So. Decided to switch Simba's food, not because he wasn't doing well on the current stuff, but was researching around and wanted to see if I could find something that was perhaps a little less expensive but just as good quality. I was feeding him a lamb and rice food, which is on the higher end of price but certainly not the most expensive stuff out there. The only reason I was using this food was because it was what I had fed the previous dog who was allergic to chicken, and he did very well on it. So I just went with what I knew. But, after Simba was eating everything in sight with no ill effects I began wondering if there was a food out there which had a more regular ingredient list and therefore might be less expensive, while still having the same quality. Entering dog food minefield, in other words. I did some research on the brands available at my local stores (only two places to buy the more quality stuff here, so not endless choice), but couldn't find info on all of them. However, my other food was getting low and it was time to make a decision. So I decided to try one that has chicken, lamb and fish protein plus potato and other ingredients. Less exotic, hah. But it was about $15 cheaper than the other stuff, mainly because it's made entirely in Canada (also a good feature, I think) so no outsourcing of production, etc. Well no good, but I discovered I did not have as much of my previous food as I thought. So I couldn't do much of the gradual switch, it was more abrupt. Seeing as he has eaten just about everything under the sun without any digestive problems, I was thinking he would be okay. So it's been about 6 days, but he's got very runny poos and gaseous emissions And I've been having to get up at night to let him out, to do a poo, I presume. Plus some butt-scooting, which I have never seen him do. On top of it all this morning he upchucked....yellow bile, nothing else. I think this is likely NOT to do with the food but perhaps something else he ate....but not sure. Anyhow, just wondering when this will all settle down? And in the meantime, just keep feeding the new stuff? Due to the upchuck, no brekkie for him this AM, and I'll see how he is. But then chicken and rice after that? Another "new" food for the tum to adjust to? Followed by the reintroduction of the new food, which could set him off again? Just. to sure the best way to approach this.
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Has the runny bum and sick come just after a change in ratio of old food to new food? If so it might be worth going back a step for a few more days until he's settled, and then moving on and seeing how he goes. If not, I wonder whether maybe the new stuff just isn't going to agree with him? It sounds like the new food has a lot more ingredients in compared to the old food, and although he usually has a pretty iron stomach, perhaps he just can't handle all that at once?
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Hi Lisa, poor Simba and you too I remember reading an article recently about giving chicken and rice , it stated that this was, as you pointed out, just another foodstuff for the dog to adjust to , I can see the sense in this but you`re right, it is a minefield out there and its hard to know whats the right thing to do at times . If it were me , I would just give him a very small meal of his new food and see what the result is , if the result is bad , then it is the food and you might have to bits the bullet and go back to the original one .
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo It is definitely hard to know what to do. No breakfast for him this morning (oh, the wounded looks!). No more upchuck (I really do suspect this is a red herring, not related to the food change). My friend took me out for lunch, when I came back I found a small runny poo present left for me downstairs - which is vey unusual for him, he is totally housetrained. So obviously things still not right. I think I'll try some chicken and rice tonight, just because he's had that before and tolerated it just fine, just to give his tum a bit of a rest. In terms of switching foods, however, how long should it take for everything to settle down, assuming the dog isn't allergic to the ingredients?
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Okay, wait. Maybe I'm making this too complicated....Penny, you got me thinking....perhaps I should just go buy another bag of the old stuff and do the more gradual reintroduction of the new, like it should be? I think I'll try that. Duh....
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo It may just be a co-incidence - he might just have a bit of a gut infection or bug or something that's unrelated to the food. But, either way, going back to basics and doing a gradual reintroduction of the new food sounds good How is his behaviour otherwise? Normal or a bit subdued? Hope he is back to normal soon...
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo He's pretty much normal behaviour-wise, a little more sleepy, perhaps, but he has been getting up in the night which he doesn't normally do, plus he spent the weekend at a very high energy kennel with lots of running around and playing with other dogs. Yeesh just typing that I realize I suppose it's possible he could have picked up some bug at the kennel. Sigh. Too many new things at once, hard to pin down a cause!! I've gone back to review the brand I purchased, nothing but glowing reviews that I can see, so I think it should be okay. A little higher protein than the old stuff, possibly causing the runs. Anyhoo, I'm off to buy a bag of the old and start on reintroduction tomorrow.
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Ah, this feeding business, such a challenge. Gentle rubs for Simba's poorly tum from us!
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Even for a dog with an iron stomach a new food switchover should take a minimum of 10 days - basically the slower you do it, the better really. You said the new food has a slightly higher protein content - it's possible that has caused the tummy upset. Perhaps he's spent so long on the old food that it's going to take quite a while to adjust to anything new. I know you said the new food has had glowing reviews but there are always still some dogs it doesn't suit. For example I heard nothing but good stuff about James Wellbeloved and used it for years on some of my dogs in the kennels with no ill effects - then my friend used it for her dog (who's normally pretty ok with anything) and he had severe bloody diarrhoea and was really ill with it as it just didn't agree with him at all.
