[Gail G]

Blue Buffalo is my nomination. It’s sort of a new dog food, in our grocery store in several varieties, and I read all the ingredients, and I couldn’t find anything wrong that I’ve read about on the ingredient list. Now, I’m not anti-grain, don’t mind if corn is in it, chicken is the first ingredient and the only meal was chicken meal, and it has many vitamins other foods don’t, and ingredients for the dog’s coat. I guess one of the exceptions that you list must apply to this food and, if possible, I’d like to know just how negative that might be… if the company was simply uncooperative because they’re into making food and not filling an office to answer inquiries, that sort of thing. I REALLY want to get it, they have a Life Protection Formula that I like and also Puppy Formulas. We lost our dog two months ago and are ready now to adopt a new pup, anywhere from 4 months on up to a year… we’ve adopted a couple seniors and “Gone Too Soon” (Michael Jackson) SO applies, so this time it’s going to be a life dog, as we’ve had before. So, if you could give me ANY positive reaction to this food, or any WARNING about it, I want to hear back. Also, if it’s been recalled, I’d like to know why. Thanks for this website! GigiMac

[Jane J]

Thanks for the suggestions, unfortunately none of them are as low carb as Evo, tho’ a couple are close.

Evo 16% calorie rated carbs
Blue Buffalo Wilderness 33%
Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural 22%
Canidae Pure 30%
Nature’s Variety Instinct 25%
Solid Gold Barking at the Moon 19%

The best of the bunch, Solid Gold, unfortunately uses pea protein for one of its major protein sources, a low bioavailable source, so that rules it out for me. And 30-35% carb is pretty much an average for the better quality foods, so nothing exceptional there.

Whereas the Wysong Epigen is 7% carb, even better than Evo if significantly more expensive.

I will certainly keep checking the Evo location finder. Doing so yesterday I found a store in a not-too-far away town that I wasn’t aware of carrying it, so I will certainly check with them. However, the same locator also lists a store that has discontinued carrying it because they have had supply issues. For the time being, Chewy is selling down their stock. When I called yesterday to find out what was going on, they had 300 bags & were only selling them to the current subscribers, of which I am one.

The reason for my persnickety-ness is that one of my dogs has a recurring sarcoma, & cancers LOVE carbs. So we’re trying to tilt several things in the dog’s favor.

[karen b]

My toy Poodle has bad breath. She’s very healthy and has her teeth cleaned once a year. She just had blood work and everything was excellent. I feed her dry Natural Balance potato Duck and also change to chicken and venison. Could this food be causing this? She does not get table food. And her treats are once a day and there blue buffalo…

[Elizabeth H]

Wow thank you this was VERY informative. I have her on a fast today and I will resume feeding tomorrow. The vet said he didn’t believe she has IBD because before the round worms she was fine on the purina and blue buffalo kibble. I am considering a new vet we’ll see how this goes when we start over tomorrow. I will be using the boiled chicken and long grain white rice then I’ll add pumpkin. And add probiotics to it that I got from the vet . I tried to press reverse when I noticed her stool getting soft but it would be too late and watery.

[InkedMarie]

Blue Buffalo has had it’s share of issues & it’s a food I would not feed. For you, your dogs are a nice old age so I assume it’s working for them. I’d leave them on it since it’s working.

[dorothy s]

Hello all, first post here. My Pembroke and Cardigan Corgis are 15 and 14 years old, respectively, and in reasonable weight at approximately 36 and 30 lbs. The Pem seems to have a bit of acid reflux and will throw up if he goes too long between meals, so I feed them both four times a day, 1/4 cup of Blue Buffalo Adult Weight Control per meal, wetted with 1/4 cup water. They’ve been on this regimen for three or four years and have done very well on it. (I add water because both dogs have dental issues — fractures, etc. — that my vet would prefer not to go surgical on, given their age. They eat every morsel at every meal.)

I have to confess I’ve given appallingly little thought to their diet over the years, until today. Now, having found this site and forum, I’m wondering if I couldn’t do better by the old dears — or should I let sleeping (literally, most of the time) dogs lie and stick with the Blue Buffalo? Any suggestions, O sage hive mind? TIA!

!

• This topic was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by dorothy s.
• This topic was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by dorothy s.

[Elizabeth H]

I have a 4 month old Dobe lab mix and she cannot tolerate any food other than Royal Canin canned gastro intestinal high energy. I’ve tried slowly switching her over to 4 different foods but, half way through the switch she develops watery diarrhea (the only symptom) and she has to go back on the canned prescription food. I am a first time dog owner and I had ZERO idea on what to do. We’ve been to the vet 6 times in the last month and I’m starting to think he’s a quack lol. We’ve tried blue buffalo, pet smarts version of wellness and a wow brand with chicken salmon and turkey. After the first bout of diarrhea she had round worms and they were treated and since about a month ago all of her parasite tests come back negative. I’m going to try to go back to the food she was on when I got her which was purina puppy chow. If there are any suggestions on what I can do to get her back on a normal diet it would be greatly appreciated!!!!

