New to Raw Feeding with a Few Questions

[Josie]

First of all, I would like to say what a HUGE help this site has been for me! I have gotten so much information and am incredibly grateful.

I have a 2-year old male Olde English Bulldog, Chuffy, and he has been suffering from chronic ear infections for over a year. We'd get one cleared up, and then in no time, it would be right back. I also noticed that places on his belly appeared to have red rashes and that he was licking between his toes a lot. I just thought he was cleaning his little paws, but I've since learned better from this site. Bless his poor, sweet heart. Our other baby, Doozy, is a lab mix, who is healthy as an ox with little or no sensitivities of any kind, so we had no idea, and none of the vets Chuffy has seen -- 3 in all -- have mentioned anything about possible food allergies. Grrr. My husband and I love Chuffy with all our hearts and had no idea the kibble we were feeding him (Purina Pro Plan) was making him sick. We tried various kibbles with no success, and Chuffy never seemed to like any of them much.

So after finding this great site recently, we decided to switch him to raw feeding. I was incredibly nervous at first, but he has taken to it like a champ! He's been eating chicken leg quarters for almost two weeks with absolutely no trouble. He hasn't thrown up a single time, has been having much better poops (were always so loose before), and eats his dinners with gusto for the first time ever. However, I have a few questions:

1. I think we may be feeding Chuffy too much bone, and I think he may be a little constipated. What is the best way to deal with this? I think I saw where someone said to just back off the bone for a few days and give a dog mainly meat until his system regulates. Would it be ok if I just give him boneless chicken breast meat for a few days? Should I give him or do something else to help with the constipation?
2. When we introduce beef into his meals, what type of beef should we feed him so that he gets the proper ratio of meat and bone? I've read in quite a few posts that we should wait for a while to introduce organs, so I'm not planning on those for a few more weeks.
3. Am I correct in thinking that it may take Chuffy a while to get better? I know it's only been two weeks, but outwardly, he doesn't really look any better. His ears are still red and kinda dirty (I started cleaning them with Hibiclens this week, and it seems to be helping some), in-between his toes is still red, he's still a little smelly, and parts of his underside are still red. I started spraying between his toes last night with a 50/50 solution of apple cider vinegar (ACV) and water. Boy, he does NOT like me doing this, and it's gonna be a challenge to keep him still and not growling/acting like he's going to bite long enough to spray between all his toes 3 times a day. We're determined to get our precious boy healthy, though, so we're going to do whatever it takes. I saw in another post that some people have had luck using Vetericyn VF Wound & Infection Treatment, and I'm definitely keeping that in mind, but I'm concerned what would happen if he licks it.

I'm so sorry for such a long post, but I am extremely grateful to all of you who have taken the time to read it and look forward to your thoughts/suggestions/words of wisdom!

Josie

 

[bullmama]

Hi Josie! I am not a raw feeder but I have started home cooking. As long as your bully is not allergic to chicken, you should start to see positive results at any time. I will let the raw feeders answer your other questions, i have studied the raw feeding but without actual experience i dont want to give advice, just in case I answer wrong .


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[ChanelnBrutus]

Josie. I dont feed raw so Im no help here sorry! Just wanted to welcome you aboard. I'm thinking if you can start with one proetin at a time to figure out if thats what it is with trial and error. Dont know if thats possible feeding raw so I will tag [MENTION=1209]savemejeebus[/MENTION] She feed Stig and Punkin raw and has loads of advice.

 

[Josie]

Thanks so much, [MENTION=2]desertskybulldogs[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4246]ChanelnBrutus[/MENTION]!!

 

[RiiSi]

Hi Josie & Chuffy and welcome to EBN!
I feed raw and I usually give my Usko two meals with bone and then one only meat meal. I feed twice a day. Do you mean by constipation that he hasn't as much lately or not at all? With raw food you can expect to see a lot less
I hardly ever feed beef with bone. That bone is much harder than for example pork or lamb bone.
Just stick to it, I'm sure you'll see results in no time!
You can wait even longer than few weeks to introduce organs. Start with different meats and leave the organs last.

 

[Baconator]

I server Bacon his Fromm raw so I won't be much help either, just wanted to say welcome

 

[Josie]

Hi, RiiSi! I also feed Chuffy twice a day, and I will try your 2 w/bone and then 1 w/out method. I have noticed less poop (though my hubby takes him out more than I do - yay!), but I've seen on this site where lots of people say that's normal and to be expected because the meat is highly digestible. My husband mentioned this morning that it looks like Chuffy is actually straining some now when he tries to poop, and I've actually thought over the past few days that it looked like his little meals I had pre-packaged for him looked like they had a lot of bone in them.

Glad to hear I don't have to necessarily feed Chuffy beef-type bones because I was drawing a blank, except maybe ribs. I had read that weight-bearing bones for large animals like cows are off-limits. I guess for his non-bone meal, I could give him some ground beef or beef heart (gotta make some calls about that one, as I've never seen beef heart before). I'm going to check into pork, lamb, and turkey, too.

Thanks so much!

 

[Josie]

I server Bacon his Fromm raw so I won't be much help either, just wanted to say welcome

Thanks so much for the welcome, Baconator!