Otis came to us eating Puppy Chow. We changed over to Earthborn Holistic over 4 days, and all was going well until the last day when he got diarrhea (the day he got straight Earthborn). His poop was firming up on his second day of the new food, but today, Day 3, he's gotten really diarrhea-y and has been lethargic. I'm starting to cut the old Puppy Chow back in. Did we go too fast? Should we go back to Puppy Chow, slowly? Stick it out with the new food? It's been kinda nice having him calmer, but it kills me to know that it's because his stomach hurts. Thanks!
When changing Juno's kibble my vet's working practice was to introduce new food over a 7 day period as a minimum. her advice was day 1 and day 2 75% original kibble + 25% new kibble day 3 and day 4 50%/50% day 5 and day 6 25% original kibble + 75% new kibble day 7 100% new kibble I would say that changing it over in 4 days is far too quick for an adult dog let alone a puppy. If your puppy's tummy was fine with the Puppy Chow I would move back to that and let it stabilise before re-introducing the new food slowly. The diarrhoea may be due to the speed of introducing the Earthborn Holistic or it could be that it simply doesn't agree with his tummy
It could also be something completely unrelated. Young pups get squiffy bellies. But, I definitely agree that changing over four days is too quick in an ideal world and that you should go back to his original food before reintroducing the new one over ten days. I stupidly forgot to pick up the parcel of food when I brought Willow home, and I couldn't get that brand here, so we swapped over immediately in one go. She was fine and it didn't give her a bad tummy. She had plenty of days with a bad bottom, because that happens to puppies, but in her case, changing the food didn't cause it. The lethargy would have me worried, because even when she did have an upset tummy, Willow was never lethargic. Puppies can go downhill so quickly, I think I'd be tempted to take Otis to the vet (taking a stool sample with you) just to be on the safe side. I hope he feels better soon.
Thanks. We'll switch back to the Puppy Chow immediately and call the vet in the morning. I was hoping that no one would be alarmed at the lethargy, but I was a bit concerned, too.
Yeah definitely if he doesnt perk up in the next couple of hours I would consider the vet. Having had a puppy who endured MANY tummy upsets as a young one (now 19 weeks and tummy upset free for 7 weeks!) there was only one occasion on which he actually developed lethargy and other symptoms and he was quite sick. Not saying that your wee one will be but just that usually if they have an upset tummy they are still happy and active and completely themselves. Lethargy is definitely something to check up on
@LB it's always best to check with the vet if a pup is lethargic, better to be safe than sorry. If he has quite a case of diarrhoea being quieter would not necessarily be that unusual - do you feel like running and bouncing around if you have a funny tummy?
