# Vomiting issues on raw



## Sidney Johnsen (May 31, 2009)

I have a dog that is puking up his raw meals. When switched to kibble he does not barf. Thoughts on this?

A little more back story:
The dog in question is 3 years old. I bought him at the beginning of summer. He was kibble fed before he came here, switched to raw with no problems. A week and a half ago he started throwing up his food. At meal time he was eager to eat more, he drank the same amount of water as always, was active and happy.. no signs that anything was wrong. I let it go a few days and he kept puking up his food so I was worried about a possible obstruction.. made a vet appointment and borrowed some kibble from a friend who fed the same brand he was on before I got him.

Here’s the kicker – he doesn’t puke up the kibble. He had awful shits the day after, which was to be expected, but his stools have been solid and normal since then. No obstruction, clean bill of health at the vet’s.

The raw food source has not changed, all the other dogs eating meat out of the same batch have not had any problems. The only change is we started higher activity levels around the same time the vomiting showed up. Running 5+ miles a day (he puked on days he ran and on days he didn’t, though, and I dropped him from training after the third day of puking).

I know there are some knowledgeable raw feeding folks on here.. would love to hear what you make of this, and what you think I should do next.


----------



## Lori Gallo (May 16, 2011)

When does he vomit the food? Some dogs eat the raw food very fast, bring it back up right away and then enjoy it the second time....


----------



## Erika Ackerland (Oct 27, 2011)

Does he eat it again or do you clean it up? I have 2 that will purge their food and give it a second go


----------



## Sidney Johnsen (May 31, 2009)

Usually about an hour or so after eating. He had no interest in eating it a second time, either.


----------



## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

What kind of meat are you feeding? (like ground chicken w/bone) or red meat etc?
If your mixture is fairly fatty some dogs seem to have a bit of trouble adjusting to the fat level - some ground chicken can be quite fatty. Sometimes feeding a leaner meat mix and gradually adding the fattier stuff for certain dogs who are a little more sensitive. If your weather has been like ours and kinda borderline warmish and up an down for running a higher fat mixture causes them to run a bit hot and requires a leaner mix I find than what I would feed if it was consistently colder and we were running. I cut back the ground chicken and feed a little more lean red (beef, horse etc).
Some dogs will adapt to pretty much anything without problems but he just might be your more sensitive guy.


----------



## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Lynn Cheffins said:


> What kind of meat are you feeding? (like ground chicken w/bone) or red meat etc?
> If your mixture is fairly fatty some dogs seem to have a bit of trouble adjusting to the fat level


Also what RMB part(s)? Backs, quarters, what?


----------



## Melissa Thom (Jun 21, 2011)

How much time do you get from the meal to the barf? Does it change day to day?


----------



## Sidney Johnsen (May 31, 2009)

Lynn Cheffins said:


> What kind of meat are you feeding? (like ground chicken w/bone) or red meat etc?





Connie Sutherland said:


> Also what RMB part(s)? Backs, quarters, what?


Whole chicken leg quarters, sometimes chicken backs, we use chicken necks as treats.. sometimes they get them with their meals too. We don't actually feed any ground meat.. "chunked" beef, but not ground. 

Interesting point about the fatty meat though! We have been having the temperature fluxuations too.



Melissa Thom said:


> How much time do you get from the meal to the barf? Does it change day to day?


It changes from day to day. He never barfs it up right away, its usually later on in the day. But never a predictable time period.


----------



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

What I might suggest is taking a pot of boiling water and dip the chicken pieces in the boiling water for 30 seconds with tongs. It will help kill the surface bacteria without cooking the bone. That will help tell you if it's an allergy to chicken (vomiting is a sign of food allergy) or because of high bacteria load on the chicken. For the chunk beef, you can boil it as well, or broil or microwave it.


----------



## Melissa Thom (Jun 21, 2011)

I would suspect a couple things - first that perhaps there is an issue in the stomach - either with the size of pieces or meal being consumed or a partial blockage. If you can knock stuff down to 1 inch cubes or grind for a few days and split meals into smaller amounts - see what happens. 

The other issue that sometimes comes up with mine is temperature. If a meal is large and very cold my dogs have a hard time keeping it down compared to ten to twenty degrees warmer.


----------



## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

I'd try maybe feeding ground meat - sometimes whole stuff takes a little longer to digest I think and the ground stuff is kinda "prechewed" and goes thru faster.


----------



## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Melissa Thom said:


> .... or a partial blockage.




Me too.

I'd probably talk to the vet about this, and ask about x-rays.


JMO!


----------

