Why does my puppy have loose stool & mucus on a raw food diet?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Jindo | Female | unspayed | 10 months and 20 days old | 22 lbs
I recently switched my 8 month old dog to raw puppy. She has been having loose tools and lots of mucus.Any advice ?
2 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on August 21st, 2017
Raw diet is not easily digestible. If you want to continue o give raw diet, you could try to add something else to increase the density of the feces. Boiled rice or potatoes could be the right option. If the signs persist despite this addition, I would switch her back to old diet. Every variation of the diet should be made gradually over one week.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on March 22nd, 2020
Firstly, if she is only two months old she should be eating puppy food. The earliest I would recommend changing to adult food would be about 10 months of age. I think her stool looks OK from this photo but I think it would be a good idea for you to get her some probiotics to add to the food. This will help balance her gastrointestinal tract with "good" bacteria which, in turn, should help the diarrhea. https://www.petco.com/category/dog/dog-health-and-wellness/dog-vitamins/dog-digestive-aids
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Health & Wellbeing
I’m wondering what is wrong with my puppy. She’s 13 weeks and we switched her from grain food to barley and natural food. Her stool is loose, not smelly, and she’s been sleeping. She’s keeping up water intake but her last stool had a mucus membrane i
Rubik's diarrhea could be due to the food switch, especially if you didn't make the switch slowly. Dogs are very sensitive to dietary changes, and if they aren't done slowly, then it can cause GI upset. She could also have intestinal parasites, may have eaten something rotten, or could have a GI illness. Make sure she is up to date on her deworming treatments, and I can give you a home remedy to try to see if that helps. Withhold food for 6 hours, then feed a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) and white rice in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in her normal diet. If the diarrhea continues on the bland diet, she starts vomiting food, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, she will need to see a vet right away. I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Hello, my 3yo Husky mix, Meeka, has been suffering from diarrhea the last 3 days. She’s been fully transitioned into a raw meat diet for about 1 week, but before finishing her kibble, we went days in a row feeding only raw and she’d be fine. And her
Poor Meeka! The diarrhea could be due to many conditions including eating something she shouldn’t have, bacterial over growth, parasites, the raw diet or even organ disease. Since the diarrhea has continued beyond 24 hours, I recommend to have her examined by the veterinarian. With continued diarrhea, there are often bacterial shifts in the gut that will make matters worse regardless of the initial cause. Make sure to bring in a sample of fresh stool. The doctor will check her for parasites and bacterial over growth. Many times a bland diet can help and then a slow, gradual introduction to the normal food can be done. A bland diet can consist of 25% boiled white meat chicken and 75% boiled white rice. This should all be plain. Raw diets can contain bacteria that could be responsible for the diarrhea: https://www.petcoach.co/article/raw-and-homemade-diets-what-you-need-to-know/ Additionally, you need to ensure the diet is balanced and complete or you could run into problems long term
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Food & Nutrition
We switched my dogs food to adult food and for the past week she’s been having mucus in her stool and it’s been getting looser and looser. Should I be worried?
Firstly, if she is only two months old she should be eating puppy food. The earliest I would recommend changing to adult food would be about 10 months of age.
I think her stool looks OK from this photo but I think it would be a good idea for you to get her some probiotics to add to the food. This will help balance her gastrointestinal tract with "good" bacteria which, in turn, should help the diarrhea.
