day 2 of refusing to eat chicken...day 3 on barf...

[ferrety]

Well today marks day 3 of BARFing and it is day two in a row that Dixie refuses to eat chicken wings. I broke down last night and gave her ground beef with raw egg (she spit egg shell all over my kitchen...) and I gave her the same for breakfast as she wouldn't go near the chicken. I thought maybe the chicken was turning and that was the problem...no. I KNOW the chicken was turning. Anyway, that is neither here nor there. I now have plenty of fresh chicken and she sniffs it and leaves the room.

Do I refuse to give her ANYTHING except the chicken? I even cut the wings up into thirds to make it easier on her. I already know this is going to be better for her as her supersensitive tummy hasn't been visibly upset in the three days of very new foods.

Normally, she eats SD kibble and if she gets even a smidge of table food while chumming by my son, she gets really sick. Sometimes for up to two days. I am just afraid of how far to try to force her to do this....

VERY CONFUSED!
Christa

[ferrety]

Day 4 of BARF and Day 3 of Refusing to Eat...

Guys, I really need help and advice here. Tonight, I am going to switch back to kibble and see if she will eat. I do not know WHY she won't eat chicken wings. I have given her hamburger or eggs yesterday morning and the night before, but I don't want to keep trying to FORCE her to eat the chicken. I will try to find some necks this evening on the way home, but I haven't found any grocery that sells them yet...

Do you think that a bone could be obstructing her intestine or anything? She had a bowel movement last night...

HELP!

Also...would it help if I grind the meat? And if I grind the meat, can i use RBM grind with her veggies or is it better to do hamburger?

[JulieM]

Sometimes cutting the wing a little (not through the bone, just through the flesh and skin) can help - it releases the flavor and smell, etc.

Some dogs are very good at self-fasting, too. (None of mine, but some are ) Most raw feeders fast every so often - she may feel she needs it. If she's eating the hamburger, however, it could be that her teeth are bothering her. How old is she? Can you 'crunch' up the wing for her (smash it with a hammer or something) so she doesn't really have to chew it?

I would worry that giving her kibble again will wreak havoc with her digestion.

If she had a normal bowel movement I wouldn't worry about obstruction.

Also, maybe she's still not sure what to do with the wings. I had to hold onto one end of the wing (the tip) for several meals for one of mine, until she got the hang of eating them on her own.

You could try smearing the chicken lightly with something enticing - liverwurst comes to mind, or cheese.

[khousman]

I agree with Julie and wouldn't switch back to kibble. Dogs tend to eat when they are hungry. I would try chicken necks if you can. It was easier for our girls to eat them when they started out. Don't give up on BARF !! Keep us posted on what happens.

Kristi

[ferrety]

Well, she ate 9 wings the first day so I am sure she knows WHAT to do with them...

She is 3, so maybe they are bothering her gums. I was thinking about cutting the wings into 1 inch long pieces through the bone and all.

Her stool was normal (with lots of mucous) although I did find a drop or two of red blood in a small amount of the mucous. It was in NO WAY black or tarry, however.

Should I just withhold all food EXCEPT the wings for a couple of days until she decides to eat them? I don't know how long it is safe for me to do that.

I will say that she shows NO signs of trouble with the diet. Normally, she gets very sick and upset tummied with the tiniest portion of "ppl food" ...she threw up for 3-4 hours after chumming a half a bologna sandwich from my son one day... tummy churned and growled for 4-6 hours after eating a bowl of "soggy" cereal he gave her once... and with this.... raw chicken, raw hamburger, raw eggs...NO PROBLEM. No diarrhea, no throwing up, no NOXIOUS gas...WOW! I can already tell that it is working better with her body, but I don't know how to convince her to keep up with it...

[khousman]

9 wings sounds like an awful lot. How much does she weigh? She probably got really full from that much food. You could try cutting up the wings to see if that helps. I personally would try to continue with the RMB's and not the ground beef. When we were first starting out, that's all our dogs got for at least the first week. You don't want to upset her tummy by giving her too many new things at once. Maybe Julie can give you an idea on how long to try the rmb's before giving her something else. I'm glad to hear how well she is doing on the food!

Kristi

[ferrety]

Dixie is about 65 pounds. By the number game, I really think she SHOULD have gotten 7 wings, but she begged me for an extra and stole one from my mother in law's dog when he did not know what to do with it. I am hoping that maybe just all the crunching made her jaw sore so she is shying away from the bone chewing.

I came home for lunch and used a pair of shrub shears (hand held size) to cut up a drumette into four pieces. She ate a good portion of a drummie that way. I will give her a full serving tonight. I was hoping to start her with ONLY wings for the first week ... maybe two depending on how she handles the switch. Now I am quite convinced that only one week of wings will be MORE than enough time for her as she is really handling the digestive changes very well.

Thank you so much for giving me thoughts and ideas as well as letting me use you as a sounding board so I can feel better about this decision!

[myrocky]

Ok this might sound like a dumb question but are the wings room tempeture? Rocky will eat wings cold from the frige but he prefers room temp ones. They are easier to eat for him. So her jaws might be acheing a bit. If she is taking other foods and treats I think it just might be her tired jaws. Keep us updated

[ferrety]

****************WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!*****************

I figured out and fixed the problem! Aparently she just got sore from the chewing and not being used to the bones. I cut drumettes bones in four pieces with rose bush shears and DOWN they went!

That was about two pounds of wings ago...as she started eating again yesterday afternoon. She is doing so very very well with the chicken that I have added a couple of gizzards (poor thing will never get chicken heart though...she would have to fight me for it!) to her menu tonight and will add some veggie with hamburger in it either tomorrow night or the next one. I had been afraid that she would have to be on just wings for three or four weeks with how sensitive her tummy seems, but she hasn't had a SINGLE solitary problem with the switch. I am amazed!

Trying to finish reading Give Your Dog a Bone to see the exact measures and ways to feed her so I can really get this going.

hi all I do have a question I have never given my dogs this type of diet, don't chicken bones splinter? A what about germs? I really must do some looking in to this... Is this something alot of people do and does it have a purpose? sorry for my lack of education on this......