boneless to tuck...keep them both on chicken until their stools are okay.

not too hard, not liquidy and a wee soft is okay. 

it's only been a week. much of this is trial and error.


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Yes, start adding chicken quarters. It sounds like theyre just getting way too much bone. Good thing its an easy fix :thumb:


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

I'm thawing out chicken quarters tonight to feed in the morning. Should I do had backs half quarters?


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

You can try half backs half quarters and see how that goes. If they are still having sandy/dry stools after that, then go full bone-in quarters.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

I also prefer the chicken quarters over the frames. Should help soften the poops a bit


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## LucyinSweden (Feb 20, 2012)

Interesting! I was just coming here to talk about Lucy's poop as well! I'm just going to tack on to this post if no one minds...

I stopped giving Lucy any bone meals about a week ago, when I noticed that she was having a lot of trouble pooping and when she did they were tiny and really, really hard. She's STILL having a lot of trouble pooping. She woke me up at 5am because she had to go, we get outside, and she didn't do anything. An hour later, she makes me get up and this time, after about 30 minutes, she finally got a really large, firm poop. I should say that she hasn't been straining this whole time, she just sniffs and sniffs... and sniffs... and sniffs.... you get the picture. 

What should I feed her now? She's been getting a mixture of boneless pork and boneless chicken necks. I have tried chicken livers and she wouldn't have anything to do with them. Should I add in some beef? I tried eggs over her food, and then she just ignores the food completely. And I have been a lot firmer with her eating. For example, she didn't want to eat her chicken necks last night, so I kept taking them away. She didn't eat last night, and I game them back to her this morning. She didn't eat them again, and I picked them back up again. I'm not being a pushover anymore! 

She's seriously picky.


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## BeagleCountry (Jan 20, 2012)

LucyinSweden said:


> She's been getting a mixture of boneless pork and boneless chicken necks.


Never heard of boneless chicken necks. That's interesting. I'd suggest adding more fat to the diet. Pork shoulder and picnic roast have quite a bit of fat. Pork chops not as much. Remove the meat from chicken thighs. Leave some of the skin and fat from all cuts of meat if you have been removing it. You could also add some salmon oil to keep the digestive system lubricated. Exercise may increase her appetite and help move the food through the intestines. 

Rather than move to a new protein source stay with chicken and pork until the amount of bone and fat she needs results in reliable poop. Continue feeding the balanced ratio for 2 weeks before considering beef. This is the time to add a tiny amount of liver mixed with the chicken or pork. She needs to be eating the chicken, pork and liver willingly before going forward.


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## LucyinSweden (Feb 20, 2012)

You know what? I think the neck part is a bad translation. I just checked it separately, without the chicken part in front, and it's actually the stomach. 

I have also been adding olive oil to her food. Maybe I'll defrost some of the chicken livers and try cutting them smaller. I haven't been mixing the pork with chicken. and it was a pork roast, so lots of fat. I haven't been removing any of the meat, skin or fat from the chicken bones since... the first week.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

BeagleCountry said:


> Never heard of boneless chicken necks. That's interesting. I'd suggest adding more fat to the diet. Pork shoulder and picnic roast have quite a bit of fat. Pork chops not as much. Remove the meat from chicken thighs. Leave some of the skin and fat from all cuts of meat if you have been removing it. You could also add some salmon oil to keep the digestive system lubricated. Exercise may increase her appetite and help move the food through the intestines.
> 
> Rather than move to a new protein source stay with chicken and pork until the amount of bone and fat she needs results in reliable poop. Continue feeding the balanced ratio for 2 weeks before considering beef. This is the time to add a tiny amount of liver mixed with the chicken or pork. She needs to be eating the chicken, pork and liver willingly before going forward.


She's only been on raw for about a week now, so I think still only chicken. Still WAY to soon for pork or liver yet.

I would try chicken quarters, and if poops are still alittle too hard, go with boneless chicken and try that. Then once the poops are looking better, you can go back to quarters.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Snorkels has serious constipation issues. I am not willing to forego bone because I think the calcium is very important. I started her on organs the first day we started raw and she gets close to 30% organs. Some of her calcium I give in the form of eggshells because it's not as constipating.

i give her lots of fat, and lots of red meat. She could handle it all pretty much from the first. She's been on raw almost a year and it's always a challenge to keep her pooping normally. 

You may just have to adjust as you go, like I have. Snorkels doesn't eat like most dogs - she get very little white meat, and everything is hugely fatty. And lots of organs. I used to give her olive oil but what happened was it worked for a week or so and then it quit working and eventually made her constipation worse. Same thing with pumpkin, stool softener, etc. I try to control everything with the amount of bone and organs and fat she gets.

