Hi ya all,
Long & short of it,my 2 year old who has been raw fed from approx 3 months old has started to get very constipated in the last 10 days,
Vet visit said that he was irrataited around his anus & to use sudocream for the inflamation ,which I have been doing,
So folks ,what can I feed extra to make him a bit loser,I do not want to go away from raw as he looks beautiful on it ,coat ,eyes,teeth,breath,smaller poos ect,
Would a tin of pilchards a day or sardines,extra veg ,eggs ,make a difference or would he need cod liver oil tablets ect,

Many thanks to paxo for your help with my digistat,this forum is great for all my querys ,

Is he getting too many bones, or minces with bones ground into them like chicken? That happened to my cats, one had to stay at the vets even as the constipation was so severe. What worked for me was to add more beef to the diet.

Mainly chix wings in the morning & green tripe for tea..Hes not keen on raw fish,so thought tinned sardines/pilchards as a extra.I am now worried about over feeding him as he is a GSD & do not want him any bigger

Can you add some offal- ie raw liver? Very good for him and it should help loosen him up! I would reduce bone or add meat as goldmali suggested, maybe replace a chicken wing with meat such as tripe or any other bone free mince.

Tinned fish is great but I would not feed every day, maybe a couple of times a week. I wish I could find the link I read recently about this... I think it said that tinned fish was high in salt and some other things. But still beneficial when fed occasionally! My dogs prefer raw fish when it's still frozen, especially sprats, might be worth trying?

He wont eat raw liver,I flash dry fry it ,then cut into small chunks for training, will try him on frozen fish,beef & lamb mince he turns his nose up on ,Fussey thing aint he ?do you know any oil that I can safely give him ,: evening primrose,castor,even veg oil that you cook in ?
Had thought to start him on tinned chappie to see if that losened him up .dont want to go back to kibble as the end result is large & need carrier bags not nappy sacks when out !!!

You can give Liquid Paraffin if you are able to get it, but that is a cure what you really need is to find out why your dog is so constipated what are you feeding apart from Chicken and tripe? Don't mean protein what are you feeding to provide his other needs, he will apart from protein need fat, carbs and sugars as well as trace elements and some roughage.

Just seen he is a GSD so it is best to sort this asap as a breed they are prone to digestive and anal problems.

He gets sweet biscuits  with OH when he has his morning coffee ,Rich tea,one for you, one for other GSD ,one for OH.So he ends up with about 6, I try to vary veg, cooked & raw.he also has  small cheese chunks as a training aid 2-3 times a week,with part cooked liver(frozen).
as mentioned he is not a fishy lover, Sometimes I vary treats for training & put in a handfull of kibble .
As a gsd person (that is having them for 40+ years) am aware of anul problems .My daughter has a lg boy of 11 with anal funuculitus (sp)
Which is why we had a vet visit as soon as aware of a problem (worry wart)

I feed salmon oil/coconut oil alternately. It seems strange that this would start happening now when he has been fed this way for some time. Good that you have seen the vet, you will probably just have to play around with what he's eating, but do not increase any bone. He should be getting around 10% of his diet as offal, its tricky when they're fussy though. Maybe you could put it in a blender and mix with his tripe?
Is it possible the inflammation is causing it, not the other way around? If it is, maybe something like liquid parrafin as suggested will help him heal up.

Am going shopping ,will get him some more liver & frozen fish & see If i can get some liquid parrafin ,or other oils that have been recommended.
Thanks to all for your input, It really helps .

Steamed pumpkin/butternut squash works for constipation as well as diarrhoea, freeze it in ice cube trays and keep on standby giving them frozen as required.

To get him going initially buy Lactulose from chemist, don't tell them it is for your dog, given twice a day it wil soften his stools without causing diarrhoea.

The longer the stool is in his rectum the harder it gets because the body naturally draws fluid out of it, I have known of folk resorting to liquid paraffin enemas or suppositories to get the dog started.

I do feel you are not giving a balanced diet, protein alone with the odd shared sweet biscuit will not constitute a balanced diet. Try tinned Chappie original or perhaps one of the prepared wet food that should offer a balance of foods to enable the dogs digestive system to work correctly.

I agree with the other experienced raw feeders - more liver/fruit & veg (blitzed with a bit of oil) and less bone - I've also fed tuna in oil when it's on sale.   But any change like this and you should definitely keep an eye on it.   I've just been given loads of free chicken wings which are taking up all of my freezer - so my dogs are getting a lot of chicken wings and boy are they constipated.   Plus I briefly ran out of veg (I know the jury is out re. whether this is necessary in a raw diet, but I find it useful to counteract too much bone).   I find the guideline of 60% raw meaty bones to be about right for an overall balanced diet.

