diarrhea from food switch..now what??
My question is.............is this what happens with richer foods? Should I keep him on the IAMS or should I try a different, better quality food? I was going to try that Abady, but instead decided on the Merricks. I just don't know anymore  |
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| 10 cups sounds like a lot of food (even for a day and a half)- too much food can have that effect as well
make the switch slower to start with as well. |
| After reading a few of the posts here, I thought it was a lot of food too, but he is not one bit heavy. In fact you can feel his bones when you pet him. When he got back from that training camp, the vet said he was to thin. They only fed him about 6 cups per day and he lost weight. He came back a complete mess..Filthy, matted and skinny
Someone told me with the lower quality foods you need to use more..not sure if that is accurate, could be why he eats that much. Also, he is quite big, he is 7 months and weighs about 80 pounds. His father was 110 and the breeder and vet both said he will probably be bigger. Quote: make the switch slower to start with as well So do you mean to continue with the Merricks only use less than 1/4 Merricks -3/4 Iams ratio? |
| Some foods are just too rich for some dogs. Or, for total unknown reasons, the food may not agree with them. It just happens sometimes no matter how good the food is. Don't get too hung up on the numbers of the dog food rating.
However, are you actually using a measuring cup to measure out an actual cup of food or do you mean cups as in whatever you need to scoop the food? Because 10 cups is a TON of food. 6 cups a day is also a TON of food. The bonus to transitioning him to a better food is that you shouldn't have to feed as much since it's more calorie/nutrient dense than cheaper food. I guess if it were me, I'd try him on the new food for a couple of days to give him time to adjust. Sometimes things start out wet and get better... |
| Yes, as mentioned, too much food gives diarrhea as well. Even if it's am food that otherwise agrees with your dog. I a always trying to get Chewie to gain - he's 3 now and still definitely on the thin side. He apparently has a high metabolism, because other than the times we are working (carting, agility, whatever) he just lounges around.
Anyway, the most volume of any food I can get in him is 4 cups in a day. If I get him to eat more, we have nasty runny poop. He is 3 now, and this has been true his whole life. I can't imagine what 6 cups, let alone 10 would do. I would be in the middle of a poop disaster!  |
ok so I just emptied his food bowl and refilled it using a measuring cup. It holds 10 cups and takes him about 2 days to eat it. So I guess it's more like 5 cups per day  Not sure how much he ate at the training camp then. When he asked me how much he ate at home, I said 10 cups....maybe he said he fed him 6 cups so I wouldn't be concerned...not sure. I do know he came back in poor shape
I don't think the amount he eats is what gave him diarrhea...he always takes the same amount of time to finish the bowl and never had diarrhea before. I think it is the Merricks. i just don't know what to do now...try to get him used to it, or just leave well enough alone on the IAMS 
He is eating the same amount of IAMS with out the Merricks and poops returned to normal. |
| Some dogs (any breed) just plain don't tolerate a food switch well.
Others have ingredients that don't agree with them, ever (even "good" ingredients). Unfortunately, no owners manual comes with a pup, so it most definitely is a trial and error situation. You only can try, and basically, guess your best. |
| Ok first of all if your dog eats that much food and is not fat I would get fecals into the vet and have him dewormed. Sounds like possible tapeworm.
Also, I would not put food down and leave it for two days, it would get damp from his muzzle and begin growing bacteria, possibly start going rancid. Too much food whether he has parasites or not will definitely cause problems, the switch probably aggravated whatever is going on. I really think a check up with the vet would be a good idea, and soon. |
Quote: I really think a check up with the vet would be a good idea, and soon He just got back from the vet last week. Quote: Ok first of all if your dog eats that much food and is not fat I would get fecals into the vet and have him dewormed. Sounds like possible tapeworm. I called my vet and mentioned that I'm getting feed back that he eats too much. She thinks he is eating just the right amount for his size. I also looked on the back of the bag and it says 7 month old puppy that weighs 80 pounds should eat 5 1/2 - 5 /34 cups per day. He weighs 76 pounds but is not fat, just a very big OES  Like I said, his dad was 110 pounds and according to the vet & breeder will probably be even bigger .
