# How long to "adjust" to new food?



## SoggyDoggies (Sep 16, 2007)

We just adopted our chihuahua mix, Beso, about two weeks ago. He is about 2 years old and 20 pounds. He was on Purina Benniful dog food when we adopted him. I am not a fan (to say the least). His fur was dry and eyes very weepy but his poops were firm, but I am not sure how frequent. I quickly switched him to Innova Adult (what our other dog eats) over about three days. I usually would give them at least a week to switch but I wanted him off of the cheap food asap. He went to the vet for a full health check and has a clean bill of health. His eyes are less weepy and the coat seems to be improving.

However, he is pooping at least twice per day and they are soft (not diarrhea but not firm). At the vet he had three vaccinations, a blood test, and was put on heartguard after the test came back negative. So I am not sure if it is the food, the stress, or the new meds and vaccines. His activity level is great and he LOVES the food. 

Do I wait a few more weeks to see if it is other stressors and not the food or do I try a new brand right away? I was thinking canidae? Any other opinions?


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

I would actually feed him something better as both of the foods you listed are poor foods. A good preimum food would be something like canidae or eagle pack or orijen. You won't find these foods at grocery stores or pet stores you will have to look on these companys websites to find a store near you that sells the food.


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## SoggyDoggies (Sep 16, 2007)

I am surprised to hear a poor review about Innova. It is also a food that you cannot find in grocery stores and most petstores and in my research is a very healthy food with no fillers and with good sources of protein. When considering what to feed the older dog I was going between Innova and Canidae and both were so similar that I just went with Innova because he liked it better. Do you have any information about why Innova is not a good choice? If the info makes sense to me then I will be switching both dogs off of the food.


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## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

Durbkat said:


> I would actually feed him something better as both of the foods you listed are poor foods. A good preimum food would be something like canidae or eagle pack or orijen. You won't find these foods at grocery stores or pet stores you will have to look on these companys websites to find a store near you that sells the food.



Innova is *not* a poor quality food and you won't find it at the supermarket. 

To the OP, getting him off the Beneful was a good thing, doing it over 3 days maybe not so much.... Give him more time to adjust not only to the food, but his new environment and any reaction he may be having to the vaccinations and meds. You need to give the new food at least 4 to 6 weeks unless there's a horrible adverse reaction to it. If things don't change, it may be the multiple protein sources in the food that he can't handle. The last thing you want to do is keep changing foods quickly. You're asking for a nightmare if you do that.


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

Well actually I think innova is good, I don't know why I said that. My bad.


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## SoggyDoggies (Sep 16, 2007)

Thanks, Renoman. I knew it wasn't best to switch feed so quickly especially while he was adjusting. I had planned to give him atleast a few weeks to adjust to the new place before SLOWLY starting to switch the feed but to tell you the truth, the Benniful smelt so awful that I couldn't feed it anymore!

He has been on Innova only for one week now and for sure isn't sick or anything. I will give him a few months on it before thinking of switching food again. 

Thanks again.


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## sillylilykitty (Mar 11, 2007)

SoggyDoggies said:


> Do I wait a few more weeks to see if it is other stressors and not the food or do I try a new brand right away? I was thinking canidae? Any other opinions?


Innova is a good food. I think I would wait a few more weeks before switching again. It sounds like your dog was very busy with stressful events at the vet. If you do decide to switch (if things dont smooth out after a while) then I would recommend Canidae (my cat eats Felidae and she looks the best she has in her whole life!).


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