Hi,
OK, so my fiance and I have been raising our pup Luna, who is a german sheppard/huskie mix. She is now 4 months old, and we have had her since she was 8 weeks. Feeding her has been a nightmare since day one. We started her out on Blue Buffalo Freedom for puppies and it caused tons of diarrhea issues. The vet chalked it up to various puppy parasites and such, and we she went on a boiled chicken and rice bland diet for a week to see how she did. She managed OK, but her ears were still red and she seemed to be a bit itchy. We started to reintroduce the kibble very slowly, but the moment we get to 75% kibble, she would go right back to the diarrhea. I brought it up to our vet again, she gave me a probiotic, claiming that perhaps all the meds she was on to rid her of puppy parasites, messed with her digestion bacteria. So, day 2 on the probiotic she is having the worst diarrhea she’s ever had. Finally I had enough and at the suggestion of a friend who had a similar problem, switched her to Blue Buffalo Wilderness for puppies. Within 24 hours of eating a mix of bland diet with the Wilderness food, she was having solid droppings that seemed to be healthy and normal. Again, during the transition, once we got to about 90% kibble, nothing but diarrhea again, red ears, itchy skin. Currently I am taking the advice of my sister’s vet, and we put her on a bland diet of boiled ground beef and rice (since all her food up until this point was chicken based). She is doing well on the ground beef, her ears don’t seem nearly as bad, but we need to find a food to transition her to that will not give her tons of tummy problems. I have heard many similar stories regarding this reaction to the holistic type dog foods. However, I also don’t want to be giving her shitty dog food. My sister’s vet recommended finding a Lamb and Rice based food because Lamb is supposed to me a bit more mild on their stomachs. So my grand questions is: What is a decent type of dog food, that is Lamb and Rice based, and isn’t too holistic? I welcome any suggestions on this matter as well! I am tired of cleaning up dog soup!!!! HELPPP!!!!!!!!!
Hi! I’ve been feeding my 6 month old Doberman / pitbull puppy Blue Buffalo puppy food but he still gets diarrhea fairly regularly. There’s no other symptoms (he’s still playful, happy, eating, drinking etc) we have been to the vet and they say he’s a healthy boy. However he still (especially when he’s excited) gets diarrhea. I’m wondering if maybe the food isn’t fully agreeing with him. Any suggestions on a decent food that may be easier on his tummy? Thanks all!!
I agree with Patty as well. My caveat would be to try to avoid food with grains….corn, soy, wheat etc.
We experimented…slowly with various brands and settled on Blue Buffalo or Wellness..both canned and kibble. Of course, every time we buy, we do check ingredients as companies are known to change to something cheaper and keep the label looking the same.
I would suggest that you show your boyfriend what “meat by products” are and let him know that they can have adverse effects on a dog.
We also stay away from any glutens for protein enhancing agents and only buy food that is made from ingredients here or in Canada. (no chinese). Check any treats you buy as well, as a lot of companies are putting an American flag on the package to make you think it’s made here. When you read the fine print, it says “made in china”. (poisonous ingredients a few years ago related to gluten).
The little extra spent on a quality dog food will pay you back in the long run with fewer vet bills and fewer skin problems for your pup.
Good luck with your new family member!
How long has she been on Nutrisca? It will take a while on a new food for the crud to get out of their system. I’ve been dealing with an allergy dog too. Your story sounds a lot like mine and my dog started off in a low end type food Pro Plan and I wanted a better food so bought Blue Buffalo and then all he(( broke loose. I kept trying new food changing the proteins and she just got worse and worse with rashes and red ears and raw paws etc. We are on NB potato and rabbit for three weeks now and things are improving but not perfect yet. She also will break out suddenly out of the blue. I’m telling myself it is what they call a “healing crisis”. Supposedly that’s all normal. I will tell you that she looks better now than she has since I switched her off Pro Plan. I’m assuming you took her off the Rachel Ray stuff because you wanted healthier? Or was she having problems on that? On Pro Plan, my dog was scratching a little but had a watering eye and that was pretty much all. Then we finally realized that all the foods she was allergic to had only one common ingredient and it is PEAS. I know she is allergic to other things too though like rawhide and cow bones.