This response did get me nervous though so I'm glad I called her. She said Lucky is healthy. I guess I just wanted some feedback on whether or not keeping him on the IAMS would be ok for his health. he doesn't have worms or parasites. He is healthy, active, happy and has a good appetite. Apparently the Merrick was too rich which caused diarrhea. After putting him back on the IAMS it completely stopped. BUT becasue the IAMS got such a low score of 87...I was just wondering if it was a healthy enough choice for him. I do appreciate you being cautious even though it scared me a bit. Thank you for all your help and responses.  |
| I've had several large OES, Beau was 118lb when he died and Daisy was 100. I'm positive they never ate 6 cups a day. Are you feeding treats? That can cause problems as well. How long did you mix before making a complete switch? I usually mix for at least several weeks, very gradually the first week, not even a 1/4 cup of new to old. Also check the expiration date on the bag. |
| He eats 5 cups per day and we never had a problem with it until I switched to the Merricks. I honestly think 5 cups is a good amount for him. He is truly thriving. So does my vet and also the directions on the bag. I just called the breeder since a few seem to think it is such a huge amount of food. He thinks it's fine as well. He also asked if the vet thinks he is too heavy and I assured him the vet thinks he looks great. Anyway... I gave it to him for about a day and a half of almost 1/2 and 1/2. I think more like 1/4 - 3/4 but can't be sure becasue I dumped the last bit of IAMS into the Merricks. But as I mentioned....he is FINE now...no more diarrhea......none.....he is very active and playful...completely healthy I promise. my question was should I keep him on the IAMS since it only rated 87.......or try a different higher quality food.. |
| 10 cups of food for the day That sounds way too much! That would be 5 in the am and 5 in the pm! My 110 pound male at 3 years old eats 1 and 1/1.2 in the am and same in pm...total of maybe 3 cups!
More than weight, I would worry about bloat eating that much per day. Check the calories of the food per cup. Even in the best of foods, per cup is about 400 calories per cup. Tops. So at 10 cups you are feeding 4,000 calories per day That will definately cause diarrea...at the least.
If he is eating like he is starving and is a recent rescue, it may be his background. But once he realizes the food is there for him, he will slow down. Puppies tned to eat fast and always look for food. They live the first few weeks of their life with litter mates all eating out of the same bowl. Once you get them home, alone, they seem to be "starving"...and once they ral;ize the food is there and its their's, they slow down. |
| I would stick with what works |
Quote: ok so I just emptied his food bowl and refilled it using a measuring cup. It holds 10 cups and takes him about 2 days to eat it. So I guess it's more like 5 cups per day Quote: He eats 5 cups per day and we never had a problem with it until I switched to the Merricks
thanks for the help, but I am tired of responding to this now. It's 5 cups per day.......5...not 10 I made a mistake...5... I do not htink it is the amount of food he is eating.....he is healthy and fine. His weight is fine...he is active and playful, he is alert and happy... I just wanted to know if I should continue on the IAMS or find a different higher quality food since the Merricks didn't agree with him..... I promise.............MY DOG IS HEALTHY...................... I mean this in a loving way..but no one seems to hear it |
| The bottom line about food is...if it works for your dog, don't worry about what the rating is. You can find food rated the best food but if your dog do9esn't do well with it, its not the best food for YOUR dog!
We read so much about raw diets, etc. Some dogs do not do well on raw diets. But raw diet people will go crazy on you if you say that.Same thing with kibble. Some people will swear their kibble is the best and the others are 'crap". But the best food for your dog is what he does best on. The food controversy can drive you nuts. And switching the food every time you read something will drive you even nuttier Feed your dog what he does well on.
My first OES lived to be almost 15 with no health problems at all. Never at the Vet except for his annual. Stayed lean , was always alert and plain lovable and even achieved his CD obidence title. Wonderful dog. Ate Iams Eukanuba his whole life... |
| Ahhhhhhhh maybe I should start the switch to Iams Eukanuba!! Kidding. I think for now I am going to just leave well enough alone. Yours is the advice I am taking!! |
| I should have added...the Iams Euckanuba I fed was about 20 years ago
Also, just an added note, any time you switch a food, switch it super slowly or it will cause loose poop. And for my dogs, slowly meant v-e-r-y slowly. Like over the course of a ten day period. We feed Orijen adult fresh fish mix....They do well on it. |
| We have a 9 week old Pom who the breeder started on Iams puppy food and it was running through him. Fed him on boiled rice and chicken for 4 days then changed him over to Pedigree Small Bite mixer with some Butcherd canned food, the same as our previous Pom puppy's were brought up on. His poo is now Ok. The moral of this story - Do not believe what Iams say. Their food is too rich for puppy's. |
Sheepies can suddenly get upset tums for no reason. Summer was on Green Dog dry food which is very difficult to get. My local pet shop kept it for me but gave me the impression I was the only person in the world to use it! (know that isnt true!) anyways I then changed her to Barking Heads which is a holistic food, and she has 2 mugs a day over 3 meals. I changed her really carefully over the space of at least 2 weeks,and she is fine. The yorkie on the other hand can eat anything and you can just change her food over.  |
| That is what I was going to say-each pup is an individual and will be different in a litter-what my Sprocket and daughters dog Dougal eat are completly different brands and amount (they are brothers) it was what they ate and didn't cause any problems. They are both growing well-Sprox is taller and larger,Dougal is shorter,wider and was quite skinny untill daughter changed his food to what he is on now and he is thieving. We didn't even try to "score" the foods. You are doing the right thing-stick to what suits.x |
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