I Accidentally Bought Puppy Food for an Adult Dog [Guide]

If you’ve accidentally bought puppy food instead of adult dog food don’t panic. It’s true dog foods are carefully designed for specific types of dogs and contain a wide variety of different ingredients, however for this to make a significant impact on the health of your dog you would have to feed this food to your dog for an extended period of time for it to have any real effect.

Feeding an adult dog one bad of puppy food is unlikely to cause any long-term health issues in the long run, but if possible you should switch to dog food that is specially designed for adult dogs as soon as possible.

Issues With Accidentally Buying Puppy Food for Adult Foods

The main problem with feeding your adult dog puppy food is that puppy food contains a significantly higher calorie and fat content than most adult foods. So if you do decide to feed an adult dog puppy food it’s likely to lead to weight gain which could cause long-term issues over a long enough period of time.

Adult dogs who are no longer growing will not benefit from the extra calories in puppy food. Don’t worry though one single bag of puppy food is not enough to impact your dog’s health since it’s just a higher calorie influx for a short period of time. Think of it like a cheat meal for your dog! It gets to eat higher calories food as a treat just for a short amount of time.

If you are still worried about feeding your adult dog puppy food you can simply monitor their weight to ensure they are not gaining too much weight. If you notice that your dog is starting to put on a few extra pounds it might be time to ditch the puppy food and move back to dog food specifically designed for adult dogs.

If you are unsure about which type of food to feed your pet you should consult with your veterinarian for personalized advice. They can advise you more specifically you can even talk to a vet online these days for tailored advice.

The Risks of Feeding Adult Dogs Puppy Food

Adult dogs have finished growing already, feeding them puppy food however will make them grow even more however this type of growth will only be on their belly. It’s no secret that dogs who are overweight experience a lot of different issues such as obesity, joint pain, digestive issues, diabetes, and even heart disease. Again it’s important to understand your dog is not going to become obese from just eating one bag of puppy food however if you were to feed your dog a diet that is too high in calories for an extended period of time this could become an issue eventually.

Monitoring Your Pet’s Weight

The best way to see if the food you’ve chosen for your pet dog is causing any issues is just to simply monitor their weight gain. If you start to notice an unusual increase in your pet’s weight gain all of a sudden it’s important to reevaluate what kind of food and the level of exercise you are providing for your dog. You can also monitor your dog’s energy levels and behavior if you start to notice unusual changes again try to reevaluate what you are feeding to your dog.

What to Do When You Bought the Wrong Food?

It’s obviously frustrating when you buy the wrong dog food for your dog because it might seem like a waste of time and money but there are some steps you can take to minimize your stress. The best case scenario is to return the food if you haven’t opened it already. Most stores will let you exchange the purchase without issue as long as the seal hasn’t been opened.

If you have opened it and have no intention of feeding it to your dog you could consider selling it to someone in your area on something like Facebook marketplace or gumtree. You could even give it away to the owner of a new puppy if you don’t care about the money too much.

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Conclusion

To conclude buying puppy food for an adult dog isn’t really a big deal so don’t worry yourself too much. In the future take extra care and read the labels properly to ensure you get the correct product. Addiontial if you do decide to feed your adult dog puppy food just make sure to monitor their behavior and weight to make sure there a no extreme changes.