[Audrey E]

We have been feeding our dogs Homestyle Senior Blue Buffalo canned dog food for over 1 year. The last 3 months the quality and consistency have deteriorated greatly. The food is now gritty and loose/almost runny. My dogs were frequently experiencing diarrhea and regularly experiencing loose stool. I contacted Blue Buffalo and got the typical customer service response so I returned the rest of the cans. I am now feeding the dogs a much better quality of dog food recommended by our fabulous vet of 15 years. Our dogs no longer have loose stools and are enjoying their meal times. I am sincerely disappointed in the Blue Buffalo company. I hope my dogs are not affected long term by Blue Buffalo’s lack of quality control.

[Jeanette A]

Hi All,
My 6 year old Jack Russell developed a UTI 2 years ago noticed by blood in the urine and also could not walk a 3 steps without peeing. Took him to the vet and was x-ray’d found stone blockage. Vet gave us some pills and scheduled surgery. The day of surgery I walked him in the am and noticed steady good stream and a happier dog (no doubt) Took him to the vet as scheduled just in case I was wrong and sure enough all cleared up. He has been on Urinary SO ever since 2 yrs total. I really would like to switch him off the script food too expensive as well can’t be good for a length of time Vet claims he should stay for life. I am currently not measuring his PH and I have noticed lately he is cleaning himself alot more then usual but no other signs of a UTI still walking good and good streams. Before the UTI I did notice a strong deep yellow colour and odour in the urine. Can anyone help recommend a good resonably priced food? Not Blue buffalo I was feeding him this when he got sick with the UTI…any help would be greatly appreciated

[Allie S]

That dog food sounds promising, I’ll put it on my list of future dog foods to try!. I do agree with you, changing dog foods is always hesitant especially if your dogs have done good on it for so long.
I love Chewy! Thats where we get all our dog food from, my other dog Molley does really well on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Toy so I’m not changing it (1 good solid poop in the morning everyday- couldn’t ask for anything better). Orijen for 3 dogs is a lot of money to be spending, not going to lie – I probably couldn’t do it either. But since Blue is the only one on it (a 5lbs of dog food lasts 1 month and 1.5 weeks), it lasts longer and isn’t so much a price tag issue because its only 3-4$ more than Blue Buffalo & we get free shipping on orders over 49$ 😀

[Allie S]

Coprophagia – dog who eats their or other dogs poop

Hi there, my dog BLUE (blue merle pomeranian, 1 year old on April 21, 8lbs, neutered) struggles with Coprophagia, I’ve researched online and it could be parasites (I’m getting him dewormed in about 2 hours at the vet), nutrients deficiency from his food, or some underlying health condition.. While I don’t think its a underlying health issue – I really am leaning towards it just being a repulsive behavior or not getting enough nutrients from his current dog food. Before I spend hundreds of dollars on tests for why he has Coprophagia, I would like to try to do the simple stuff first before I get myself neck deep.
I try to pick up poop after they eliminate (I have a 5 year old pomapoo female – she is disgusted by even the thought of poop LOL), and I do pick up poop atleast 1 time a day, but of course I’m not perfect lol. My husband thinks he eats poop just to eat it, he eats everything he can get ahold of (frogs, plastic, dead bees, black widows, one time i broke glass and he ran from across the house to try and start eating it, yard mulch, rocks) you name it, he’s probably ate it when I’ve not looked or has had it in his mouth at one time & has given us numerous heart attacks – I literally watch him like a hawk 24/7 to prevent himself from ingesting something that could kill him…
Anyways, I need recommendations on dog food varieties, Blue is currently on Acana Pacifica – he’s been on it since I’ve had him, we did try solid gold and blue buffalo but he just could not stop having diarrhea. The thing with Acana is his coat is phenomenal, but he legit poops about 3-5 times a day (big poops and small) no gas though. I’ve done some research and think I’ll be trying FROMM Gold Holistic… It doesn’t help that the dog food he’s currently on is like the most recommended premium stuff on the internet, but if anyone could give me recommendations on other dog foods I should try let me know – if somehow I could stop getting him to poop so often maybe he’d be healthier (in thinking of aspects where he absorbed more nutrients than the dog food he’s currently on therefore pooped less)? IDK LOL?
Thank you in advance everyone!

