Do you change up your pet's food?

SDN Members don't see this ad. (About Ads)

This is asking for medical advice... just curious about what people thinks works best with their pets (or patients). Dogs? Cats? Horses? Rabbits? Do you think it is good idea because it makes them less picky and maybe changes the nutrient profile? Or do you think it's a bad idea because consistency is key? Does your opinion change depending on the individual or the breed? (ignoring allergy dogs & similar)

Horses: I was always taught that you want to keep their diet as consistent as possible. I fed my mare the same pellets and the same hay all the time. Never considered changing what worked for her.

Dogs & Cats: I've heard different things, but mainly people seem to be in favor of switching up the diet b/c it makes them less picky. So, if you need the dog on a prescription diet or a senior food the transition is easy.

Small critters: I feed my rabbit the same pellets & hay, but I make an effort to mix up his veggies. That's what Google told me to do . Seriously, though, veggies have such different nutrient contents that I wouldn't consider just feeding him kale every night.

I keep mine the same, but am thinking about changing it. Does anyone know if Hill's changed up Science Diet? My dogs have literally tripled their poos in the last month and seem constantly hungry all of a sudden. Nothing has changed, not exercise, nothing.... I may be changing it up based on that.
As far as animals being picky, my dog turns her nose up at food every once in a while and if she doesn't eat it, it gets taken away until the next day. She learns to eat when I put it down or she goes hungry. After a day of that, she won't act snotty for a few months. My parents did the same thing to me

Originally Posted by Emiloo4

My parents did the same thing to me

This is why our generation is far better than the younger generations. Parents these days wouldn't DARE do something that barbaric.

Or spankings. Eff those. Time outs are the newest trend.

In keeping with this thread: I've been buying kennel packs (brown paper, not fancy resale bags) form the clinic I work for.

All three of my dogs eat it very well. Before that they all had bouts of diarrhea fairly often. So I have found what they do well on, and don't hope to change any time soon.

Originally Posted by Emiloo4

I keep mine the same, but am thinking about changing it. Does anyone know if Hill's changed up Science Diet? My dogs have literally tripled their poos in the last month and seem constantly hungry all of a sudden. Nothing has changed, not exercise, nothing.... I may be changing it up based on that.
As far as animals being picky, my dog turns her nose up at food every once in a while and if she doesn't eat it, it gets taken away until the next day. She learns to eat when I put it down or she goes hungry. After a day of that, she won't act snotty for a few months. My parents did the same thing to me

Pretty sure they changed their formula about 1 year ago.

Originally Posted by dyachei

Pretty sure they changed their formula about 1 year ago.

Yeah, I remember that change. The same time they made the packs smaller . I just thought it was weird that all of a sudden they are pooing constantly! I mean both of them, at least 5-6 times a day! And they're 70 lbs each, so lots of poo .

Originally Posted by abbercadaver

This is why our generation is far better than the younger generations. Parents these days wouldn't DARE do something that barbaric.

My best friend is a teacher. One of the mom's didn't send her kid to school with a lunch because he wouldn't stop playing video games and help her make it, so she said "no lunch for you"! Long story short, the school gave the kid a cafeteria lunch and charged the mom. She was mad because she was trying to teach him a lesson and thought the school interfered and refused to pay for the lunch

Sorry to .....

Anyway, I find that my dog is very picky and has a sensitive stomach to many foods, so I say, if it ain't broke don't fix it!

Horses I keep the grain (if any) consistent, but always change up the hay or mix hay from different loads. Keeps them interested, supposedly helps balance out excesses and deficiences in vits/mins, and really helps if you have a horse that would otherwise be picky and you run out of his favorite hay! Dont have to worry about them turning up their nose at "new" stuff because everything is "new". I don't even wean them on to new hay, just toss an armful of whatever bales happen to be closest. Never had an issue doing in that way, but none of my horses have been particularly sensitive or colic prone =knocks wood= If I had been using the same hay for a long period of time, I would definitely wean them onto a new hay more slowly.
Of course this method depends on a lot on your storage space! If you can store a ton or two at a time, easier to buy a load in bulk. If you can only store a dozen bales or so, easier to get a diifferent batch each time.

Dogs stay the same until there's a problem (too much poop, too fat, too much energy, always starving, etc). I do mix in various yogurt/pumpkin/veggies/fruits etc. with their meal as well. Either mixed frozen veggies or whatever was going to be a part of my dinner.

I think the reason some people avoid switching a lot for dogs is that if an allergy develops and you need to try a novel protein source, your choices can be more limited if you've already tried every fancy buffalo/kangaroo/duck/fish diet out there.

