Today’s rather delicate subject arises from a recently asked question via a tweet from Ovie the Bulldog. (Please note: all questions are kept anonymous unless submitted publicly, we know that Ovie won’t mind us sharing.)

Q: Ovie asks, “wants to know if increased butt-burps is normal when starting on the new food. It tastes great to me!”

A: First, can we say that we’re very impressed with Ovie’s computer prowess and we’re very happy to know it tastes great! But we’re guessing that his humans aren’t all too pleased with the prowess he must be showing with, ahem, his tail end.

These sorts of questions generally lead to questions on our part to determine the whole poop (sorry, couldn’t resist). In Ovie’s case, we know that although he’s been enjoying Pawgevity Chewz for a while, he’s new to raw feeding and our raw formulas.

If a dog’s diet prior to going raw has been primarily dry kibble, there is a real digestive adjustment that will take place. Raw food has a much faster transit time in dogs and cats than dry, processed food – meaning it makes it’s way through their digestive system a lot quicker. If the raw is being served in the same meal as kibble during transition, this can create some disturbance and turbulence (OK, flatulence) as, essentially, the GI tract is confused. Because of this, we generally recommend not only transitioning slowly (introducing the raw in very small amounts – the size of a pea to start) but at separate times – ideally 12 hours apart.

Continue adding more raw to the diet while removing more kibble as your dog’s body adjusts and the flatulence (or loose stools, in some cases) ceases.

This is considered part of the detoxification process that’s very common in the early weeks of transitioning from dry to raw (please see our earlier post https://pawgevity.com/2011/02/detox-its-a-good-thing/).

Thanks for the great question, Ovie, and hope things are smelling like roses, soon!