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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

Not sure if I feel quite the same about my dog anymore :(

17 replies

Buttholelane · 20/04/2015 20:41

This might sound really silly, but we had a bit of an incident last night and I'm just feeling a bit different.

I have a dog and cat who are both raw fed, a week or so ago, I switched them to chappie dry (dog) and butchers (cat) because I have had a drop in income so was trying to make savings.

The change in the dog was apparent 3 or 4 days ago - a little more hyperactive, decrease in concentration, a touch disobedient.
Then yesterday, she did something that has really thrown me.

Her and the cat normally have a nice relationship, they play together and there is mutual respect.

Yesterday afternoon I caught her staring and lip curling at my cat, intimidating her to move out of the kitchen.
I don't let either animal approach the other eating and the cat was nowhere near the food bowl, the dog doesn't even like the food so it wasn't as if it was something especially precious!

Later that evening, they were playing together, all of a sudden out of nowhere the cat started meowing in pain, as if someone had stepped on her. The dog was under my chair and the cat directly in front so face to face with the dog.
I did not see what happened, could find no wetness or injury on the cat.
Pretty shocked and upset I put the dog upstairs.

I was stroking the cat today and noticed two minuscule red wounds either side of her nose by her whiskers. Literally tiny. Looks a red dog one side and a tiny scratch the other.
Then I looked more closely at my dog and she has a scratch on her nose.

The more I think about it the more I think my dog grabbed hold of my cats face and pulled until she got scratched and me and my husband jumped up shouting when she must have suddenly let go.

I am still affectionate with her, she's a lovely dog but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel different, I feel like I can't really trust her anymore.
When I think about her jaws clamped on my cats face I feel sick.

Sometimes I think it was the food that sent her funny because of the hyperactivity and disobedience but then I think, why would a different food cause her to deliberately hurt a companion?!

Thoughts?

I don't really know how I'm meant to feel, I'm just shocked. I know she's a dog and dogs do chase, sometimes kill cats, but she lives with, plays with and cuddles up to this cat???

I have put her back on raw and just watching her extra closely but I feel quite disturbed.

OP posts:

Original poster

Buttholelane · 20/04/2015 20:42

** dot not dog

OP posts:

VillyCazalet · 20/04/2015 20:44

Sounds like it was the change in food. Chappie is very poor quality. Imagine tsking a child off a diet of salad, white meat and fish and fruit and veg. Then feeding McDonald's 3 x a day. You'd soon have a different child...

Original poster

Buttholelane · 20/04/2015 20:46

Yes, I do keep thinking that.
I'm just so shocked that a food could cause aggression.
Assuming it is the food.

I tried chappie because I thought it was good for dogs with sensitive stomachs, most conventional foods make my dog sick.

OP posts:

LaurieFairyCake · 20/04/2015 20:49

If still take the dog to the vet to check for injury

And keep them separate unless you're in the same room

VenusRising · 20/04/2015 20:50

It sounds like you might have to rethink your budget, and reinstate the raw food.

Sorry both your animals aren't enjoying their new diets, and have become aggressive.

Adarajames · 20/04/2015 20:54

We get quite a number of dogs through rescue who are reported to be hyper / aggressive / other negative behaviours, and it's staggering how many of them change totally when fed a better diet.

TRexingInAsda · 20/04/2015 20:56

It sounds accidental - surely if he'd meant to do it, he would've left more than a tinsy scratch?! How big is the cat/small is the dog?

Original poster

Buttholelane · 20/04/2015 20:57

I have put her straight back onto the raw.
I'm not sure how long it will be before I get my old dog back IF the food is to blame as she has only been back on raw one day.

OP posts:

Staywithme · 20/04/2015 21:03

Your dog has been getting raw meaty food with all the juicy flavours and textures, then has been changed to a dry, flavourless food. No wonder his mood changed. Poor kitty probably looked like a tasty snack. I hope things improve now he's back on raw, but I would never leave them alone together from now on, just in case.

Original poster

Buttholelane · 20/04/2015 21:03

The dog is a border collie but she is big for a collie.
I would say around the same size as your average Labrador.
My cat in contrast is absolutely teeny, around half the size of the neighbourhood cats.

True about doing more than a scratch, she meowed for a few seconds though which is what makes me think the dog may have been holding on?

The cat wasn't actually that traumatised, after we checked her over she jumped on the dog and started chewing her tail....
But I was feeling shocked and nervy so popped the dog in bed.

I suppose because she is SO small, it wouldn't take much to seriously hurt her.

Maybe I am overreacting a little?

OP posts:

TRexingInAsda · 20/04/2015 21:28

I think so tbh. At most he was being a pest and teasing, but such a tiny scratch could be a misjudgment in how hard he was playing. If he wanted to be nasty in any way, she'd have had so much more than a tiny scratch. x

tabulahrasa · 20/04/2015 22:54

Dry chappie doesn't have anything in it that should cause behavioural changes...however food intolerances can cause them and it's really really not a good food for dogs with a grain intolerance.

The food that's recommended as being easy to digest is the tinned version which doesn't have the same ingredients (I still don't think it's a great food, but it's got better ingredients than the dried one).

The other thing to think about in a putting into perspective way... Your dog is raw fed, you've seen exactly how effective her jaws and teeth are on bones - if all the cat has on her is a dot and a scratch it's because the dog wasn't trying to hurt her, or she'd be hurt.

Kitsmummy · 21/04/2015 07:06

Do you have freezer space because I raw feed and it costs no more than £30 a month to feed a pug x and a boxer x. Could you change suppliers to afford raw again?

JemFinch · 21/04/2015 08:02

Apart from the food issue - the cat could have had a swipe at the dog first and the dog retaliated?

Original poster

Buttholelane · 21/04/2015 08:15

I have put her back on raw, but I do find it a touch costly as I have only one shelf freezer space.

I think that very unlikely jenfinch.
They get on really well, the cat especially really likes her, they are always playing with each other, sleep with and groom each other sometimes.
Apart from when I first bought the cat home and she was scared I have never seen her act in any way aggressively towards the dog.

OP posts:

Chattymummyhere · 21/04/2015 09:08

Keep an eye out on facebook groups if your a member for free/cheap freezer. As it is a lot cheaper the bigger you can buy.

The kibble proberly made her grumpy and upset her system from being raw fed.

LimeJellyHead · 23/04/2015 15:52

Even the best of friends can fall out sometimes and it is hard to know in this case who really started it. As the first signs of a falling out was in the kitchen and as the food was recently massively downgraded, they may be resource guarding, if they weren't feeling nutritionally satisfied. I am sure all will be well again once you get their diet sorted

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