I would suggest that you give her only one food until you find that it is OK. I would also suggest to not give any of those supplements you mentioned because right now you have no idea what she’s allergic to. My dog reacted badly to spirulina! If she has yeast then keep the probiotic. Then once you know the food is OK, add ONE new supplement at a time until you know it’s OK and no reaction. Any of these things can cause problems for a sensitive dog. She could easily be allergic to salmon oil or coconut oil or that glucosamine. Honestly the only thing that I can give my dog without it causing a problem, that I have tried, is her human grade probiotic.
If your dog was NOT allergic to the Rachel Ray food then look at the ingredients and try and find a better quality food with the same basic ingredients. Like if it has chicken then you know that chicken was not the issue. What I have learned from having a dog with allergies is that you can’t just say “oh that food has 5 stars it great for my dog”. It just doesn’t work like that. These dogs have a whole new set of rules when it comes to what to feed.
I have a 13 year old Jack Russell Terrier with some skin allergies. Several years ago we switched her to a lamb and rice food and that seemed to help with the itching. She has put on a few pounds and is getting older, so I would like to switch her to a senior food. I have not been able to find one that contains lamb and rice. The pet store recommended Blue Buffalo, which does not seem to be a favorite from the comments I see on the site. Thanks.
I have a chocolate Lab that has had numerous issues. I rescued her off of Craigslist in Oct. The person I got Karma from had her on Rachel Ray Noutrish. I switched her to Blue Buffalo Freedom for puppies (grain free) It all started in December with a big ear infection to both ears and small, red bumps on her abdomen last December. Diagnosis: chicken allergy. Switched to Natural Balance Potato and Fish with tuna and salt-free peas which she did fine on…for awhile. I noticed increased itchiness..she scratched and bit everywhere…no fleas. She also developed a UTI with struvite crystals so I switched to NB Potato and Rabbit. My vet suggested Hill’s Prescription for the crystals and UTI which I refused. The vet also states to stop giving her tuna and peas as the peas may have contributed to the pH problem. My baby has had 2 back to back UTI’s one with the crystals and one without. During the 2nd UTI I switched to Nutrisca Lamb and Chickpea (grain and potato free) and canned Lamb from Wellness as a topper (only in a.m.) She seems to be doing better although she still itches and bites her paws but it appears to go in spurts….. I’m wondering if it is enviromental allergies and not food. She has some eye goobers but I started using Ark Naturals Eyes So Bright and that has helped tremendously. She also was very flaking but that has almost gone away since starting her on Nutrisca. She is on Claritin/Benadryl/probiotic/salmon oil/liquid glucosamine and sometimes coconut oil. She is also on a cranberry extract for a urine pH of 9.
I have started to notice she is losing fur on the tips of her ears (just started last week). She has no ear infection that I can see. I had been cleaning 3x per week because they began to smell…now I am down to 1x per week
I use Richard’s Organics Incredible Skin Spray for the itchy areas and any hotspots. I also at times will rub in coconut oil
She has little red bumps on her belly which come and go….literally they are there in the morning and sometimes almost gone by night (could be the benadryl/claritin combo)
I have tried digestive enzymes twice (different brands) and she has vomited with both…not sure she can tolerate them…I’ve started slowly both times
I have to bring her back in for a re-check of her urine to see if the pH is down
Every dog food she has been on she has liked….she is not a picky eater (she even eats pills as if they were a treat)
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and sorry it is long
We currently feed our dogs Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice dry food. We pay around $55 for a 30 lb. bag. We are looking for other good dry food options that cost a little less. Any advice?
