For context: my lab is 7 years old and has been fairly healthy until about 5 months ago we took him to the vet for not pooping, vomiting, pain, and lethargy. Found out he had pancreatitis and upon further examination he swallowed a corn cob whole and had it stuck in his bowel. 3 days in the hospital and $6000 later he was feeling much better after surgery and was able to come home. From that point forward I decided to switch to Raw food for him due to the pancreatic inflammation and just knowing kibble f****** sucks. I do about 75% Raw and occasionally some kibble.
He did AWESOME immediately on raw and has been thriving he lost some weight which he needed, he pooped normally, and got his shine/energy back.
Until tonight- he is still newer at eating raw bones and such as I get stuff from my pet carnivore and they grind the bones. At about 4:00 pm he had an early supper and I included an entire raw duck head for the first time and within 10 minutes he vomited a huge pile. I thought he was feeling ok until he did it again about an hour later all over my bed and floor. He then came downstairs and started drooling, light panting, looking sad, continued vomiting. Then he started looking better, more comfortable, not bloated, sleeping well and didn’t vomit for a few hours then all of a sudden he got up and vomited a big amount of water plus remaining bones and a whole blackberry. He has wanted to drink water and he’s going outside to pee fine, he is passing gas ok too. He pooped earlier but did not poop when he was outside 10 minutes ago despite trying hard. I thought he was getting pancreatitis again but the only sign he has currently is vomiting. No noticeable pain. Could this be a bowel obstruction due to the duck head? Or just irritation? I’m scared and the vet doesn’t open for another 6 hours. It is currently 3 am and he vomited last an hour ago.
Update: I took him to the vet and they did an x-ray. They could see that there were some bone fragments in his stomach, but they were surrounded by stool and slowly moving through the G.I. tract she was not worried about perforation because there was quite a bit of stool. She gave him some cerenia and entyce to help nausea and to try to get him to eat because he still has not ate since Sunday. He is still drinking. And he did poop again last night. She is not worried about his diet because like the other comment said high fat diet from raw meat is not the same as high fat from kibble. He is otherwise in great health and this is definitely a learning experience. Thank you all for the helpful comments, and I hope that my mistake can help someone else who raw feeds their dog. Since he did have the obstruction five months ago this was just too much for his stomach to handle and I absolutely should have held it for him so he did not chew so fast. We will be staying away from duck heads for sure.
Labs are prone to bolting food. When introducing bones, you've got to be sure they know to chew and not swallow the thing whole.what concerns me is the ducks outer bill is layered in keratin which is VERY tough to digest. So if he didn't chew it properly and break it down, then yes it could well be causing obstruction or causing him pain
So he needs a vet check up.
Also, to add, if he has always been giving ground bone, than he likes has gulped the ducks bill whole.
This was my guess about the bill and not chewing. A very scan will know soon enough.
yeah, people need to supervise dogs with bones. Actual wild animal canines die all the time from eating bones without chewing them enough. Nobody is wrong to give whole bones but it would make me nervous personally.
It really depends on the dog and the bone. You have to teach them to chew some times which can be done by holding the bone and pulling against them.
There's other bones that I will not feed like neck vertebra, because once defrosted, the small individual bones are easy to dissociate from the whole thing meaning there's a chance of them swallowing a few of them whole. I don't like the risk in this.
My dog is a brilliant at chewing and he is weirdly fastidious about it. But I've still got strict rules about the size and type of bone, and how it has to be in proportion to his head.
A lab, I'd have to watch like a hawk though
What are your favorite bones for dogs? My dog absolutely loves chewing bones and crunchy things which is why I thought he would love the duck head, but it looks like he loved it a little too much and ate too fast I should’ve held it.
I know I feel crazy and need recommendations too because my dog is a very VERY fast chewer and I've tried everything, I mean everything and have yet to find a bone or a chew that lasts more than an hour. 😩 He likes to chew at night before bed, usually I give him a trachea, duck thighs or a lamb leg but he finishes them in around 20 minutes (and he is a 16kg corgi.....)
The only thing that lasts more than a day are those Yak chews. They're not bone but they're good natural chew for aggressive chewers
Yeah, I don't understand how large dog owners give chicken necks and wings to them. My 13 pounders can swallow those whole and have to hork it back up and I tell them to chew this time. For dogs up to about 100 pounds the standard is a whole chicken quarter and sometimes that's too small.
