Our last post looked at the reasons to transition your pet’s food, but what about the transition process itself? No matter what your reason is for switching pet foods, it’s important that you introduce a new recipe to your pet gradually over a period of time. This is true for both cats and dogs at any stage of life. By doing this, you allow their gastrointestinal tract - not to mention their taste buds! - enough time to adjust to the new flavours and ingredients. Plus, they may not even notice the switch!

What is the best practice for transitioning your pet?

Hey, we’re glad you asked! If you went cold turkey on your pet and tried to completely switch foods at once, chances are that you wouldn’t be very successful. Abruptly changing your pet’s food can lead to some stomach upset or if your pet is a finicky eater already, a big change may cause them to reject their food. If you introduce your pet to a new food a little at a time, it allows for them to adjust to the new taste and help to combat potential tummy trouble. If you begin by mixing in a little bit of the new food into their current food, it allows them to be gradually introduced to it.

For example, a dog who falls into the low activity group and is transitioning to T23 would be gradually introduced to their new food in intervals such as this:

We recommend spreading it out over a span of ten days and by day 11, your pet will be fully transitioned over to the new food. After the initial transition period, it’s best to allow up to 30 days to make sure your pet is fully adapted and eating the right amount. After that, you should be home free!

What factors are important when transitioning?

There are a variety of factors that contribute to how much food to give your pet over the ten day transition period, all of which are equally important to consider. The number of cups of food you currently feed your pet per day is important to determining this new ratio for each day. Your pet’s weight and approximate activity level are also taken into account to determine the best feeding plan for your pet.

How do you get a feeding plan for your pet?

Your pet is one of a kind and their feeding plan should be too! Since balancing the factors that go into transitioning your pet from one food to another can be challenging, we have a little cheat sheet to get you feeling confident about the transition in no time flat. We’ve created a quick and easy quiz that you can take to find out the best balance of old food and new food to mix together over the first ten days of your pet food transition. Once you complete it, you’ll receive a free, printable and totally customized feeding plan that shows you the optimal ratio of old food to new food to feed them for each day of the transition period.

To get your personalized diet plan for your pet, just click here to take the quiz!

Unsure which Nutram recipe is best for your pet? Click here to find your Nutram Number.