Dr. Khuly I really appreciate you bring up this subject. I have been advocating this for many years, actually I always feed a variety, which means I have several types and brands of food on hand and my dogs basically get something different with every meal. I also add little extras most of the time, cottage cheese, meat, eggs, cheese, canned food, not all of it at once, the extras make up less than 10 percent of the meal, but it adds even more variety and usually are a whole food and not processed. Here are my reason, variety as you mentioned both for nutritional reasons as well as the other reason you mentioned, my dogs can eat pretty much anything and it won't upset their stomach like it would a dog that always eats the same, I also think it is safer because if something were to be wrong with a food, that wouldn't be 100 percent of what that dog eats day after day, it would be more likely to be only 30 to 40 percent of what that dog eats and that may make a difference. I also believe that food and eating can be part of a mental stimulation and environmental enrichment program, zoos are using food for that, different foods, different presentation etc. so why shouldn't we use it for our dogs. A dog that always gets the same, eats because it is hungry, while my dogs look at every meal with excitement "what's for dinner?" and usually the extra treats are eaten first, then they eat the rest. It has not make them finicky and actually several of them used to be finicky and now look forward to their meals.

I'm a huge supporter of variety in diet and I sometimes wonder if pets have a hard time switching because they've been eating the same thing day in/day out for years. The way I achieve variety is through canned foods. I use the same kibble (high quality, grain free) because it's just easier (and cheaper) and because my dog has issues with chicken. But every day I mix in half a can of food with her evening meal. I have tons of different canned foods from all different manufacturers (all high quality stuff). She seems to appreciate the variety and she's been 100% healthy, no digestive track issues (of course, she can also eat a whole stick of butter and have no issues -- yes, I know this).

Dogs are scavengers so, to me, it seems ridiculous to make them eat the same food every single day of their life. Frankly, I wonder if they get bored with it like we would!

As far as variety, when I got my first dog I got books on health nutrition, and put maybe 7 ingredients in the bowl at once.

Poor dog enjoyed it but threw it back up. I calmed down and learned to rotate. I also learned precision is not that important with my dogs, a little extra a little less is okay. Apparently cats require more diligence.

Still, I have always heard to not feed all animal types, in case the pet needs to try something new for some reason.

Also, I wonder, if I adopt a senior dog, will feeding raw be more dangerous, because the dog may have lost the ability to digest it?

I, too, am a firm believer in rotating foods. Reasons?? Variety first...and, like others, I'm worried about food recalls. I also think that there isn't one particular food that meets all of the requirements for healthy eating in pets. I like to find a few bags that my cats and dogs eat and rotate through those foods. I also feed wet canned so I try to do the same with that. I can't imagine subsisting on a daily diet of cornflakes and milk, even if it WAS nutritionally sound...why would I expect my critters to do the same. One note though...it's WAY harder to rotate dry foods with felines. I can manage the wet food but at least one of my cats simply likes one brand and won't eat any other. I have had no digestive issues with this approach but I've been doing it for them since they were babies. I also give probiotics. Maybe that helps??

Thank-you Doctor Khuly, rotate my senior Pet Kids food, at thier age. I am thankful for everyday with them.Jordan is 17, Diasy 16, Max is 9. yep there are more, not as old.

Thank you for all of your information. I am having trouble understanding the food allergy issue; when, how and why but I will continue to research and am sure your articles will be very helpful. Since we adopted Oscar, a almost 2 y.o. LH Dachshund, I have been searching for the right premium food and have been very concerned that maybe I was switching to soon/often. Always looking for coat/eye shinyness, stool changes, itching, etc... He does very well and after reading this article, I feel more confident in what I am doing. One thing for sure, I will never feed any of my pets cheap commercial food again. Thank you so much for all the info you provide. I really don't know how you do all that you do. Wish I had some of that energy.
My cat, about 7-8 y.o., seems to tolerate food change very well contrary to what I have read. The only thing is, her fur is long and fluffy but always dull and unkept looking like she needs a good bathing even though I brush about 2x's a week against her will of course. Any suggestions??? Can't wait to read the next chapter of switcheroo!

