Ok how slowly should raw feeding be introduced to an oldie? Is it like asking how long is a piece of string is

I am again considering it for Kc as she loves raw food but after the sickness I bottled it

However what I have realised is she must have an intollerance to raw rabbit She suffered severe gastro enteritis several years ago after eating some dead rabbit Then when I gave her some raw rabbit the other month she was really sick cost more than £100 in vet bills and lived on chicken and rice for a week BUT she has rabbit in Naturediet and has had cooked rabbit that my friends mum cooked for us and been fine. So I am confident that if I avoid rabbit and too much bone she should be ok on raw

Sooooooooo back to the point of the thread how slowly should I take it, ie is it better to swap straight over (I did with Buddy) or literally add an extra raw meal each week? She is 9yrs old and currently fed Fish4Dogs with either Naturediet or Wainwrights wet

I'm interested in opinions and experience I will no doubt ponder on it longer before actually doing it

The main reason I keep considering it is she clearly loves the raw food, she will sniff her dinner then sit outside Bud's cage trying to get bits of his dinner before eating her own! However she has severe arthritis in both front legs, is medicated for this and does hydro but thinking that a natural diet may help some. But she does clearly enjoy her dinner when she decides its all thats on offer

I just keep chasing my tail, talking myself in and out of it

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Raw may well help as she'll be getting natural glucosamine and chondroitin and calcium (although remember calcium needs phosphorous to activiate it properly: my youngsters like to steal bits of charcoal from the woodburner )

My older dog did not take too well at first and he still won't eat whole rabbit or raw fish/offal.

I'd say switch her a few days a week, avoid too many different proteins all at once and see how she goes.

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

Just do it!

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Thanks for another helpful post although what could I give to ensure phosphorous levels correct, other than coal - I don't have a woodburner

I forgot to mention over time she has had and been fine with

chicken - mince, lumps, wings and necks
beef - mince and chunks
turkey - mince and chunks
tripe
liver
heart
kidney

So I am confident there is enough for her to eat whilst slowly (mistake made with Buddy - lesson learnt) introducing other bits

I have not braved raw fish yet, I stuck with tins

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I know I know I'm SUCH a girl

She is my very precious girly and I worry far too much

And thank you

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I'd try her with chicken and/or turkey, on it's own for a couple of weeks at least. I've swapped over two frail oldies in the past, and they do tend to try and bolt stuff, and both of mine had slightly iffy tums getting used to it. I didn't use green tripe back then, but I'd suggest very much basing their diet on chicken/turkey and green tripe. Chicken/turkey has omega three in there.

Neither of my oldies tolerated raw liver at all, it made them ill usually, so I'd personally be very careful about introducing that. Both of mine did really well on raw, and it cleaned their teeth up beautifully, but it is so easy for them to go downhill quickly if they're not 100% fit, so for me, I'd say just take it slowly and carefully, you know your dog better than anyone on here

Thanks for another helpful post too

I think thats one of my biggest concerns is if I don't get it 100% and she does get ill

I was also looking at feeding her the expensive route the likes of Natural Instinct and Basils as it is pre-mixed and should be balanced

She also does not tolerate very much bone as in rmb, but ground in minces/foods she is fine

She has had liver and been fine, in fact she nipped my finger on the second offering But I totally understand on the go slowly advice

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I realise I wasn't very helpful but others have been so I have an excuse

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Hold such food offerings on your palm outstretched flat or drop it into the dog's mouth, holding food like a pen or pinched between fingers makes it hard for the dog's teeth not to contact fingers as well as food.

One might expect an day or so of upset stomach as the bacterial balance in the intestine adjusts to the new food mixture.

The only way to progress is to try it, and the best way to try it is to do so in a methodical and controlled manner. To do this keep a food/poo diary. Use a marker like crushed egg shell to measure the normal food transit time.

Then give a new food a chance to be tried by the dog without changing too many parameters at the same time.

When a switched Tammy over she wasnt exactly an 'oldie' but she was coming up for 7 years old and hadn't had any raw food at all before but i switched her over - usual food one day, raw the next and then raw everday ever since, i started with just chicken breast/boneless chicken thighs for about a week then started adding a couple of bone in thighs.
It took her a while to digest it properly as she didn't do a poo for the first couple of days (i was quite worried but was assured by the person who wrote the raw feeding sticky that its quite normal in older dogs) and when i added a bit of bone you could see little pieces that hadn't been digested, this was only for the first week or two though.
Other than that she took to it really well, no problems with raw liver/offal/raw fish or any types of meat she's tried

I mainly did it the 'cold turkey' way as thats what everyone advised and also i didn't have much choice as Tammy wasn't eating her usual food anyway and certainly wouldn't of after having a juicy raw meal!

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