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  1. #1
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    How long does it take to see a change after switching food?

    Hello all! For anyone who has seen my past posts, Bubba has had giardia the entire time we've had him. He finally got a clean fecal back at just over 4 months old! Unfortunately he is still having giardia-like symptoms. Our vet has suggested going with either a food change or another round of panacur & Metronidazole. I think I plan to do both, starting with the medicine because I just feel sooo bad for Bubba (and also bad for me dealing with all the liquid poop haha).

    My question is how large of bags to get of other dog food when starting the transition. I don't want to get a full-size bag in case it doesn't go well and I need to go in another direction, but I want to get enough that it's a true test.

    Any advice for how long it takes on a new food to see a difference?

    Thank you!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    What are you currently feeding, and did your vet give you any suggestions for what to feed? Is he/she saying it might be a food intolerance causing the liquid poop? Did you have a particular food in mind? Part of the problem with switching foods is that if he's also getting the Metro and Panacur AND you switch food at the same time and things clear up, you won't know what helped, the meds or the food, and you may end up thinking he has a food sensitivity that doesn't exist.

    Aside from that, if you go for the switch, I'd probably start with the smallest bag and see how things go. I went through 3 rounds of diarrhea and meds on my younger pup when she came home. Things started out firm though, so when the diarrhea started 2 weeks later, I did the meds and did not switch food even though by the 3rd round the vet said I should switch from a chicken to a fish based food. Repeated tests did not show giardia, the vet said she had probably had colitis. Why? Who knows.

    Good luck, I know it's frustrating trying to find the right combo to clear things up.

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    You're asking excellent questions! Which I will probably go back to the vet with

    I'm feeding Diamond Naturals Chicken & Rice right now, which he was on with his breeder. The vet didn't give any suggestions for food, I was going to go with Fromms or Pro Plan.

    I'm not exactly sure what the vet was suggesting in terms of cause whether she thought it was a food intolerance or whatever. The only time he has had solid poop was when he was on the metronidazole. But then afterwards, he went back to diarrhea. Though he also still was having fecal results showing giardia.

    Sounds like you would suggest trying the medicine and then waiting on the food switch?

  5. #4
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    unless the dog has a really bad reaction, it could take at least two big bags. i have heard as much as 2-6 months to "detox" the old food and see impact of new food.

  6. #5
    Senior Dog ZoeysMommy's Avatar
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    Personally I would not change the food, that may cause you and him even more grief. I would do another round of the medicine and go from there

  7. #6
    House Broken
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tanya View Post
    unless the dog has a really bad reaction, it could take at least two big bags. i have heard as much as 2-6 months to "detox" the old food and see impact of new food.
    I have no idea but that seems incredibly excessive since digestion only takes 12-36 hours.

  8. #7
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    I agree, hold off on any food switch and do another round of meds. The only thing I would add at this point is a good probiotic. I have heard several members here say that it took multiple rounds of meds to clear up giardia, unfortunately.
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  9. #8
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fan of fanboys View Post
    I have no idea but that seems incredibly excessive since digestion only takes 12-36 hours.
    Tanya is correct. I recently read an extensive study on food intolerance and it did say to give 2-3 months to get a conclusive result.
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  10. #9
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fan of fanboys View Post
    I have no idea but that seems incredibly excessive since digestion only takes 12-36 hours.
    to see impact on skin/fur and all that yeah. it depends what you are looking to "see". if you want to know if the dog will eat/tolerate then yes faster. if your dog has allergies/intolerances it takes long to see long term impact of the food as they have to "detox" from the allergen and then built up the new food.

    also possibly my information is outdated. i'm no pro.

  11. #10
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maxx&Emma View Post
    I agree, hold off on any food switch and do another round of meds. The only thing I would add at this point is a good probiotic. I have heard several members here say that it took multiple rounds of meds to clear up giardia, unfortunately.
    With the 3rd round of antibiotics for my little one, I added a probiotic as well. The vet didn't suggest it but when I said I had purchased one, she said it sounded like a good idea. I used FortiFlora and got it on Amazon, but there are others that folks on here like also. I just used it until the box ran out (30 daily doses) and then did not give them again.

 



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