Good luck - I know most people have problems with diarrhea and it's weird to have the opposite problem. Did she have constipation problems before raw? If not, she may not be like Snorkels and what you might do is just post up her meals for a couple of days and let folks take a look. If she DID have constipation problems, it may be more than food-related, like Snorkels.


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## LucyinSweden (Feb 20, 2012)

She's always had digestive issues, which have manifested in different ways. I bought some salmon oil today and I'll see what that does. 

Lucy has been on raw for a few weeks now, so it's not too soon for her to go on livers, etc. I'll see what the salmon oil does and go from there! hopefully it's just part of the adjustment period.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i think salmon oil or herring oil would be something you could start...

how long have you been feeding raw totally?

i know you said you stopped bony meals for about a week....

you can, to make sure she's getting calcium, eat eggs you cook for yourself...and rinse the shells off and air dry them. then use a coffee grinder that has never ground coffee and get the shells into almost a powder to add to her food. that way, she still gets calcium.

if you're feeding her pork, then you could add pork ribs if you have them in sweden....i don't remember ever feeding a stomach....but
ok.....i think she is moving faster than most dogs in transition.....especially if you've done chicken and now pork.

the olive oil at this point is not doing her any harm, but it's probably not doing much good...i would get a good herring/mackerel/sardine oil or start adding those fishes to her diet.....

as far as organs are concerned, try feeding a finger nail size piece or sliver of frozen chicken liver and see what happens....


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## samsdad (Mar 16, 2012)

wow what a coincidence, I was about to post about this very subject. Sammy hasnt had a good bm since I started him on chicken quarters. I started removing at least one of the bones from the quarter. I bought him some chicken hearts and livers today....i gave him the boned let quarter and a dozen or so hearts. He has absolutely no problems at all with refusing his food..he LOVES his new diet and gobbles up everything. Maybe his body is just adjusting?


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## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

I have another probably stupid question:

How long after they eat does that meal come out? Are we talking a couple hours, or half a day, or what? Because I'm never really sure when Dobby poops if it's the last meal he's eaten or the one before that, so it's kind of hard to figure out what to adjust!


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## chewice (Jan 1, 2012)

I was coming to post poop as well! Cash is... constipated for two days...then massive amounts of slightly squishy but formed poop. I don't really adjust anything. Do most feeders do a bone in meal then a boneless...or a heavy bone in meal. Right now he is on... what looks like a pork chop with a t-bone in it/ pork ribs/chicken quarters. 

I got 2 pork hocks (???) Do these have lots of bone or meat?? 

Im really experimenting with the bone/meat. I know the 80/10/10 is kinda the rule but since he hasn't graduated to organs im doing about 75/15.

Also, since I want to feed fish, I bought a salmon. Now, since I only plan on feeding once a week...do I give a little more everyday til I get a good bowel movement then I can give it whenever I want?


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

Make sure the Salmon isn't from the pacific northwest, they carry a parasite that can really harm dogs.

Also, I am pretty sure you are supposed to avoid the t shaped bones.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

*samsdad*....
when did you start feeding raw and when did you start feeding chicken quarters?

how much does sammy weigh? 

how old is sammy?

are his stools loose? hard? 

=====================

*stef*.....for my dogs, generally within 24 hours.

i can tell what they ate the day before by the consistency of their poo.

if i feed bony, their poo will be bony the next day...especially since they only poo usually once a day.
=========================

*chewice*...pork hocks are pretty fatty...and can cause loose stools if your dogs are not used to a lot of fat.

the 80/10/10 is a guideline....

from where does the salmon come? if it is pacific northwest, it carries a parasite that is only killed by cooking.
there are those who say freezing for a few weeks will make the parasite dormant and a dog whose digestive system is mature enough on raw to have all the acids it needs to eat salmon and not get sick.....can probably eat salmon.

i personally don't feed my dogs pacific northwest salmon because it's a risk not worth taking, IMHO....so my dogs get herring, mackerel or sardines....

that pork chop you are feeding has a human cut bone saw cut....and probably should not be fed because of the sharp edges made by the bone saw.

if you can get pork ribs....that would be awesome or a pork butt (shoulder)....

when you start with any protein, start small and work up.....that's true of fish, meat, and especially organs...

when you're judging the poo, if it's squishy, feed a little extra bone, like a pork rib...if it's crunchy, feed a little more boneless....


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