Well Switching Again

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

What is the best way to switch over a Kibble? Winslow is just not working out on the Wellness, he has had 2 accidents in the house the last 2 days. He has never had that before!! he was house broken in 2 weeks when we brought him home. We had him on Science Diet large breed puppy and he was Great.

After some feedback from these boards I went with a Switch to Wellness due to better ingredients. He loves the food but just can't process it, like he did the Science Diet.

I am going with Canidae this time, should I just doo rice and Chiken till he firms up then mix in Canidae, or just slowly add canidae to the wellness?

Rich

[chaos270]

Gah we know the feeling...exce pt Kali is still having issues but we're not sure if it's the Canidae or if her tummy is still upset.  You may want to try the chicken and rice with the same slow switchover you'd use with kibble transfers.  The bland diet should help him firm up before the switch and give his tummy a chance to relax.  Also try giving him nonfat plain yogurt because his stomach enzymes will probably be out of whack.

[Lyn]

I'm switching soon also. I just add new kibble to old. Starting with 1/4 cup of the new stuff and increase by a 1/4 cup every other day until it's just the new stuff.

I've switched sooner in the past with disasterous results. I find this method works well so I've stuck with it.

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Winslow has been getting Oatmeal, Pumpkin or yogurt with the morning meal and pumpkin with some sardines or salmon in the evening. Since I have a good amount of Wellness left I think I will start adding Rice and less wellness till we use it up (the stuff ain't cheap to just toss it) and then add the Canidae as we start to run down the Wellness with rice in the mix the whole time.

Is it better to use Brown or White rice?

Rich

[GreatDanz]

I would take him off the Wellness entirely, give him boiled beef and rice until he's firm, and then slowly start adding the Canidae.

I'm sure there's a shelter near you who would love a donated bag of Wellness!

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Now that is a good Idea I never thought of!! The shelter gets the food!! Thanks

[jabear]

Donating tto a shelter is a great plan! We recentlt switched Bear from Solid Gold to Eagle Pack too and he is doing great. Nothing makes me happier than solid poop.  Best of luck making your switch.

[Kelly89084]

Donating tto a shelter is a great plan! We recentlt switched Bear from Solid Gold to Eagle Pack too and he is doing great. Nothing makes me happier than solid poop.  Best of luck making your switch.

I soooooooooooo know what you mean about solid poop!  I haven't seen any in what seems like forever.  Every food I've tried has had a bad reaction (except raw which hubby doesn't like). 

We went to a holistic dog store today and the guy there said to be careful with candidae because some dogs can be allergic to the lamb.  He gave us several samples and told me to put them all out and let her choose (she chose natural balance).  He said he had a boxer that after a few years suddenly developed a problem with that stuff because of the lamb.  It's still a good food though.  I like his idea of letting the dog tell you what he/she wants to eat.  See if you can't get free samples of the foods your considering and make sure your dog likes it.  I found out Holly DOESN'T like the candidae so it's a good thing I didn't get her any.   

[Kiahpyr]

Kiah's on Natural Balance and she's doing very well on it. I think Holly may have picked it because it does smell stronger then the other dog foods. I'm hoping we don't have to switch again either. Good luck and hope it works out.

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Yup very slow for us too. We are fasting Winslow today, the accidents in the house could be his not feeling well. I have been taking him to the Local State Forrest and he has been in and out of the water, it is moving water but not that quick, he is new to the lovely world of water so he is still trying to bite the surface, so he may have picked up a bug, hoefully nothing serious, the loose stool was a problem before the trip to the woods but the pond water may have made it worse.

He did vomit today so we think a bug, We'll fast him and start the boiled rice and chicken tomorrow wait till he firms up then start adding the Canidae. I'll let you know how it goes!! I long for the solid poop days!!I can't believe I say things like that now!!

Rich

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Well Winslow is off to the vet in the morning. He has been spending time with me at the local state forrest, and sampling the water BAD BOY, but what can I do he loves the forrest and the water!! After the Giardia thread I was reading on hear, Poor Bava,I fear he may have picked up a bug so Hi Ho Hi Ho we scoop some poop and off to the Vet we go.

Rich

[Mom2Sadie]

Poor Winslow! We hope you feel better!

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

We're are back from the Vet and everything checked out fine!!  Winslow of course was up early and showed no signs of the bug!! Figures the day you hve the appointment they act like what I'm fine  .

They did the giardia test and parasite and both were negative. He got an A+ for coat and skin condition, and he topped the scales at 121 pounds at 10 months and 1 day old 

Rich

[Nicole]

Hi,

Well Winslow is off to the vet in the morning. He has been spending time with me at the local state forrest, and sampling the water BAD BOY, but what can I do he loves the forrest and the water!! After the Giardia thread I was reading on hear, Poor Bava,I fear he may have picked up a bug so Hi Ho Hi Ho we scoop some poop and off to the Vet we go.

Rich

Hi! I just wanted to remind everyone that pond water can have cylindrospermo psis and other toxic algae in it... (You have to test for it specifically, I believe) These algae (the blue-green variety) can be very very toxic to dogs, and cause vomiting, diarrhea and death. Not to be scary..just reminding everyone not to let their dogs into ponds with any kind of scum on them. The scum indicates that the algae have released toxins. I posted about this once before, but thought this might be a good place to remind everyone. The other thing is that the cylindrospermo psis don't necessarily produce a scum when they start producing toxins, so its best to just keep a serious eye on your dog after going into the pondwater.

I mentioned before that the algae are not constantly producing toxins, but start doing so under stress. Stress can be drought or a lack of nitrogen in the water.

Just a reminder to everyone! Giardia and parasites are not the only things to look out for with our water-lovin' pooches!

Here is some more information:

http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/fish/cylind.htm

http://www.azdeq.gov/function/news/2004/fish.pdf

And, a paper written about the subject by one of my Prof's and a grad. student I know:

http://www.spea.indiana.edu/clp/FinalCylindro%20Web.pdf

*modified to add websites*

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Thanks for re-posting, I did see your original and made sure I kept Winslow from any stagnant water or areas where there was pond scum. He seems to be 100% better so I think it was just a bug of some sort! Here in MA most of the ponds are just comming out of ice cover so the stress and nitrogen levels should be pretty low.

Rich