Slow food change, lots of poops

Judyg

Judyg

Forums Enthusiast
After a month of feeding Lacey the Purina ProPuppy kibble that the breeder was feeding I slowly changed dry food. We have no tummy upset, and solid stools but it seems like she is going a lot more. Is this just part of the adjustment period? I am feeding Merrick puppy kibble with boiled chicken breast and some cottage cheese. She does not seem to have as much of an appetite either. Could the kibble be more filling?

The Purina food is chicken and rice if that makes any difference.
 
Judyg951 said:
After a month of feeding Lacey the Purina ProPuppy kibble that the breeder was feeding I slowly changed dry food. We have no tummy upset, and solid stools but it seems like she is going a lot more. Is this just part of the adjustment period? I am feeding Merrick puppy kibble with boiled chicken breast and some cottage cheese. She does not seem to have as much of an appetite either. Could the kibble be more filling?

The Purina food is chicken and rice if that makes any difference.
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More fiber will equal more stool.

I know nothing about the Merrick brand to comment on its fiber content, however.
 
Why the cottage cheese? Dogs are lactose intolerant so potentially the cottage cheese is loosening her bowls a little. You may also just be feeding her too much. When Tully was younger if I over fed her she just pooped the excess out.
 
Merrick vs. ProPlan are two of those foods that are unequal in their nutritional value. So the answer to your question is that you need to feed less of Merrick than you do of ProPlan because the nutrition is more dense and the ingredients better than ProPlan.

The bag will always tell you to feed way more than you need to, so you have to disregard that and go with the amount that works best for your puppy. I fed 1/2 cup of a similar food to Merrick 3 times a day. I would eliminate the chicken breast; you don't need the extra and it could be too much protein. A good puppy food has everything you need in it and you need to let the digestive system adjust to that without adding extras. If you're concerned about nutritional needs, add a good supplement instead such as Vibrant Pets or Natures Farmacy Ultimate.

I don't know how much you're feeding at the moment, but I'd adjust the amount you're feeding if it's more than 1/2 cup 3 times daily. If not, and she isn't eating that, cut back on treats and eliminate the chicken. I feed cottage cheese to my dogs too, but I'd eliminate it until she's eating all her kibble. That should also cut down on the poops although yes, puppies do poop a lot -- I found 4 times a day to be the norm.
 
She was going 2x and now it's more like 4. all solid though.

The breeder was feeding the chicken breast and cottage cheese so I was just continuing what she was fed.

So I should eliminate both the chicken breast and the cottage cheese and just feed her kibble then?
 
Ann said:
The bag will always tell you to feed way more than you need to, so you have to disregard that and go with the amount that works best for your puppy. I fed 1/2 cup of a similar food to Merrick 3 times a day. I would eliminate the chicken breast; you don't need the extra and it could be too much protein. A good puppy food has everything you need in it and you need to let the digestive system adjust to that without adding extras. If you're concerned about nutritional needs, add a good supplement instead such as Vibrant Pets or Natures Farmacy Ultimate.
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I agree with this. There's really no reason to feed her the chicken and cottage cheese. Like others said, it could just be that she's getting more fiber. Honey is pooing more now that we are switching her food to a higher fiber %. We're not switching her by choice, they just stopped making the food. But she used to poo once a day, now she poos twice or three times depending.

When Ruu was a puppy though, he would poo 4-5 times a day. Now he goes twice a day. As long as they are healthy, solid poos, I wouldn't be worried. Just pencil in more potty breaks.
 
Judyg951 said:
So I should eliminate both the chicken breast and the cottage cheese and just feed her kibble then?
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Yes, for now I would just feed her kibble. She doesn't need the chicken with a good quality kibble, and you can add a spoon of cottage cheese in a bit later once she's eating all her new food.

Pooping four times a day is normal for a young puppy. As long as the stools are fine, that's not unusual. It just means her little system is working hard! :lol:
 
Ann said:
Yes, for now I would just feed her kibble. She doesn't need the chicken with a good quality kibble, and you can add a spoon of cottage cheese in a bit later once she's eating all her new food.

Pooping four times a day is normal for a young puppy. As long as the stools are fine, that's not unusual. It just means her little system is working hard! :lol:
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Thank you Ann. I didn't think about the difference in a higher quality food and feeding less. I just knew I wanted her off the Purina. A smaller amount of food this morning meant a clean plate. I have a happy full baby.

I just wish she would not get up so darn early, but she is a puppy and maybe that will change as she gets older. I can hope at least.
 
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