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  1. #1
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    does this make sense?

    Jack has been on raw since maybe December? Math is not my friend, I was feeding him about 16 oz. a day (aiming for 2% of his IDEAL weight 80#), he never lost weight. I didn't see a change in muscle tone. Nothing. He had gotten ill, the runs, the barfs, and it just was easier to put him back on the Earthborn Bison he used to eat. I think I did about 2 weeks. All of a sudden he started looking thinner. Which was a big goal of changing to raw. Leaning him up. He got 1 cup a meal, 2 meals a day. Just the same as what he was eating before going on raw. Can anyone think of a reason why going back to kibble allowed him to lose weight or was it just coincidence since he has been spending more time outside in the yard??

    He's back on raw again now, and I added Grizz to the raw group too.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog charliebbarkin's Avatar
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    What did he weigh after all the barfing and sloppy poops? That could have contributed.

    Maybe he has been getting more exercise?

    Were you supplementing anything with the raw? I cut coconut oil out of Charlie's diet and he's getting 2# of food a day, he has lost ten lbs since then.

    ETA did you happen to do a fecal? wonder if maybe he had worms or something...unlikely but possible. It is strange that he did not lose weight on raw.
    Charlie and Burton


  3. #3
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Perhaps the additional weight was muscle due to all the protein and now that he's back on kibble he has lost muscle? It's like people who do Crossfit and eat mostly protein. They don't lose weight and might even gain but they become smaller and more toned due to loss of fat and added muscle.

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  5. #4
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    Mine all gained weight when I switched to raw, 5-10 lbs each. It is muscle though, they are lean and solid. It does change their build/muscle mass.

  6. #5
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    The weight loss was in the waist, I didn't see it anywhere else, it was like his waist became more defined. I don't get him weighed regularly. I just feel his body condition....

    Worms really aren't a problem here. I only do fecals if I suspect a problem, and I didn't suspect anything.

  7. #6
    Senior Dog Charlotte K.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    Jack has been on raw since maybe December? Math is not my friend, I was feeding him about 16 oz. a day (aiming for 2% of his IDEAL weight 80#), he never lost weight. I didn't see a change in muscle tone. Nothing. He had gotten ill, the runs, the barfs, and it just was easier to put him back on the Earthborn Bison he used to eat. I think I did about 2 weeks. All of a sudden he started looking thinner. Which was a big goal of changing to raw. Leaning him up. He got 1 cup a meal, 2 meals a day. Just the same as what he was eating before going on raw. Can anyone think of a reason why going back to kibble allowed him to lose weight or was it just coincidence since he has been spending more time outside in the yard??

    He's back on raw again now, and I added Grizz to the raw group too.
    That is interesting: when I tried Earthborn, everybody lost weight. I matched the calories of the food to the calories of their previous kibbles. It didn't matter--they lost weight. I fed more and more, but they lost condition. I gave up on it, even though I liked the idea of it. It was not the right food for any of my dogs, and I tried two flavors.

    Another thought is that if you were feeding Bison, it may have more calories: a pound of ground bison averages about 200 more calories than the 2 C of Earthborn, according to an internet search.

    I also wonder about how much muscle he gained on raw. Or maybe the meat is more easily used by his body than the pea rich kibble. Meat is real food!

  8. #7
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Jack never lost weight on Earthborn. He was on it a year initially. I thought maybe all the "grain free makes you lose weight" comments would go in his favor. Nope.

    His raw wasn't 100% bison, he got a mixture of proteins.

    I just wondered if maybe having his body adjusted to processing raw meat made him process kibble differently now. He looks good and I am not worried or anything. It's just funny that his waist appeared after going back on kibble vs. being on raw.

  9. #8
    Senior Dog charliebbarkin's Avatar
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    Just gonna throw this out there, 2% of 80 lbs is 1.6 lbs or 25.6 ounces.
    Charlie and Burton


  10. #9
    Senior Dog voodoo's Avatar
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    no idea about the food, but I am going to guess its due to chasing butterflies
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    Chili born 7/21/2013

  11. #10
    Senior Dog
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    Quote Originally Posted by charliebbarkin View Post
    Just gonna throw this out there, 2% of 80 lbs is 1.6 lbs or 25.6 ounces.

    Exactly!

    your calculations don't make sense.

    Some of your posts when you started raw always seemed to have incorrect percentages and weights. As I use grams and Kilograms I stopped converting your calculations but they always seemed incorrect.

    That is way too little amounts.

    Also, as weight of bones is very difficult to translate and calculate, if you feed more bone than meat you will run into problems some of them like what you described. I'm getting the feeling that many people think feeding raw involves feeding lots of bones - its not. I'm not sure what your exact ratios are when feeding raw but I would suggest doing a review. Perhaps doing raw one day a week.

 



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