love those leftovers!

[technodoll]

OK it's not raw, but it is to ADD to the raw meals the kids get, LOL!

I've found that maika's poops were too hard lately - she pops them out like little marbles! - so to add some fiber i've recycled some stuff i was going to throw out anyways... boiled some cooked white rice with a clove of garlic, a bunch of "going too soft" fresh spinach and some leftover cooked brocoli... it cooled down to an oatmeal-like mush, which i further mashed to make a loose paste. I now add about 2 tablespoons of that to the raw ground mix (chicken frames, beef heart, kidney and liver in correct proportions). I think it's helping, too soon to tell - also because they get different meals all the time - but it can't hurt, right?

ps: talk about a cheap diet, ha ha!

[barkley21]

Sounds good! Here's for softer poops Let me know how it works out. Barkley's poops sometimes get too chalky and hard too, so if this works, I'll just have to try that.

[technodoll]

yeah... chalky pale hard poops are normally sign of too much bone, not enough meat. but some dogs (like maika) seem to have hard brown poops no matter the small amount of bone, hence the added fiber... and maybe some vitamins? neither dog will get within 10 feet of a fruit or a veggie so they hardly get any, except when it's in their "fed" meals

for barkley, try feeding more meaty-meals and see what happens?..

[Scott_B]

Yeah, I dont mind the harder poo's every so often. I've been told it helps keep the anal glands clear and such. But all the time yeah is too much.

[technodoll]

funny thing... maika has terrible anal gland leakage her buttfur gets stained and often smells like a dead fish, it's just terrible. nothing is impacted though, she just leaks (some dogs produce more liquid than others). imagine what it would be like if she had big soft kibble-stools i'm trying to find the middle-ground here. with raw her stools are so small, i'm wondering if they put enough pressure on her glands to express them properly. i thought to add a bit of healthy fiber to see what happens

[barkley21]

Barkley's poops have actually gotten much better in the last while and are pretty normal now, thanks to all the help and advice I've increased the meat content so they are now brown and no longer pale, but sometimes they are very hard and "marble-like" like you said TD. I do feed a little bit of veggies and fruit by giving Barkley pureed baby food. So far I've tried sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, blueberries, and raspberries and peas. I still have a jar of squash and pear that I haven't opened yet. He's not picky...he eats them all.

Oh, and Barkley tried pork riblets for the first time last night and loved those too. I was kind of worried because the bones in them looked quite hard and dense but he crunched them up really well and once again I felt silly for worrying

[barkley21]

Originally Posted by technodoll

imagine what it would be like if she had big soft kibble-stools

No thanks! Been there, done that when Barkley was on kibble. The stools were horrible and we had him at the vet every two weeks to have his anal glands expressed I know many people do this themselves but after the first time I smelled the dead fish stench, I just knew it wasn't for me.

Come to think of it, since we switched him to raw about 3 months ago now, he hasn't had any anal gland issues at all and I haven't seen him scooting by me in the living room either Is this a result of the raw diet or just a coincidence you think?

ps- what a fun thread huh? ...texture of poops and anal gland leakage