I just bought the treat this Friday at Walmart, so far nothing has happened. The ones I bought are chicken strips and the ingredients are chicken, brown rice syrup, vinegar and green tea extract. In the back of the package in the pink bottom section their is a web site http://www.fullmoonpet.com and a 1-888-970-FULL number. I have a 10yr old Llasa Apso and he weights 18 pounds. I was giving him before blue buffalo treats and saw these ones that kind of look the same w/the same ingredients but cheaper. I will let you guys know if anything happens
AnonymousInactive
I don’t have volume numbers, but the companies with the mass-produced brands are the ones with the largest annual revenues by far. Blue Buffalo’s annual revenue (these are 2011 numbers) was about $352 million. P&G Pet Care (Iams & Eukanuba) – $1.8 billion. Nestle Purina – $10.4 billion. Mars Petcare (Pedigree, etc) – $16.2 billion.
BUT Blue Buffalo and other brands that are appealing to a desire for higher quality ingredients are seeing huge increases in sales as people are becoming more aware of what is in their petfoods. More and more brands are showing up and having success, so it seems to be a great trend in the right direction.
ran across this web site. A while ago i discontinued blue buffalo. and was asked why. Some thing in side told me it wasnt the same. Just the comments I was getting from my customers made me uncomfortable. so please if you of any of your friends or family feed Blue Buffalo link on and read this. It blew my mind……….
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/blue_buffalo.html
359 Complaints and Reviews about Blue Buffalo Pet Foods
http://www.consumeraffairs.com
My husband is a research fanatic and we decided on the Blue Buffalo adult chicken and brown rice based on the rave reviews. While our 2 year old lab eats …
I use NutriSource also and have had no issues. I prefer the grain-free varieties. I had bad luck with Blue Buffalo and my dog ended up with diarrhea. My vet said it was a rich food and other dogs had been brought in for the same issue. If the dog is suddenly not eating after switching and has GI issues and is otherwise healthy and active, it is most likely the food. Also, rice in dog foods can cause gas and other issues in certain dogs as it is sometimes hard to digest and will sit and ferment in their bellies. So if your dog is having bad gas issues as well, I would consider switching to something without rice. My dog can’t handle rice either. Best of luck to you.
I do not care for Blue Buffalo either. It gave my dog diarrhea. Vet said it’s a very rich food.
Has there be a review of Blue Buffalo “Blue Bones” (Dental Chews)? How about Blue Buffalo “Blue Stix” (Beef and Potato)?
Thanks Mommadog (hope I got your username right, sorry if I didn’t) So I bought Blue Buffalo Life Protection and I top it Blue Wilderness Wet Food. My dog loves it!!!! The wet food gives him a great energy boost! What is your opinion on Blue?
Just check out Dr. Mike’s lists of 4 and 5 star foods – most would be comparable to Blue in terms of ingredients. You can also scroll through the threads to read the feedback others have left on the foods.
We have a soon to be 5 year old Dalmatian who is currently eating ProPlan Salmon. We rescued her in March and her coat was fine. Since the summer she has been itchy and looks like a rash under her coat. She is also chewing at her paws. We thought we’d switch to another food to help/investigate if it was the food (Proplan worked for our other Dals) or see if maybe she had allergies to the grass (which another Dal had). I also wanted to give her a food that was more nutritional and not a lot of fillers, hence the Blue Buffalo. People rave about this, but I don’t like the newest posts that I’m seeing! Any other suggestions?
Just got a new puppy with what we believe to be a pitbull mix a couple days ago. Someone dropped him on a friend of mine and she was going to take him to the shelter but I brought him home with me instead. The vet said he’s about 10weeks old and he already weighs about 20 lbs. The vet said based upon his body frame and the size of his paws that he is likely to be a large dog pushing close to 100 lbs when he gets fully grown. So I am looking for a quality puppy food to feed him. I have been feeding him 4Health Performance Adult food (which I feed my other dog) while I researched what kind of puppy food would be best suited for him. I know it doesn’t have all that he needs but figure it is definitely a higher quality than standard Purina Puppy Chow. A lot of the top dog foods aren’t available in my area but I know that I can get Wellness, Merrick, Taste of the Wild, and Blue Buffalo locally. I see that Wellness puppy is on your list but is that the standard Wellness puppy or the large breed formula? Any advice is greatly appreciated. š
I’m not a fan of Blue Buffalo.