OP, could it have something to do with the surgery? It hasn't been all that long. The section involved might have scar tissue or adhesions and when the gut responded to that nice big meaty bone with bigger than usual peristaltic contractions it couldn't quite handle it and is spasming?
He does great with chicken bones and necks but the duck head was probably just too much and I still feel awful. I was wondering about the surgery too. I stayed up with him ALL night monitoring all symptoms and he has now not vomited in 9 hours. Hes comfortable, sleeping well, and when I press his belly he doesn’t seem to be in any pain. I think he had an irritated stomach from the duck. I am going to take him to his normal vet later on in the day.
I have a 79lb dog and I gave her a duck head once. She did chew it enough before swallowing but she had a little upset after. I think the beak is too much. Even though she is large enough for that I would avoid those in the future. Get the feet/necks or turkey neck etc instead. Mine decided she didn't want to eat raw anymore so I buy the freeze dried necks and feet now. Good luck. Hope your dog is feeling better now.
My dog will vomit up a chunk of beef neck the size of a thumb nail if she doesn’t chew it .. a duck head has more bone and indigestible food. I’d say the reaction is fairly normal. I wouldn’t feed duck heads. Try duck feet or something if you really want duck.
I’m on 100% commercial raw and the only bones I give me 60 lb GR are beef rib, fowl feet, mackerel/sardines, and the odd turkey neck. Everything else has some sort of risk / reward element I just choose to pass on.
Did he vomit undigested duck head the first time? Duck is very fatty so it could be a pancreatitis flare up. With the size of his breed I wouldn’t think obstruction, my 40 lb dog could easily handled a duck head. But would think pancreas flare up.
My 40 lb dog eventually got pancreas issues from an unrelated incident (getting into roommates food) and from then on she could no longer handle duck or fatty marrow bones and would have 24 hour episodes after but hers was diarreah. She can have low fat bones like chicken feet, chicken backs, and occasional half turkey necks with the skin removed
Please update us, I hope he’s ok :( and have grace for yourself, it’s not your fault you couldn’t have known and are doing something great for him
Thank you! I think he is doing a little better not vomiting but also just laying around and not his usual happy self. I’ll be taking him to the vet.
I think the problem starts and ends with people watching too many YouTube shorts of dog food influencers feeding exotic raw food. It takes the dog knowledge and practice to eat whole. Just handing them something they’ve never seen or eaten before and expecting them to know what to do can be a set up for a medical emergency. Your dog/s will do perfectly fine on more mundane proteins like chicken and beef. Just remember that they’re omnivore adjacent and feed a balanced diet. Feeding mostly proteins, even if they’re varied, can lead to health issues.
I absolutely agree seeing things on social media can cause issues like this. In my personal experience I have a pet nutritionist who specializes in raw diets and I work with my vet who supports how I feel my dog. I wouldn’t intentionally do anything that was not supported by his vet team and I just made a bad choice for him starting out with duck as he has never had duck at all before. I will not be feeding heads anymore and sticking to his whole chicken and necks. He loves to chew ans gets lots of mental stimulation by chewing bones I will not be taking that away but I will be more mindful of this experience.
It sounds like you're doing all you can, best of luck to your dog. Give us an update on how he's doing. I hope he'll be fine.
And this was a raw duck head? I’ve only ever come across them dried- like pig ears. Which because they are dried makes the dog chew. You could try that next time. He probably just got way too excited and didn’t chew
Duck heads are far from exotic
Who said they’re toxic lol? Reading comprehension issues?
No one said toxic
Your comment says “exotic raw food” and my comment says “duck heads are not exotic”
He gets a VERY well rounded diet and not just protein.
100%. Youtube influencers are toxic. People see them feeding exotic meats and think they can just give their dog a whole duck head and everything will be fine.
How much fat % do you feed your dog? A lot of commercial raw foods have 15-30% fat which is way too high for a dog who has had pancreatitis. Duck has too much fat, just because it's raw does not mean it's a good idea. Stick to fish, turkey, venison....You can make your own raw dog food to have more control of the fat % you feed. Ideally <10%.
He gets my pet carnivore turkey, beef, chicken, muskrat, fish. His pancreatitis was a secondary issue caused by the obstruction so our vet said while we should limit fatty meats to once a week she is not concerned in him getting pancreatitis again. And I started in my post the vet didn’t open until 8:00 and It was 3 am when I made the post.
