Greenbriar Animal Hospital

So, you want to try a new food for your pet? Sudden switches in food will often cause digestive system upsets, with vomiting and/or diarrhea. Cats and dogs can also develop allergies or intolerances to food ingredients, and may not be able to tolerate all types and brands of food.

Major tips for switching foods:

It is best for your pet to NOT switch foods often, or at all. Pets don’t need a lot of variety in their food; if you want to provide some, try different types and flavors of treats.

Look for pet foods with the fewest ingredient items. Why? Because pets become allergic to food ingredients that they have been eating in the past, unlike people. So, the more food ingredients your pet has eaten, the more difficulty we’ll have in finding a good non-allergenic food for your pet if allergies develop. And food allergies are becoming very common in our pets.

If you wanted to create a picky eater, or cause frequent bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort and/or gas, the best way to do it is to make frequent and abrupt changes in your pet’s food.

If you are changing to a similar food (California Natural to California Natural Lite), you can just mix the old and new foods half and half and feed the mixture for 3 days, then feed only the new food.

Miscellaneous helpful things to know about switching foods:

If you accidentally run out of your usual dog food, cook up some home-made rice withmeat or cheese. Feed this while you find time to purchase a new supply of the usual food. This is bland and very unlikely to cause any upset, even with sudden changes. See our ‘Bland Diet’ handout for the recipe. If you run out of the usual cat food, you can usually feed a small amount of cooked or canned/processed meat like chicken, turkey, fish, shrimp, roast beef, or lean hamburger. Avoid canned tuna, ham in any form, smoked meats and smoked seafood, and meats with any kind of sauce or seasoning. Remove skin and bones from all poultry, fish, and beef before feeding. Only feed these foods in a pinch; for dogs, 7 to 14 days maximum and for cats, 3 to 7 days.

If you follow the “emergency out of food” tips above, when you do get a supply of the usual food, start by mixing in some of the homemade rice mixture (for dogs) or the meat (for cats). Gradually add less over several days. Expect it to take 3 to 10 days before they are happy to eat the old stuff, plain!

To change dry food, on the 1^st day, add just a sprinkle of the new food to the old food. On the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th day, mix old and new foods half and half and feed this mixture. For the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th day, mix old and new foods with ¼ old and ¾ new. Then go to only new food.

To change wet food, on the 1^st day, add just a small spoonful of the new food to the old food and mix well. For the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th day, mix old and new foods half and half and feed this mixture. Then go to only new food.

It is best to change one type of food at a time; don’t make changes in wet and dry foods together.