My Custom Diet

Rover on rotation: Safely transitioning your pet off of one food and onto another

 

 

As more and more pet lovers learn about the many health benefits of a grain-free, customized diet for dogs and cats, they are switching brands in droves. If you’re ready to switch your beloved animal companion to a better-quality diet, congratulations! Your pet is now on the road to better health. But before you pour your dog’s brand-new kibble into his bowl, here are a few tips on making the transition easier for Spot – and you.

 

Don’t think you can just toss out Spot’s old food and replace it with the new kind. Pets are the ultimate creatures of habit, and once their digestive systems have grown accustomed to a certain food formula, they need 10 days to slowly make the switch. If you change foods too quickly, you could encounter digestive resistance. And nobody wants that – neither your pet, whose stomach will feel the resultant discomfort, nor you, the one stuck with cleanup duty.

 

So, start by reducing your pet’s old kibble portion by one quarter, and make up the difference with the new kibble, so the ratio is 25 percent new food to 75 percent old food. Do this for four days. Then mix a half portion (50 percent) of new food with half of the other food for three days. It’s now been a week that your dog has been eating the new food, so it’s time to enter the final culinary stretch.

 

On day 8, reverse the equation of the first four days, mixing a three-quarter (75 percent) serving of new kibble with a scant one-quarter (25 percent) serving of the previous brand. Do this for three days, which will bring you to day 10 before you know it. Now, go ahead and serve Spot a bowl full of 100 percent new food, confident that you’ve made a major improvement to your dog’s quality of life – without the setback of digestive upset. Now and going forward, you’ll really start to notice the benefits of switching – and you’ll be so glad you did, because your pet will enjoy a longer, happier life.

 

If your new kibble is supplemented with probiotics and the digestive enzyme protease, you’re in luck – the transition process will go super-smoothly because your pet will be getting continuous digestive support from these ingredients. You can also help ease the transition by customizing your transitioning kibble mixture with digestive enzymes and probiotics (specifically, acidophilus) or a loving spoonful of yogurt.

 

Now, let’s say you and Spot are happy with the new food brand you’ve just switched to, but the range includes a different flavor you might like to try at some later date. Or, it’s been a few years, your pet is getting older, and you’d like to try a formula designed for, say, healthy joint support to help Spot stay limber in his senior years. Follow the same transitioning schedule described above for a simple way to help your best friend get the most nutrition out of his favorite food.

Rescue Savannah Monitor Eating

Related Posts:

• Choose to Lose: A Food Lover’s Guide to Permanent Weight Loss
• Free Juicer Recipes * Raw Food Diet * Apple Lemon Celery Lettuce ;-)
• Q&A: Another Blue Tongue Skink, Tegu or Uromastyx?
• Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet (California Studies in Food and Culture)
• Potato Alert! Creeping Weight Gain Tied To Type Of Food
• Is it Just Another Diet Book? – The Diet Solution Program
• Should Food Stamp Purchases Require Purchase Of Approved, Good Dietary Food Only?
• Diet Food Delivery: Compare Costs and Choose Your Service
• Change One: The Breakthrough 12-Week Eating Plan: Lose Weight Simply, Safely & Forever
• Diet Delivery Food – 5 Important Tips for Selection