Question re: Puking and Raw Diet

I switched to the Honest Kitchen about 3-4 weeks ago, and the boys love it! Not a big shocker there. I didn't do a gradual change-- I just switched, and the boys did fine. But being a little crazed by the holidays, I accidentally ran out and had to switch back to the Natural Balance kibble that they'd been eating previously about a week ago, since there's not a local HK supplier here. All was OK until yesterday morning when I came down to not one, not two, but six piles of puke in the family room. The weird thing, though, is that I would have expected that the most recently ingested stuff (i.e. the kibble) would have been what was puked up, but that wasn't the case. There wasn't a partially digested kibble disc to be seen, and all the debris had the appearance of what I would expect THK puke to look like. (FYI, I'm quite positive that the puker was Jackson, as he's the one who voluntarily turned down food that morning when Byron tried to feed them both, but they've both been perfectly fine since then.)

My questions: 1) Is there any reason to avoid replenishing the Honest Kitchen? 2) Is it odd that he puked that up but not the more recent kibble? 3) Anything to worry about that I haven't thought of yet?

So how long have they been off the HK? 3 weeks? Do you think that Jackson has a blockage that would cause him to throw up? I am baffled. Which HK were you feeding?

Um I would think that the NB kibble would actually break down very fast and you might have a case of mistaken puke identity.

If they hadn't had any THK for a week, there wouldn't have been any left in the stomach. Any at all would be in the lower gut, but most would be assimilated or throughput by that time.

papaspugs wrote:So how long have they been off the HK? 3 weeks? Do you think that Jackson has a blockage that would cause him to throw up? I am baffled. Which HK were you feeding?

They hadn't been off that long. They were on HK for 3-4 weeks. I had a 4# box of Keen, followed by a 4# box of Force. I wasn't paying superclose attention to how long that was, but I think each box lasted close to 2 weeks (feeding 1/3 cup twice a day for two,) so I'm guessing they were on it for about 3-4 weeks, or thereabouts. Then I ran out of it on Christmas day, so it;s been a little less than a week back on NB kibble. Blockage was what I was initially suspecting/dreading, since Jax has a history of that, and fabric and paper are two of his favorite food groups. Fortunately, though, he's been his usual wigglebutt self ever since then, so I now think it was just an upset tummy.

Puggered wrote:Um I would think that the NB kibble would actually break down very fast and you might have a case of mistaken puke identity.

If they hadn't had any THK for a week, there wouldn't have been any left in the stomach. Any at all would be in the lower gut, but most would be assimilated or throughput by that time.

See, that's what I'm having a hard time getting a handle on. I would think that any recently-ingested puke would be vaguely kibble-shaped, and I've certainly seen it in the past. This was very much more of a "shredded" consistency and with what appeared to be parts of veggies in there. That's what confuses me about what I saw, and I'd love to help verify with info about how both kibble and dehydrated raw foods are digested

Here's my take: when a dog switches to raw (which THK is), the enzymes in their systems change to be compatible with the raw food. They could be puking up the changing enzymes, because they are having to readjust back to the kibble again. I have heard of this adjustment when I was doing research on raw feeding.

So do you think I need to be concerned about the switch back to the Honest Kitchen food? I'm planning on placing an order tomorrow.

GingerSnap wrote:So do you think I need to be concerned about the switch back to the Honest Kitchen food? I'm planning on placing an order tomorrow.

I don't think you need to worry about switching back.. but, I do think you may want to try and avoid having to go to kibble when you run out. You can always do a homemade meal when you run out of THK. Does anyone in your area sell it? Also, I would recommend buying the 10 pound boxes, instead of the 4 pound. It will last longer. Or, try ordering some of the small travel packs, just to keep as backup in case you run out again. Those travel packs are cheap.

Yeah, once I figure out what they'll do well with, I think I'll go to the bigger boxes. That was just my 1st one. I think my next order will be a small Embark and a small Zeal and maybe a small Verve. Once I know what they'll do well with, I'll go to the bigger boxes. The smaller packets for travel are a good idea too!

The good news: my order of Embark and Zeal came today! But I also discovered something that may have contributed to the pukiness. Jackson's been spending a lot of time by the back corner behind the pond lately at messing with something on the ground, but it's always to too dark for me to fully investigate. I discovered today though: two dead squirrels. That's what he's been snacking on between meals. Lovely. Now I'm left pondering why do I have two of them in the same spot? Neither of my guys has ever been a hunter. Neighborhood cat perhaps? Suicide pact? Hmmmmm....

Dead birds, dead fish and now dead squirrels in Ginger's yard. The world is coming to an end I tell ya.

sallyandtilly wrote:Dead birds, dead fish and now dead squirrels in Ginger's yard. The world is coming to an end I tell ya.

Definitely the dead squirrels (or parts thereof) ending up as puke indoors - will some one enlighten me please...did the birds and fish also share the same fate?

I think that Sally is referring to the following recent news stories here in the US:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/birds-fall-from-sky-louisiana_n_804196.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/05/national/main7216597.shtml

Ah thanks Brenda!
Now I am waiting for the verdict of why those things happened - surely the Bernuda Triangle theorists are claiming to have the answers as would be the Charles Fort adherents.