Finding an appropriate puppy food

[OntarioSheltie]

So we decided on Evo red meat, I've been transistioning him as slowly as possible, but Moonshine is picking the evo out of his food to eat and leaving the rest. Even after mixing it up really really well he spits out the rice and eats the evo...too smart I tell ya.

Well today I think I had a slight heart attack woke up to diarrhea thinking "What they are supposed to have an immunity to this after getting it? I just gave him his first vaccines?!? What if he has distemper??"

And then.....I remember the food change. Talk about paranoid right??

I'm wondering though, if the high quality diet is kind of shocking the system right now and he's "purging" the rice and chicken and crap diet he's been on.

I don't think its so much that, as it is that he's just not used to the EVO yet. Higher quality foods will often get their bowels moving faster. The diarrhea should go away though. You may want to give him a tablespoon of pumpkin with his meals for a while, until his bowels firm up.

 

[Ann]

This sounds like a definite case of food change to me. They are smart, and they know what they like, and Evo is such a rich food, espeically compared to your former brand I suspect, that it will wreak havoc with his system unless he's used to that type of high protein, grain free diet. Combined with his recent illness and vaccines, his little system is probably on overload.

I agree with Ontario...add a spoonful of canned pumpkin to every meal and see if that helps. If not, you might have to back off the Evo for a while or try a different food. Sometimes, even though they like a food, their systems don't!

 

[MoonshineDad]

Yes the quality is much different, he'd been on rice and chicken home-cooked since he'd gotten home from the hospital. So now that he's started Evo we have a bit of a system shock I think. And I didn't even think about his vaccines he just recently had...poor guy.

You're probably right Ann, his body is probably on overload. I did feed him some canned pumpkin with his lunch about an hour ago and we'll be doing that until this clears up, may get him back on the metronidazole as well he's so small I worry about dehydration.

He was 8lbs on monday though 8lbs at 3 months not too small I don't think.

 

[Ann]

I didn't realize he'd been on home cooked chicken/rice and not a conventional puppy food. So his diet was good quality, but most likely the additives in the Evo that he hasn't had before are the culprit...also chicken vs. red meat is quite a system change. Does Evo make a chicken or turkey variety? Perhaps you might be better transitioning to that first, and then the red meat. And it probably tastes like doggie treats to him, which is why he's picking it out!

It sounds like you're on the right track though. If you have some metronidazole left, I'd give him one as needed just to get his system back in check. I found one dose is sometimes enough to do the trick, and then keep him on the pumpkin through the transition.

Yes, 8 pounds at three months is fine! Glad he is doing so well.

 

[BarbV]

I agree with Ann...I would have gone with a chicken formula to start.

But since you're already done that road, continue with the pumpkin. No question in my mind that he's reacting to the food change. You might also need to make the transition even more gradual. Most times you can transition in a couple of weeks. I generally like to do it for at least a month....but I'm nuts about runny poop!