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Diet change

Discussion in 'Dog Food and Diet' started by Josie, Nov 20, 2019.

< Switching foods (how much to give?) | Firming up poo! >
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  1. Nov 23, 2019 #41
    DixD

    DixD Guest

    totally agree. When we’ve changed dry to wet, or vice versa, the dry food is used as treats between meals, and then we gradually transfer the diet over. I’m never sure, with the amount of carbs in kibble, whether it could cause blood sugar level problems, so now I always feed wet, which has a small percentage rice and carrot and only use a little kibble for treats.
     
  3. Nov 23, 2019 #42
    Josie

    Josie Administrator Administrator Registered

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    Yes I’m hoping it’s just because of his tummy being sensitive. Yes just chicken mix.
    2 x 400g

    I think you’re right. I’ll keep the portions smaller
     
  5. Nov 24, 2019 #43
    excuseme

    excuseme Well-Known Member Registered

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    Oh blimey! 2 X 400g is massive amount!!! He will be getting so much nutrition from this. I would suggest trying 1/2 that amount
    You will find doing a straight change over to raw fine. 2 times daily is plenty.
     
  7. Nov 24, 2019 #44
    JudyN

    JudyN Moderator Moderator Registered

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    How much does he weigh, @Josie ? And what would his ideal weight be?

    2 x 400g is around what Jasper eats - he's about 35kg. So if he's a heavily built lab it could be OK, though it would also depend on his activity levels.

    Arguments over whether it's OK to combine dry and raw, and whether to transition gradually or all in one go, continue, and I doubt there's clear evidence either way. After all, we combine food that digests at different rates in one meal without problems. FWIW, I transitioned J all in one go and it worked well. Of course, if you ask (or even if you don't ask;)) ten people you're likely to get 10 different opinions...
     
  9. Nov 24, 2019 #45
    Kara 1

    Kara 1 Guest

    My lurcher is 27 kg and she has 200g 2x daily so 400g a day ....800g a day .seems alot for a lab
     
  11. Nov 24, 2019 #46
    Mad Murphy

    Mad Murphy Well-Known Member Registered

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    Wow, yes Murphy was 27kg at his last vet check and the vet says hes on the fatter side so we have cut his meals slightly..He is very active and had been getting 2 x 250gr now reduced to 2x 200gr
     
  13. Nov 24, 2019 #47
    JudyN

    JudyN Moderator Moderator Registered

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    It just shows how they can differ. Jasper's weight is fine, despite the fact he also gets a lot of treats (or rather rewards). He's not a deerhound x, he's an expensivehound x! From what I gather, labs can put on weight just by looking at food.
     
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  15. Nov 24, 2019 #48
    DixD

    DixD Guest

    We’ve got a different digestive tract to dogs,e.g., digestion times are way different, and we don’t have the ability to digest bone that dogs have, so it’s a bit like apples and pears, or maybe more like apples and bananas. When one of my previous dogs was digestive problems, the Hills nutritionist suggested that he was struggling to digest the amount of food he was getting, it was going through his system too quickly (he always struggoed to put weight on, and we had upped his feeding, but not a lot). She gave us advice on the combination of fibre/carbs/proteins and fats that would be best fir him, can’t remember it now.)

    I don’t weigh my dogs, but go by how they look and feel. One’s a large sighthound, one’s a small breed, but they probably get about a pack and a half of Naturediet (390 g a pack) between them a day, and water in it to make a little soup on the bottom of the bowl.
     
  17. Nov 24, 2019 #49
    JudyN

    JudyN Moderator Moderator Registered

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    The usual advice for raw feeding is that you should feed 2-3% of the dog's body weight a day, so a 30kg dog should have 600-900g a day. Though as the above posts show, there's a lot of variability, and it's definitely best to err on the side of too little at first, and monitor weight/how the dog looks.
     
  19. Nov 24, 2019 #50
    Josie

    Josie Administrator Administrator Registered

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    @JudyN

    He weighs 35kg and she put him down for 800g a day with the hope of getting him down to 33kg.

    He’s a big lab so he’s not overweight ... well maybe by a couple of pounds!

    I just had a call with her and she said to fast him for 24 hours then try him on a small amount and wait a few hours to see if he’s sick.

    Currently he’s been sick after each meal (3 so far) about 3/4 hours afterwards.

    It’s obviously a big transition for him as he had been on his other diet for 12 years - I just hope that eventually it will work out for the best and I’ll stop feeling like a horrible person :-(
     
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  21. Nov 24, 2019 #51
    JudyN

    JudyN Moderator Moderator Registered

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    I wonder if his gut is a bit unbalanced because of the antibiotics still, and if it might be better to use a probiotic for a while before reintroducing raw? Maybe something to ask her?

    800g could be right for him given his weight, but that's not taking into account that he's a lab... Time will tell :)
     
  23. Nov 24, 2019 #52
    Josie

    Josie Administrator Administrator Registered

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    He’s on probiotics also but maybe that should build up first. On slightly better news.. he hasn’t had any wind today and it’s been unbearable lately. He didn’t have his dry food at all yesterday or today so maybe that’s a good sign that moving him off of that is at least a good thing!
     
  25. Nov 24, 2019 #53
    Josie

    Josie Administrator Administrator Registered

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    P.s cleaning up raw food sick is not pleasant. Especially when he decides to do it on our shag pile rug (wooden floors everywhere else!) :emoji_face_palm:
     
  27. Nov 24, 2019 #54
    JudyN

    JudyN Moderator Moderator Registered

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    Yes, Jasper's farts went from weapons of mass destruction that you could slice out of the air and send through the post to completely odourless pretty much overnight!

    Monty always preferred throwing up on carpet to hard floor too.
     
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  29. Nov 24, 2019 #55
    Josie

    Josie Administrator Administrator Registered

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    His favourite places to be sick are:

    Under the dinning room table,
    In the corner of the lounge usually up against the armchair leg and the small patch of carpet by the front door!
     
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  31. Nov 24, 2019 #56
    excuseme

    excuseme Well-Known Member Registered

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    Stick with it @Josie , being sick is not unusual for first timers.. Denis's system is experiencing a HUGE change. It will get better o_O
     
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  33. Nov 25, 2019 #57
    Josie

    Josie Administrator Administrator Registered

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    He’s refused the meal completely tonight :(

    Maybe raw is just one step too far for him. Maybe I need to try something like butternut Box that gently cook the food
     
  35. Nov 25, 2019 #58
    Lennor Magill

    Lennor Magill Member Registered

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    Hello Josie. There's another cooked food that's pretty good its Nature diet . My dogs have this when they go to kennels. It has no additives or preservatives and you can buy a couple of single boxes from Waitrose to try. I hope you find something he will eat soon. It such a worry when our pets are not up to scratch.
     
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  37. Nov 25, 2019 #59
    JudyN

    JudyN Moderator Moderator Registered

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    Oh, that's a shame. You could try cooking his raw food yourself for a bit - I'd just give it a quick blast in the microwave and let it cool. Or fry it in a dry, or almost dry frying pan...

    Or, as he seemed OK on what you were feeding him before he had his tummy troubles, you could go back to that, wait till his digestion seems calmer, and then give it another go.
     
  39. Nov 25, 2019 #60
    DixD

    DixD Guest

    My dogs have Naturediet. I like it for them because it’s a fairly plain food, and the dogs enjoy it! And tgeir digestive trat seems to, too. :D
     
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