Hi,
Mine is an year old, 100 pounds, not neutered, male Presa Canario we call BUGGA. I got him when he was 8 weeks and he has been on a raw based diet ever since. I was feeding him Healthy Paws (Canada) chicken, turkey, beef on a regular basis with bison and venison every two months (since those were more expensive). Within four months, he and my cats would not eat anything except beef. (Note: They had all rejected Salmon since day one) Later a different brand supplier told me that Healthy Paws adds some beef related fillers in almost all of their products and that could be one of the reasons that they had become addicted to beef and my cats still are to this day (they really haven’t had anything except beef for 7 months now, I’m not sure how healthy this is for them).
After two months of continuous beef, Bugga got sick and I still have no clue what had happened (my vet couldn’t determine exactly). He had gas issues and would throw up every three days, along with this constant smell which I suspect was the anal glands. He wouldn’t eat properly but was otherwise his usual self. The vet, although, a raw diet enthusiast, suggested that some dogs don’t do well on Raw and that I change his diet for a few weeks. I started feeding him Royal Canine wet food cans and his stomach/intestinal issues seemed to be curbed. After two weeks of this, I gradually put him back on Raw and to my relief he wasn’t just a beef addict anymore. He was more than happy to gobble up whatever came his way.
But in a month again, he had become picky and seemed bored with his food. He would eat some days and then not at all. He ate people food nonetheless, rice/cottage cheese/yogurt/cheese slices/loves flat-bread. I alternate between brands (Bold Raw and Naturaw) to keep him interested, even switched to hormones and antibiotics free products, added green tripe and raw eggs, used probiotics, digestive enzymes, omega 3-6-9 oils, vit E oil, diatomaceous earth, organic pumpkin and sweet potato, coconut oil, kelp mix.
Now, I have had to mix in Kibble (Nature’s Variety Grain free)! He ate the raw food with kibble for a week or two, I haven’t bought more kibble. He can go hungry for a day but not eat any more raw and then reluctantly eat it to satisfy the hunger. I really want to help him and give him what his body wants, but I am so lost now. I don’t know how to get him excited about some good raw food again. I want to know if I feed him kibble or other canned food for a while, is it possible that he doesn’t go back to raw at all. Has anyone else faced something similar with their dog?