[FIREMAN29]

Hello, I’m new to this forum but desperately need some help. I have a 5 1/2 month old almost 60 lb amstaff male who has constant on and off diarrhea. I apologize for the lengthiness but theres a bit of a back story to give context. We got him as a rescue by proxy. His mother was rescued by a firefighter friend of mine when she wondered into the firehouse one day. Little did he know that this 9 month old sweetie was preggers. Nonetheless, he took her in, had the litter in his home and posted the puppies up for adoption. My wife and I wanting to get a rescue naturally jumped at the chance to take a pitty home with us. He was 6 weeks old and 6.5 lbs and they had already been weaned and eating Purina Beyond Superfood Blend Salmon flavor. Once that was done, we did the 10 day transition to Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food and he loved it. One day around 10 weeks old he just stopped eating his food and refused to eat it. We contacted our vet and she suggested switching foods, we took the opportunity to switch him to a grain-free and healthier brand (Blue Buffalo Wilderness) once again using the previously mentioned transition method. The transition went fine and he loved the food. Then around 12 weeks he started having diarrhea every second or third day with the days in-between having normal stools. (Mind you, he also was having terrible allergic reactions to his vaccinations and was constantly on prednisone, benedryl, flagyl, and a probiotic). So we figured his digestive issues stemmed from his vaccine issues. His last vaccination was in the second week of February so its been two months. In that time he’s been teething, causing untold destruction, and still having those digestive issues along with a reduction in how much he’s been eating. We’ve done the chicken and rice to help his stomach several times as well so that he’ll eat.

Most recently, the vet gave us a canned food designed for digestive management to use for a week that would help his stomach out. She suggested that the Blue Buffalo may be too rich for his stomach and that we may need to find another brand. I spoke at length with my local pet store manager (Pet Supplies Plus) about this matter and he gave me several suggestions that would possibly help me. So I brought home a small bag of Wellness Complete Health Puppy Food and the pet stores brand called Redford Naturals for all life stages. Once he had constant solid stools with he canned food we began the transition to the Redford brand using the canned food as well. He seemed to be doing very well with the new food and eating it like he used to when he was a small puppy; till today when he started having diarrhea again for his second morning poop.

This is incredibly frustrating, and I have no idea where to go from here. We can’t afford to get him wet/canned food as he would go through it way to fast. And we want the best health for him so that he can have a long healthy life with us. If there is anyone who can help with this we would appreciate it immensely! Thank you.

[Talei H]

Like so many of you, we’ve been dealing with infrequent episodes of what can only be described as “the gulps” in our 4.5 y/o Pembroke Welsh Corgi. The first time our Lilo experienced this awful ordeal, it occurred early in the morning before breakfast, and the severity of her symptoms sent me into a downright panic. I could tell she was beyond confused as well as to what was going on with her body, as if pleading with me to please help her. Believe me, I would have liked nothing more! She appeared to be swallowing/gulping very rapidly, almost in bursts, so my (very frightened) initial thought was that she had something lodged in her throat. I took her to the vet clinic as soon as they opened, but she did not display any symptoms once we were there. She is a highly anxious dog, and absolutely loathes going to the vet under any circumstances. After looking her over, the vet didn’t seem the least bit concerned, and when I tried to describe the symptoms, she looked at me as if I were out of my mind. Nevertheless, she attributed the behavior to allergens, and prescribed an antihistamine. I had a feeling seasonal allergies were not to blame, but seeing as the vet did not believe it to be anything serious (most likely because Lilo was suddently symptom free), I decided to give the antihistamine a try, and we left. Not surprisingly, this did not work, and Lilo’s “gulps” were worse than ever throughout the remainder of the day. I’m sure the stress and anxiety she experienced from our visit to the vet only aggravated things. She would, as most others have described, constantly pace around the room “vacuuming” our carpet and eating any type of debris she could find (dirt, dried up leaves, hair, etc), which she normally doesn’t do. The same applied when she’d be outside on a walk, “mowing the grass” if you will, which again, is very uncommon behavior for her. She became so fixated on this, that she wouldn’t look up when called and had no interest in playing ball, her absolute favorite past time. The next day, after a long night of worry and relatively no sleep, we decided to get a second opinion, and took her to a different veterinary clinic. This time around, the vet seemed much more thorough and concerned, regardless of the fact that again, Lilo wasn’t displaying any symptoms. She diagnosed it as acid reflux, and prescribed a medication equivalent to Pepto Bismol, which we were to add to Lilo’s food through a syringe. The next day, her symptoms cleared, and we were ecstatic!

Fast forward 8 months, and the “gulps” began again around this past December. They have been reoccurring off and on since then – sometimes once a week, or once every two weeks lasting 24-48 hours. The multiple vets we’ve seen have not seen a reason to conduct tests at this point, so we decided to take some other steps at home to see if we couldn’t pinpoint the underlying cause. Before today’s episode, Lilo was eating Blue Buffalo Life Protection, so we switched her to the grain-free, higher protein BB Wilderness version as an experiment to see if it’d help. We were overjoyed to have gone almost 2 months without an episode, and thought for sure that it must have just been a grain allergy that she’d suddenly developed for some reason. Unfortunately, I’ve jinxed our luck because today, we’re experiencing another horrible episode of the “gulps.” It seems that we still haven’t quite figured things out, and as I’m sure all you fellow dog lovers can attest to, it’s so so painful to watch her experience this. I try to comfort her as best I can, and not to let her pick up on how upset this makes me, but it’s always difficult because I care about her, and just want her to enjoy life and be comfortable, not panicked and miserable. Especially not so often…

Thank you all so much for the advice you’ve provided on this forum. We are considering taking a few of these ideas to our vet, and if absolutely possible, perhaps performing an endoscopy (with biopsies, as suggested above). We simply don’t want her to go through this anymore, and if it’s preventable/treatable, we want to do everything we can. I have not tried Gas-X or Pepcid complete, as I’m always a little hesitant to administer drugs that are not intended for dogs. But I’ve now heard from several sources (vets included) that it’s fine, and it seems many of you have had some success with them, so I will consider trying one of those OTC remedies before resorting to costly and invasive tests. If anything changes, I will certainly keep everyone posted!

