Switched from wellness to fromm. how long does it take?

[Anna]

Well - so after having a lot of dirrahea with the Wellness puppy.  I switched Buck to Fromm puppy gold.  the very first thing I noticed was his feeding behavior.  When other owners talk about how their pups inhale their food and beg for more.  I've never seen this behavior with Buck.  He usually don't show much enthusiasm for food.  He would eat a few bites and then go play or lay down or chew on a toy.  then he would go back for a couple more bites.  But as soon as I swtiched over to Fromm - he INHALED the food and kept going back to the bag and giving me his pitiful look.

(so for the first few days,  he would scarf his food down... but since yesterday,, he seems not as excited about it)

 

Well - so it's been a week so far and his poop is very similiar to what he had with wellness.  Its odd - I can't really understand it.   Usually his first bowel movement is pretty firm.   Then he usually has another one a minute later - and that one is really soft, gooey mess.

So with fromm - he seems to be continuing with this weird poop method.

 

And his farts !!!    he had bad gas with Wellness - but its TERRIBLE now.  I literally can't stand to be in the same room.

 

And he seems to be itchy,  he's scratching himself a lot more.

 

We don't give him any treats bc he seems to have a sensitive stomach so i haven't figured out what he can safely eat yet (we only give zuke mini chicken treats - for when he goes potty)

 

So my question is

Is his poop thing - weird?  why is it firm and then its liquidy?

And also - how long do I wait - to see if Fromm is better for him?

Do you think the farts and the itching is bad (or is that part of the transition?)

  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep. The more that goes in, the more comes out, and the longer the stool stays in the colon, as F said, the more water is absorbed and the firmer it is. Rapid transit time=looser stools.

[9pavxfihcp80]

My middle dood, Cooper, used to have the same problem poop-wise. We switched to Fromm Four-Star (an all life stages food) and he's like a new dog! All three love the pork and applesauce. We tried the chicken a-la-veg and it gave our youngest HORRIBLE gas, so they get the pork and applesauce and we also mix in Taste of the Wild Prairie, which they LOVE. The TOTW is a very high quality, grain free food and not terribly expensive-- which is good when we're feeding three dogs! They each get two cups in the morning and one in the evening. They weigh 65, 78, and 82 pounds.

[Anna]

did you ever feed them the fromm puppy gold before the fromm four star?

Are they also grain-free.

 

do you think - your pups are doing well on the fromm and TOTW - b/c it is a grain-free food?

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Since Jen's dog gets grains in his diet anyway, the fact that the TOTW is grain-free wouldn't make a difference, because there is grain in the diet. But having less grain as a whole might make a difference.

Every dog is different. What works for one person may not work for you. My Jack does phenomenally well on Orijen, the smallest, firmest poops ever. But other people's dogs have just not done well with it. Some do better with grain, some do better without it, or with less of it. Even the fat content of a food can make a difference. And the age makes a big difference. As some of the others have said, it can take months for their digestive sytems to adjust, especially if they came from the breeders on crappy food.

[9pavxfihcp80]

Sorry to have taken so long to reply to this... for some reason, I'm not getting emails when someone replies to my posts.

 

We never did feed them Fromm puppy gold... just went straight to the Four Star. We chose it because it was very highly rated on dogfoodanalysis.com and because it is manufactured here in Wisconsin where we live. They recently raised their prices, which is why we tried mixing the TOTW in. It's even higher-rated than Four Star, quite a bit cheaper, and grain free. We just know how well they've done on the Four Star and hate to give it up completely but with three dogs, we have to watch our spending. It's going beautifully so far and we've been feeding the 1/2 and 1/2 mixture for about a month. At least with Cooper, I do believe the grain free makes a big difference. Our oldest, Calli, seems to do well on everything, and Lexi's stools are definitely firmer now than when we first got her and were giving her Canidae.

 

We have a very good relationship with our vet, and she's amazed at how beautiful and healthy their coats and skin is.

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

thank you for your post.. Lilly is on Canidae at 11wks..I will watch her and see about switching to Four Star.

[Anna]

Karen

 

thanks karen - i'll definetly cut the food down. 

Do you also think - that this could be a grain issue too?

i think it would also be ironic - b/c I'm on a gluten-free diet.

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's possible, but probably not. I'd wait awhile before making any other changes. Give it a chance.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Anna, I had my older dog, Fudge, on Fromm (the Four Star Line) when we brought our puppy, Vern, home. I started him on the same food as Fudge. I never fed him the Puppy Gold, but went straight to the 4 Star Line. My dogs have firm poops and no gas and I switch the formulas from the Chicken Ala Veg to the Pork to the Duck one and no problems. Good luck!

[Anna]

So it's not a big deal to have puppies eat food-specifically made for a puppy?

 

karen - what is the difference between puppy food and adult food.  Does the puppy food have a little more nutrition for a growing dog?

 

if there is no difference - then maybe my next bag - can be the fromm 4 four star line

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Lots of puppies eat ALS (all life stages) formulas. They do not have to eat food made specifically for puppies. You just have to make sure you follow the feeding guidelines for puppies and not for adult dogs.

If you compare an adult formula and a puppy formula within the same line of foods- i.e. Fromm Puppy Gold VS Fromm Adult Gold - you will find some very small differences in nutrients. But an ALS formula is designed to meet the nutritional requirements of all dogs. Actually, the others would probably be fine for all dogs, too. There are small nutritional differences between all dog food formulas; some have more protein, some have more Omega 3, etc. There are no standard puppy formulas, adult formulas, or any other formula that is the same across the board. Even if you compared one manufacturer's puppy formula with another company's puppy formula, you would find differences. That's what makes this all so confusing and why we started this group to help sort it all out.