Hi All

Are you sitting comfortably? This could take a while.....

Have any of you raw feeders ever encountered a dog that preferred kibble to raw?

I switched my dogs to raw food about 6 months or so and all went well to begin with. After a couple of months, the pup began to refuse to eat beef (either minced or chunks). That was no problem as she would still eat everything else. She came into season for the first time at the end of January and went right off her food for several weeks. She ate little amounts most days but not nearly as much as a dog of her size (and still growing) should be eating but I put it down to her hormones and feeling a little 'off colour' so I wasn't concerned. Over this past week she has been refusing all raw food except liver, kidney, heart and pork ribs and fish (sardines, mackerel). She won't touch chicken, lamb, rabbit, tripe etc which generally make up the bulk of her diet. In fact, if I offer her a piece of any of these meats she backs away like I'm trying to poison her but I can't fed her solely on the things that she likes as the diet wouldn't be balanced.

I have tried cutting up the offal etc that she likes very small and mixing it in well with other food to try to encourage her to eat but she will just pick at the 'tasty' bits and leave the rest....on a good day. On a bad day, she'll sniff the bowl and walk away. A dog of her size/weight should be getting around 2.5-3kg of raw per day. She has never eaten that amount but generally did well on about 1.75-2kg per day. Lately, she has barely been eating 500g per day and I was getting really concerned that she wasn't getting enough of the necessary nutrients so I offered her a meal of kibble (Burns) mixed with a little Naturediet for breakfast. She has eaten that three mornings in a row this week and has had another bowl just now. I was still offering a meal of raw meat and bones in the evening up until yesterday but she hasn't touched it in well over a week hence giving her the kibble tonight.

In an effort to try to discourage fussiness, I have been taking her bowl of uneated food away after 10-15 minutes or so but it has made no difference. She has gone a maximum of 48 hours without food and then eaten a little but maybe gone a subsequent 24-36 hours before eating again.

Am I right in thinking that now (9 weeks or so post season) would be the most likely time to show signs of a phantom pregnancy? I have been thinking that maybe her hormones are out of whack again and that could be the  root of her pickiness at the moment? However, I'm kind of clutching at straws.

She seems healthy, has plenty of energy and will still take any treats that might be on offer (although these have been cut right back to try to encourage her to eat her meals). She usually poos twice per day and they have, thus far, been firm and 'healthy' looking (although the amount of time I spend examining dog poo is far from healthy :rolleyes: ).

So, do I.....
a) have a dog who has simply decided that she would rather eat kibble and, as such, should I forget about the raw thing and feed her a good dry, complete food?

b) have a fussy little madam who is trying to dictate what she wants to eat and, as such, I am in danger of pandering to her?

c) have a young hormonal 'teen' who may well revert to a normal eating pattern once her hormones settle down and, as such, I should take a big 'wise-up' tablet and stop being a neurotic 'mother'?

All the while, my other dog continues to eat everything that is put in front of him and manages to look grateful for it (gotta love the boys....so much more straightforward!).

Help! Please?

I can't think that she would rather eat kibble - especially if she hasn't eaten it for 6 months :) The only time that mine have ever refused food was - Bramble, when we were giving him extra as he was very thin when we got him (rescue) and he, eventually, was just getting too much. Tara - never :D So I can't really speak from experience, except to say that either she isn't feeling well or she is just getting too much (has her growth started to slow down ??). I also start to cut the amount of food down now, because of the warmer weather - they don't get nearly as much in the summer :)

Don't know if that helps, but it's difficult without knowing your dog :)

Daisy

My girl is 10 months now and eating raw. She used to eat a lot as a pup but not now and she's fat! She went off after her first season and doesn't seem to need so much now.

Lola is far from fat although her thick fur hides her ribs but if you see her wet, her ribs are far more obvious than they should be.

I have tried giving her a small amount in her bowl and then adding more if she eats it but she won't even touch it unless it is offal, pork ribs or fish. She just turns her nose up at everything else She even refused a little piece of raw organic chicken that the OH offered her when he was preparing dinner...she simply won't touch chicken, beef, turkey, lamb, rabbit or tripe...all of which she ate happily until a few weeks ago. But if I were to offer her a kilo of liver, she'd wolf the lot!

I don't want to stop raw feeding but I can't compile a balanced diet for her on the limited things that she will eat

Well, don't worry then, your not stopping the breast feeding for the bottle! I'd give her the kibble she loves for now if that's what she wants and maybe one day she'll go back to raw herself. She must think the kibble is a treat or perhaps she just likes the crunch and chew. Loads of people use good quality kibble,they are more than happy with it and the condition of their dogs on it. Look on the bright side, nice clean dishes, well fed and happy dog, well chilled and contented owner. All round win,win,win I think.

You're probably right, Viv :) I just need to chill :rolleyes:

I've wanted this dog for most of my life and now that I have her, all I seem to do is worry :rolleyes: Is she eating enough? Is she eating the right food? Do I give her supplements? Is she getting enough exercise? Too much? The right kind?..... when exactly did I turn into my mother??

Ditto:

Well I keep trying my pup on raw, and he simply won't touch chicken - he'll sometimes play with it a little, and make sure the wing is really dead, but won't actually eat it.  Even if you give him bite size pieces he'll spit them out.  He doesn't seem very keen on raw lamb either.

Boil it up, and he'll eat it til he bursts - and won't leave the kitchen if there's any out on the side.

He's happy with tripe and beef, so can't really add anything very helpful.

Have you tried putting a mix of raw food, such as a piece of chicken, a small bit of liver,a piece of fish ,some mince and veggies in a food processor and mixing it all up together so it becomes a  softish consistency ? I have only been feeding raw for a few weeks and to begin with Harley wasn't so keen on the lumps of meat so I processed them all together and he ate everything. I gradually processed it less each time and now dont bother at all except for kidney that I still have to cut up before he will eat it. I am a beginner at raw feeding and it can seem rather daunting to begin with but he has changed from an indifferent kibble eater to an enthusiastic raw eater.

Hi Shaylola I tried Malted Kelp tablets from Dorwest herbs which really helped my picky boxer when he was 9-10mths old.

Thanks for the tip, Claire. I need to order some more Keepers Mix anyway so I'll get some of those to try too :)

Our rottie is fussy with her raw food. Loves chicken wings, backs, the full ribs but has a tendancy to bury things like pigs trotters and other bones. She'll also occasionally go off things. She went off chicken wings for a while but loved them agaon now =/

We have to put her offal in veg patties and 'hide' it by adding tinned fish - she wolfs it down then!

Quick update since this has come up again.....

Lola started eating normally again about 2 weeks ago. I have no idea what caused her to hunger strike for almost 4 months other than perhaps fluctuating hormones before, during and following her first season She lost a lot of weight but her appetite has returned and she is enthusiastic at mealtimes again :) What a relief!! She was starting to look like a very hairy Whippet :rolleyes: That just leaves the terrible teenage behaviour to sort out now :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :P

3kg sounds like an awful lot of food - what breed is she?

Newfoundland :)

Sorry, I've just realised that the figures I quoted above are wrong (mis-calculated my conversion from lbs to kgs....maths never was my strong point :rolleyes: ) She should have around 2kg a day but rarely eats more than 1-1.25kg even now that her appetite has returned and she has never been a particularly greedy dog. Her growth has been steady and I was very happy with her weight pre hunger strike.

I thought 6lbs of food a day seemed rather a lot - we have a Golden Retriever of 8 months and he gets around a kg each day so was imagining an absolutely HUGE dog (not that your breed is a tiny one) :)