Trying kibble - couple of questions

[MeAndMyOlivia]

Olivia has been on a ground raw diet but I have been introducing some kibble for her evening meal the past 3 days (Orijen fish) and she just loves it. So much so, that she just gobbles it up - I mean, she doesn't even chew it - she swallows it whole! Seriously she has 1/4 cup of it eaten in less than a minute! Then she goes crazy looking for more. How can I get her to slow down? The only thing I can think of is to hand feed her one piece at a time, since she does chew it up then.

Also...this is gross....but I think she might be eating her poop now! I did notice it is bigger and smells a lot stronger. Is it common for them to eat their poop when feeding kibble??? It can't be healthy for her!? She didn't do this when she was strictly eating raw diet but I was concerned about it being balanced since it doesn't have any supplements added.

[Wylie's Mom]

Kibble poos are definitely bigger than raw poos, for sure! And raw poos are generally non-smelly, whereas kibble poos are smellier (likely due to being less absorbable). So do you just suspect her of eating poo for some reason - or have you smelled it on her mouth?

If she is, you could try Solid Gold's S.E.P. - that worked for me when Wylie ate poo when he was kibble fed (I feed raw now).

As for slowing her down - tough one. I was just reading a paper by an animal nutritionist the other day - and she said dogs are naturally "gulpers", unless they have something to "rip", "gnaw" first. She basically implied gulping is natural for them. Her exact words were "Unlike humans who chew and taste our food, the Canine rarely chews or tastes its food. Dogs actually gulp down their foodstuffs. Unlike animals that chew their food, the Canine actually has little time to add saliva, which contains digestive enzymes and buffering properties to the diet". I guess, unless the gulping is causing her problems - I woudn't worry about it too much. If you think choking is a danger (bc of her size vs. the kibble size), then that's different...

[MeAndMyOlivia]

I have not actually seen her eat it but when we were outside yesterday and she did her business, she circled back around to it and smelled and looked like she was going to lick it. I told her no-no and she left it alone. But then tonight when I was in the shower, I smelled it (which surprised me because I have never smelled hers!) and sure enough she had had an accident. She was licking her lips and when I went to pick it up, I could see by little marks on the floor that she had either been scooting it - or there had been more but she had already eaten it. I will try some of the product you recommended.

What kind of raw diet do you feed? Interesting info on "gulpers"...no, no problems with gulping so far - just a little burp afterwards!

[jmdt]

What is solid gold S.E.P? My baby is eating Health Extension kibble and she eats her poop .
COCO PEBBLES TRIXIE

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by MeAndMyOlivia

What kind of raw diet do you feed? Interesting info on "gulpers"...no, no problems with gulping so far - just a little burp afterwards!

I feed either Natures Variety Raw, Primal Raw, or a local grind called "Suzy's" - basically the BARF model (not prey model). Which brand were you feeding?

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by jmdt

What is solid gold S.E.P? My baby is eating Health Extension kibble and she eats her poop .
COCO PEBBLES TRIXIE

S.E.P. = Stop Eating Poop. You sprinkle it on their food, and it makes their poo less appetizing. Worked like a charm in our case, but apparently doesn't work for everyone. Another option is to sprinkle meat tenderizer on the food. Btw, SEP can NOT be used on cat's food.

[jmdt]

Thanks I'll try it.
COCO PEBBLES TRIXIE

[MeAndMyOlivia]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

I feed either Natures Variety Raw, Primal Raw, or a local grind called "Suzy's" - basically the BARF model (not prey model). Which brand were you feeding?

I've been feeding a local grind called Shebang's Natural Selections. It is 100% ground chicken. They also have rabbit and something else too...but I usually do the chicken. I visited a different pet food store and they gave me samples of Primal, so we're trying that in the morning. So far, she likes the Orijen kibble and also the BG (Before Grain) kibble samples. But if causes her to want to eat her poop, I am not sure I want to keep feeding it to her!