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/tomlyn-pre-and-probiotic-powder-for-dogs
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
I have started feeding my dog on a BARF diet and have been monitoring his poop. He's been on it for about 4 weeks. He had diahrea yesterday and now his poop is a yellowish color. I'm not sure what's normal when feeding raw and would like some help cl
Hello and welcome to Boop by Petco. Feeding BARF diet is not recommended and can be the cause of the diarrhea and yellow poop that you are seeing. Any raw food, or bones of any kind (cooked or raw) put the GI tract at danger for a nasty infection (just like you or I eating raw food, there is bacteria that can cause food poisoning). Bones have the potential to cause obstructions, perforations, bone-hardened constipation, and severe gastritis and pancreatitis. Especially in a puppy that is only 4 months old, as their immune systems are not fully developed. I would recommend feeding a high quality puppy food. If you would like to home cook that is great, and a combination of meat and vegetables (onions, garlic, grapes and raisins are toxic) is fine, just cook the meat as you would for yourself. If you wouldn't feed it raw, then it isn't good for your domesticated pet raw either. Adding as much oil and other 'stuff' to his food as well could be too hard on his system, as oil is fat
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Deuce has been having loose stool lately. We haven't switched his food or anything. I've been hear things like feeding him boiled white rice to harden his stool. We've taken him to the vet and she suggested we switch his food but I think I wanna try
It sounds like your puppy has a severe case of colitis, or an inflammation of the colon. Colitis can be caused by many different things. Some of the more common causes include intestinal parasites (very common in young puppies), dietary indiscretion, food intolerance, irritable bowel disease and viruses. You could try adding a small amount of rice to his food to see if that helps. It certainly would not harm him in any way. I would also recommend you have a fecal examination performed to rule out intestinal parasites. If the diarrhea continues for more than 3-5 days, becomes mucous or bloody, or he starts vomiting, you should take Deuce back to the vet to be rechecked. He may need antibiotics and/or probiotics to help the diarrhea clear up. I hope this helps. Best of luck.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Food & Nutrition
I have a 9 month old Shih-tszu/ multipoo mix puppy, he has loose stool a lot. We are currently feeding him Whole Hearted chicken and pea puppy food but I think that this particular food may not be right for him. Do you have a better recommendation to
I would switch him to plain boiled boneless, skinless chicken and white rice for a little while to see if this settles his tummy. If it improves, I would SLOWLY start to transition him to a new puppy food. I like science diet and royal canin. These are diets that have been around for a long time with the proper studies to back them up. I would also put him on a probiotic like purina fortiflora or proviable to see if this helps. If he is continuing to have loose stools, I would have your vet take a look at him to rule out parasites including giardia. Your vet will be able to do additional diagnostics if needed as well. They will be able to get him on the proper treatment to help him feel better as soon as possible. I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Hello my 5 month old Hungarian vizsla puppy seems very well in herself, lively, energetic, good appetite but has streaks of mucus/blood in her poo. She has had this for about a week so we have put her on a bland chicken and rice diet since Saturday a
These signs could be compatible with a colitis, which is an inflammation of the last part of the intestine, the colon, usually related to dietary indiscretion. As a first approach, as you are already doing, I would suggest to continue feeding with a bland diet based on boiled chicken and rice in small portion every 6 hours for the following 48 hours. Then gradually reintroduce the normal diet over 5 days. A probiotic can be added to the diet as well like pro-kolin for example. I would definitely recommend a veterinary check up if the signs persist in the next 48 hours or you notice vomiting, lethargy or inappetence. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Hey. Our dog just switched to a dehydrated raw diet about 2 weeks ago. We noticed stools getting smaller which is normal. The last couple days however the stools have been minimal, very loose, and I noticed a hard object (maybe a piece of Nylabones)
Generally with a blockage the dogs will vomit, stop eating and may strain to defecate so this does not sound like a blockage. I recommend adding fiber to the diet to bulk up the stool. Canned pumpkin works as well as other vegetables like green beans, broccoli, summer squash etc. Some raw diets do have pieces of bones in them. If the diarrhea continues with Sadie feeling fine you may want to use half raw and the rest kibble as this will not be as rich and should firm up the stools. If the diarrhea continues and she is not feeling well then bring her to your veterinarian for treatment. Sometimes raw diets have bacteria in them that can cause gastroenteritis. Thanks for using Boop by Petco to help you care for Sadie.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Food & Nutrition
My dogs poop, has been fine for pass two days on raw food, he has recently had a change of food from dry to raw food, cause of problems with dry food which was giving him poo that was nearly diarrhoea like poop. His poop has gone from normal to slopp
That depends on if he had a slow transition. If he had a slow transition, then diarrhea is unexpected. If you suddenly changed the food, then yes,m diarrhea can be the result. Because dogs can get diarrhea for many reasons, it's impossible to know if the initial cause was related to the diet or not. Raw food is not the best option for every pet and can contain bacteria that can make pets and people sick as well. I recommend to have Loki examined by the veterinarian and have his stool tested for the most common reasons of diarrhea which are worms, giardia and bacterial over growth. I hope he starts feeling better quickly.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Started raw food diet one week ago today pup has diarrhea and raspberry blood in stool other than the diarrhea she seems happy and energetic
It is possible it is the raw food diet diet causing Charley's bloody diarrhea. That's because raw meat carries bacteria that can make your dog sick. It could also be due to intestinal parasites, so make sure she is up to date on her deworming treatments. Withhold food for 12 to 24 hours then feed her a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) and white rice in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in a commercial dry dog food for her. I would recommend feeding the commercial day dog food diet to her because there is no risk of poisoning from bacteria, either to her or you. If Charley isn't fully vaccinated, there is a chance she could have parvovirus, but given that she is happy and energetic, it's more likely related to her diet. If she does become very lethargic or the bland diet doesn't help the diarrhea, I would take her into the vet.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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