Changing From Dry Food To Human Food

[mackenzie11]

my 12 week old cavalier x poodle is currently on optimum puppy, this results in soft, rank stools 3-4 times a day, i had her on this on this from the start and had this problem and my vet changed her to Hills Science dry food, this made her worse, watery, rank and 8-9 times a day, i only kept her on this for about 4 feeds, even though i was only giving her a small amount to change over, i put her on a bland diet and reintroduced the hills - as per vets instruction, he told me to give her the bland diet for 24 hours and then mix it with 1/3 cup hills biscuits, i was hesitant to give so much hills so fast, so i only gave her 10 biscuits mixed with the bland diet, and it pretty much went straight through her, so i stopped the hills and went back to the optimum, this was fine and she was firmer, Until this week, she seems to be getting softer and ranker,

i have been reading on the internet that a raw diet is better for dogs, but i don't know how to go about it, some say don't give raw diets to puppies, other say you can, some still give biscuits and some don't,

does anyone here do raw for their dogs??? if so how do you do it and what do you use and how much

do you still use biscuits?? if so which is the best products to use

will this diet fill her up, she is currently on 1 cup of optimum and is always starving

instead of raw meat can i give her cooked meat and mixed frozen vegies or does it have to be raw

any help anyone can offer would be great

thanks

[frufru]

Have you had a stool sample tested for worms?

My 16 week old standard poodle puppy has a combination of raw and dried food (Pro-Plan) She was on a mix of Optimum and Royal Canin when I got her and we changed over gradually with no probs. Her raw food consists or chicken wings, lamb ribs or beeg ribs.

I only give cooked food to elderly or ill dogs.

Edited September 9, 2010 by frufru

[Nekhbet]

your dog doesnt need human food. Raw is better for meats unless the dog is suffering with a gastro condition as cooking destroys a lot of vitamins, proteins etc.

You should get her stools tested and change the diet to something else but slowly. There is something else going on with this pup so it pays to investigate. Other then that she may have an intolerance to some ingredients. I teaspoon of yoghurt wouldnt go astray

Hills isn't the best out there, try going to your local dog food supplier and see if they have any sample bags of Vets All Natural (for a raw diet), or dry foods like Nutrience, Nutro, Eagle Pack, Royal canin etc.

[Bundyboy]

Our dogs dont eat human food apart from cooked rice.

Every meal is the same - Advance dog buiscits , Roo meat and every few days mix in some cooked rice. They are very healthy and we never have any problems. Our youngest is a 9 month old staffy

[persephone]

Hi Perhaps change the title of your thread? You will not really be feeding 'human food' to your dog

Ok- what tests did your vet do to find a possible cause for this problem?

Did they test for worms , or do any other tests?

Your puppy has had a few different food changes- and this can often upset the gut

Is she on any probiotics- like acidopholus capsules/powder? This may help with her digestion (if there is not a heavy worm burden or some other problem. Some dogs are lacking in certain enzymes- so they cannot digest some foods- some dogs are intolerant of gluten/grains/different meats...

Little puppies NEED the absolute correct balance of minerals to form good bones. While processed foods have these in correct levels easily, when feeding raw, it takes a bit of juggling ;)

there is HEAPS of feeding raw information in THIS THREAD

If you vet is not being helpful, and just suggests another food- please find a vet who will work with you

[poodlefan]

What tests have been conducted on the puppies stool?

You need to find out the reason for the digestion issues BEFORE you change her diet again.

Was coccidia eliminated as a possiblity?

[Jed]

You would get more complete answers to your questions if you asked the breeder, who knows the pup, or the petshop where you bought her.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Jed

[W Sibs]

Sounds like your pup has an upset stomach. Maybe find a vet that will you give you proper answers and do proper testing on WHY your pup has an upset stomach, instead of telling you change your pup's diet again.