Switching foods (how much to give?)

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

Currently I'm in the process of switching Roxy onto a new food. Tomorrows breakfast is her first meal of just the new stuff. My question is how much of this new stuff do I give her?
I know it says on the bag roughly how much but when comparing it to the old it seems like so much more!
I know this is probably because the new one is better with less fillers etc. But I don't want to give her too much but I also don't want her to be starving!
How do you judge? It says on the pack 90-150g per day for dogs up to 10kilos and she's about 7.5.
Her old food she only used to have 48g per day! Whereas this new one she could be having that amount for one meal?

 

[JoanneF]

The way to change over that is least likely to cause tummy upsets is to do it gradually. So for tomorrow's food, I would set out 90% of her old food and mix in 10% of the new food, so maybe about 12 grams, then portion that into however many meals she gets. Then on Friday about 80% of her old food and 24 grams of the new one. And so on.

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

Yes I know all that stuff and I've done that but once she's switched over how much do I give her of the new food is my query. I was just shocked at how much more it says to feed that's all!

 

[JudyN]

If it has fewer fillers, you should have to feed less, not more. You should be able to find the calorie content of her food - what variety were you feeding and what have you changed her to?

My first instinct would be to feed her the same weight you did before and monitor her weight & how hungry she seems.

 

[JoanneF]

Yes I know all that stuff and I've done that but once she's switched over how much do I give her of the new food is my query. I was just shocked at how much more it says to feed that's all!

Apologies, I misunderstood.

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

If it has fewer fillers, you should have to feed less, not more. You should be able to find the calorie content of her food - what variety were you feeding and what have you changed her to?

My first instinct would be to feed her the same weight you did before and monitor her weight & how hungry she seems.

Aah okay thanks, she was on Harrington's and switching to Lily's Kitchen.

 

[JudyN]

I assume you were feeding dry Harrington's?

Checking online, Harrington's recommends 65-180g per day for a 3-10kg dog, which would be close to Lily's Kitchen recommendations. It's interesting that she was doing OK on 48g per day - did she have a lot of treats/rewards/leftovers on top of that?

Ultimately, you have to feed the dog in front of you, so if she did well on 48g of Harrington's, then I'd stick with that amount of LK.

 

[DixD]

I would think less fillers would mean feeding less food, as better quality. Wet food is heavier than dehydrated dry, so does that need taken into account. You apparently should feed for the weight you wish your dog to be at. Both my dogs do best if I keep them slim, and manufacturers’ recommendations are too generous for them. If you overload the dog with food, it doesn’t get digested properly and goes through the system too quickly, which can cause problems. This happened with a dog we just couldn’t get weight on, you couldn’t feed him up at all.

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

I assume you were feeding dry Harrington's?

Checking online, Harrington's recommends 65-180g per day for a 3-10kg dog, which would be close to Lily's Kitchen recommendations. It's interesting that she was doing OK on 48g per day - did she have a lot of treats/rewards/leftovers on top of that?

Ultimately, you have to feed the dog in front of you, so if she did well on 48g of Harrington's, then I'd stick with that amount of LK.

Yes dry Harrington's, she had not loads of treats and certainly no leftovers!
But with it being dark and rubbish weather she's not burning it off very much this winter. She's definitely not skinny but not fat either.
It's funny that you mention to gauge how hungry she seems....she's a greedy dog, always looking for food!
Thank you for the advice @JudyN and @DixieD I will first of all feed her the same amount as before.

 

[DixD]

We don’t have your willpower. Our little dog has his own seat at the table!