Good to see you post again. Another post made me think about Atlas the other day and I was wondering how he was doing. DFA rates foods by the amount of protein, and because the NB LID formulas are lower protein, that is why they get a 3 star rating not because they are not a good food.
“Maybe I need to focus on fiber content? Or fat content? Or something I’m not thinking of altogether?”
The issue still lies in his gut bacteria. Amercian Journey is higher fiber, higher fat, contains peas and chickpeas, but it also has fructooligosaccharides (FOS) which is a good prebiotic plus a probiotic. As I mentioned before Natural Balance does not contain prebiotics or probiotics, and in my experience does not have the necessary components to build gut health even though it is easily digestible.
Have you compared the ingredient lists between the other foods you tried? Did any of the others contain a prebiotic and probiotics, specifically FOS? Since you mentioned he did better with AJ than the other foods, then gradually adding a food that contains FOS for several months would be my next move. I personally don’t think that adding psyllium husks will help. There are several brands of kibble that contain FOS if you do not want to use AJ because of the legumes.