[Kristin S]

Check a lot of the other posts. Merrick sold out and the quality is likely going down. Do not trust the 5 star reviews.
Also wouldn’t recommend Blue Buffalo, look into the news articles of their recent lawsuits. Best of luck.

[Kahlin K]

Redford naturals is a pet supplies plus original brand, teamed with a company called CJ Foods. CJ Foods is an industry leader in super premium dog foods, producing specialty diets for companies such as Blue Buffalo, Natures Variety and many more. Probably worth trying despite any DFA rating.

[Leslie M]

I have a seven year old cattle dog? Mix that this past year started having chronic anal gland impactions. She has been on blue buffalo chicken and rice since we rescued her 5 years ago with no problems till now. We have had to take her to the vet to express her anal sacs at least once a month this past year. She gets 2 soft chew Glandex and an express ease hard chew stick every day. She gets green beans in her food which is mixed with some canned blue buffalo of different flavors. The last time we took her in to have them expressed the next day she was already dragging her butt around on the carpet. she seems pretty itchy too so that sounds to me like an allergy. I’m at a loss as to what to try on her next. I have tried a couple different foods – grain free, bison, venison. any ideas?

[Erica P]

Hi guys!
Thanks for the input! I did see Victor’s 50lb bag one place online but the price per lb was actually more than the 30lb bag! I’ll look elsewhere and see if I can find it cheaper. The reason for grain free is because I recently took in 2 retired foxhounds, and when I asked my vet if he had any dog food recommendations he said grain free. He then mentioned Blue Buffalo and Canidae, but those are just too expensive for me.

I was feeding the Pure Balance and I thought about the Rachel Ray, but they are around the same price as Victor. I’ll do some research on the calories, ingredients, and the companies behind Pro Pac and 4 Health and go from there!

[Renee A]

That is wonderful. I’ll look for that food. Not sure I’ve heard of it here in Nevada or California. Beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, seem to be big culprits. Our eats lamb and rice by Blue Buffalo. Thank you for the info.

[kevin k]

I have saved all the emergency clinics near me. As of now, I just fed him half a tablespoon of pumpkin and for later, should I feed him commercial kibble (blue buffalo) mixed with cooked beef? or should I skip today’s meal?

[Coonhound Mama]

How very exciting! Congratulations on being asked to contribute. I would definitely add Blue Buffalo Wilderness to the list of misleading dog food packaging- an “evolutionary diet” would never include kibble for the pictured wolf on their dog food bags!

[Anna S]

Is it okay to give raw chicken liver as a treat for dogs? I’m thinking no more than three times a week. I have three Shetland Sheepdogs and one Chihuahua who are on Blue Buffalo LPF. Also, I know this website is for dogs, but if anyone knows if this is a good treat for cats, too, that’d be helpful.

[linda m]

The balanced diet at the top, does this mean I don’t need to give my maltese vitamins etc. My dog has IBS and I’m new at making her own food. I knew about the cooking the bones, because I saw a video on it. My chicken is cooking and then I will cook down the bones with cider vinegar. Should I put some boiled eggs in her food for the shells? I read I was supposed to put fruit in her food. My dog was a puppy mill dog I rescued 3 years ago and she just recently got IBS , her vet started her on royal canin dry food. she ate it at first and now wont eat it at all, he also started her on steroids, which scares me. She has allergies, she chews and bites her paws. I have so many sprays . ointments for this. She lived in a cage most of her life and I don’t know if its a habit from being in a cage. I have 2 more maltese and they eat blue buffalo. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[David B]

Note – when I first discussed the over-weight issue with my vet, he immediately said: “are you feeding her Blue Buffalo ?”. Conclusion: It’s all about the calories in the food…..

[David H]

My two 3 year old Pit Bulls refused to eat the Rabbit version of Blue Buffalo, I mixed in a can of canned food per the suggestion of the salesman at Petco. The dogs at the food, then immediately vomited it up.
I went back to the store and got a replacement bag of a different BB flavor, the one I normally purchase, and they ate it with no issues.

[Sherrie Z]

Hi my Liam is a red nose pit and shar pei mix at the age of 5 the allergies from the sharpei side exploded. Yes I’ve always provided my animals with premium dog food now after my research with yeast infections and the ears I’ve gone completely grain-free food called 4health, Fromm, and Blue Buffalo are very good products.

