When to Give Up on Your Pet Food
Pet Food Isn’t Simple Anymore
Like many of us, you may have had a pet growing up and you may have fed that pet a combination of kibble and table scraps and never thought twice about it! As more and more owners are looking to increase the quality of their pet’s food it can be easy to hit a roadblock in the transition to that new food. In today’s pet food climate it is easy to become overwhelmed with the amount of choice that you, as a pet owner, have. What can be frustrating is doing your homework, deciding on a new and healthier food that fits your goals, lifestyle and budget and then realize that your pet never got the memo about how amazing this new food is! Here are some quick tips on when it might be time to give up on that food and move to something else.
Giving it Your Best Shot
Alright, so you’ve read up on why raw food is the most biologically appropriate food for your dog and can read an ingredient panel with the best of us. You’re absolutely on the right track to finding something that your pet will love. So what can you do to provide the best chance for success?
Understand Your Pet’s Preferences
This might sound like a no-brainer, but think about what you’ve tried in the past. Do they love chicken but hate bison? Do they love lamb but just can’t keep it down? Dogs are primarily scent focused eaters whereas cats are almost all about texture. Use this to your advantage.
Check Their Poop
I know, but just do it. If your pet has soft or loose stool you have a couple options. The first thing we look for is overfeeding. Many dogs will eat until the food is gone and overfeeding will almost always lead to loose poops. Next stop on this train is to add some probiotics to try and heal up Biscuit’s digestive tract.
New Brands Are Harder Than New Formulas
Brands will typically choose some aspect of nutrition and propagate it across their entire line of products. PureVita is known for their Good4LifeTM (an incredible pre/probiotic) pack added to their kibble. Because of this we will often introduce this to customers with picky dogs at home. This pack is something they add to all of their formulas and while other foods add pre/probiotics, few are as successful as Good4Life.
Use Toppers to Ease the Transition
As I mentioned earlier, dogs are primarily scent focused when it comes to food. Use this to your advantage! Mixing some freeze-dried raw, raw goat’s milk or even dehydrated bone broth in with your kibble is sometimes all that’s needed to get Biscuit to give that new food a try.
When to Call it Quits
There are a couple reasons to take a step back and rethink the new food. If the pet has gone a couple days without even tasting it (much more common in cats than dogs) and you’re sure the food is fresh then it’s probably time. It’s probably also time to reevaluate if your pet is eating food like a champ and just isn’t properly digesting it despite using probiotics and reducing the amount they get at each feeding. The important thing to remember here is that switching to a different formula or brand does not mean you’re a terrible parent! This type of thing happens ALL THE TIME.
We Can Help!
The amazing diversity found in our pets is hard to overstate. Each of our pets really are snowflakes and sometimes it takes a bit of additional discussion and advice to dial in a successful plan to get your fur-baby enjoying their new healthy and nutritious food. That’s where we come in! We’ve been on the leading edge of pet nutrition since 1993 and collectively have almost 100 years of experience at your disposal. Each of our employees goes through an extensive training program to ensure they can answer almost any question you may have. Call, email or stop in to chat with one of us and help get you back on the road to success.