Changed barf diet and being sick

[JeffandAnnie]

Following a thread a couple of days ago about not feeding raw and kibble close together, I changed Annie and Jeff's diet from an evening meal of one chicken wing followed by half a cup of kibble to two chicken wings and no kibble (kibble for breakfast).

Both nights I have done this, Jeff has been sick. The first night he was sick at about 11pm, and the sick had some small (up to 2cm long) shards of razonr sharp bone in it. This morning he was sick at 5am - one largish bone (approx 2.5 inches) and a lot of bloody liquid. As he is fine in himself and has eaten his breakfast kibble I'm assuming the blood was from the chicken not a cut in his stomach.   

I'm now wondering whether it wouldn't be better to go back to how I was feeding them previously (which I had been doing for about 8 weeks without incident)? Perhaps mixing the kibble with the raw helped to slow down digestion and this was a good rather than a bad thing? Also, perhaps the kibble cushioned the bones a bit and made them easier to digest?

I'm a bit stymied what to do now. Any suggestions?

[fifer]

Could I suggest that perhaps you've misunderstood a BARF diet?  There should be more meat than bone in a true BARF diet. 

Go back to your half and half diet for now and I will try to obtain a diet sheet with balanced quantities for you.   

[fifer]

About to pm you! 

[fifer]

Might be worth remembering that you can crush the bones a bit too which makes them more digestible.  Just put in a freezer bag or old teatowel and bash with a rolling pin! Great fun when you are in a bad temper!   

[Mel]

Might be worth remembering that you can crush the bones a bit too which makes them more digestible.  Just put in a freezer bag or old teatowel and bash with a rolling pin! Great fun when you are in a bad temper!   

Was going to suggest this. Tali often brings something back up if I've not crushed the bones a bit, just the wing joints, but it seems to do the trick.

[Becky and Wilson]

Or Perhaps if 2 wings is too much bone you could try one wing and a bit of mince to make up the meal.

My girls tend to struggle a bit with digesting wing bones (when I've given them 2), they are better with carcasses, or I just give one wing as they are only little girls anyway and one wing is the right weight for 1 meal for them anyway!

[Joules]

Might be worth remembering that you can crush the bones a bit too which makes them more digestible.  Just put in a freezer bag or old teatowel and bash with a rolling pin! Great fun when you are in a bad temper!   

I would try bashing the wings a bit or hold the end of the wing while the doggies eat them to make sure they are crunching the bones up properly 

[tigs71]

Might be worth remembering that you can crush the bones a bit too which makes them more digestible.  Just put in a freezer bag or old teatowel and bash with a rolling pin! Great fun when you are in a bad temper!   

I would try bashing the wings a bit or hold the end of the wing while the doggies eat them to make sure they are crunching the bones up properly 

Mason is nearly 2½ now but I still hold his wings until he has crunched through the bones and I am satisfied that he can cope with what he is swallowing.  He was 15 weeks old when he started with wings and has never brought any back yet - he is too greedy to part with anything 

[ben and rosie]

sorry if i am being naive or silly but I have never given my dogs raw food and certainly wouldn't consider giving them anything with bones in it- have heard of a number of dogs choking to death on splinters of bone from eg a marrow bone- for their teeth, my two chump on rawhide (I buy the larger ones which don't disintegrate. otherwise my two are on dry kibble and the sometimes cooked chicken, steamed fish or the fatty bits off roast beef. Rosie also loves to chump on half a carrot or slices of apple....

x

[JennyBee]

sorry if i am being naive or silly but I have never given my dogs raw food and certainly wouldn't consider giving them anything with bones in it- have heard of a number of dogs choking to death on splinters of bone from eg a marrow bone- for their teeth, my two chump on rawhide (I buy the larger ones which don't disintegrate. otherwise my two are on dry kibble and the sometimes cooked chicken, steamed fish or the fatty bits off roast beef. Rosie also loves to chump on half a carrot or slices of apple....

x

If you do a search on here you'll find a lot of people feed their dogs raw meat and bones - bones are fine as long as they are raw, it is cooked bones that are dangerous as they can splinter. Brodie eats kibble but gets a raw chicken wing or two for a meal every week with no problems .

[tigs71]

sorry if i am being naive or silly but I have never given my dogs raw food and certainly wouldn't consider giving them anything with bones in it- have heard of a number of dogs choking to death on splinters of bone from eg a marrow bone- for their teeth, my two chump on rawhide (I buy the larger ones which don't disintegrate. otherwise my two are on dry kibble and the sometimes cooked chicken, steamed fish or the fatty bits off roast beef. Rosie also loves to chump on half a carrot or slices of apple....

x

If you do a search on here you'll find a lot of people feed their dogs raw meat and bones - bones are fine as long as they are raw, it is cooked bones that are dangerous as they can splinter. Brodie eats kibble but gets a raw chicken wing or two for a meal every week with no problems .

I have fed a barf diet since Mason was a puppy but not before doing extensive research on the subject.  A raw meat and bone diet is what a dogs digestive system is designed to eat.

Bones are fine for dogs providing they are raw as they remain soft and pliable.  Cooked bones can of course can splinter and this is possibly where the confusion arises.  In fact a dog is more likely to choke on raw hide than it is a raw bone.

[Pudding]

For breakfast i feed Bob his kibble with some veg

he has a chicken wing at about 10.00am

and then dinner is 135g of poultry necks, bit of tripe, and some hearts with some veg
i also put in there his plaque off to help his teeth and Yumega oil

and then at bed time he has a gravy bone