My dog is ill from her food. Is it safe to change her diet suddenly?

You can try the duck or fish to see if Sadie likes that better, but do the food switch slowly over the course of two weeks to prevent further GI upset. Royal Canin has a sensitivity controlled food (Royal Canin Sensitivity Control) that may work for her as well. I hope this helps!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Usually we recommend a switch to a new food slowly to avoid the signs that you are seeing now (diarrhea, upset stomach, etc.). If you are already seeing these signs then there is no point on a slow switch. I would suggest switching over to the new food now. Be prepared for more diarrhea/upset stomach however, and if you can go buy some boneless skinless chicken breasts and rice, and boil BOTH of these, and feed this for a few days once you get it, it might help. Then mix in the new food slowly. In the mean-time though, just switch to the new food. Best of luck with Aspen!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Cloey! When it comes to dog food I'm in the camp that "if it's not broken , why fix it?" So for Cloey, if she as doing well, not vomiting, diarrhea, her weight is good and she liked the Pure Balance then I think it is fine for her. It is definitely likely that changing her food abruptly has caused the diarrhea, that is a a very common cause of an upset stomach. I would feed her a bland diet of boiled chicken and beef with rice until the stool is normal. Then I would put her back on her old dog food. I hope this helps and I wish Cloey the very best!

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.

As you've experienced, diet changes can certainly cause some changes in stool volume, and for some dogs, can cause a bit of vomiting and diarrhea. When it comes to the countless brands of dog food on the market today, it's overwhelming to pick one for your pup. I recommend brands that have been formulated by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, are manufactured in their own facility (less cross-contamination that facilities that manufacture numerous formulations), conduct AAFCO feeding trials, and meet WSAVA guidelines. When it comes down to it, the brands that meet those criteria include Hill's Science Diet, Purina, Royal Canin, Eukanuba, and Iams. As a result, I would recommend switching Lilly over to the Science Diet puppy food. Just remember that anytime you switch foods, be sure to do so by gradually mixing the old and new foods together over a 5-7 day period. I hope that everything goes well!

I'm sorry to hear Winston is having these issues! A good first step is to schedule a vet visit for him to rule out any underlying conditions that could be causing his symptoms in addition to food. Your vet can also work with you on a food trial if it is suspected that a certain ingredient is the cause for the problem. For general sensitive stomach/skin, Science Diet has a formulation that addresses both. You want to make sure to gradually change the diet over a period of 7-9 days to avoid additional stomach upset, gradually adding in more of the new food. It can also take up to two months for a food trial to see results.

Thats hard to say. Pets can have upset stomachs for many reasons. This can range from bacterial over growth, to parasites, to inflammatory bowel disease to kidney disease to even cancer. Without a physical exam and likely some basic diagnostics, its impossible to know the cause. Home made diets are not good long term unless they are formulated by a veterinary nutritionist. Otherwise the diets are often unbalanced which can result in problems if they are fed long term. At home you can try feeding her a bland diet of 25% boiled white meat chicken and 75% plain boiled what rice. Feed this for 1 week. Giving her probiotics during this time may also help. If she is not back to normal after 1 week, if she gets worse or if it returns, she needs to see her veterinarian. This diet is not balanced but it is fine to feed for this length of time. Gradually transition her back to her normal diet over 3-5 days. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.