Bacteria, switching foods, diarrhea - Page 1

1st appologies, something has been corrupting my posts so I'm trying again... without cut-n-paste.

There was a recent post regarding choosing a new food in hopes the tool would be "ideal". There wasn't any info regarding how quickly the food was being switched, and more curious no questions about it.  so I'll ask the question this way.

20yrs ago when adopting a Bouv and bloat was obviously an issue,  I was repeatedly told that a dogs digestive tract has food specific bacteria to help with digestion. If you change the diet you should do so slowly (over the course of a week or more?), to provide enough time for a new strain of bacteria to grow.

Question is... is the diet specific bacteria and the role it plays real... or Urban Myth?

thanks and again sry for the multiple posts.
-Paul

Cut and paste screws with the page.
Switching food gradually is a good idea.    Beyond that I'm not into the science.
Your dogs should be able to eat just about anything, unless they are that fragile.
Mine aren't.

There are many, many kinds of bacteria in the digestive tract of humans and canines. , Some species do metabolize specific types of nutrients. However, because organisms generally have a host of bacteria in their digestive tract dogs can digest a lot of things without intervention. There are some very good studies available now on what types of bacteria are present in canine GI tracts and this is leading to more "supplements" whether or not they are particularly efficacious.

In health dogs, and puppies, I have never bothered to switch gradually. In a canine boarding facility dogs come in all the time and have an immediate switch in food, almost always to a much higher quality than they receive at home. I do not run into diarrhea or other distress because of it. I personally think it is a myth.

If a dog is ill, has undiagnosed health problems, or has parasites, this is most likely the cause of most diarrhea. It is almost always overlooked to first check and check and check again for parasites. 

Do you have a specific concern or situation?

If the dog has 100% healthy digestion track, than switching right away should not cause any issues, no loose stool no nothing. I have two females one gets switched from one food too another on constant basis no issues its a over a night switch, the other will get runs if I tried to do so.  Good way to check the health of your dogs digestion track.