Transitioning from 3 Meals to 2 - Upset Tummy

[Jaime + Oliver]

I posted this over on the puppy forum yesterday but wanted to check in here too.

On our recent vet visit we were told to start transitioning Oliver to 2 meals a day.  He's 11wks old now.  We started to increased his breakfast yesterday and dealt with "back-end" potty issues all day.  The vet said to watch and wait for 24hrs.  It seems like the recommendation to start the transition now was too much too early for Oliver's little system.

When did everyone start to make the switch to 2 meals?  How gradually did you do it?  Anyone experience issues from overeating as you increase the meal portions?

[Gail & Bogey]

My puppy must be weird, I feed him a small bowl of wet food and small bowl of dry each morning. He usually doesn't touch the dry. I leave it out all day and he finally eats it about 4:00. I feed him his dinner around 5:00, another small bowl of wet and dry, again eats the wet and may or may not eat the dry before bed. If he hasn't eaten it by 8:00 I pick it up to avoid middle of the night potty. Since he's not a chowhound I've just let him set his own eating schedule. Seems to work since he's 7 mo. And right on target for weight and growth. I would eventually like to get him off the puppy wet food so am gradually giving him less. Anyone see a problem with leaving dry food out all day if they don't gobble it? He gets the same amount each day, approx. 1/2 C of wet puppy and 1 C dry puppy total for the day. He's a miniature golden doodle about 20 lbs.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I see no problem at all with leaving dry food down if it's not a problem for you. I did that with Luca but now I can't since Calla would eat all his food. And any dog just about would eat wet over dry so keep weaning him off it. He won't starve.

[Jaime + Oliver]

Unfortunately little Oliver continues to suffer from belly issues so it wasn't the increased portions causing his problems.  We were at the vet again today to make sure it wasn't any of the horrible viruses out there that impacts puppies - luckily he tested negative.  We went home with some prescription food and pills to try over the next week.

Oliver currently eats Taste of the Wild puppy formula.  The food transition happened very slowly over the past 3.5 weeks he's been at home with us.  Any other puppy parents experience such sensitive tummy issues?  I know he's still building up his digestive system, but I just feel so bad for him!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Has your vet run a fecal test to check for giardia? 

I would not give him the Rx food, we have a lot of info here about Rx food, which is basically very expensive garbage with no therapeutic or medicinal ingredients at all. 

Stomach issues and parasites in very young puppies are very common, which is one reason we recommend not changing the food for at least two weeks after they come home. :(

[Jaime + Oliver]

He did have two fecal tests done and everything came back negative.  Right now that narrows it down to something he's eating.  The only food he's been eating is Taste of the Wild.  After your comment I took a look at the RX food (Hills) content and am shocked the vet would "prescribe" something with all of those fillers!

Unfortunately Oliver doesn't seem to be doing well on Taste of the Wild, so we'll have to look at Orijen as an alternative option and hope he'll do a little better on that.  We're just trying to be careful about a lot of food changes and making anything worse than it currently is.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Vets receive little to no nutritional education in veterinary school, and what information they do get is supplied by Hill's and Purina. :(

What kinds of treats/chews is Oliver getting? 

Keep in mind that you have to look at the specific formula and not the brand when determining whether a particular food works for your dog or not. It isn't TOTW the brand that he isn't doing well on, it's the particular formula of TOTW. It may be the macronutrient balance, it may be the specific proteins, it may be the fat or fiber amounts, but it's often not necessary to switch to a completely different brand, you can often stay with the brand and just switch lines or formulas within that brand. 

That said, Orijen is a much better company. But if there is an underlying GI issue, no kibble is going to fix that.