Thanks for all replys,Have got sardines in sunflower oil,gave him a tin ,he lapped up the oil & left the fish !!!!
Have now got more packs of liver so will blitz some for him ,he wont touch it raw.
The only oil I could get is cod liver oil ,is that ok to give him.
Were do you get salmon oil from ?
pet stores or internet?
He gets veg not regular.but all leftovers & potato peelings

I did get some chappie as well so will alternate,daily with a fish dish for brekkie -then normal tripe for tea,with any veg available ,is that OK?

Personally I would put him on Chappie until everything is working well and his anus has healed - but providing you are supplying a balanced diet it will probably work it's self out. If necessary the vet can give medication to help with constipation but it is better if you can get things working normally again without intervention.

I get my salmon oil from these people:
http://www.angellpetco.com/salmon-oil.html
It's the same as fish 4 dogs but cheaper. I've heard good things about grizzly salmon oil (I hope that's right, its something to do with bears....) Some pet shops sell the fish 4 dogs stuff :)
Cod liver oil has some useful vitamins in but will not be as helpful as fish body oil like salmon oil, however both have their uses.
I would start him on a little bit of liver blitzed up, so he doesn't suspect you've poisoned his tripe right away! It might be easier to give little and often, some raw feeders blend it up and make liver ice cubes. I would be tempted to blend some high fibre veg for your boy too.

Hope he's feeling better soon, poor chap.

I agree with Nova it's not really a balanced raw diet.  He needs the correct ratios of muscle meat, offal and bone

From what you've said about his diet you'll be able to make corrections by reducing the amount of chicken wings you feed in one sitting.  Many dogs get constipated on these as they are more than 70% bone.  I'd say he needs meat from a greater variety of protein sources too so include lamb and beef too. Turkey necks are a very good bony meal too and contain more meat than wings and don't forget you can always give other chicken portions to improve the balance of meat and bone

To avoid constipation remember that 'liver should follow bone' and add some to his next meal or just add a teaspoon of blitzed liver to every meal.

Veg is good but not vital and some dogs love it but don't feed potato peelings.  Also stick to green veg if you are trying to avoid constipation

Is tinned fish in tomato ok ,I have not given him any bone since I started this thread gave him 1/3 rd extra large tin of Chappie for his breakfast,       he has had green veg today,Why not potato peelings ?,
He had half a pack of liver yesterday with his tripe but still seems to be after his bottom ,Could still be sore ?

is he still constipated? if he is no longer constipated but is sore it will probably take a while to feel better. I'm not an expert but I believe they can get infected anal glands, did the vet sat why he was inflamed?

If you are still trying to fix the current bout of constipation I would personally cut the bone (as you have been doing) and feed more muscle meat. Not sure of the merits of chappie as I have raw fed for ever so don't study commercial foods much. You do need to be feeding more variety than just tripe. Isn't tripe quite lean meat? dogs (and all animals actually) NEED fat in their diet, (not carbs) I would wonder if he is just having chicken and tripe if it might all be a bit too lean. Cheap lamb mince would be good, (cheap has more fat) heart is a good meaty meal too but leanish. I don't usually feed veg regularly but I would if I wanted to add bulk to the diet, if you do it should be either cooked or blitzed in a blender otherwise they can't digest it. (in simple terms dogs are designed to eat a small amount of vegetable matter from the guts of animals they kill, therefore it is partially digested already. I suspect chewing it up and spitting it out for them would also work but I'm notgoing to try that!!)

re raw feeding in general, are you on facebook? I have joined a facebook group called the Raw feeding group. It has several articles for people new to BARF/raw and I think you would find it useful to give you a better idea of how to balance his diet. There are several different FB groups but I haven't looked at the others.

>  I have joined a facebook group called the Raw feeding group.

Which one did you join? As you say, there are several, can you recommend a good one please?

if you search for groups it is the one just called' Raw Feeding' it is a closed (invite only) group but I just asked to join and they added me. All the others are called things like raw feeding uk, or barf diet etc. if it helps you ID it when you find it one of the moderators is called Judith Broug.

HTH

Thanks agilabs.OH said that he was still a bit constipated this morning 6o/c ish.
The vet just said that his anus was a bit inflammed,I did not put the two things together at first as was worried about anul funculitias (sp)
Vet reassured me that he had no leasions etc just inflammed ,gave him a injection to stop the itch .and to use sudocream on his anus to help inflammation.
Then noticed he seemed to be taking a while to go,next time I creamed him felt  that he had a soild poo there.
Will be getting a new raw order delivered next week will get some lamb/beef.but as he is a fussy eater,I have just stuck to what he will eat.tried raw liver /heart but he takes it out of his bowl & leaves it .the only way I get him to eat liver is if I flash fry it & use it as training treats ,will have a look at the facebook site .Thanks to all for help x  Judy

One of my dogs wouldn't touch raw liver at all. I used to flash fry it and gradually decreased the amount of time it was cooked for and eventually just fed it raw to him and now he eats it no problem at all. Try cutting it into small pieces rather than giving as largish pieces as that helped too.