The one cat I've ever had the, er, pleasure, of feeding was on an all canned food diet. Same brand, but different flavors.

With my rabbits I feed the same pellets but that's because there is really only one commercial brand that I like. I switch up their hay source and veggies a lot but that is mostly a matter of convenience... plus as SnowyRox said there's not a ton of rabbit diet research out there for pet rabbits so I don't want them to end up with a chronic deficiency of something.

With dogs I usually just feed what works and stick to it. From having an allergy dog I would say don't feed every single protein source willy nilly. If your dog does become food allergic it is much easier to diagnose and treat if you have a few protein sources your dog has never had even in treats (lamb, fish, whatever). I was my dog's 6th owner so I had no idea what proteins he had been fed over his life, which made his food trial more difficult and expensive.

We change flavors on a pretty regular basis for the cats, but it's always the same brand and line of food.

We would switch flavors for the dogs, but one of them won't eat regularly if she doesn't get chicken flavor. Silly dog...

On the side note, I second letting your kid starve for a meal. I'm a picky eater and I still managed to learn how to eat what was put on my plate.

If an animal's doing great on their food i see no reason to switch it. Funnily enough, two of my senior dogs have been come-and-go anorexic for the past few months (all bloodwork normal) and have poor appetites. My dad called to tell me he decided to try a different dry dog food and they miraculously are eating like pigs again. Maybe they just got bored or something but a switch made a difference in their case.

I keep my rabbit on the same pellets but that's more of a me preference than any decisions on his part.

He'll occasionally turn his nose up at it and pick at his veggies instead, so I'll switch him to Bonanza or something for a while and he seems fine with that.

One of his babies does the same thing, so I don't really know where that gene came from but apparently it gets passed on. ;p

My dog would love it if he could have other foods on occasion, but because he gets "Boxer gas", I keep him on what's easiest for his stomach and my nose.

Originally Posted by RadRadTerp

My dog would love it if he could have other foods on occasion, but because he gets "Boxer gas", I keep him on what's easiest for his stomach and my nose.

I don't know if there is anything worse than Boxer gas. Phew!

My cat gets science diet dry and eats it just fine. That's easy enough for me. When she is on wet I switch up the flavors. She doesn't like treats at all so sometimes I use wet for that.

Originally Posted by fromthebox

I don't know if there is anything worse than Boxer gas. Phew!
.

Definitely not. I've had 7 of them

The horse I try to keep very, very consistent. She would eat anything presented to her, so pickiness is not a problem, but horses thrive on routine and consistency, so I don't mess with what works. Hay changes with cut/load/source, obviously, but not quickly or often.

The cats... they get whatever. I always forget which flavor to order from Purina for them, so over the past few months they've had them all. They would probably eat cardboard if I put it in their bowls.

My min-pin is on a prescription diet, so obviously no changing there, but I probably wouldn't change it if he was on regular food.

And my lab will have nasty diarrhea if I change her food (she eats Science Diet Light, and if she accidentally gets fed the Science Diet Sensitive Stomach at the kennel when she boards she has diarrhea - but not if only gets the light).

Only thing I change up is the flavor of the canned cat food - but keep with the same brand (Science Diet).

Currently trying new flavors of cat food on my cat. I feel she needs a change. She appears to like trying new flavors

Sent from my PC36100 using SDN Mobile

My dog gets the same kibble every day, but I change up the canned portion (she eats 1/2 canned, 1/2 dry) pretty frequently (as in, I buy like 7 cans a week, all different brands/varieties), though I always stick with the same common protein sources (poultry, beef) for the reasons others have stated.

The cats get the same kibble twice a day. They also scrounge the kitchen for scraps of lunch meat when I make sandwiches.

Originally Posted by fromthebox

I don't know if there is anything worse than Boxer gas. Phew!

Absolutely not! Especially the ones you can almost taste or when you're in the car. Our dog Harley has cleared out many rooms with a simple puff of air! We kind of gotten used to them.

For simplicity sake, I try to find something and stick with it. The cats in my house are on two different foods (a prescription urinary diet for 2 of them, and Purina One for the others). I tried switching flavors of the Purina One on them at one point, and the youngest quit eating entirely. She is a total weirdo about most things, and apparently her food is another one of those.

My dog has switched foods a few times. He was on a LB puppy when I first got him, then up to a LB adult. When he was ~6, we switched him to the LB senior food my older dog was eating for our own convenience. He did fine on it, but after we put her down this spring, I switched him back onto a LB adult. He is 8, so the company seems to think he should be on senior, but he seems to actually have better energy, coat, and weight on the LB adult.

