Recipe

Hi! I started my dog on a raw diet last Sunday. The first two days went well, but he started having an upset stomach on Tuesday—just once a day. On Friday I asked Saga, so I reduced the sardines to 50 grams and the fish oil from 6.4 to 3 grams. I also lowered the wheat germ oil from 13 to 4–5 grams. I also added some carrots. Two days of good stools. He had 100 grams of sardines yesterday. Good stools this morning. I increased the oils by 3 grams, which led to loose stools again. He’s had Mush and vom before, so he’s used to raw food. What do I do now? Should I try again?

• Hi Astrid! I’ll paste the answer here too, in case others are wondering the same thing. What you’re doing here is very good – you’re keeping an eye on things, making adjustments along the way and seeing the bigger picture. That’s exactly how you succeed in the long run! What you’re describing doesn’t sound like anything is “wrong”, but many dogs often can’t tolerate a rapid increase or change in fat, even if they generally tolerate both sardines and oils well. The gut just needs a bit of time to adapt, especially when several new fat sources are increased at once. The good news is that you’ve already found the key yourself: his tummy settled down when you reduced the amount. So now I would simply go back to the level where his stools were fine, and give his body a few days to settle there…
• Thanks so much for your reply!