Tips for introducing your dog or cat to a new food and making the dietary change.
One of the most frequent queries we receive through our advisory service is:
“I changed my dog/cat’s food to a higher-end, higher quality and more digestible food, but it was terrible for him“.
Usually the consultation is accompanied by a description of symptoms, the most frequent being: stools that are softer than usual, pasty, with a different colour to usual, diarrhoea and even with blood and/or mucus. In addition to vomiting and digestive discomfort.
Although we should never rule out a visit to the Veterinarian in case it is something else (especially if bloody stools or extreme diarrhoea appear for several days), when the episode coincides with a change of diet, as reported by the owner, it is more than likely that the symptoms are related to this change.
Nevertheless, of course the problem is not usually the new feed, but the way it is introduced and the transition made. Moreover, it often happens when switching from a lower to a higher quality range, much to the bewilderment of the owner.
It is very important to bear in mind that a dog fed on any type of food usually eats the same, or virtually the same, for a long period of time. Whether it is of higher or lower quality, its digestive system, and above all its flora, adapts itself completely to the digestion of this particular food, it becomes accustomed to it.
This is why the symptoms are usually worse the longer the dog/cat has been eating the same food. Suddenly we introduce something new, completely different and of course, their digestive system collapses. Their digestive flora is unfamiliar with these types of ingredients and does not know how to process them. As a result, the food is not digested properly and diarrhoea and all the discomfort that this entails for the furry one appears.
In addition, in many cases this change is made all at once, a whole ration of new food. Although there is a growing awareness of the importance of gradual change, and we vets keep repeating it, there is always the case where the old food has run out and we change directly, we went on a trip and I couldn’t find where to buy his, or the changes don’t usually affect him, so I tried it all at once.
Of course, each case is different and some dogs are much more digestively sensitive than others, and so some can be changed without any problem (they are usually those who are more accustomed to varied diets) and others can be put on a couple of different grains and their digestion is affected.
Obviously we should always rule out allergies, because no matter how well we make the transition, if we are incorporating an ingredient that is problematic for him, it will not help.
Starting from a dog with no sensitivities, or a dog with sensitivities that we are offering a feed adapted to it, this would be the typical image of transition that we usually offer to our client/patient:
This would be a ‘type’ transition, let’s say the most basic under normal conditions. This in a normal dog, which does not accept changes badly.
But if we are faced with the case we were talking about, that as soon as he eats outside his usual strict diet, symptoms of digestive discomfort appear, this can be even more thorough.
To the point of incorporating nothing more than a handful of grains of the new food, that is, 4, 5 or 6 pellets, depending on the size of the dog and the portion, of course.
Nothing more.
It may not seem much, but his digestive system is already coming into contact, in a very gentle way, with these ingredients. If no symptoms are observed, the next day 3 or 4 more pellets and so on. If softer stools appear, instead of continuing to increase, we maintain this minimum amount for a few days, waiting for the stools to become firm before continuing to increase.
And so on until the indicated percentages are reached, more slowly, over a longer period of time.
As we increase the amount of the new feed, we decrease the amount of the old feed until we reach the full ration of the new feed with minimal consequences.
Bearing in mind that even with all this and no matter how carefully it is done, it is likely that differences will continue to be noticed for a more or less long period of time, until the digestive flora adapts to the new food. This process does not take place within a week. Therefore, before judging the results that the new feed is giving us, we must wait at least 3 weeks, and it may even take more than a month.
This text was extracted and translated from the post published by our veterinarian consultant, Iria Bellas. You can check the original version by accessing to our Lenda Blog in Spanish.