Cats are "opportunistic hunters." In their "natural state" (being able to live outdoors, if the world was a purrfectly safe place, which it isn't for them anymore), cats eat whatever they can catch. If they can't catch a juicy mouse, they may be able to bag a bird, bugs, lizards - whatever. If a cat were starving and standing next to Farmer Brown's wheat, corn, soy or potato field, it would not even cross the cat's mind to go into the filed and start gobbling grains or veggies. By feeding a variety of CANNED (juicy, like prey!) foods the cat has much better chance of getting balanced diet. (If you don't cook or mix up your own cat food and go commercial.) Cat also less likely to become hooked on any one food. It also hasn't as much chance of getting a huge dose of anything nasty which endangers the cat's life! If kittens are routinely fed a variety of cat food, they are less likely to ever end up as picky eaters. With geriatric felines, if they have digestive issues, it is best to mix old food into new. However, if older cats have always been fed a variety of brands and flavors, it is less likely they'll ever have a problem related to switching, unless there is a health issue (which a cat-oriented veterinarian can help resolve). I have worked professionally with felines for twenty-five years, literally thousands of cats. My clients who had cats that died or have ended up with impaired kidney function all were people who fed their cats one brand only of the recalled foods several years ago. Some of my clients lost multiple cats! TRAGIC!

Dr. Khuly, thanks for bringing this up. I've had to standardize on one food because my pets *do* have a history of gastroenteritis associated with past medical conditions (parasites for one, inexplicable touchy stomach that can cause unending fountains of poo for another) -- but they get fed a whole bunch of scrap foods and other extras with nearly every meal that I think makes up for any deficiencies in the kibble.

Scrap foods, you ask? Not table scraps, surely? No -- I'm talking the butt end of the banana with the seed spike in it, gristle trimmings from steaks, the caps of tomatoes and carrots, and other things that we'd normally throw out or compost. Did you know that dogs love pumpkin and some even like broccoli? The dogs are allowed to choose what they want and don't want... what one doesn't eat, another certainly will. I think that the extra items end up filling any extra dietary needs that my pups have pretty well -- they're certainly happy, active and healthy with good teeth, nails, and coats from head to tail. I've seen the results of feeding "Old Roy" or "Kibbles and Bits" to dogs for years on end -- and my dogs are just short of those who take the time and effort to feed raw.

"While this may indeed play a role for some animals, I have a hard time believing that the vast majority of animals are not simply playing their people for better fare."

Playing me like a cheap fiddle. On the advice of my vet I switched to a higher quality canned food and threw so so much away because of picky kitties. It's a lot of money to be tossing in the trash. I think I may settle on a mix of the few higher quality foods they liked the most and the Friskies that I know they'll eat. I'll just pay more attention to calories (weight was the reason behind the suggested switch).

It was a total budget-buster. All of the grain-free foods that people fawn over went untouched, even when I spaced feedings so they were sure to be hungry.

To #6:

"My cat, about 7-8 y.o., seems to tolerate food change very well contrary to what I have read. The only thing is, her fur is long and fluffy but always dull and unkept looking like she needs a good bathing even though I brush about 2x's a week against her will of course. Any suggestions???"

This was a problem for my sister's cats, especially her longhair. Their coats responded AMAZINGLY to a switch to grain-free food. In her case, Orijen, a dry kibble. I'm not sure if you'd get the same results on a grain-free wet food. There are also some nice Omega-3 supplements that are supposed to do the same thing. It was definitely a matter of finding a higher quality food for her boys, although they were doing OK on a supermarket brand. The little longhaired guy seems to appreciate how pretty he is now - more attention :)

I feed my herd of three cats Fancy Feast (four cans a day) (yes that's expensive so I am always looking for sales) and dry food only as a topping (when someone decides to be finicky), a treat, or a meal for the one cat who has trouble keeping weight on and prefers dry to wet. I can't afford Weruva wet food often but if I could they would have it for every meal. I am always looking for the best dry food I can afford which right now is the B4 Grain series. I always vary brands (or in the case of FF, flavors) to stimulate appetite and avoid a dependency on a brand that could be reformulated or gone tomorrow. One of my cats had chronic lower GI issues until I switched dry brands. If I had been a "one brand for life" person, I would never have thought to switch. My vet has never suggested that I should keep them on one brand.

We are firm believers in rotating the protein that we feed our two shiny coated, bright eyed, little shedding Pembroke Welsh Corgi dogs. Both of them are fed raw food, the proteins rotating between lamb and chicken. They also receive only grain free dog treats, fresh fruits and raw vegetables as snacks. We rotate everything to offer interest and forbid habituation.

These dogs have thrived fully on the rotation of the raw proteins. There is nothing wrong with adding a variety to the dog's diet. After all, consider that dogs are predominantly "woof" on a leash and considering that they are opportunistic by nature, they do not necessarily eat the same foods repeatedly in the wild.

Yeah it's funny how these "picky eaters" are usually obese. We have a mini schnauzer that comes in our office that is 12 pounds over weight. Her owners swear she only eats "a bite" of food every day and gets no treats or table food because she is such a picky eater. They are constantly switching brands and formuals of food because they say the dog doesn't like them. But yet somehow this dog is very obese (but still has normal blood work etc to rule out medical reasons). It just makes me laugh because I know that the dog is getting fed from somewhere and probably is just getting fed tons of treats from the owners but they dont want to admit it.

Thanks for the good sense. My bichon went through several food changes over the course of her life - allergies, age, illness.
I found - remarkable - that following the directions - switching a little new for a little old every day - proved foolproof. Interesting, one food she could never tolerate was people food, and she really liked people food. Thanks again.

The problem is this: If we’ve undertaken thousands of times more research on human nutrition and still can’t decide what’s best for us, does it not stand to reason that a "nutritionally balanced" diet for our pets might elude modern science as well?
...Dr. Khuly,

Thank you for this common sense. The fact is we often claim to know more than we do. And sometimes our pets suffer. It is possible to have two dogs from the same litter and one has IBD and the other doesn't. Even pets with close genetics can vary enough that ordinary "complete and balanced" kibble doesn't work. While the IBD dog needed a raw diet with not grains and preservatives the other did fine on anything. Today they are both raw fed. And the third unrelated dog's allergies disappeared on the same diet. Prescription diets didn't work because of grains and preservatives also. One dog had a life of misery and poor health without a diet change.

Llike your list of top ten reasons for advocating variety in feeding pets. I want to add one more. #11. Pet food companies change formulas. They are sold to other companies. For example Iams used to be a stand alone company. Today it is owned by Proctor and Gamble. And California Natural...Innova...EVO just sold to Proctor and Gamble. So there are likely to be formula changes. Some changes may not even be deliberate to save money. They just may make changes because of problems sourcing meats.

The whole idea that things stay the same is a mirage anyway. Twice I have have pets get very sick on their food because of some change on the manufacturers' part. ADVICE. If your pet refuses to eat their food, they are telling you the food has something wrong with it. Listen.

I am so glad you brought this up! People are usually so militant about only feeding their animals one brand. How boring for your poor animals. I mix it up regularly for both me dogs and cats. I add canned food or leftover chicken or beef to their food semi-regularly. And every morning when I feed the cats their canned food I give the dogs a small teaspoonful too. Then the dogs take turns licking out the can! Makes recycling a lot easier! I always felt guilty because of what others said about changing their food, now I don't! Thank You!

hello, first of all, anyone can tell me wich is the best food for a dog / cat ??? rcanin, hills, eukanudba orijen.....and vet one, breed choice, natures best, .....???? probably no one can and the answer is simple, the one make your pet be in shape, good stools and of course , like it, in my experiencie, most of them to individuals, what actually drive mad to retailers because of the huge variety of different ones. I have no doubt that complete balanced dry food is a good choice and was a big advance in providing good nutrition to both pets and human babys, compared whith the previous rice and meat, table scrapins, bread and chiken skeletons.....BUT some fresh good food in a regular basis sure is of interes , in order toadd vitamins and other nutrients that probably are of poor biological value or get spoiled whit oxidation....in the comercial foods. And changes SURE are not detrimental if done progressive and to a better one, because disease, age, boby condition......if the animal its ok, why change ???because economical, boring, or anything. But as pet owner, i can say that every food has some good things and some bad, and that the one they like not always are the best for them , and thanks God to have something to eat every day !!!!!!
COMERCIAL COMERCIAL COMERCIAL, that is our reality .
and just try to offer good products at good prices( some cat foods are more expensive than french foie gras !!!). Dont go mad!!!
Nice week
Marga

What is your opinion of the Nature's Variety Foods/Prairie which are supposedly designed to be able to switch back and forth? Also, I was told by a breeder to use Nutramin powder to help with switching foods.

Thanks,

RS

I can attest to this method because I run a website for cats with IBD and other GI diseases. Food allergies, food intolerance, skin allergies, GI diseases and IBD are at epidemic proportions. Check out the case studies on my site in the Living with IBD section. It says it all right there as to what some of the supermarket foods and lower quality foods are doing to our pets, and feeding only one food for life.

LOLO, would have been nice if I'd left the url right? Here it is: www.ibdkitties.net.