My dog has IBS. Can I change her food protein without stomach upset?

Hello, sorry to hear about Trixie. So with irritable bowel, they are typically sensitive to the protein in the food. Common proteins such as chicken and beef tend to also be the most common types of sensitivities. Rabbit protein which you are feeding now is not common and likely why Trixie has tolerated it so well. Unfortunately, there is a possibility that she can develop sensitivities to this protein after she has been eating it for some time. You may therefore need to change her diet again. However, I would likely work this along with your veterinarian so that the case can be followed by both of you. Additionally, she could have other causes for her decreased appetite and vomiting and these other causes should be screened for as well by your veterinarian. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Theoretically Trixie could do any of the hydrolyzed diets. Royal Canin carries a hydrolyzed protein diet very similar to the Hill’s diet. Purina also carries a formula as well called HA. Most likely Trixie would do fine on any of these. Make sure any diet transition is slow over the course of 5 to 7 days. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is not so much about the amount of protein per se but more so the right protein. It is a matter of using a new protein and carbohydrate that he may tolerate better. For example, if he is on chicken and rice, switch him to lamb and potato for instance. Another option is a hydrolized protein diet and finally something like Royal canin low fat GI. That is actually what my dog is on who also has severe food allergies and he does great. Good luck!

While some dogs can tolerate switching between protein sources well (chicken to lamb, etc.), other dogs can have issues and develop GI upset with the change. Nutritionally there is no need to switch protein sources, and dogs can have an allergy to one protein source versus another. If you do switch, I would recommend a slow transition over a week to see how she handles it

It is common that dogs will develop diarrhea from a sudden food change, but it can be challenging to do a slow diet change when they stop eating their regular diet. If Chi won't eat a bland diet, adding cooked white rice or cooked white or sweet potato to a diet may be a good option for her. I think at this point, you could continue the previous food since she was eating it well or try to introduce a new limited ingredient diet if that was what your vet had recommended. Sometimes 95% meat diets are too rich for dogs alone, but Chi may tolerate it with white rice or potato. However, you may also need to talk to your veterinarian about medication for the diarrhea since she has IBD and those dogs will sometimes have a harder time getting their diarrhea to resolve with diet change alone. I have included a handout with more information on IBD below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598 Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Chi feels better soon. Thanks for using PetCoach.

If it doesn’t irritate her gut/cause vomiting or diarrhea, she can have both. Rabbit and duck appear to both be proteins that agree with her GI tract. Royal Canin is my favorite brand too! Good luck!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If Sadie has gastrointestinal signs, like vomiting, nausea, loose stools, gurgling abdomen, abdominal distension or abdominal pain, you should change her diet to a different one. There are good quality diets for dogs with sensitive stomach and skin problems on the market (for example Purina, Eukanuba, Royal Canin). It is better the change the diet slowly, as abrupt change is likely to produce more serious gastrointestinal problems. Please, mix Sadie's current food with a new diet for a few days slowly increasing the amount of new food and decreasing her old diet. After 4-5 days of doing this it should be safe to stop her Hill's food completely.