[107barney]

Originally Posted by addevo

We have just been approved to adopt a rescue, we will be getting her on Saturday! Here is her information on petfinder.

Petfinder Adopted Dog | Yorkshire Terrier Yorkie | Mount Washington, KY | Chloe

As you will see, she has been diagnosed with pancreatitus in the past, which what caught my eye because we already have a dog with that, and so I wasn't "afraid" of the diagnosis. Her former owners managed it with "Beneful Weight Management" food. <cringe> We feed our dog, Tina, prescription food from the vet - Purina EN. I know it's pretty low quality food, and she had very flaky skin at first. So after reading about options on YT, I started blending it with about 25% California Natural Small Bites. Her skin improved and she hasn't had a recurrence of pancreatitus. So, I'd like to transition the new baby to this diet - both because I hope it's a bit higher quality than Beneful and because, to be honest, it would make it a bit easier for me, too.

I was thinking that it would be best not to change anything at first to let her settle in. But I need help with:
- when to start transitioning her to a new diet
- how best to do it. gradually mix it in, or just switch all at once?

Any ideas would be most helpful

It really depends on the history. My Barney had pancreatitis at age 5 and it landed him in the hospital for almost a week and he almost died. After that, he came home and resumed his normal diet which was about 14-15% fat. For five more years, we never had a problem. Then, he had another acute attack of pancreatitis last march, which was also severe but we managed him at home and he recovered. He is now on a very low fat diet (3%) that is home cooked for the rest of his life.