# Did your dog go through a "detox" when switching to raw?



## OliveSheprador (Jul 14, 2011)

Mmk. So some of you know when I fed my pup chicken leg awhile back (trying out the raw diet), she experienced a bout of vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and not eating. Worried she was really sick, I brought her to the vet who suspected she had become ill from the chicken (she gave me some doggy-Pepto & dewormer) and advised I take her off the raw diet for now. So I did, and her issues immediately cleared up. (She's being fed Wellness Puppy & Grain-Free Blue Wilderness for Puppy and doing very well.)

From speaking with other raw feeders/dog lovers on here and elsewhere, it appears my dog's reaction to raw was unusual. When I went home and told people about my experience, many people were quick to the point the finger at me and tell me I didn't do it right, I must have fed bad meat, etc, etc. And fine - you know, I don't know - maybe that batch of chicken _was_ bad, even though it was human-quality and fresh and I regularly buy my meat there and have never had any problem.
Further, I have fed my cat raw chicken (same quality, from the same place) for years without any problem. So, it's not like I don't know what I'm doing. Could it have been a batch of bad chicken? - Yes, it could have.

But, unfortunately, it makes me skeptical to try raw with my pup again - I really want to at least do RMBs, because I've seen the benefits of a dog (and cat!) on raw and I want my dog to ... well, be a dog!

I looked up "dog bad reactions to raw" on Google out of curiosity and to my surprise found a (small?) group of people who feed raw and had an experience similar to mine when switching their dog. They credit the sudden bout of sickness to "detoxification" and cite that switching to raw can cause all kinds of issues at first - vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, hair loss, even ear wax build up!

http://www.sensibledogs.com/pet-pro...rrhea-after-switching-to-a-raw-dog-food-diet/


Does this sound right? This is the first I heard of of this, despite me going to many dog forums/raw feeders with my story - so it's making me wonder. Have any of you experienced this, believe it, etc? 

Also, is it safe to give a 15 week old lab/shepherd puppy a raw beef bone to gnaw on, or will she hurt her teeth?


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## momof3 (Nov 24, 2007)

The only thing that I see different is she was on raw food according to you. The only thing you did was give her some stress by moving her to your home and she had to get used to things there. So I don't think its really the same as a dog that had been eating nothing but kibble and then you all of a sudden switched to raw,which is why some people experience a detox. According to you the previous owners were raw feeding and had no troubles at all and you didn't notice any when you adopted her. The problems only arose when you adopted her and stressed her. I really don't think you did anything wrong,don't think the food was spoiled. I really think it was a stressful time in her life and her body reacted to it. But thats just my .02 worth.


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## Deeken (Feb 14, 2011)

Nope, Deeken didn't detox though the lady (who's very knowledgable) at the raw pet food store warned me it could happen. He did regurgitate a few of his meals though to begin with. Pretty gross but apparently totally normal and then he'd eat them again...


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

I'm not sure how much faith I would put into "detox" theories. I'm just kind of skeptical of it. Basil took to raw super easily. No problems at all. The only time he did have a problem, was when I fed him some bad fish. But that's obviously because the fish was bad. I'd probably bet that you just fed her a bad piece of chicken. But she could just not tolerate chicken very well... Maybe feed some turkey instead and see how she does. Also, did the chicken leg you fed her have a lot of fatty skin on it? I know that when I feed Basil too much fat at once, he'll get sick. I have to trim off the big fatty chunks off of the thighs. And finally, some dogs just don't do well on raw. If you can't get it to work, just feed her food that DOES work. IMO raw is an excellent diet, but there's nothing wrong with feeding a good quality kibble just so long as your dog is healthy.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

how much did your dog weigh when you fed a chicken drumstick?

we start our dogs with boney chicken backs, skin and excess fat and organs removed to give them a smooth transition.

as to detox, whenever anyone changes a diet drastically, there will be a detox of sorts...it's like going from vegan to meat eater....

my pug got goopy eyes, both of them smelled for a week or two....neither one of them looked great until that one day when they did...and then there was no going back.

if a dog is stressed and diet is changed, it is highly probable that your dog threw up. doesn't make it anyone's fault...but don't blame the diet....please...there are tens of thousands of us who feed raw very successfully. the people that you're speaking to may not know the ins and outs of this particular diet....and are not the ones to ask about it. but don't do it if you don't want to.

maybe raw isn't for you....i've never seen a dog not do well on raw...except some dogs who have a disorder who cannot tolerate the diet and have to eat something else....and even these dogs are not kibble fed. they are home cooked....

the site you are citing is selling a book. sigh.


