Soft serve poop from food change?

[sdb421]

We are trying to switch our 12.5 week old from Iams LB Puppy to Fromm LB Puppy Gold. Today was the first day and I mixed 1/4 Fromm with 3/4 Iams and poop frequency is normal, but it's soft serve texture. Is this normal for a food change, even a slow one? At what point to I abandon the food switch?

[Murphy's Mommy]

It's very normal for my lab. Murphy has a very sensitive stomach and we routinely transition his food because he becomes bored easily with the same kibble. Eventually his poop goes back to normal after we gradually start adding more of the new food. You're doing the transition correctly: gradually. On a side note, most labs on this board do really well with Fromm but Murphy didn't do well on it (diarrhea). Not all dogs can tolerate every brand of food. Still, give it at least a week to ten days to see "real" results with the food change.

[SCDoug]

Were you having a problem with old food? It's not a bad thing to move off of the Iams, but the pup may be a little young to make a change if that what he/she has been on.

Are you following the transition schedule that Fromm recommends? You may also want to try adding some organic pumpkin to firm up the dogs poops during the transition.

[Polly Pipkin]

You could try a little less of the Fromm's to make the transition even more slowly. I have to transition slowly with Polly - some pups just have more sensitive stomachs than others.

[SCDoug]

Due to allergies, we've cycled through a bunch of foods. The scariest transition was when we went cold turkey from Fromms to Canine Caviar (that's what Canine Caviar recommends). Lola had great stools the next day, but we were holding our breath all night.

[sdb421]

Thanks everyone. We are wrapping up day two and we've had more liquid like poops today. Otherwise, he seems to be feeling fine. I backed off to closer to 10% Fromm and 90% Iams today, should I continue giving it or go back to 100% Iams for a while? I want to get off of the Iams and onto a better quality food, but this liquid nonsense makes me a bit nervous. Thankfully, he's holding it fine and not going in the house, just normal poop times outside, but very soft and liquidy. Any advice?

[Maxx&Emma]

I would stick with the Iams for a while longer. It is not a food I am a fan of but I would not switch a puppy this early either. Especially right before or during teething time. JMHO.

[SCDoug]

I would stick with the Iams for a while longer. It is not a food I am a fan of but I would not switch a puppy this early either. Especially right before or during teething time. JMHO.

I agree with this. As an interim step, you might want to try some boiled chicken, rice, and maybe a little pumpkin. Measure the chicken and rice out to approximate the dry measurement that you're feeding your pup (probably something like 1 cup three times a day). This basic diet should firm things up. Them reintroduce the Iams. Fromm's is excellent, but it's not for every dog, or it may too early to switch.

Best of luck. We ran in to a bunch of food issues with Lola early on. The food that we brought her home on started to cause problems, and we were grasping at straws. The chicken and rice and pumpkin almost always got us back to a steady state and consistent stools.

One other thing. If you're committed to changing food, you might want to look at the Pro Plan Puppy. Labs seem to thrive on it. Lola did great on it and Lab pups seem to do very well on it.

[sdb421]

Thanks everyone. I was getting ready to abandon the food change but decided to stick it out one more day and add some pumpkin and today we have perfect stools. I guess maybe will stick with the pumpkin for a bit and see if he can adjust while continuing a slow change.

[ZRabbits]

Glad to hear the pumpkin is doing its' job and pup has perfect stools.

KAZ