Why not potato peelings ?

The skin may contain excess amounts of solanine which is highly toxic for humans and dogs.  Remember that potatoes are part of the family which contains deadly nightshade:

"Solanine is a glyco-alkaloid which is found in the blackcurrant-like fruits of black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) and the redcurrant-like fruits of bitter-sweet or woody nightshade (Solanum dulcamara). But these are rarely eaten, and then only in ignorance of their poisonous nature. A more homely source of solanine is the common potato (solanum tuberosum), whose average content is 8 mg. per 100 g. The interior of the potato contains less than this, and too little to cause any toxic effects.  Why solanine is sometimes formed in excess in potatoes is obscure, but it is known that those tissues whose metabolic activity is greatest contain most of it namely, the sprouts. Solanine is soluble in water and diffused by boiling potatoes but not by baking them."

The advice not to eat green potatoes is related to solanine poisoning and sometimes the potato might show "unusual features, such as a pink colour developing on the cut surface, or a brownish line near the surface, or they were sprouting or had an acrid taste. Exposure of potatoes to light favours the production of solanine, but ordinary storage does not increase the amount of it. However poisoning events have been recorded where the potatoes had an exellent flavor and appearance despite their high solanine content."  Info from the FDA

The issue with raw potato skins is not only the one off incident where your dog snaffles a few on their way to the compost bin but regular ingestion of fairly large amounts.  If the solanine is concentrated in the skin and one dog eats the entire peelings for your family's meal several times a week then you are really increasing exposure and risk. 

Thanks for the info,I did not know that they could be a problem,
He dosent have that many, only OH has potatoes so a couple every 3rd day if that many.Will cut out now that I am aware of the problems .will have to experiment with squash & pumpkins,not something that I am o fey with .
He is still after his bottom ,so must still be sore/itchy,more sudo cream im thinking.

I feed one of my dogs the pet store minces cause he cannot chew bone- lack of teeth.
I found just feeding that caused him to be constipated- so I give 3 ounces of beef with 3 ounces of the mince
for breakfast & 3 ounces of pork and 3 ounces of the mince for supper- this seems to work nice.
I give deer, fish, gizzards, hearts ect but split it up.

is the fb group raw feeding uk ? I belong to that one and its is most helpful .
I feed mine raw including my 5 year old gsd. I would ry and vary the meats you are giving and for now try liver and chuncks without bone jsut to get him going. Liver as has been mentioned is excellant for softening things up just do it carefully you dont wan the reverse to happen. Flash fry but dont cut up so much as for treats or as you have done try liquidising and adding to his food. 
There are number of companies who deliver dog meat if you want to look at a more varied diet for him which would be better or your supermarket, local butcher pet shop or pah if you are buying in smaller amounts.
As an idea I feed mine a variety of chicken wings necks carcasses and mince, lamb nones and mince, beef chunks, tripe , liver, heart ,  occasionally when i can pheasant venison rabbit ( preferrably whole if they would eat it )  tinned pilchards sardines in oil or tomato sauce hope that helps

Thanks for all help given,
Will get more choice in his diet.He has had a 1/2 pack liver per day for 3 days now + sardines in oil & tomato daily .have cut out all chix wings ,Chappie every other morning instead, or liver .still giving him his evening tripe as have a freezer full,
will go through the list from my raw food people & order a mixture for next week.
When he was younger he turned his nose up on chix +bone mince.I know that they do a economy mince so will get some of that .would think that it will have a lot of fat in it.
Think that I got lazy & only gave him tripe & wings as that was easy ,he liked them .

Thanks for that agilabs. I've joined it now. We've raw fed for a good few years but it's always useful to hear other people's tips.

This is a bit late in the day - but I've only just registered. My dog had constipation (due to her meds imo). It's always best to check first with the vet in case there is a serious problem like a blockage. My vet gave her an instant 'fix' then prescribed lactulose - yes the very same lactulose that is (I believe) available much cheaper over the counter.
Goggle recommended canned pumpkin - it has to be pure and not canned pie filling pumpkin. I got some online as I couldn't find any locally.
However the best thing in terms of normalising her poo (ie not just the frequency) has been slippery elm which you mix into a solution - thin for constipation and thick for diarrhoea!  I got that online too.

Unless the dog has a health problem than you know about the regular taking of medication (even pumpkin) should not be necessary the aim should be to feed in a way that allows the dogs system to work as it should.