For dogs that are prone to bolting food, I always feed them in huge chunks that they have to chew pieces off of (as big as their head). This pretty much eliminates any piece getting bolted down that is too big.
Would love an update about this.
Lots of bad information about pancreatitis in this thread. High fat in a raw fresh food diet does not cause pancreatitis. https://youtu.be/GBmRtypeLgo?si=wBfXlw-GYEKJYq8D (I understand your dog's issue is injury related.)
Since he's had pancreatitis I wouldn't even feed duck, it's quite fatty. Whole duck head was not a good idea especially since your dog seems to have limited experience with whole bone in pieces.
I'd absolutely take him to the vet for an X-ray and exam
He gets my pet carnivore turkey, beef, chicken, muskrat, fish. His pancreatitis was a secondary issue caused by the obstruction so our vet said while we should limit fatty meats to once a week she is not concerned in him getting pancreatitis again and he could eat duck once in awhile. I started in my post the vet didn’t open until 8:00 and It was 3 am.
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I'm just curious - but how do lab owners even feed raw food like bones to a lab? My labs absolutely do not chew their food. They inhale it and a cup of kibble is gone in about 90 seconds. a bully stick is eaten in a few minutes...sometimes they are so excited to eat them that they swallow them when they are about 6" long...i imagine they would do the same with a bone.
I feed my dog raw kangaroo as a treat. And kangaroo kibble is her primary protein source. She is highly allergic to chicken. Where I get it - bone is ground already into the meat, so it’s never been an issue. As for real bones I only give her beef femurs aka mammoth bones
Where do you get kangaroo?
RawfedK9.com
And dog food brand is Zignature
Feed bones that force a chew, the bigger the better. Then they can't gulp them down whole. Take them away before they get to small. Watch your dog, be involved.
He has not vomited since 2 am and it is now 10 am. He is comfortable, not bloated, and sleeping well. I’m assuming the duck head just irritated his stomach and it was 2 much. He does very well at chewing since he’s been eating back/neck/feet but I was worried about the duck bill since it was new to his diet. I will stay away from duck heads from now on.
Were they dried? Or actually raw?
Wait until he poops. The bill might have made its way to the large colon, which in dogs isn't that much different to the small. However he may struggle to void.
Did you see him chew it? I saw you’re still taking to vet were you able to? Hope he continues to improve. 🤞🏻
I can’t take him until 4:30 that was there only opening it is now 2:30. No more vomiting just passing gas and not pooping yet.
I did see him chew it but puked within 10 minutes of eating it
Update: I took him to the vet and they did an x-ray. They could see that there were some bone fragments in his stomach, but they were surrounded by stool and slowly moving through the G.I. tract she was not worried about perforation because there was quite a bit of stool. She gave him some cerenia and entyce to help nausea and to try to get him to eat because he still has not ate since Sunday. He is still drinking. And he did poop again last night. She is not worried about his diet because like the other comment her said high fat diet from raw meat is not the same as high fat from kibble. He is otherwise and great health and this is definitely a learning experience. Thank you all for the helpful comments, and I hope that my mistake can help someone else who raw feeds their dog. Since he did have the obstruction five months ago, his stomach cannot handle bones like other dogs, and that will be completely avoided from now on.
Surprising because they say whole food is better guess not
I’ve found feeding raw and Whole Foods has been great for his health! Since I was feeding a raw duck head which us very hard to chew and break down for a dogs stomach I should have held it for him so he didn’t eat it so fast :( but I learned!
I am super pro raw. Except when it comes to solid things like bones or duck heads etc. I always wanted to love them, but my dog (pittie power chewer/swallower of things whole) just can’t have them. She had bowel surgery previously to remove the same type of thing. Lots of dogs out there do fine with them, and I’m not doubting their nutritional value, but I just can’t risk it with fun things like that with my dog. No trachea or chicken feet or duck head etc. Now she gets frozen peanut butter Kong’s that she can lick to high heaven. Some dogs just can’t have nice things lol.
Take your dog in NOW.
People have reported problems with MPC. Has their quality improved?
I’ve never noticed quality issues? I love them so far it’s been about 5 months
Thats good to hear as I’ve been wanting to try them