Tell us more about your dog; ie: breed; age; medical / nutritional needs; food intolerances / allergies. What are you currently feeding your pup?
I’ve been asking for a review of the new Earth’s Pride item at BJ’s as well but haven’t seen one yet.
I am currently using the Earth’s Pride Pet Foods and really really really love them! I had moved off of the Costco brand to Blue Buffalo which I was paying a fortune for because my dog’s didn’t do well on Kirkland despite the good ingredient deck. When the BJ’s dry foods came out I was skeptical because the disparity I saw between Kirkland and Blue Buffalo.
Because of that I wanted to asked questions about the food and was told by BJ’s that their food is made by a company called GlobalOne pet. They provided me this e-mail address [email protected] to contact them. Upon my asking they told me they peroxide value test their meats, they don’t buy farm raised fish, they said they did all the little things that I guess made a difference in the more expensive foods vs. Kirkland. We currently use the Grain Free Duck but have used the Chicken and Lamb as well for the dry and my dogs are doing great and LOVE IT! We use the wet as well as a treat sometimes and man they are doing great on it as well. Best part it’s a terrific value still, (although not as cheap as Kirkland).
Hope this helps!
I have a Schnauzer who’s prone to pancreatitis. He was on Pedigree Adult Complete for years and he would have frequent bouts of pancreatitis, constipation, stomach pain, vomiting and his poops were hard as rocks…and looked like them, too. I switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken and all 3 of my dogs suffered from frequent soft stools and bad gas, although they absolutely loved the food. The frequent soft stools had me worried for my Schnauzer, so I switched (again) to Victor’s Beef and Rice formula. I transitioned each time in about 7 days time. Now that they are completely on Victor’s…they won’t eat. Should I go back to the BB? I’m a little nervous because of all the complaints I’ve heard about BB. Also, it’s hard to find locally…I really hate to keep switching them, but I’m not really sure what else to do. Any advice is appreciated!
He does like carrots. What are the safest vegetables to give dogs on a daily basis? We treat him as we leave 2 x’s a day and then a little at bedtime.
If the kibble is only 10-20% of his daily intake you could safely replace it with fresh foods such as tinned sardines, plain yogurt or kefir, lean pieces of leftover meat, low glycemic vegetables or eggs. This would be a much healthier option that kibble and could also be a good way to make sure some of your healthy leftovers don’t get wasted. š
Thanks HDM, I have never experienced what you have with the mold or bugs. He has not had any ill effects so far and he has been on it a couple of years. I believe this bag is ok since no adverse effects but will be looking for a replacement.
There is just so much stuff out there that its hard to know what to use. Im guessing I could try anything on the 5 star list here and we should be good to go. This is really only about 10 to 20% of his daily intake so I could do away with it all together and just replace it with low cal treats since that is really what we use it for.
I can only speak from my personal experiences. Last summer I ordered a bag of BB biscuits from Pet Food Direct and when I opened the bag there were bugs (the product wasn’t expired and there were no holes in the bag that I could see). A month or so later I purchase a bag of their cat food at a local feed store and when I opened it there was white mold all over the food (wasn’t expired and I couldn’t see where it had gotten wet). That same summer my friend got a new golden retriever puppy and tried to transition her to BB – the dog got really bad diarrhea and it cleared up as soon as she took the dog off BB. I then started reading on the negative reviews on this site and other sites and haven’t touched a BB product since. It’s too bad because they used to make really great stuff – I fed my cats BB for years. The company has really gone downhill though – imo.
Any word on this food? I keep seeing posts about dogs getting sick within the last 6 months. We feed him the Life Protection Formula with the Life Source bits as a secondary food source. Main food source is Grandma Lucys freeze dried chicken. We mostly use the dry kibble as “treats” for training as we thought it might be lower calorie then actual treats. Also if we happen to run out of GL then we supplement with BB until we can get to the store.
