# if i dont slowly switch over what is the worst that can happen



## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

thanks everyone. I was just wondering how critical it is to switch foods slowly? When i was at the rescue they told me he was on proplan chicken and rice..and we have TOTW DUCK at the house. I honestly couldnt bear giving hi that _****_ anymore, and have just been giving him totw since we've had him. I figured worst that would happen is he'd have diarrhea for a week.
I could also donate the proplan to a neighbor.

oh and we've given him free run and he;s been so good 

_Language edited by RFD_


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

my dog stopped eating once. he went 3 days and wouldn't
touch his food. i switched food and i was worried because
he hadn't ate in 3 days so i gave him the new food.
he ate the new food and he had no problems. now i switch
his kibble bag to bag. i have 13 cans of food on hand that
i use for a topping. out of the 13 cans there's 6 different brands.
i guess it depends on the individual dogs system. switching foods
doesn't bother my dog. my dog also gets a lot of
fresh fish, chicken and beef.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I'd say worst case is he gets diarrhea, I would still do it. When we got Tucker he had been getting Science Diet in his foster, Pedigree on the transport truck, and we switched him straight to TOTW. He had some loose stool, but otherwise was fine and it cleared up quickly.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

When I was feeding dry dog food, I never changed anything slowly. I am not that patient. It never bothered any of my dogs.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Worst that can happen? Loose stools. 
I'd just go for it. Keep an eye on stools, and start with feeding a smaller amount. 
Good Luck!


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

PuppyPaws said:


> Worst that can happen? Loose stools.
> I'd just go for it. Keep an eye on stools, and start with feeding a smaller amount.
> Good Luck!


yeah, that was my thinking. either way his digestive system is going to be in trouble haha

keep him on the garbage purina ...his digestive system is in trouble.
switch cold turkey his digestive system is in trouble

might as well have him on the good food ha.


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

Worse that could happen? loose stool or out and out diarrhea. Some dogs switch quickly better than others.

Some people swear by fasting their dog for a day and then start the new food; but I'd never be able to deprive a dog of food myself.

I've found that adding a spoonful of plain canned pumpkin and a spoonful of low-fat plain active culture yogurt helps the digestive system with quick switches.


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

Dogs can go for awhile without food as long as they have water. Fasting should not be a problem. It's actually healthy to do. Adding pumpkin is a temperary bandaid. I know because I use to use pumpkin, until I learned otherwise ;0)


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

cast71 said:


> Dogs can go for awhile without food as long as they have water. Fasting should not be a problem. It's actually healthy to do. Adding pumpkin is a temperary bandaid. I know because I use to use pumpkin, until I learned otherwise ;0)


I don't see a problem in using a band aid during a transition to make the dog more comfortable. I don't recommend a long-term band aid on an unidentified issue, though.


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

good point, but I like to see how the dogs digestive system is reacting to the new food. If they cant tolerate it, you wont know until you stop feeding pumpkin. It just takes longer for diagnosing any problems and I think it is the easier way if you run into problems.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

cast71 said:


> good point, but I like to see how the dogs digestive system is reacting to the new food. If they cant tolerate it, you wont know until you stop feeding pumpkin. It just takes longer for diagnosing any problems


I see that point. I guess the topic doesn't apply to me to much but if I were advising on it, I would probably say use it if and only if upset occurs to begin with, and wean it off quickly. 
Either way, I don't think it will make much difference in the health of the dog.


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## dr tim (Mar 27, 2011)

With a quality food, you should be able to switch over in a matter of a very few days. If there is an issue with soft stools, overfeeding or the food just isn't for your dog.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

if you're going to feed pumpkin make sure it's
the kind that's in water only. you can always bake
a pumpkin and use that. i don't know about feeding fresh
raw pumpkin.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I brought my JRT puppy home last week at 7 1/2 weeks old. She had been fed Ol Roy at the breeder's home. Yeah I know that is the absolute worst food ever but the breeder swears by it! I had some Simply Nourish puppy food that I am feeding her. I briefly considered doing a slow transition but just couldn't bear to feed any more of that garbage to my baby. I switched her cold turkey and never had a moment's problems. I figured that digestive upset would still have been better than even 1 more day of Ol Roy.


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## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

kathylcsw said:


> I brought my JRT puppy home last week at 7 1/2 weeks old. She had been fed Ol Roy at the breeder's home. Yeah I know that is the absolute worst food ever but the breeder swears by it! I had some Simply Nourish puppy food that I am feeding her. I briefly considered doing a slow transition but just couldn't bear to feed any more of that garbage to my baby. I switched her cold turkey and never had a moment's problems. I figured that digestive upset would still have been better than even 1 more day of Ol Roy.


Amen......


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

im tempted to stop totw after this 14 pounds is up. and start primitive natural as that imo is the best food on the market..going by claims..Winston's appetite was wonderful today, but i wanna give primitive natural a shot..although it's best i buy another 30 pounds of totw before switching


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