To battle the yeast infection in his ears- An yes it works wonders an on contact immediate results-
Generally, cleaning your dog’s ears once a week is needed, for those with chronic ear infections or a propensity to develop ‘yeasty-type’ smells and infections, 2 drops of witch hazel to 1 tablespoon of baby oil, Apply this solution to a cotton ball and GENTLY clean out the ear. Witch hazel is also referred to as ‘nature’s Neosporin’ and this solution encourages healing on minor skin breaks. It’s a drying agent which your furbaby needs. An Here is the cream to follow that cleaning-Monistate cream- Yep antifungal cream! Added bonus- anti itch, an infection control, swelling reduced with minutes.

Trust me- or do a little research- Or ask Liam 🙂

[Kyle H]

Taste of the Wild – High Prairie Puppy Vs. Blue Buffalo Life Protection – Puppy

Which food is better?

TotW is grain free and a few dollars cheaper, blue buffalo life protection is not grain free and slightly more expensive. I don’t necessarily care about whether the food has grain or not, I think they’re both high quality feeds. What would you use?

Is there anything better that is in the same price range or cheaper?
My puppy is a 4.5 Month old Australian Shepherd.

[Jenn H]

When Blue Buffalo first came out it was excellent. I was able to get 1 of my dogs off of z/d because he tolerated it just fine. The only reason I had gotten it was because another of my dogs had osteosarcoma and was getting picky about food (not sure if the treatments/meds/supplements made foods tatse different). He did very well on it also and liked it a lot.
Until about a year ago I had it in the rotation. The dogs still liked it and were fine. It wasn’t until someone mentioned to me that they were becoming a bit shady did I start digging.
Lesson learned. Before rotating back to any food I check them out again like it’s a new food.
Bottom line is I won’t use Blue Buffalo anything anymore. Any company that sells out, lies, is questionable, etc is not a food for my dogs.

[S B]

How is Blue Buffalo wilderness? I’ve heard vary good stuff about it but also bad stuff. In the review on this website it said ” the concentrated version of this ingredient commonly known as caramel coloring has been more recently considered controversial and found to cause cancer in laboratory animals.”And there’s a lawsuit saying that blue buffalo has been lieing, it says they put by-products and corn in there food.

[Pat H]

I would like to find out about Halo–I just started using it, as my dog is in complete remission with lymphoma, and her doctor suggested halo (8% vegan) because of this. I had been feeding her Blue Buffalo before, and want to give her the best for her health.
Thank you.

[email protected]

[Louis G]

Hello everyone,

I have a 3 year old Lab Mix named Tina. Since I got Tina at 7 months we’ve fed her a home cooked diet. Although she has a sensitive stomach, she has always been healthy until last week she had an episode of diarrhea. I noticed a few drops of blood at the end of the poop, a day later her stool was firm but had a generous amount of blood in it. We took her to the vet and had a full check up done including blood and stool tests. The results came back all clear, in fact the Vet said she was a very healthy dog, she continued to eat and drink during this time. (our thought is that she ate something while staying over at a friends house) Our vet recommended the Hill Prescription Digestive Chicken stew to try out. At first she would not eat it, but after topping it with a small amount of cooked white meat chicken she has been eating it and the results have been instantaneous. Her stools are good and firm and the diarrhea and blood went away. I would like to put her on a dry and wet dog food diet but am confused by all the contradicting information on dog food. Some praise Hills, some condemn it. Some praise Blue buffalo but they just paid millions in lawsuit for false advertising the ingredients in their kibble. I would just like a straight answer as to what dry and wet food I should feed my dog going forward. Vet recommended Hills Science Dry and Hills Balance Wet. I love my dog and if could continue to cook for her I would but I work longer hours now and my vet felt there was a possibility that she wasn’t getting the proper nutrition from the cooked food. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[anne g]

Hi! I have a mix rescue dog, about 12 years old, 60 lbs. We became concerned about the Beneful rumors concerning quality. Also, since he’s getting older, we wanted to make sure he was getting the best food. About 6 weeks ago we switched from Beneful to Blue Buffalo for senior dogs food. He’s since experience a lot of gas and diarrhea. We’re going to switch food again. Any suggestions? Thank you!

[Suzanne W]

