feeding raw fish (regurgitated whole fish - will he get used to them?)

My boys have been on raw for about 6 weeks and the two eldest have had the AMP minced white fish raw in the past and had no problems. I know that fish can be regurgitated so I thought I would wait until they were getting used to their new diet before I risked a whole one. They had a mackerel each this morning and really enjoyed it. About 2 hours later the eldest dog (deef) brought his back up and it would appear that he swallowed half of it without chewing, both of the others have been fine but I watched them and they ate it fairly slowly so it would appear that they chewed theirs! I am a little surprised as I though that if one of them had trouble it would be the youngest as he has never had raw fish before. Would it be better it I got the fishmonger to remove head and guts etc next time until he becomes accustomed or perhaps try a different kind of fish, (none of them have ever had mackerel even tinned) Or do you think he is going to be the kind of dog that can't eat it raw? He really got excited when I got them out to give them, he does like fish so it would be a shame if I can't give it to him

Hiya, he may just need a bit more time to get used to it, I`d not give up yet

I`ve heard of a couple dogs bringing fish back up my have done it in the past but not any more. Mine get sardines, trout & mackeral, you could try another type of fish but I`d leave it intact with head & guts unleass it comes already cleaned

Give it a bit more time, bit of luck he`ll be fine

Thanks Christine, I don't want to give up with it as I know he really likes it and it gives me another meat option. I thought having it cleaned might make it easier on his stomach but I know that leaving everything on there is better for them. I think next time I will give him half and see how he is. They did offer to clean them up for me when I bought them, should've seen their faces when I told them it was for dogs! LOL

julie

Definitely don't give up with the raw fish

I think mackrell is good because it is rich in oils but sometimes it seems they can make the dog bring it back up...My boy brought his back up the second time he had it but was fine the first time and fine when I have fed it since. He likes his raw mackrell but my girl doesn't, but I am persevering with her as like you I think it's a good healthy option to include in their diet.

I don't think topping or tailing them will make any difference by the way, but I could be wrong.

My girls adore fresh white fish and it is so good for them, I tend to cut it up into very fine pieces which enables them to eat it better oily fish such as Mackeral goes down very well with my hungry tribe

when i used to go to the fish market mine used to get fresh fish and loved it in the end i couldn´t go without her

LOL@ their faces

You could try them cleaned, by that I mean with the guts removed not the heads (lots of good things in heads) & you could also try feeding half fish & half boneless meat together meal. I used to wonder if it was the fish a bit rich & thats what caused the regurgitation? Just try different ways, see what works

The first time I fed whole raw mackerel it wasn't pretty to say the least Two dogs throwing up simultaneously in different rooms....need I say more?

I find now that they can keep it down if the guts are removed but they still get the head and tail. Mine get mackerel, sardines (fresh and tinned) and herring regularly and trout and salmon if I can manage to pick them up cheaply

I did wonder if it was too much for him, he started at the head end but I couldn't watch him eat it. Fish that look like fish give me the eebie jeebies, I can watch them in a tank swimming and I can touch them but if they look like fish:smt078 He swallowed about 3 inches of the tail end whole too so that wouldn't have helped but I can't really watch them eating them for too long. He sat on the sofa afterwards with me and I could see it was repeating on him, he just kept burping every couple of minutes! Kelly was the funniest though, it repeated on him a bit too and I though maybe he was going to lose his but no, he was fine. He has never had dire rear or been sick in his life, now I know it's cos he doesn't want to waste food:smt005 :smt044

They have tinned sardines and pilchards every week and they love them, I plan to keep those for when I am away at shows, more for convenience really. I am goint to get them to take the insides out next time and I will give them half mixed with something else as Christine suggested to see if that helps. I really want them to have it so will try anything that might work