We are thinking of switching our Dalmatian’s food to Blue Buffalo to help with her itchy skin and paws. I’ve been trying to find the big differences between the Blue Buffalo’s lines, but can’t really see what separates each line except grain-free, high protein etc. I am hoping you can help me make a good decision for our girl so we can give her better food and help with all the itching! Thanks!
Agree with Patty,
Seniors need more quality protein and most “senior” foods have a reduced amount of protein and an increased amount of fillers or grains which are actually more inflammatory. There are some exceptions like Amicus Senior, Merrick Classic Senior, Orijen, Blue Buffalo Wilderness Senior and a few others. But I would stick with an “all life stage” food with at least 30% protein.
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/05/surprising-findings-from-tufts-study-of-37-senior-dog-foods.aspx
There are several options to help with joints: green lipped mussel, omega 3, tumeric, Wysong Arthegic, Actiflex 4000, glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin, tart cherry, Esterifiedd fatty acids like cetyl-myristoleate, Yucca http://www.1800petmeds.com/Yucca+Intensive-prod10850.html
http://www.coxvetlab.com/products/acti-flexk9.htm
My 9 month old Red Bone Hound/Lab mix is scooting and biting her booty. My vet told me to supplement her food with pumpkin, but I figured that I could just change her food and solve the problem. She ate Iams when she was younger when this problem started, so I swicthed her to Blue Buffalo grain free puppy. At first Blue worked, nice hard stools, no scooting or biting. But over time her stools loosened up and she is having the same problems again. I am very diligent about not feeding her any grain, and I know she doesnt have worms. Just bought some Earthborn coastal grain free, hope it works. Her sister still eats Iams and has no problems, any suggestions would really help. After reading many, many blogs I just feel lost. The fibre content of Blue is more than Earthborn is that a problem
? Chicken vs fish? Hound Dog Mom help!!!!
Sincerely, Max & Marlowe
My dog was diagnosed with SARDS/IMR in April. In addition to finding a successful treatment with Dr. Plechner, I switched his diet from Purina One to Blue Buffalo. They have a simplified Salmon/Potato recipe that has helped. Here is some more info from Dr. Plechner’s website regarding food allergies that may also help. http://drplechner.com/learn/allergies/dog-food-allergies/
I’m still in the process of sorting this out so I don’t have answers, only anecdotal info:
I have been feeding my gsd blue buffalo large breed chicken since I got her 2 years ago. First the puppy formula then adult. No problems at all til the last bag I bought in early August 2013. Explosive and persistent diarrhea the day after I started feeding her the ‘new’ food followed by vomiting.
I started feeding her real rice, chicken and carrots to ease her pain. Then while transitioning her back to the blue buffalo by sprinkling it on the ‘real’ food, the diarrhea started again. To be clear, I don’t know for sure blue buffalo is causing the problem. I am just a person with a dog, not a food testing laboratory. But she is highly monitored – we are always together and hasn’t eaten foreign or domestic poop, objects or greenery.
After reading about others with similar experiences on this forum , I thought I should add mine to the list. Blue Buffalo is denying any change in their formula. My dog gets sick when she eats it. I hope yours doesn’t.
Hey all,
My 15 year old Lhasa/Shih Tzu mix has been diagnosed with the onsite of chronic kidney disease. He’s on Azodyl and until recently was eating Blue Buffalo’s Homestyle Recipe Senior. The vet is recommending we put him on Prescription Diet K/D. While the ingredient list isn’t horrid, it ain’t great either. And I know it’s going to be pricey.
Since Thorndyke only eats canned food these days, what foods would you recommend for him?
Thanks!