I took my German shepherd Ida, outside, was gone about five minutes. I was shocked to find my Maltese, Sophie, on the couch with my vitamin supplements and prescription pills! How in the world did she get them off the coffee table and then take them to the couch. She “moved “definitely five and possibly six pills. Ok, there are definitely two possibly three missing. I believe she ate two garlic gelcaps(2000mg garlic bulb), and possibly a caprylic acid gel cap. I was in shock… And anger! It took me about twenty to twenty five minutes to finally give her hydrogen peroxide. I don’t know if it went down so I tried again. After about a total of half hour maximum forty five minutes, she vomited twice, liquid(she had not eaten yesterday before this) bile colored without any gel substance so I saw nothing. I put a garlc gel cap in my mouth and moved it around n my mouth and it was competent dissolved in less than four minutes and did not taste bad. I decided that she may or may not have vomited it up as the substance is clear, odorless to humans that is, and almost tasteless. Hemolytic anemia is a horrible thing and I will watch soph for the next week or two. I was unable to obtain activated charcoal in time and then we couldn’t get it down her. I am disabled, and my husband has been out of work for six months, but found at least part time work the day before so wasn’t home. Before you judge us for not taking her in, we spent three grand in the summer on the dogs vet bills and we’ve spent hundreds more a couple months ago on skin problems with Ida. I’ve read what to watch for, but does anybody know anything I can do to support her or minimize reprecussions of this? I thought more protein, folic acid and supplements, so I gave her a half sardine this am. She’s already on blue buffalo grain free dog food, homemade topper made with different good quality meat and vegetables and fruits appropriate for dogs, and dermis supplement in her food. She gets tiny amounts of homemade treats we make with peanut butter, oatmeal, banana, flourless cookies we and the dogs like! Any advise? Ok I believe treat the patient not the diagnosis. She is acting fine thus far as it has only been 16 hours. Thanks for any help!

[Angela B]

My female mini doxie has always had an issue with chewing hard stuff. I got her when she was 5 weeks old and have always assumed it was because she was weened too soon. She gains weight fine, so she isn’t malnourished. I am not a fan of wet food. She was on blue buffalo up until a few months ago. We switched her to For Health do to difference in price. Is there something we can do to help strengthen her jaws so she doesn’t have trouble eating?

[Pitlove]

Hi Lewis- Congratulations on your new pup!

There are many reasons your boy could be experiencing diaherra with Blue Buffalo. Though your other Pugs didn’t have issues with immediate switches this one is a new dog with a different GI tract and he’s also a young puppy. Because stress can cause disgestive upset in young puppies after coming into their new home, it’s advised to continue feeding the same food the breeder had him for a few weeks and then start introducing whichever food you’re interested in feeding.

I’d suggest going back to the Eukanuba formula for a few more weeks and then trying to add the Blue back- very very slowly. If he is still experiencing digestive upset then it’s time to consider that one of the ingredients in the Blue Buffalo formula does not agree with him.

[Lewis K]

Hi. I’m new to this forum but not new to Pugs. I’m on my third Pug — Marty — a sweet little guy going on 4 months old, purchased from a breeder in San Diego. I didn’t maintain custody of my last Pug who was a rescue in a recent divorce. With the rescue, we had a lot of health issues to work through and landed on Blue Buffalo being the best food for that dog. Although the breeder gave me a jar of Eukaneuba (sp?) puppy food, I charged right ahead with the puppy version of Blue and ended with an 8-week puppy with the runs. With previous Pugs I never experienced any digestive issues when making immediate switches. Now I’m trying to work Blue slowly into his Euk but the soft poop is back. Thoughts?

[Tabby R]

Hi Aimee, you said anti-yeast dog diets should consist of a low fat diet. I feed my dogs blue basics lid lamb and potato http://bluebuffalo.com/natural-dog-food/limited-ingredient-basics/dry-food/basics-adult-grain-free-lamb-and-potato-recipe/
One of my chis is allergic poultry and the other one has yeast problems on his skin. They are both picky eaters and they love this food. What is cosidered high fat in diets?

[Kelly P]

@Anonymously – I do know bones can be risky, but you have to get calcium in the diet. Which is why actually most people grind the bones, meat, and other ingredients into mush. I would prefer that my puppy learn to chew.

Also I don’t really care for you bringing in articles in regards to dogs are not wolves. A dog is a carnivore not an omnivore. You can argue that the parasites living on the meat can threaten the animal’s life, but then you have the same issue with your raw Commercial food, unless they’re not telling the truth and it’s really cooked raw meat.

@Aimee – I understand your worry which is why I’ve spent time researching.
I have not talked to a Veterinary nutritionist because I don’t know of any. A Veterinary is not a nutritionist either so I can’t ask them. Here’s what I’ve learned though for puppy specific food. Puppies need more calcium than an adult dog. I’ve also read that it’s best to start raw feeding from an early age. Do you buy the same bag of food for an adult as for a puppy?

Wysong doesn’t seem to have a difference, I didn’t see any of the Dawrwin’s to have a choice between adult and puppy. Primal Raw Food doesn’t seem to have a difference either… Am I missing the Puppy formula? Nature’s Variety Raw doesn’t seem to have puppy specific formula. I know Blue Buffalo does but that’s merely grain free dog food. I’m not trying to be a jerk, but if the formula for the adult dog doesn’t change why is it an issue? I’ve also read that there’s a large margin of error when feeding raw, maybe like you suggested its only for adults because puppy nutrition is so important. Or maybe because no one expects to feed a puppy any raw food?

[Jeff A]

A few years ago I had an eight year old Great Dane that I fed Canadae. He was on the food for years, but around eight he developed osteosarcoma. He started occasionally throwing up the Canadae so on a whim I tried Blue Buffalo Wilderness. Six months later, at the end of his life, he was able to eat the BB Wilderness.

