[Gem M]

Please please help…. I started my two German shorthaired pointers on raw on Friday. One can’t get enough of it, the other who has always eaten fine is totally upset with it. He went from Thursday until Saturday night not touching it (mince) with me putting it down for 30 and taking it back up until that meal he ate a little with a lot of coaxing… Sunday he ate a bit for breakfast and a tiny bit this evening with coaxing. He is very underweight so we need him to have proper nutrition hence switching him to raw from Orijen. Any cheaper food makes him Ill with allergies, orijen made him loose 5kg he didn’t have but allergies healed.
I’m so worried that
A he won’t start eating a full meal again
B he will loose more weight
C he won’t accept it ever
D he will get really ill
Please can you help?

[Gem M]

Ps I’ve tried gravy, searing, garlic, yogurt, veg nope just won’t take it without really coaxing and praising him and even then he gets fed up of it!

[Anonymous]

Why not cook the meat up for him a little bit? Why does he have to have raw? Why not stay with the food that agreed with him, maybe add something.

You may find some helpful tips here http://www.homeovet.net/dynamic/php/downloads/dog-c8470f2c75dbe4b683205c3919ee2310/dog_diet_complete.pdf

[Gem M]

Thank you so much for the link I will read it now. I just feel I can give him a better diet than cooked kibble. I support raw and feel that he should eat what I’m providing him with. But I know many people have this issue and worry when they transition, hence an urgent help appeal. The food he was on was given at double the recommended feeding guidelines and he was still not gaining weight. He ate it but it didn’t improve his health only he didnt react to it 🙂

[LexiDog]

Try putting it in a warm water bath in a ziplock bag to take the chill out of it without actually cooking it. Or have you tried just giving it as a treat? Maybe until he is used to the taste and texture? Have you taken him to your vet to make sure there are no underlying issues as to why he is not gaining weight? Double the recommended amount of Orijen, you would think any dog would gain weight.

[Gem M]

Okay so here is his history

We obtained him at 8 weeks he was skin and bones. The vets told us to prepare for the worse. He didn’t even weigh a pound! He had blood in his stools but was very playful and alert. They said it was parvovirus, I argued that it was worms. After worming him regularly each week he started to grow and the weight came on. Food was an issue he’d go three months the get sore skin and anal glands. Some food he would have very loose stools.

The vets would give us steroids but overall we just kept moving through different kibbles moving to anything grain free. He never had an ounce of fat on him and had an absolute love of life but never got to an ideal weight for a pointer for more than a month. We managed his environmental exposures to help his paws and kept switching foods every 3 – 6 months unless there was an immediate problem.

In January I researched food until I was blue in the face, by this time I was working at a vets myself. I decided on Orijen… The vets disagreed that he needed so much protein and as he was loosing weight I felt despite him looking fab fur wise, anal gland wise and pads I should listen to one particular vet and give him a carb based diet. He gained nothing and I spoke to a nutritionist who said no way is this the right food for him. So I decided enough is enough we are going raw. I spoke with another nutritionist and she explained meats, percentages etc etc. I’m also adding in some sweet potato and butternut squash to his veggies. The plan is lamb as a main base, little fish each day and small amounts of goats yogurt and veg. Egg each day.. Then move to more meat but all of this slowly slowly..

So my boy is pretty much the dream of my vets, he is very active, yet calm, and they think I’m making too much fuss as he is in their minds healthy!! I have spoken to 7 different vets with all different backgrounds and they all say yes he is underweight but he is fine. But I can see every rib, his hip bones, even his back bones. He shivers in the winter. He needs some fat. We’ve gone from walking him 2.5 hours a day off lead to 1 hour every other day off lead. But we can see that what other dogs do in a week he does in an hour. That’s no exaggeration we once did a 26 mile hike and he was STILL running on the 25th mile! He is just a beautiful dog with a lust for life. He is fast playful and great fun. He plays fetch, plays with my other dog, loves his walks and is active around the house for about 8 hours a day… But very obedient.

Anyway last night I gave him some frozen meat in a bowl and he absolutely woofed it down… So I think it’s a texture issue! I’m sure giving frozen is not good but I’d rather that than no food. He ate some frozen lamb, pumpkin, two eggs and two frozen sprats in the end!!!

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Gem M.

[LexiDog]

Wow! Your pup is sooo lucky to have found you!! Some people on here have suggested Satin Balls. They are high calorie treats/supplement food to help dogs gain weight. You make them and I am sure you could modify the recipe so that they are grain free.

I’m so glad he ate last night!! That is progress! Are you going to try to thaw it out a little bit more each day so he will be eventually eating it thawed? That might work.

[Gem M]

I never thought of adapting satin balls thank you!! Thank you for your kind words also our boy is three now it’s been a journey but a great one! He has eaten a bowl this morning still frozen tried some at room temperature and he wouldn’t go near it but I guess it’s early days he is eating that’s all I care about at this moment in time hehe!! Right time to shop for satin ball ingredients!! Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

I stumbled upon this site recently “The SkeptVet” http://skeptvet.com/Blog/category/nutrition/

I sometimes miss the days when we didn’t have all this information out there 🙂

[Gem M]

I’ve seen that site! Sorry to say but vets all have different takes, a lot of their work is trial and error and in my opinion you can never do enough research of the good the bad and the ugly. If the raw feeding movement had enough money to compete against the commercial dog food industry for research and proof I’m sure even this site could argue better, but most research is done in bias.

I’m glad we have knowledge to do what we feel is best for our pets! But I guess people against raw would like me to stick with a dog who has the runs, itchy skin, raw pads, mucky ears and bad anal glands!

[Gem M]

Ps ingredients for satin balls purchased! Plus he ate two large full meals today, lamb meat offal and bone, spinach, pumpkin, goats yogurt and a sprat! Number twos healthy! I think we are well on our way now! 😃

[LexiDog]

Wonderful!!!! More meals in the better! Let me know how he likes the satin balls. I have never had a dog that had needed to gain weight. 🙂 Right now I have a lab mix who will pretty much eat anything. Lol. I use my moms super picky dog as a taste tester…if he eats it, it must taste ok.

[Jonathan S]

It sounds like you’re on your way… I was going to suggest questioning the protein source. One of my dogs was picky about, and had bad reactions to bison, venison, and beef. He was cool to rabbit and to chicken, but as soon as I introduced lamb, he was off to the races!

I don’t think there’s any problem serving frozen. That’s how I introduced goat’s milk… are you giving goat’s milk? I put it in ice cube trays with a couple of blueberries for a nice summer treat.

[Gem M]

Yes my dogs love their goats milk! Well 2 months in and the dogs are looking fabulous. Have gained weight and are now at their ideal, they are so soft and looking amazing! They eat everything that is put down and enjoy it although they aren’t all that fussed about veg

[Andrew B]

Don’t you worry about that, many pet lovers face this problem and they easily overcome it. I think, it may be a problem with his digestive system. Many pet specialist suggests to use salmon oil because it is very rich in proteins, vitamins and omega 3 acids which is the best for digestion. I’ll suggest it to shop for leading brand because that can offer you the fresh and high-quality salmon oil at competitive prices.

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