question about red dye in food

[schelmischekitty]

i read that red dyes in food can cause tear stains in dogs to be pretty bad.  here's the question.  the puppy will eat the red pieces of food more so than the others, and is starting to get really bad tear stains that go all the way under his eyes, like bags.  should i change his food??

[schelmischekitty]

he has a little staining around his mouth, as well, but not like his eyes where it goes in a half circle under both of them.  the breeder was feeding him purina puppy chow (i know, no no no!) and i didn't want to change it over because i don't want to upset his tummy too much, not to mention i'm not sure what the fat levels, etc, need to be for a little paw yet.  the purina has red dye in it, and i remember reading it caused them, maybe it was wrong though.  who knows!  maybe it is just him teething, since he is 3 months old. 

[schelmischekitty]

thanks for the advice!  i have to go get diesel's food today anyways, so i'll take a look and see what they have!

[rayray]

my shih-tzu is on nutro chicken rice and oatmeal....he loves the stuff and it comes in small bites only

[schelmischekitty]

i'll have to look into that also!  does anyone know what the calories and fat, etc, should be with a little paw?

[Anakalia]

When I had my little maltese I always fed him a food with the protien/fat over 25/15.  And since they have such small tummies it's important to try to feed them 3-4 times a day, because with small breed pups they can become hypoglycemic very quickly.

[schelmischekitty]

thanks for the info!  right now i'm feeding him 3X daily, with water down all the time in the bathroom for him.  we are throwing around the idea of switching him to innova, but i'm not sure what the fat etc is in purina puppy chow, and he is getting an upset tummy.  i subs. one meal with innova puppy yesterday, and only gave him about 1/3 of his usual amount, but he still isn't taking it well.  if i mix the food together he just picks out the innova (he really likes it).  should i just give it a few days, or should i try pumpkin, or what?

[Anakalia]

I'd give it a few days to see what happens.  He's going from Purina to Innova that's a HUGE difference.  It might take a few days to get used to the better food.  You may want to try to add pumpkin but I'd add very little, I have no clue how much pumpkin to give to a wee little one! lol

[schelmischekitty]

thanks for the advice!  i think i'll give it a day and see if his tummy calms down, and then if it doesn't i'll try a little pumpkin in his food.