A few months later I adopted a Great Dane from a rescue to keep my other Dane company. I decided to go back to Canadae. My one dog never had an issue, but the new rescue would sometimes throw it up. I switched to TotW at that point, and although the random vomiting lessened it still occurred. At that point I switched them both over to BB Wilderness and her random vomiting stopped. They were on the food for two years without an issue.

Then a month ago I got the idea I would slowly transition the girls over to Fromm. Two weeks into the transition both dogs were hit with vomiting, lethargy, lack of appetite, and bloody diarrhea. Was it the Fromm?

My point is that dogs and nutrition is not one size fits all. I’ve never had an issue with BB Wilderness.

I’ve read all the lawsuit crap. From what I can tell, Blue Buffalo has never admitted to intentionally lying about their ingredients. They claim their supplier is responsible, and they didn’t know. They might be lying and knew it all along, or maybe they didn’t know until it was brought to their attention. Purina suing is like the pot calling the kettle black. Even their premium Pro Plan has chick by product meal as the 4th ingredient.

What make me angry is that I paid good money for a premium product that was not as advertised, but they have a site I can go to and get some money back.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Jeff A.

[Ivan G]

Hello all,

I am new to this forum but have many concerns about my puppy food. I have a 5 month old Belgian Malinois and I was recommended the Royal Canin German Shepherd formula for puppies. But the more research I do the less I trust any of these brands. When you go into PetsMart or Pet Supermarket for some reason they are really pushing the Blue Buffalo brand and convinced me to try the Taste of the Wild all protein food. my puppy liked it but I am really looking to find out the truth about these foods that I know nothing about.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

[John T]

First of all Dustin, don’t come in here calling us idiots and being nasty! Every dog or cat is different. While I agree changing food too fast can cause problems, but I trusted BB for over a year while my dog had constant digestive problem and abnormal blood work. After finding no reason for the problems the vet said take him off BB which I did and guess what Dustin, within two weeks he was normal and has been for a year now. BB has a lot of money and they are the marketing kings. All they care about is the almighty dollar. Trust them if you wish, it is you right, but for me I sm fone with them. They lied and got caught. See here. Have a good evening.

http://iheartdogs.com/breaking-news-blue-buffalo-admits-to-lying-about-ingredients-here-is-why-you-should-care/

[Nicole R]

Hi…my dog is 6 years old..a Jack Russell..we just had his teeth cleaned (so that is not the issue)…he has horrible FISHY breath..and I think it is his wellness dry dog food. He has been on wellness for about 4 years…and does fine..however his breath is fishy…someone told us that it could be because the Omega 3’s they use are sourced from fish…they do not say they are from fish on the label…however…they must be. The flavor food he eats is Chicken and Oatmeal. This is the food:

https://www.chewy.com/dog/wellness-complete-health-adult/dp/34360?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=f&utm_content=Wellness&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KEQiAq920BRC8-efn57XrotYBEiQAlVlMQ8MlETUZjD_0Us8U0rGTso7fsNNiO9G-IVPVTDDdaIkaAhCj8P8HAQ

so if anyone knows of a food that does not have fish or Omega’s from fish oil please let me know..OH I do not want BLUE BUFFALO…
thanks

Nicole

[Jeff A]

Hello,

I’m looking for opinions on how to proceed. Sorry for the long post!

History :

For a couple years my Great Danes have been on a diet of Blue Buffalo Wilderness kibble. They get fed twice a day with each meal consisting of two cups of dry kibble and about 1/4 can of Blue Buffalo basics canned food mixed in. I’ve had zero issues with them on this food. Recently, I decided to transition them over to Fromm. I bought a bag of Fromm Gold kibble, and a case of Fromm gold chicken and duck pate soft food.

I’ve been mixing kibble for quite awhile, and they went through a case of the Fromm soft food with no issues.

Then..

1/4 – Ella went in for a dental at the vet. Pretty groggy from anesthesia.
1/5 – Ella getting back to normal. Received new case of Fromm soft food. Ella and Sydnee have food from new case in evening.
1/6 – Ella back to hungry self. For breakfast they have food from second can in the new case for breakfast. All appears normal. 3 pm in the afternoon my wife comes home to a house full of vomit. Ella wants no food, but Sydnee eats dinner. We assume Ella still isn’t feeling right from anesthesia. 6 pm Sydnee vomits all her dinner.

The next six days are spent dealing with pretty sick girls. They were lethargic, occasional vomiting, bloody diarrhea. Both visited the vet twice over that period of time. Fecal test was negative, blood test showed normal, and temperatures were in the normal (101-103) range. They were both put on antibiotics. After doing some reading this sounds a lot like hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. It usually hits small dogs and requires IV fluids, but I think because my girls are so large (140lb each) they didn’t become overly dehydrated.

I’ve been feeding them boiled hamburger and rice for a few days now, but I’m getting to the point where I need to think about transitioning them back to normal food. I’m very worried at this point.

