Switching to adult food from puppy food

So, my puppy is doing great, almost a year old. All my other dogs have been switched to adult dog food at this age with no issues. However, this dog has a super sensitive system. It took me several months to find a puppy food that he could eat and even now if he gets more than he’s used to, he has tummy issues. Is there any health benefit to switching to adult food? I’m thinking he might do better if I just leave him on the puppy food.

This is what he is currently on. He weighs about 45 lbs, hound mix.
Natures recipe puppy

Nothing wrong with feeding that to an adult dog. If he tends to weight gain, though, you may find it too calorie rich. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to publish their kcal/cup numbers so tough to know what you’re looking at.

They do make a very similar adult version: https://www.naturesrecipe.com/dog-food/adult/lamb-meal-and-rice-recipe

What breed and size is your pup? Also you can (yes expensive) get some really good food from the vet via prescription that can address this issue.

Have you slowly started the pup on adult food by adding a little bit every day? I do the switch over 3 weeks. Each week a little more of the adult food than the puppy food. Also do the same thing if I’m switching feed completely.

If you go slow with the change it might help, unless of course you are already doing that.

Perhaps you can try feeding some low fat plain yogurt along with meals to help with tummy issues. I have an old Irish Setter that without her yogurt every day will go off her food due to tummy problems.

The puppy food does have feeding instructions for less than 6 months, 6-12 months and adults over 12 months. It is 25% protein while the adult version is only 20%.
I seem to remember that too high protein is tough on the kidneys in the long run.

[QUOTE=SonnysMom;8800889]
I seem to remember that too high protein is tough on the kidneys in the long run.[/QUOTE]

Myth :slight_smile:

Protein is only a problem when kidney function is already sub par.

25% protein is middling to lowish, really. Compare to something like Orijen 6 Fish.

I have tried switching to adult slowly, as soon as I introduce different food, he gets the runs and acts droopy. I had not noticed the feeding instructions for adults, thank you for pointing that out :slight_smile:

Adding yogurt does help, but it does not fix the issues :frowning:

Is the adult food the same brand as the puppy food? I would make sure of that and switch over VERY slowly.

But I would also talk to your vet and get their input.

Really, you are FINE. If this is the food that works, keep him on it. :slight_smile: There is nothing concerning or worrisome about feeding this puppy food to an adult dog.

When I picked up my last foster dog, she came strait me to me with no info. So I had to put her on a random food without any acclimation. She was picky and sensitive, and has some assorted allergies. I was recommended fermented fish stock to help with the sensitivity/ stomach issue. It worked wonders!

This is is the one: http://answerspetfood.com/fish.html

It’s really good for their coat, too. Initially I fed it morning and evening for about a month strait, and now I just pick it up occasionally. It does come frozen and needs to be thawed and kept in the fridge for use. Be warned though it smells AWFUL.

OP,
You should be fine feeding the puppy food. One of the issues with puppy food is a balance in minerals, especially calcium, if I recall. In adult, or “All Life Stages” dog food, the mineral balance is not SO critical as it is while the puppy’s bones, skeleton and body are maturing.

It can be so frustrating when trying to transition to any new food, if you’ve found one your pup has done well on. But it can be a good idea to find more than one food your dog can eat. Recipes and even manufacturers can change, lines of pet foods are discontinued, or plants may shut down for whatever reason.

One of the things I have learned over my “dog years” is to vary what I feed my dogs. I started doing that after I had a dog with true inflammatory bowel disease, diagnosed by biopsies. All was well until the one food she could tolerate had a change in ingredients. :frowning: I was stuck trying to find a quality food that she could eat but not have…adverse consequences (to say nothing of her discomfort, and painful episodes). One of her triggers was any chicken product (except eggs), and trying to find a commercial food that didn’t contain ANY chicken, even chicken fat, was very difficult, especially some 15-20 years ago.

Early on, I found that when I fed my pup a single puppy food over months, then making any changes in the diet could result in digestive upset. But now, if I vary what I feed the youngsters, I have less trouble with sensitive GI tracts or the unpleasant results. My dogs can eat a wider variety of foods, easily, so I don’t panic if I am running low on kibble, because I have other options.

So even as pups, I feed fresh food (cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, meats, small amounts of organs like chicken liver, even raw chicken wings), different kibbles, a variety of raw foods, convenient freeze dried and frozen options, and an assortment of proteins. These days we have many, many more options for quality kibbles than a decade ago.

You may find that you can vary some foods with your youngster, if you can sleuth out what the pup may be sensitive to. Sometimes feeding a similar food, from a different maker, can make a difference. Adding in just a touch of yogurt, steamed rice (or even the water from steamed rice), cooked lean hamburger, and things like that, can introduce your pup’s gut to a wider variety of foods. What many people think of as “allergies” may actually be sensitivities. Or the dog may simply not have experience with a given food or ingredient.

Just like our gut, and like our horses, dogs have bacteria in the gut that help digest and utilize food. A pre/probiotic supplement can help ‘seed’ the gut with good bugs, so it can manage and use a wider variety of foods.

There are a multitude of books on feeding dogs, some of which are outdated in their information. One that I recommend when asked is “Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs”, by Lew Olson. Don’t be put off by the “Raw” in the title; the book covers all sorts of food types. The book was updated in 2015.

The Whole Dog Journal also has lots of information on feeding, including annual reviews of kibble/raw/frozen/freeze dried, and articles on dog diets and nutrition.