Changing to adult food

[MissShapesMissStakes]

Just had dpup neutered. He is 8 and a bit months old.

At his last check I mentioned to the vet nurse that he is constantly wanting food. She said that neutering can decrease metabolism by 30% but increased appetite by around the same. We are still using treats for training so I said I was worried he would get fat (in a jokey kind of way).

So the nurse suggested changing his food from puppy food to adult.

I have slowly been doing this over a week. He’s still having mostly puppy.

He poo has been very loose and more ‘little and often’ than his usual two a day.

Should I keep going with it or scale it back even more?

I did look at when to change to adult food but online there was no consensus. I’m now wondering if it’s too soon?

The food I used was for both puppies and adults but what I did around the time when he was 'fully grown' was to switch him to adult portions which when you looked on the feeding guide were less than for a puppy at that age.

Forgot to say, have you doubled checked the feeding guide and quantities for the adult food to make sure it's not just simply feeding too much of it on top of his puppy food.

Thanks Bitey.

Yes the portions are less. Poor pup!

I have adjusted to slightly less. But I am unable to do the maths to do it properly. Maybe it’s just a case of less. It seems so little in the first place.

He’s not going to be happy!

When I transfer over I work on the bottom amount for each food based on their guidance on the packets.

E.g. If food A is 400g a day and food B is 200g.

If you want to feed 75% and 25% then that's 300g and 50g.

If you feed three times a day then that's 100g of A and about 16g of B for each meal. If the poos are rock hard that suggests under feeding so add a bit more of each and the opposite if they are soft.

Btw for good quality kibble the quantities will seem very low. I feed wet which means we get more volume for the same amount of calories.

I also make allowances for treats and if he will have lots or maybe just a low exercise day I might cut the amount down a bit for those days but I tend to use dried treats that are mostly turkey so not excessively fatty or calorific which he still loves.

Thanks Bitey.

That maths is beyond me. Will get DH on it later. It’s his strong point.

We are using Orijen. The amount is pitiful for adults. Poor dog. Need to re-look at his treats too. Primula is his gold star treat for recall only.

As he’s always ‘hungry’ he’s happy to take his kibble as a reward. But then seems to have very little left for his meals.

At least when the weather gets better he will be happier legging it around in the garden and woods. At the moment he suffers his walks as he hates the wet and cold.