I had my boxer mix puppy/adult (just turned 1) on Blue Buffalo Wilderness. We’ve only had her for 2 months. She was on Purina One Puppy when we got her, vet recommended Science Diet. She was doing OK on that (was eating twice daily), but that’s when I found this website and wanted to put her on something better. Settled on BB. Well, I’m not sure she likes it. she’s only been eating once a day. I got a couple of cans of wet food and mixed in about 1/3 can with the dry. The next day she didn’t eat and had diahhrea all day, then the next day every time she drank water she would throw it up. I figured that maybe it was too rich for her. Took her to the vet – they gave her fluid injections, and an anti-nausea shot. She’s been on chicken and rice since, but I’m looking for some kind of food that would be good for a dog that may have a sensitive stomach or some GI problems. Does anyone have ay sunggestions for me or know how i would figure that out? On a side note, she LOVES the chicken and rice. Would it be bad just to keep her on that and maybe mix in some fruits and vegetables?
Thanks for your help!
Hi, just posted this under “reviews”, but am thinking that maybe posting here would be better…
I am transitioning my dachshund mix from Blue Buffalo Fish and Sweet Potato to Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit Formula. (I want to go grain and potato-free.) Even with his old food, he would wait until the very last second before bed to eat – like he was holding out for something better. (He is food obsessive and is constantly hoovering the floors, looking for crumbs.) But he HATES this new food. He sniffs it and walks away. I just watched him try to eat it, and he finally gave up and walked away. The first night he ate it all up, but hasn’t wanted to touch it since then. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or not, but I feel like he might be itching after he eats, too? I noticed it has lamb in it – maybe it’s the lamb that disagrees with him? His stool is normal, but it’s he’s just acting weird and definitely NOT liking the new food. Any thoughts or suggestions on something else to switch him to?
Hello, all–
First time posting here.
I adopted my dog in November of last year, so I am unfamiliar with his medical history. He had his first seizure while my mom was watching him for a week after Thanksgiving (end of November). Then, he had another seizure while I was home with my parents on Christmas Day.
He was good on the seizures until last Sunday (again, we were at my parents), and then he had another one this morning (a week in between seizures this time). This is the FIRST time in 4 seizures that he has had one at my house.
Now, when he is at my parents house, he eats the food that my mom feeds her dogs (which includes t/d Hill’s Prescription Diet for dental health). When he is at my house, I feed him Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain-Free. HOWEVER, he had his teeth cleaned on Monday (the day after the seizure before last), and the vet recommended I switch him to Hill’s t/d Prescription Diet for Dental Health. I just began giving him this food as his main food (replacing the grain free Blue Buffalo) on Friday of this week (3 days before seizure).
My question is this: Could his seizures be related to the food? It seems like that to me, but I’m not sure. He has had a full blood work up and has no signs of epilepsy, so if he does have epilepsy, it is idiopathic in nature.
Thanks!
I have a three yr old Anatolian with severe allergies. I recently had blood test done for food allergies. It came back with sensitivity to potato = 245, milk = 233, barley = 188, beef = 163, brewers yeast = 143, rice = 120, chicken = 118, lamb = 112. It has been a challenge to locate dog food products that do not include these products. I am currently using Blue Buffalo Basic grain free mixed with a can of the same product. She is on daily 10 mg of prednisone as well as antihistamine, lanoline rise and twice monthly bathing. I have read as much as I can get my hands on. I would appreciate any new ideas or a new approach.
Hound Dog Mom, in searching for best foods for my dog, I’m realizing that my cat needs better food, too. I noticed that you said you feed your cats Nature’s Logic. Which variety do you feed, and you you rotate foods with your cats? Right now she is on Blue Buffalo Indoor/Fish. I seriously think she has pica (she eats EVERY little thing she finds) and we have would up in the emergency room more than once. Now I am wondering if it might be linked to poor nutrition..?
I used BB Wilderness about 3 years ago (about 10 or 12 bags) and didn’t have any issues. It was during the 2010 recall too for excess vitamin D. I wonder what is going on with BB now?
BB was the 1st kibble I gave my greyhound after adopting him. The kennel used a mix of kibbles so it was a cold turkey start for Harry. He had horrendous stools & lost hair by the handful. He was only off track for a month so I chalked it up to the huge lifestyle transition, which most likely played a giant part, but I’ve wondered after hearing similar stories if the food made it worse. Guess I’ll never know. Glad to hear the pups are all doing better
thank you.. they are doing better now.. but it’s taken a very long time..
best.