I will not feed them the remaining cans of the Fromm soft food. I’ve also thrown out all the open bags of dry kibble. I have no idea what caused the issue, but two dogs sick in the exact same manner at the exact same time leads me to believe the the new case of food was a trigger. I called Mr Chewy who contacted Fromm and there have been no reports of issues with the food.

My gut tells me to transition them from the hamburger and rice back to Blue Buffalo and leave well enough alone. Thoughts?

[crazy4cats]

Merrick is still on the recommended list. Blue Buffalo recently lost a law suit accusing them of having byproducts in their food that were not listed on the ingredient panel

[John B]

This is not exactly a nomination; it’s more of a request for comment. Some years ago (I am too old to remember), I was a member, here. I chose two dog foods from the (then) recommended list (Blue Buffalo: Salmon & Sweet Potato; and, Merrick Texas Beef: Salmon and Sweet Potato. Does anyone know why that they are no longer recommended?

Thanks,

John

[Eileen E]

Please follow and like my page and help me bring awareness to get this stuff off of the shelf! This product killed my cat and the other is in treatment and so many animals are suffering:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010973083756

https://www.facebook.com/Blue-Buffalo-Complaints-1828547960705279/?notif_t=page_fan

[Nancy C]

I am having a problem getting weight off my female Lab. I have had her on Blue Buffalo weight control (turkey and potato), but had a salesperson recommend Ideal Balance by Science Diet. Any suggestions?

[DogFoodie]

I don’t believe grains are horrible either, but neither of my dogs do well on them. I choose high quality ingredients over highly processed ingredients that are fillers with little nutritional value, like corn gluten meal.

I definitely do not agree with many of the statements made by Skeptvet. I don’t know that he actually states his real name anywhere on his blog. The fact that he recommends rawhides is concerning to me.

Blue Buffalo is terribly overpriced for the quality. Every formula contains chicken. Blue Buffalo is currently being sued by Purina for misrepresenting ingredients contained in their foods. The company seriously lacks transparency.

Feed what you like and what your dog does well on. I can guarantee you’ll meet plenty of folks who wouldn’t feed the foods you’ve chosen. You might never want to feed what they’ve chosen.

I guess you need to ask yourself if you’re looking for a different food or validation of the food you’ve chosen.

[Cindy T]

Hello! I just adopted our 8 week old Malshi (Maltese/Shih Tzu). The breeder had him on Purina Pro Plan Focus and I knew we were going to change that. After to speaking to vet, she recommended either Royal Canin Puppy or Nature’s Balance. I decided to go with Royal Canin because I had always heard it is a good food and they do a lot of science based research when creating their foods. I also decided not to go with Nature’s Balance because she did she she usually sends allergic dogs that way and since we don’t know of any allergies yet with our little guy, I decided not to do that. After looking at the reviews on this site, I am dismayed to find that the Royal Canin food I chose (shih tzu puppy food since he seems to pull more to the shih tzu side) doesn’t have fabulous ratings here. Only 2.5 stars. Why do vets seems to like the foods that are never highly rated? With our previous dog, a different vet also recommended food that didn’t get great ratings here. I asked this new vet about Blue Buffalo and she said it is a good food but she thinks that it is too rich for lots of dogs and can cause diarrhea. SO whats a person to do? My vet says that having some grain is not bad for them and actually ok to do which seems to be opposite of what the other school of thought is. I just don’t know the right thing to do for my little guy. Please help!

[Dori]

Kelly P. You could also look in to dehydrated dog foods. You just add water to them to rehydrate. Some are The Honest Kitchen, Sojos, Grandma Lucy’s. I’m sure there must be others but right now these are the three that come to mind. Both Primal and Vital Essentials make pretty good freeze dried foods that do not need to be rehydrated. Just scoop and serve. Just make sure your dog has plenty of water. You could try adding water to the freeze dried I mentioned but it takes a very long time for them to absorb any liquid. I’ve tried doing that and it just didn’t work out well.

Edit: Forgot to mention that both Primal and Vital Essentials Freeze Dried are both rated 5 stars on this site.

Good luck with whichever you choose. I will just add that I wouldn’t go from homemade or raw and then feed a kibble (Blue Buffalo or any other for that matter). That’s a pretty dramatic switch.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Dori.

[Kelly P]

I am going to be getting a Malamute/Husky/Wolf puppy in the near future, I plan on feeding raw making the portions myself. I’ve done extensive research for the past year on raw feeding as to help make sure I get the proper ratios for nutrients etc. However, I know that I’m going to run into at some point needing to go on a trip and going to need food for my puppy, obviously carrying around frozen food isn’t the most ideal because I don’t want to potentially harm my dog.

If I were to use my food dehydrator to dehydrate the food would that work? but wouldn’t I have to feed a bit more because of the lost nutrients? And what about the calcium portion? I could just buy something like Blue Buffalo for these occasions, but I’d rather try to stick to me preparing their food.