My cat gets the same food, same flavor every meal. I must be a mean mommy. I will occasionally give her some canned food to change the consistency and those will be different flavors. But she always gets Blue Buffalo. She really likes it and for some reason she seems to like the other cat's senior version better than her adult version.

Originally Posted by DVMDream

seems to like the other cat's senior version better than her adult version.

Is the senior food higher fat? Fat = yummy

Originally Posted by cowgirla

Is the senior food higher fat? Fat = yummy

I honestly don't know. I feed them separately and the older cat tends to leave a few kibbles left over so the younger one (my cat) will run in after her and eat what is left. I usually try to kick her out when she does it..

Originally Posted by DVMDream

My cat gets the same food, same flavor every meal. I must be a mean mommy. I will occasionally give her some canned food to change the consistency and those will be different flavors. But she always gets Blue Buffalo. She really likes it and for some reason she seems to like the other cat's senior version better than her adult version.

My cat can't eat dried food. She gains weight like crazy. She used to be 16 pounds ( I KNOW!) and taking her off of dry food and switching to a canned food diet she now weighs 9 pounds. Makes me a little scared to switch her back over.

Originally Posted by cowgirla

Is the senior food higher fat? Fat = yummy

Usually senior diets are lower in fat and protein but higher in fiber. I do know that they try to formulate them to be highly palatable though because it can be hard to get the old guys to eat.

Originally Posted by DVMDream

My cat gets the same food, same flavor every meal. I must be a mean mommy. I will occasionally give her some canned food to change the consistency and those will be different flavors. But she always gets Blue Buffalo. She really likes it and for some reason she seems to like the other cat's senior version better than her adult version.

When I find a food that my pets like and work for their dietary needs I almost always stick with it with "treats" occasionally. Plus, even if you switch slowly, they can get GI upset. I do not want to deal with diarrhea lol.

My cats who are on prescription diets stay on their prescription diets. I've already learned how much it costs when they go off it...

However my cats who are not on prescription diets get a mix of t/d ('cause I know how much dentals cost too, and it's way more than a bag of t/d every few months!) and whatever my hospital donates to me (returned bags, torn bags, etc.) They are not picky at all, and haven't shown any food sensitivities, thankfully.

My rats get both premium lab blocks and kitchen scraps (apple cores, corn cobs, carrot butts, etc.) I have to watch what I feed them fairly strictly, though, because one of them needs assistance in maintaining her girlish figure.

The vermicomposting worms eat anything and everything, from coffee grounds to cantaloupe to cardboard. So far no complaints about GI upset.

Originally Posted by Psorophoraferox

My rats get both premium lab blocks and kitchen scraps (apple cores, corn cobs, carrot butts, etc.) I have to watch what I feed them fairly strictly, though, because one of them needs assistance in maintaining her girlish figure.

The vermicomposting worms eat anything and everything, from coffee grounds to cantaloupe to cardboard. So far no complaints about GI upset.

This thread just went to a whole new level

Originally Posted by Emiloo4

This thread just went to a whole new level

I thought something along those lines too.

Sent from my SPH-M910 using SDN Mobile

I wonder if raising composting worms counts as "animal experience"?

- Worms ate my garbage, 1000 hours

Originally Posted by Psorophoraferox

I wonder if raising composting worms counts as "animal experience"?

- Worms ate my garbage, 1000 hours

My cat only eats one flavor of one brand of food. So no i don't change her diet.

one of my dogs has IBD and is on special diet (HA) so I don't change his diet.

one of my dogs needs extra fiber or she has anal leakage so I don't change her diet.

So, I guess that is a big fat NO to change.

Originally Posted by StartingoverVet

I need extra fiber or I have anal leakage so I don't change my diet.

So, I guess that is a big fat NO to change.

^ What he meant to say

Originally Posted by cowgirla

^ What he meant to say

I've missed you cowgirla! You been so busy studying this year you haven't had enough time to tease me?

Originally Posted by StartingoverVet

I've missed you cowgirla! You been so busy studying this year you haven't had enough time to tease me?

someone else usually beats me to it!

Ok so my dogs are now pooping outside, coming in and pooping inside 15 minutes later. Something they have NEVER done before... So food may be changing soon. :-/

Originally Posted by cowgirla

^ What he meant to say

Bahahah I'm so glad I browsed this thread just for this post. Brilliant.