First of all thanks for the replies and suggestions. When I said in my first e-mail that Ellie is a picky eater, I meant an extremely picky eater. We have tried adding eggs, liver, and other things to her food. She will not eat the eggs. She will not eat any fish, such as sardines. She will eat liver. I boil chicken livers and after they are cooked and cooled, I wrap each one in plastic wrap and then drop them into a freezer bag. That way I can thaw out one at a time for her. I slightly warm them and then chop them and mix with her food. She will eat those, but so far they have not put any weight on her. She does have an unusually small mouth and teeth. She is also very small boned. So the Vet said that if it takes her a long time to eat her kibble, it is most likely too large for her and therefore, she may not be getting enough of it. Yes, Taste of the Wild is not tiny kibble like Blue Buffalo. So I think due to that, I need to switch her to a smaller kibble that is for tiny dogs and puppies. I am looking into that. Does anyone know of a Grain Free Puppy Kibble that is also a very small kibble, around the size of a pea or smaller? The TOTW is around the size of a dime, so a big large for her. It does take her a long time to eat just one piece. She works and works at it. So this may be one of her problems.
We have a female Yorkie, who was 9 years old this past May. At her heaviest weight she weighed 4 1/2 lbs. She is a petite little thing. But she had tonsilitis a couple of times and lost some weight. Once she started losing, she continued to lose and now she weighs only 2.5 lbs. She has never gained the weight back. She eats, she eliminates fine. She just does not gain any weight.
We have had her teeth cleaned, even though it was a high risk to have it done. She came through it and she had no loose teeth nor any cavities. So that is not the problem. All of her extensive and expensive blood work has come back fine. She checks out fine at her physical. She is just skinny. She is a picky eater. We have tried to get her to eat high calorie soft food, but she will not. We have tried many many kinds and flavors and have wasted a lot of money on soft food, but she will not eat it. We have tried mixing a little with her Taste of the Wild dry kibble, but she still will not eat it. We had her and her Puppy sisters on Blue Buffalo, but they all started refusing to eat it, so I did a lot of research for a good grain free food and asked our Vet and “Taste of the Wild” has been what they have been eating for at least a year or more now.
Our 3 1/2 yr. old Yorkie, Abbie, is around the same height and she weighs close to 5 lbs. Our 3 yr. old Biewer Terrier, Zoie, is also around the same height and she weighs around 4.12 lbs. So it is only our older tiny Ellie who is skinny and underweight. She loves chicken and bacon from the table, but they do not put any weight on her either. And our Vet says that the bacon is not good for her. Does anyone have any suggestions? She looks like an anorexic dog and we are concerned that she will start having a lot of health issues due to malnutrition. We just spent close to $200 on tests and they found nothing wrong with her! Her stool was tested, too, and no parasites. The Vet says that she is healthy, but too skinner.
He suggested putting her on Royal Canin Puppy Food dry and wet. But it has grain in it and not sure how she will do on that. Plus we cannot feed her separate from our other two. We have tried that and she barks not wanting to be away from them to eat. It is a big problem!
Any suggestions that anyone has, I am willing to try!
Thanks!
I’m sorry about your friends dogs. I hope they recover.
My friend had a similar experience with Blue when feeding it to her golden puppy – diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, etc. Cleared up as soon as she switched foods.
Hi avamom –
I would recommend feeding a food of the list of appropriate large and giant breed puppy foods posted here. Blue Buffalo Wilderness and Nutro Natural Choice are not appropriate foods for a growing giant breed puppy such as a Mastiff. The Nature’s Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Turkey formula or the rabbit formula might be a good food to try. Sometimes with sensitive dogs it’s trial and error until you figure out which foods are causing the issues.