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

My guess was you just gave her to much to soon.

Out of all my dogs Abe had the most noticeable detox but it was not vomiting although he does regurgitate sometimes.
He had a dull coat, smelt bad, runny eyes and bad breath. But in a few weeks that all changed and now he has never looked better.
I think he was the worst fed of my group before he came to be (kibbles and bits anyone?) so i put his hard detox down to that.

Anyway back to you. My guess was you either gave her something bad or you just overloaded. 
Abe was 1 years old when i switched him but i had to do it gently. To much in one meal and he would be like your pup so i started off with 4 or 5 little tiny meals for about 2 weeks and since then he has never looked back. In fact he is scarfing down some tripe right now


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## OliveSheprador (Jul 14, 2011)

MagicRe said:


> the site you are citing is selling a book. sigh.


It is one site I found with this information.

And - SIGH - it is not selling a book. It is referencing a book that has good information on raw diets, according to the article.



> If you’re looking for help on how to introduce a raw dog food diet to your adult dog or puppy, a good resource that you can check out is Maggie Rhines’ “Going Rawr! Dog Lover’s Compendium”. It’s a well-written, well-researched book about what pet owners need to know to get the most out of this type of diet for their dogs.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

katielou said:


> My guess was you just gave her to much to soon.
> 
> Out of all my dogs Abe had the most noticeable detox but it was not vomiting although he does regurgitate sometimes.
> He had a dull coat, smelt bad, runny eyes and bad breath. But in a few weeks that all changed and now he has never looked better.
> ...


that's exactly what i think happened...it's usually user error when beginning to transition a dog.....my dogs did the same as yours...with the smell and goopy and dull coat...and then it was like overnight.....they were magnificent....



OliveSheprador said:


> It is one site I found with this information.
> 
> And - SIGH - it is not selling a book. It is referencing a book that has good information on raw diets, according to the article.


the book she is talking goes to a clickbank site...it's an affiliate program and has been on the net as long as i have. it's not a particularly good affiliate program...... and not a particularly good book for representation for raw.


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

katielou said:


> My guess was you just gave her to much to soon.
> 
> Out of all my dogs Abe had the most noticeable detox but it was not vomiting although he does regurgitate sometimes.
> He had a dull coat, smelt bad, runny eyes and bad breath. But in a few weeks that all changed and now he has never looked better.
> ...


Would a dog go through detox when switching from poor quality kibble to high quality kibble? Basil was on Iams whne he lived with his foster, and I switched him over to high quality grain-free kibble when I got him. He was pretty greasy, yellow, and stinky at that time. Also had liquid poo all the time. I just attributed it to him being on Iams before. Maybe the fact that he was on a good kibble diet for like a year before I switched to raw helped with his transition to raw?


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

Nargle said:


> Would a dog go through detox when switching from poor quality kibble to high quality kibble? Basil was on Iams whne he lived with his foster, and I switched him over to high quality grain-free kibble when I got him. He was pretty greasy, yellow, and stinky at that time. Also had liquid poo all the time. I just attributed it to him being on Iams before. Maybe the fact that he was on a good kibble diet for like a year before I switched to raw helped with his transition to raw?


Yes i think it makes a huge difference.
Bryn my Brittany was on a good quality kibble when we got him and he had almost no detox symptoms when switching to raw.
And i have some fosters who have had the same detox symptoms as Abe when being switched from low quality kibble to high quality kibble.


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