transition from one food to another

[Nancyc]

How do you transition from one food to another? My 9 wk old English bullmastiff has pudding-like stool. I am switching from purina large breed puppychow to iams adult fish. Vet said 50/50 but I don't know how long to keep it at 50/50. Also after research, I am going to Eagle pack large breed puppychow which should be here any day. Now I need to know how to transition to Eagle. My pup is not making formed stool yet. He also is scratching his ears and biting his legs. This is my first bullmastiff.

 

[Hector]

It usually says transition old food to new food over a period of 7 days and add more new food to old as your days increase. Honestly, I always have done it cold turkey.

 

[Smokeycat]

When I do a gradual transition between foods it takes 10 days. 3 days at 25% new/75% old, 3 days at 50/50 and then 3 days at 75% new/25% old. Day 10 is all new. Normally if diarrhea appears go back to the previous step and slow down.
Given the fact that he has diarrhea and there will have been multiple changes in a short period I would do an abrupt change. I would feed a mix of white rice and boiled and rinsed hamburger until his stool firms up and then start the new food. You may have to do the above transition to the new food from the rice mix or you might be able to just start the new food.

 

[Harrygto]

welcome sorry I am no help with pups

 

[teodora]

based on the fact that i've always been wrong with Jack's transitions to new food as a pup (and we changed food 4 times! ) - I try to figure out how to do it correctly with the neo baby girls coming next week: they're on puppy chow at the moment, we wanna make the transition to nutrience all stages grain free and I would prefer to "reset" the food with rice: for how long do they need to eat rice, and should it be just rice or rice + chicken? Once we finish with rice, should we start with the new food abruptly? Or mix rice with the new food?
2nd choice: put just a little bit of new food into the old once and increase with small amounts daily? And for how long?

 

[tmricciuto]

I transitioned over 6 days. First two days 25% new other amount old. Then next two days 50% of each and last two days 75% of new. After the second day my girls started eating the new kibble and leaving the old and since they were having normal stools we just went cold turkey.


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[DennasMom]

Also... the OP's puppy is 9 weeks, so, most likely has not been in the home very long. The stress of leaving his mom and litter-mates to join a whole new household can be very stressful. Stress can lead to loose poops, too.

Make sure the puppy has a good safe place for naps (i.e. a crate in a quiet room), and that you give him lots of opportunities for nap time. Naps are good to absorb and adjust to all the new information he's getting.

Other considerations - lots of mastiffs are sensitive to grains and chicken in kibble... so if the loose poops continues, make sure you have a chicken & grain free food option.