How Long To Transition Food

[Guest 2greys2cats]

I switched food for my greys over a week period. Now the poop is just so so (better than on the prior food, but not as great as I'd like it). How long does it take for their system to adjust totally? I've heard anything from 2 days to 3 weeks...

[JohnF]

Depends on the food. As long as it's not going from something like chicken or turkey to very greasy lamb a gradual change over a week shouuld have been fine. Greys typically don't care for very high protien and very high fat foods.

[Guest 2greys2cats]

Depends on the food. As long as it's not going from something like chicken or turkey to very greasy lamb a gradual change over a week shouuld have been fine. Greys typically don't care for very high protien and very high fat foods.

 

We went from fish to lamb. Never heard that lamb was "greasy" though. We're using Natural Balance.

[a_daerr]

I did five different switches over the course of several years trying to find the right food for Henry. My method is a 25%-50%-75% transition over the course of at least ten days. The last few times, I added Forti-Flora which helped. You won't see the full effects of the food for 4-6 weeks, so don't get discouraged and give up at the first sign of loose stools. Decrease the new food back to the last level where the poops were normal. Give it another day or two before increasing again. I also recommend staying with the same protein source (assuming your dog was doing well on it before). If the dog is showing signs of allergy (swelling, licking at paws/bum, sores for scratching) then obviously discontinue the new food. But it's important to give the new food a chance before you make a decision to stay on it. Transitioning is a pretty big undertaking. I don't really recommend that people switch willy nilly- only if the dog is having recurring problems.

[Batmom]

Here I usually do @ 50-50 new and old food for @ 3 days. If at the end of that time I like the results, I switch to 100% new. If I don't, I go back to the old or try something else.

 

I've never found that time improves things. It occasionally makes things worse!

 

The only reason I take @ 3 days to switch is to make sure I'm not going to get cow pies. It does take 24-48 hours for the first meal to make an appearance in the yard.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Batmom

[a_daerr]

Here are a few other resources that describe similar transitioning schedules:

 

http://www.pheasantsforever.org/page/1/tip-newdogfood.jsp

20%-40%-60%-80%-100% schedule over 13 days

 

http://www.hillspet.com/faq-7-day-transition-schedule.html

Similar, but only 7 days

 

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/frequently-asked-questions/how-to-feed-dog/

7-10 days with gradual increases of 20%

 

http://www.lets-talk-dog-health-problems.com/switching-dog-food.html

Two week transition

Edited January 14, 2013 by a_daerr

[Guest 2greys2cats]

I've done a correct transition schedule. I'm familiar with how to do it. However, it's now been 12 days on the new food (100%). If its not better by now, I'm thinking it won't get better I guess. It's confusing because some folks say it could take weeks for it to get better, while others say if it isn't normal in a few days, it will never be normal. So frustrating...

[Batmom]

I think everyone's experience is different.

 

I'd go with your gut (to make a bad, bad pun when I know it isn't funny at all).

 

Good luck.

[a_daerr]

Obviously you know your dog best, so you'll be the one to make the best decision. IMHO, twelve days isn't enough. My experience and all the literature I've read says 4-6 weeks to be able to truly say whether or not the food is working.

[Guest 2greys2cats]

Yeah, I think I'll continue as you recommended. His poops are 'pickupable' but not really firm like my girl's are. We have to be gentle when picking it up lol.

[Batmom]

My experience and all the literature I've read says 4-6 weeks to be able to truly say whether or not the food is working.

 

That might be true regarding whether it's working for coat condition, but it's not true regarding digestion and basic demeanor/energy of the dog.

 

Dogs and people can change what they eat from meal to meal and day to day with no adverse impact.

[GreyPoopon]

My experience and all the literature I've read says 4-6 weeks to be able to truly say whether or not the food is working.

That might be true regarding whether it's working for coat condition, but it's not true regarding digestion and basic demeanor/energy of the dog.

It's most unusual for me to disagree with Batmom, but this time I do, a bit.

 

If a gut is upset, it can take a long time to recover. And a sensitivity can take a while to show up. So while the basic reaction (better or worse) is usually clear fairly soon, you might not see the full effects (good or bad) for quite a while.

 

I do switches fairly slowly, not for adjustment time, but in the hope that I'll see a negative impact before the results are too dramatic.

 

But then I have one dog with two types of severe IBD (diagnosed via scope), one with probable IBD (not officially diagnosed), and a few others with food sensitivities. One gets...careful.

[Batmom]

If the dog is actually ILL (or allergy to the point of damage), sure. But in that case you'd want some anti-inflammatory meds on board (flagyl, for example). And most cases of bad poop in dogs, in my experience, aren't illness or allergy. They're worms, simple intolerance, or overfeeding.

 

Add to that, it isn't necessarily normal for a dog to always have hard poop and no detectable gas ......

[Guest 2greys2cats]

I heard feeding two protein sources works sometimes too. It seems whenever I go beyond more than 50/50, the poops go downhill. So tonight I tried 1/2 fish, 1/2 lamb. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for your responses!