Food transistion underway!

[LILYLARUE]

I have to add in that since being on Earthborn, the gas in my house is pretty bad too. On TOTW, only Buster had gas, and never to this offensive level. Now, all four are farting every other minute! It was so bad last night, all 3 in the bed with me, I woke up from this awful smell!!! I am now adding a probiotic every morning, but to no relief. Sigh.....gas mask anyone?!

 

[Cami]

Down to about 1/3 cup of the Acana and the rest is Earthborn for both meals. Gas seems to be subsiding. I can still hear her on occasion but smell seems to be minimal (if at all).
Stools are still not perfect but manageable. If the gas stays away I think we will just stay on the Earthborn Coastal Catch for a while. I have noticed that she goes #2 a bit more often now. She has never really had any rhyme or reason (timing-wise) to going #2 which is odd for me. I am used to Cami going like clockwork. With Raine I have no idea she has to go until I see the poop-walk!
This might also be related to her ADD. She can be mid-poo (or pee) and something gets her attention and she stops only to have to finish at a later time.
I think the Earthborn calls for less food daily than any of the foods she has been on up to this point so once the complete transition has been finished I need to make sure she isn't being fed too much. I do know the Earthborn contains 10 calories more per cup but that shouldn't be that big of a deal.
Been a long couple of months! And for the record, despite DH's stance on her breath having a fishy smell.....he was wrong. She doesn't really have any odor to her breath at all.

 

[Cami]

UPDATE

We are on our second bag of Earthborn Coastal Catch. 1 & 1/4 cups twice per day. Raine is 50-ish pounds (haven't weighed her in a while but that seems about right).
FINALLY.....her stool is better. Probably the best and most consistent since bringing her home at nearly 9 weeks of age. She turned 2 July 1st. For sure the best it has been since I started the transition (and various foods) months ago. This has been a LONG process. Even during the first bag of this food only I was still wondering if it would work.
Ran out of yogurt a couple of weeks ago which she has always eaten after dinner (about a tablespoon) and kept forgetting to get some more. That is when I started to notice her stool was firming up. I do not know if the yogurt contributed to the issues or if was just a coincidence with finally being on one food for a longer stretch of time and getting the feeding amount correct. At this point I don't want to add the yogurt back into the mix for fear it was adding to the problem. She has been given ricotta cheese in the interim, although not as frequent as the yogurt with no issues. I don't suspect she has a problem with dairy so much as she has a problem with how much DH gives her. I give the ricotta at various times and not with meals so I can control how much she gets.

Obnoxious gas is no longer an issue either. That is a huge plus.
I'm sure she feels better and I know my house is a more pleasant place to be. She still has gas on occasion but not easily noticeable as it should be!

Had an occurrence of vomiting white foam yesterday morning before breakfast but nothing to be concerned about. She ate normally right after. Don't know what that was about. She had her normal two biscuits before bedtime and two as soon as she woke up. Just a fluke I suppose.

Been eating the heck out of the garden tomatoes, zucchini and lettuce (we give her). She loves her veggies.

She seems a bit thinner to me so I might consider adding another 1/4 cup or so as treats in the afternoon but need to weigh her first to confirm.

I hope this is the end of her stool issues if not forever at least for a long time! For those going through a transition.....don't give up! The right food is out there. If I who have little to zero patience can get through this so can others!!

 

[Cami]

It has taken well over 3 months but we have reached the completely normal poo club.
3 times per day and easily picked up on walks now.
There was a time when I didn't think we would get here and she was just going to have soft poos for the rest of her life. I'm glad I didn't give up!
After 2 + years this is a good thing!

 

[Mega's Mom]

appicon WOO HOO!! appicon

Welcome to the "completely normal poo" club. I think all of us have taken some sort of journey to get here but not quite as complicated as yours!

 

[chrystel]

appicon yay Raine!!! appicon

well.. I had to switch from Earthborn today :(

 

[Sansal]

appicon yay Raine!!! appicon

well.. I had to switch from Earthborn today :(

When I read your other thread I had to think of Susi and Raine!! Hopefully no issues with earthborn in Ohio :o

 

[BeauBo]

So happy to hear you have found somthing that works for Raine. I went through the same thing with Beau. I finally went to Natural Balance LID Whitefish and Potato. He did well on that food but the protein and fat were so low and we were having trouble keeping his weight up. I wanted to move him to a better food once we had his allergies under control. We started using Earthborn Coastal Catch about 2 months ago and he seems to be doing well with it. His stools are the best they have ever been and no gas so I'm really excited about that. Beau has so many allergies, beef, chicken, grains that it really limits me on food choices for him. I hope we can continue with the Earthborn but I've noticed some scratching again. It could be outdoor allergies so I'll watch and see how it goes. He weighs 70lbs so we increased his Earthborn to 2 cups twice a day to maintain his weight. We have just learned that our 1 year old lab has allergies as well so he's started the Coastal Catch now and appears to be doing better. We are feeding him the recommended amount for his weight range since labs tend to put on weight easily.

Finding a compatible food seems to be a common theme with our Boxers. This forum has been a great source of information on all fronts. I also love to see pictures of everyone's fur babies.

 

[Glitchy]

Okay, just read most of this thread. I'm very focused on wanting to feed my dog the same level of food that I feed my family. I was wondering, when i pick up my pup should I just start from the beginning on the earthborn coastal catch?

 

[Cami]

I was wondering, when i pick up my pup should I just start from the beginning on the earthborn coastal catch?
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You should utilize what the breeder is feeding while in the transition process but yes, you can start right away making the switch to a new food if what the breeder is feeding isn't something you feel comfortable continuing. Use a combination of the two foods.