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My picky IBD dog has diarrhea after food change. What to feed?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Female | spayed | 12 years old | 10 lbs

I switched my IBD dog's food and now she has diahreeah. I havent gave any of the new food in almost 24 hours. Should I continue with that food since she only had it for one day or should I try a different new food that is limited ingredient? Or should I keep with the food I gave her yesterday but add rice or potato to it? My dog no longer eats her old food or bland food and is very sickly/picky so the vet thought I should try something new. The one was 95% meat, the other is limited ingred.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner

Published on January 7th, 2018

It is common that dogs will develop diarrhea from a sudden food change, but it can be challenging to do a slow diet change when they stop eating their regular diet. If Chi won't eat a bland diet, adding cooked white rice or cooked white or sweet potato to a diet may be a good option for her. I think at this point, you could continue the previous food since she was eating it well or try to introduce a new limited ingredient diet if that was what your vet had recommended. Sometimes 95% meat diets are too rich for dogs alone, but Chi may tolerate it with white rice or potato. However, you may also need to talk to your veterinarian about medication for the diarrhea since she has IBD and those dogs will sometimes have a harder time getting their diarrhea to resolve with diet change alone. I have included a handout with more information on IBD below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598 Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Chi feels better soon. Thanks for using PetCoach.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 2nd, 2017

    I'm glad that your dog is no longer having any appetite issues! Yes, a sudden change in diet can cause diarrhea, but that should hopefully clear up over time. If she is still suffering from diarrhea after another week, then I would take her into the vet for a check to be safe :-)

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