Food change

I Love Louie · Mar 28, 2014

I have been feeding Louie wellness puppy food in the yellow bag and he goes 3-4 times a day and it has been very loose (soft serve) as the vet calls it. Well my vet wants me to give him this bland low residue kibble we got from them 3 bags worth. Well we are almost done with bag one and his stools are so much better and he is only going 2 times a day which I think is more normal. Well when we get halfway through bag 3 we are supposed to do a gradual switch to a different brand of puppy food. The 2 other choices the vet wants me to try is either natural balance or royal Canin. Which one is better of those 2 or are either of them even good? I don't want him to continue having loose stools.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

davidh · Mar 28, 2014

Most of the time soft serve poop, means too much food is being fed. You need to back the amount down just a bit and it should stop. Since you are switching food, I would go with the Natural Balance, as Royal Canin isn't a very good food.

KimB3384 · Mar 28, 2014

You can maybe check out the food here: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/?s=natural+balance.

Some of their formulas get better reviews than others.

Alice Kable · Mar 28, 2014

We really like Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient. I have not heard anything good about Royal Canin either!

KimB3384 · Mar 28, 2014

Alice Kable said:
We really like Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient. I have not heard anything good about Royal Canin either!

^^Bisou did really well on their Instinct Raw Boost. It gave her some really smelly gas though. We're talking gas that you could smell in the next room! Had I known then what I know now I'd have just given her some Greek yogurt instead of taking her off of it. That site I posted gives their foods 5 stars, so you should feel good about giving that to Louie.

pbois · Mar 28, 2014

I guess I'll go a little against the grain and say that I have nothing bad to say about Royal Canin. They really throw all their money into research and not into advertising which many other companies tend to do. I'll admit that I really have no great knowledge of their over the counter diets, but I do of their prescription diets and I think you all would be amazed at the amount of research and testing that goes into the foods.

My advice is to be careful of all the fads out there in regard to pet food. We have seen more puppies and younger dogs have elevated kidney and liver enzymes with some of the the more "popular" brands out there right now.

I Love Louie · Mar 28, 2014

Ok I would contemplate natural balance but there are so many it choose from. Does natural balance have a specific puppy formula or which formula do yiy recommend for Louie and his loose stool issues?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I Love Louie · Mar 28, 2014

Also he is only eating 1 cup a day half in the morning and half in the evening. I didn't think that was too much food.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Julie Stevenson · Mar 28, 2014

I Love Louie said:
Also he is only eating 1 cup a day half in the morning and half in the evening. I didn't think that was too much food.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is the right amount of food. I feed the same amount. If you are seeling loose stools its probably something he's not digesting well or you just changed the food recently or too quickly, or there was something bad in the food. Any of those could be the problem. Or maybe he got into something? Trash? You never know these little guys get into everything!

2bullymama · Mar 28, 2014

If you are choosing between those two.... Natrual Balance.

If you want something even better look into

Earthborn
Fromm
Nature's Variety
Merrick's

I Love Louie · Mar 28, 2014

There are just way to many choices!!!! My head is swimming!! Grain free not grain free!!! What is the best brand and formula for loose stool

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

2bullymama · Mar 28, 2014

I Love Louie said:
There are just way to many choices!!!! My head is swimming!! Grain free not grain free!!! What is the best brand and formula for loose stool

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheli does very well on Fromm... I go back and forth between Beef Frittata and Pork and Peas. 1/2 cup 2x a day.
He had a lot of colon/rectum issue as a puppy... but with the Fromm he has not had any additional problems or reoccurance of the previous issue

I Love Louie · Mar 29, 2014

Ok so I have heard grain free food might be too rich and too high in protein and might cause loose stools which we are trying to correct. So if I were to get natural balance what formula would I get for Louie there are too many to choose from. He is almost 10 months does he still need a puppy formula?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I Love Louie · Mar 29, 2014

Or another brand what formula for puppy there are way too many to choose from.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

2bullymama · Mar 29, 2014

I Love Louie said:
Or another brand what formula for puppy there are way too many to choose from.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh Lisa .... [MENTION=1]bullmama[/MENTION]

bullmama · Mar 29, 2014

Since he is 10 months old he can go to an all life stages formula. Fromm four star line IMO is one of the best foods out there.

The best part is once you have switched, you can transition to any of the other four star line without the long slow switch. This gives you the chance to try different proteins.

Since Fromm is made with USA human grade ingredients, you may not need to feed as much. When you start the switch, reduce the amount you feed by just a little bit. This will help the tummy during the transition. I would recommend starting with beef frittata , or look for one that has similar ingredients to what you are currently feeding.

Good luck and let us know how it goes with what you decide to try.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk