Puppy Food vs. Adult food
Question:
I gave my puppy Adult food at 2 months right away. The vet said it slows the growth to help with possible hip dysplasia in the future, yet it does not stop them for growing to the size they would normally. Karma is now almost 6 months (Labrador) and weighs about 45-50 pounds. I have been told by a lot of breeders and handlers and such that adult food for large breeds is the way to go. I have had a few people disagree and tell me that they are missing out on some nutrition, but Karma sure doesn’t act like it or look like it! Becky
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello! I finally found a vet (posted that previously) and I have another question… I’ve been feeding Niko IAMS puppy food as recommended by the Humane Society lady. I was reading a website earlier today and stumbled across a statement that said "I started my lab on adult food at 4 months" – 4 months?!? So I did some research and found that a lot of people who have large breed puppies either start their dogs on large breed food very early on or just always feed them that, skipping puppy food alltogether. In fact every website I found suggested feeding large breed puppies adult food starting very early, to more control the growth rate. The vet told me that I should feed him puppy food until he is about 2 years old. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? What do you do? Niko is a Catahoula Leopard Dog, he’s 30 lbs now at 5 months and will probably be around 75-80 lbs. when full grown. Cheers, Justin Dallas TX
Response:
Justin, A couple things here. In the 50’s we use to think that switching a large breed puppy to adult would slow the growth process and reduce some of the problems. In the early 90’s we discovered that calories are not the only issue. To reduce the risk of hip dysplasia, OCD, UAP and other skeletal problems we have to do two things, 1) reduce the caloric intake, and 2) reduce the total calcium intake. In many cases switching a puppy to an adult version only reduces the caloric intake very marginally and *increases* the calcium intake quite a bit. There are several companies out there that make a puppy food specifically designed for a large breed puppy. These reduce the calcium levels and the energy intake at the same time. Get into the new century and use a large breed puppy food of some kind. Last point, IAMS Chunks and Mini Chunks for adult dogs are essentially puppy foods themselves. They carry the "All Life Stages" AAFCO label which means they have been tested to provide sufficient nutrients for a puppy. Switching to an adult IAMS product would still be feeding a puppy food.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello! I finally found a vet (posted that previously) and I have another question… I’ve been feeding Niko IAMS puppy food as recommended by the Humane Society lady. I was reading a website earlier today and stumbled across a statement that said "I started my lab on adult food at 4 months" – 4 months?!? So I did some research and found that a lot of people who have large breed puppies either start their dogs on large breed food very early on or just always feed them that, skipping puppy food alltogether. In fact every website I found suggested feeding large breed puppies adult food starting very early, to more control the growth rate. The vet told me that I should feed him puppy food until he is about 2 years old. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? What do you do? Niko is a Catahoula Leopard Dog, he’s 30 lbs now at 5 months and will probably be around 75-80 lbs. when full grown. Cheers, Justin Dallas TX
Response:
Hello! I finally found a vet (posted that previously) and I have another question… I’ve been feeding Niko IAMS puppy food as recommended by the Humane Society lady. I was reading a website earlier today and stumbled across a statement that said "I started my lab on adult food at 4 months" – 4 months?!? So I did some research and found that a lot of people who have large breed puppies either start their dogs on large breed food very early on or just always feed them that, skipping puppy food alltogether. In fact every website I found suggested feeding large breed puppies adult food starting very early, to more control the growth rate. The vet told me that I should feed him puppy food until he is about 2 years old. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? What do you do? Niko is a Catahoula Leopard Dog, he’s 30 lbs now at 5 months and will probably be around 75-80 lbs. when full grown. Cheers, Justin Dallas TX