A great friend who is an amazing dog person.. she raises her dogs in the healthiest way possible — has had a terribly frightening experience with Blue Buffalo dog food.. Another friend had a similar problem with Blue Buffalo cat food.. I have never posted here before, but what happened to my friend’s dogs is very, very worrying. Here’s what happened:
For months one of her dogs has been having on and off bouts of diarrhea. Her other dogs seemed “off”, lethargic and just not themselves. She had them tested repeatedly for tick diseases and all has been negative. Everything came to a head in the last two weeks. One of her dogs had serious GI problems during her pregnancy and did not eat well even while lactating. Two Saturdays ago she started throwing up repeatedly at 5 in the morning and was shivering, by the time they got her to the vet that morning, she was throwing up blood. At the vet she was hydrated and all the tests showed nothing.. She spent the night at emergency hospital where they did more tests including x-rays and ultrasound showed nothing, healthiest dog on the planet. She came home on a low fat ID diet and seemed to recover well.
This past Sunday afternoon, her dog’s mother had a seizure. Two more of her dogs also started throwing up for several days. The first dog to get sick, the one who had been hospitalized, began throwing up again with tremors. They had started re-introducing her regular Blue Buffalo kibble earlier that week.
My friend started googling Blue Buffalo food and the attached link is what she found. She took all of her dogs off the food..Finally this morning she feels like everyone is getting better. No one threw up last night, no tremors, no diarrhea, no seizures.
Here is the link she found..
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/blue_buffalo.html?page=2
I just got back from petco to buy my yorkie canned food. He’s been on merrick 13.2 oz cans for 2.99 which is not so bad since he can eat it for 2 days. I was going to buy him some nature’s variety instinct. a 13.2 oz can was 4.79. I mean really what a rip off!!!! He was on bb kibble and for 3 months it cost me about 40$. I know u people don’t like blue buffalo but they are not ripping us off as bad as some other companies and they are 5 star foods. I can buy 4 health for .99$ a ccan and not have to go out of town but what’s really bad is my yorkie didn’t like the food any better. Any comments?
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This topic was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by
Mike Sagman. Reason: Fix Duplicate Topic Title
my boston terrier has been diagnosed with alopecia…. she is balding on her chest and hind legs. The balding is all symmetrical. The vet has done a skin scrape and tested for other known causes of hairloss. All these tests come back negative. Now she says that the hair loss is going to be a result of a thyroid issue or hormore issue. We are going to start running more tests to look into which it might be. Have any other owners out there had to deal with alopecia in their dogs??? She’s perfectly healthy otherwise, but what concerns me is how these thyroid/hormone issues may affect her later on in life. For those of you who are dealing with alopecia or thyroid/hormone issues…. what food are you using to help your dog? Are there foods out there that can help bring the re-growth of the dogs hair back? She is currently of blue buffalo freedon small breed dry food. We switched her to the freedom line when the hair loss began bc we wanted to rule out allergies for the hair loss reason.
I looked through the 5 star review. How can brands with recent recalls be on the list? I have had to change food 3 times. We went from Blue Buffalo to Natural Balance to Taste of the Wild! Since a few of the 5 star brands are getting/have been recalled, I now don’t know what to switch to. I found out that Taste of the Wild is made by Diamond, so now I want to switch. Any suggestions??
Hi, I am new to this forum. I have been referencing DFA since I first put down the deposit on my English mastiff puppy. She is will be 7 months old this week and we have had a time. I was feeding Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy for the first 5 months. She had a rash and I thought it might be a food allergy she was on flea meds and I never saw any. It wasn’t horrible but it was constant. I took her off thinking maybe it was the chicken and put her on Natural Choice Sweet Potato and Venison. It got much worse within a week. Got to looking at ingredients and realized there were sweet potatoes in the BBWP as well. Tried Natural Choice Venison and Potato better but still not gone (this one had carrots). We discovered a beta carotene or at least an orange vegetable allergy. Took her off everything and cooked her rice or potatoes and ground venison for a month. She got too lean and even though she was getting a multi vitamin I was concerned about proper nutrition. Help! What can I feed her that is good for her overall health and proper growth, but that does not cause allergic reactions.
1 month ago
