13 Feb Changing Dog Food (Part 2)

In the first part, we explained about changing the dogs’ diet. We said that dogs may change their diet for a variety of reasons, including age, weight, activity, health, and illness. You can change your dog’s food when you sterilized him, if he is malnourished, or when he eats one type of food for a week. This change should take between 7 and 10 days, which we described in detail in the previous section. In this part, we will discuss the negative food reactions in the skin or gastrointestinal tract and other important points of changing dog food.

Negative dogs food reactions

A negative food reaction is a general term used for a variety of food-related problems such as intolerance to a particular food, various gastrointestinal diseases or dog food allergies. Adverse food reactions can include gastrointestinal or skin symptoms, or both.

Gastrointestinal symptoms

• ‌Nausea
• Vomit
• Diarrhea
• Change in appetite

Skin symptoms

• Itching of the dog’s body
• Skin inflammation
• Shedding
• Different types of hives and pimples and skin rashes

Elimination diet method

Of course, many other diseases can cause the same symptoms, so if your dog has such symptoms, he should be examined by a veterinarian. If your veterinarian suspects a negative food reaction, he or she will probably recommend giving your dog only a special anti-allergy diet for at least eight weeks. If the dog’s symptoms recover, it turns out that the problem was due to the food he ate. Then, he introduces the previous foods into the dog’s diet to see which ones cause the problem so that you don’t give those foods to him anymore. The name of this method is the elimination diet method that you can follow with the advice of a veterinarian.

Pay attention to dog feces

The best way to diagnose a dog’s digestive problems is to always pay attention to the quality of his feces. Minor changes in the colour and consistency (ie, loose or hard) of the stool are normal, but any major change can indicate a problem. Hard stools may be a sign of dehydration or constipation, and looser than normal stools indicate that the dog’s digestive system may have a problem for any reason. If it’s a long time since the consistency of your dog’s feces is abnormal, it’s better to consult a veterinarian.

Quick change of dog food without side effects

Sometimes you may not get the previous food or you may have to change the dog’s food all at once due to unexpected issues. In these cases, you should try to look for a food that has the same ingredients, type of protein and amount of fibre and fat as the previous food. If you need a sudden change of diet, the new food should have the same ingredients as the previous dog food

Choosing the right dog food

Choosing the right diet for your dog is a complex task because there isn’t any specific diet that’s ideal for all dogs. Dogs have different physical conditions, and their choice of food depends on factors such as age, breed, health or disease, and their taste. It’s better to consult a specialist or veterinarian about this. So look for foods that are labelled “complete and balanced diet.”

As the dog gets older, we need to change his diet. Sometimes there may be other issues that we need to change our dog’s food. Changing dog food is a sensitive issue and if not done properly can cause problems for him. You need to do changing little by little. At the same time be sure to pay attention to your dog’s appetite and behaviour or quality of his stool so that you can quickly find out if the new diet is right for him or not. In this case, the best thing is to get the right information from the veterinarian, and if there is a particular problem, consult with him as soon as possible. To have a healthy and lively dog, you need to pay attention to nutrition, activity, health, grooming and much more. You can prevent the disease and have a healthy dog in this case. In all these steps, you can count on the specialized team of MishkaGrooming. Our experienced and precise groomers have groomed your dogs carefully and accurately so that they count the moments for the next session.