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Thanks for the info, Penny. I will definitely keep an eye on things and reintroduce slowly. Hopefully it will all go well. If not, back to the old stuff.
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo i had lots of problems with switch over to adult food from puppy food, we did it very gradual, 10 % adult food to his puppy food for a week,,took us a month for the change over, with lots of bowel problems and vet visits i suggests lisa you do this very gradual...one step at a time
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Good plan Lisa , make the switch more slowly , hoping Simba gets used to it and no more runs
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo [quote author=Lisa link=topic=5581.msg70785#msg70785 date=1398373355] he spent the weekend at a very high energy kennel with lots of running around and playing with other dogs. [/quote] When I read that Lisa the first thing I thought was tummy bug off other dogs and an unfortunate coincidence with the food. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing so better to start again introducing the new food. Considering labs eat anything they do cause us problems with their tummies. The rescue dogs belonging to my cousins' get fed anything. They all give their dogs a variety of foods incase they get bored of it :. No switching slowly one variety one day and a new one the next and they never get dodgey stomachs. :-\
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Yep, when I worked in the kennels we would just chuck all the kibble in a big bin and mix it together. Mostly for convenience as we didn't have time to change properly from one brand to another but I'm sure this is what helped most of the dogs not get a dodgy tummy - they just got used to everything.
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=5581.msg70787#msg70787 date=1398374567] Even for a dog with an iron stomach a new food switchover should take a minimum of 10 days - basically the slower you do it, the better really. [/quote] Lisa I can only say the same as the above as when I've done a food change I've always done it over 2 weeks...this has felt a bit slow but Dexter does ( or did.....apart from a day before I left last week )have a sensitive tum. I'd love to try him on Fish 4 dogs but I'm sticking with what we are on as it's working! Hope things have settled down now,I've stupidly started my reply before I got to the end of the thread.....x
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo [quote author=Jen link=topic=5581.msg70885#msg70885 date=1398423495] [quote author=Lisa link=topic=5581.msg70785#msg70785 date=1398373355] [/quote] Considering labs eat anything they do cause us problems with their tummies. The rescue dogs belonging to my cousins' get fed anything. They all give their dogs a variety of foods incase they get bored of it :. No switching slowly one variety one day and a new one the next and they never get dodgey stomachs. :-\ [/quote] My friend is exactly the same, Harry gets fed the cheapest food e.g. Bakers or whatever is only £10 for 15kg, he has Dentistix and never any bones nothing nice at all, but you bet your bottom dollar he will live a very long and healthy life because she doesn't stress over it like we do. I do feel sorry for Harry though and occasionally I send a nice chicken back over and he absolutely loves it
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo Well, still struggling a bit. I fed him chicken and rice the first night, then the next day back to his regular food, digestive issues all cleared up. So definitely the food. Started to reintroduce very slowly...like 4 pieces of new kibble mixed in at first...only a little bit more than that now, but he is getting up at night. Not sure exactly what he is doing, I assume going for a poo, but been too tired to go trooping out there in the dark with a flashlight. Not sure consistency of the "deposit" for the same reason, and he hasn't been "doing his business" on our walks, so not sure what's up. Had a horribly busy weekend and working today, but this afternoon will tramp around the backyard looking for evidence. At what point should I give up and just decide that this food isn't working? :-\
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo [quote author=Lisa link=topic=5581.msg71690#msg71690 date=1398709630] At what point should I give up and just decide that this food isn't working? :-\ [/quote] You need some of the others that have managed this before to help you with that Lisa....in my inexperience though, I reckon it can take up to the full 2 weeks as that seems to be the time frame to be considered when you are reading up on it.however......Simba is quite a resilient chap in the tummy department so he might be giving you all the signs now that this just doesn't suit?Tricky,let's see what other members think.im really sorry he's gone and got upset hope a solution can be reached soon xxx
Re: The Great Food Switcheroo [quote author=Lisa link=topic=5581.msg71690#msg71690 date=1398709630] Started to reintroduce very slowly...like 4 pieces of new kibble mixed in at first...only a little bit more than that now, but he is getting up at night. Not sure exactly what he is doing, I assume going for a poo, but been too tired to go trooping out there in the dark with a flashlight. [/quote] This does sound a bit odd. Just a few kibble of the new food has him up in the night? I'd say that if it really is the new food, there might be something in it that disagrees with him? I mean, we know Simba is not a delicate tummy dog....just sounds a bit unexpected to me.
