As long as their poo is of a firm consistency with no mucous then it’s ok by me. I think that fibre is a good thing for intestinal health but of course it will lead to larger poos. When I fed my dogs raw, and more recently a high meat content wet food I wasn’t happy with their stools because they were very small and hard. I could see the dogs were taking a while to push it out, as if they were constipated. On BB their stools are larger than the aforementioned wet food but I class them as good because they are firm and the dogs aren’t struggling to defaecate.
So Barney has been on BB for 4 weeks now. The past week has seen the majority of his bowl made up of BB Turkey recipe. I have noticed an increasingly large amount of mucous in his stools and wondering why this could be happening?
This is strange and as there are a number of conditions that can cause mucous, it is impossible to say whether it is due to food. Intolerance, infection, colitis, scavenging, foreign bodies are just a few things that can lead to mucous in the stool. I can’t think of anything in BB Turkey recipe that should cause problems but it isn’t impossible that there is one ingredient that might not suit. The only thing I can suggest is to a) see your vet and take a sample of the stool, b) contact Butternut Box, c) try a pre/probiotic such as Lintbells YuDigest.
Please can you let us know how you get on? It is most strange and I am puzzled and would like to know the outcome.
I reduced the BB a little over the weekend, Increasing the amount of small diced raw celery, red pepper and cooked sweet potato. It seems to have settled, so going to keep an eye on it this week.
It’s good that the mucous has abated. Very odd though - wonder what caused it.
Barney, is still doing extremely well on BB and no more mucous in his stool. I accidentally ordered a lot of the beef recipe which being too lazy to send send back, decided to see how he managed on it. It's quite high fat compared to their other recipes, but he took to it really well and with no noticeable side effects. For my next order I will skew in favour of the Lamb and Turkey recipes like before but include a few beef for variation.
His bowl is now made up of 75% BB, and the rest is small chopped veg (red bell pepper, celery, sweet potato) and a small amount of Simpsons sensitive kibble. After I have finished the kibble, ideally I would like to get a cold pressed food to add into his BB and veg. I want to do this because I'm fairly off the idea of kibble generally now,but I'm not sure how silly this is given that there is so little going into each of his meals and he's not having any issues with the Simpsons, it seems.
Anyway, If anyone would like to try the Butternut box then I am able to provide a discount code (75% off the first order of 3 weeks supply). PM me if you're interested. This works in my favour too, as I get 75% off my next order if I recommend people. So don't be shy!
Thank you for the update. I am pleased that your dog is improving with his new food. I would think that cold pressed food would go well with BB.
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I feed cold pressed alongside Butternut Box.
My dog has three meals a day so she has Butternut morning and evening and Tribal TLC cold pressed for lunch.
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Butternut Box has new and improved packaging. The names of the four types have changed but not the recipes. More information here. Still no word on the planned fish and pork varieties.
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I can't find any information on what material the new pouches are made of, or the old ones for that matter. I wasn't really aware that the food was cooked after it was in the pouches either. That worries me a bit and makes me think of all the warnings about drinking water from a plastic bottle that has been in the sun as heating the bottle can cause chemicals to leach into the water.
Hello chloeg04 - welcome to the forum. My understanding is that the new fish variety was due in February but was not sure about the pork one. I enquired about both new varieties earlier this year but the spokesperson just said that they would announce them on social media and their website.
I agree with you about fish being absent from the range. For now, perhaps consider adding some steamed white fish or sardines sometimes? Another option would be to mix as Petmum describes earlier. The new Forthglade sardines and sweet potato might be worth looking at. They also have fish and brown rice and salmon and potato. I have previously mixed BB with Forthglade with no problems. From what I read on the Internet mixing BB is not uncommon and perhaps makes it more affordable for some pet owners.
Regarding packaging, I too was not aware that cooking took place within the pouches but I understand that low temperatures are used so perhaps that is less problematic? Not sure tbh.
On the subject of the home cooked claim, I agree with BB in that it is difficult to describe their product accurately. I had the same dilemma myself when I started this thread. I wasn't sure whether it should be in the Home Cooking section of the forum. In the end I viewed it as another commercial dog food product and used the Dog Food section. I have seen, and wondered about this 'home cooked' claim many times in relation to human food. It's often made in eating establishments, particularly public houses who offer meals. Clearly it is not home cooked because the food is prepared in a commercial kitchen and may even be brought in from a factory. Should this judgement by the Advertising Standards Authority have wider ramifications?
As a BB customer my dog was lucky enough to trial the new pork and fish recipes back in December and I can confirm that the fish was not tuna but also not salmon-it was white fish and my understanding is that they will use different varieties of white fish in the recipes depending upon what is more readily available throughout the seasons.
Pork is due to be released at he same time I believe but so far there is still no date-Butternut keep saying soon.
I am also attaching the founders' response to the ASA ruling.
As for the food being cooked in the pouches you may wish to contact Butternut direct about this. They are usually very helpful and informative in resolving any queries. Personally I would prefer if it wasn't cooked in the pouch but I also take into account the size of the operation they're running and that this is the most practical method. As I understand it their food is cooked at low temperatures and many human foods are also cooked in this way-microwave meals are often designed to be reheated in plastic trays at much higher temperatures.
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Thank you Petmum. I agree with them about their products not fitting into established pet food categories. Hopefully the staff will come up with a satisfactory description of their food. Different Dog use the description ‘hand-made’.
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'It's absolutely safe to cook and freeze our food in the pouches. We use a multilayer film which is designed especially for cooking human foods and is completely BPA (bisphenol A) free. It's the same type of film that you might find on fresh or cooked meats, cheese, fish, ready meals, pasta and bakery products.