My IBD dog has gas pains during food transition. Should I change food?

Hello. This much gas is of concern, but it is not an indication that nutrients are not being utilized. Hills i/d is a high fiber food, and the intestinal bacteria may just be trying to adjust to the new diet. This might take several weeks. If the gas production is still overwhelming, I might try one of the hypoallergenic diets like the Prescription Diet z/d & see if this helps with the gas. Always remember to take your time to when switching diets taking 4-10 days to completely change over from the old to the new food. Hope this helps Oscar's little problem. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Yes, you are correct that the change in diet can cause Quincey to have this gas. It was an excellent idea to bring him to the vet for a health check, and I'm glad she said everything looked ok. I think it's also an excellent idea to feed him the Royal Canin gastro for the next few days. If that helps with his gas, I would slowly add back in his diet. As for his diet, I'd recommend going back to the Royal Canin. I'm not sure why you would switch foods, but it does seem like the new diet doesn't agree with his stomach, and unless you want to deal with a lot of farts, I'd put him back on a food that doesn't give him gas :-)

If he is a young dog it is possible that he has a mild food allergy or an easily upset stomach (sometimes this is irritable bowl syndrome). Typically strong smelling gas in from the diet. I think slowly switching Ziggys food to maybe a different protein source of purina would help calm down or stop the gas. However, if you want to try an over the counter probiotic every day in the food and see if helping the good bacteria grow improved the gas. Do not forget to have a fecal checked for parasites just incase! hope that helps

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! He is adorable! I think that a course of prednisone could potentially be added to better control the IBD so it has an all day effect. Another thing that can be tried if your veterinarian (who knows all his medical history) thinks is a good idea is changing him to another IBD type diet such as Royal canin ultamino. This diet has proven to be very effective for both IBD and skin allergies. Good luck and have a great day!

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.

Change his diet to boiled chicken and rice a GI formukabsince it is easy to digest. You can also add a probiotic to the food to help replenish the good, normal bacteria. If this does not help you can try gas x. If it continues then I would consider a check for parasites and blood work to make sure oral medicine is it needed

Yes, it is always good to gradually change over to a new diet rather than doing it abruptly. I usually recommend a period of about 5-7 days to switch food. Start with 25% new food, 75% old food for 2-3 days, then increase the ration to 50:50 for a few days, then further increase it to 75% new, 25% old for a few days, then 100% new food. I hope the diet change does the trick for Z. Best of luck. Let us know if you have any additional questions!