[neezerfan]

Check out this page. Pure Balance brand and Rachael Ray’s Nutrish are available at Walmart and are lower priced. Nutrisource is lower priced too
/best-dog-foods/best-puppy-foods/best-dry-puppy-foods-4-star/

[james y]

I just used some puppy wormer from the grocery store. We fasted her for 24 hours and then treated her. Its been a week and shes already putting on some weight. She gets another does this weekend.

Im not really concerned about what the best food is. I just wanted something as good as the frozen food in dry form. One thing i can say about the biljac is theres alot less poo in the yard now and her coat is amazing!

We are on day three of the blue wilderness puppy food. She seems fine, but gassy like when she was on puppy chow. I guess its just something in puppy food

[james y]

Hello newb here looking for a little info.

First a little background
My 9 month old pitbull, maple has recently been having problems. She undoubtedly had worms and was scratching alot and losing hair. At first i was feeding her purina dog chow and she was doing fine. Then the wife brought home pedigree and thats when the hair loss started. So i instantly thought the dog had mange and began treating her for it. I also read that a raw diet would boost the immune system so i did that too. I fed her venison mostly, with raw eggs and gave her vitamins everyday. She cleared up and we started back with the unused portion of pedigree. Well she broke out in hives!

Ok so the dog is allergic to dog food…just my luck. A vet friend told me to try bil-jac frozen food so i did for a couple weeks. She was doing great on it! we got rid of the worms and shes putting on wieght and her coat is awesome! Although the frozen food isnt very convenient so i just googled best grain free dog food and found this site. I came across a name i recognized “blue buffalo” and this very site said it wss a five star food. So i purchased 20 pounds of the grain free wilderness red meat puppy food. It was pretty pricey, as a matter of fact i figure i could buy hamburger for $3 a pound but its so much easier than having to refrigerate or prepare raw food.

2 days into feeding and she seems to be doing just fine. I dont monitor poo, so i cant say anything about it.

Anyhow now im seeing all this bad stuff on the web about blue dog food….and something about a lawsuit with purina?? Is there any truth to these claims about the food hurting dogs or is it maybe a bunch of hired posters or something? If the stuff wasnt $60 a bag i would just throw it out and go back to the biljac.

[Aspen A]

Lovx3, I am with Steve’s Real Food, a raw pet food company. The Atwater figures are not particularly helpful, and you will always want to compare dog foods using a dry matter comparison. The reason for this is that as different products contain different moisture levels, it can skew the results. Usually pet food companies will use the at water comparison because they want their numbers to look better, so you need to ask them for the dry matter comparison. It sounds like Naturella is doing a great job, and I can give a second opinion in favor of much of what she/he said. I would also recommend that you consider going to a raw diet, as it is much more in line with how your dog is genetically designed to process food. Adding water and mixing with canned is a great start, and definitely better on your dog’s intestines and ability to digest kibble than just giving straight dry, but raw is best!

[Aspen A]

Hi, Carol, I am with Steve’s Real Food (a raw pet food company, so you have full disclosure). I just looked up the Miracle Dog food, but I am not seeing enough specifics about which grains and minerals are in it to speak to whether they are the best fit for your pet. If you are worried about the nutrition balance you may want to go to a frozen raw food, there are some great ones out there (Steve’s included) that do the math and nutrition for you, including the fat content, etc. Pork and beef are going to be higher in fat, if you are wanting low fat sticking to chicken and turkey is going to be best. What is wrong with your dog’s pancrease? Is it pancreatitis? Natural Dog Health Remedies.com (no affiliation) recommends Milk Thistle, Yarrow Root, Echinacea, dandelion, and probiotics, if that helps. I would not recommend switching them to dry food. It is so much harder on the stomach, and harder to digest, it makes them more thirsty, etc. If you are looking to improve their diet I would definitely recommend going to a more raw diet rather than a dry diet, that is just a step back, in my opinion.

[Susan]

Oh, I forgot to mention the fat% in wet food seems lower but when converted to dry matter (Kibble) its high for example 4% fat in wet tin food is around 22% fat when converted, if it was a kibble, that’s why I have to cook, if you live America you have lower fat% in wet food, then I have in Australia.. your best to get 2% fat & under for wet tin food, the Wellness Complete Health Senior has the lowest at 3% fat in the wet, or the “Wellness Petite Entrees Mini Filets” only the ones in gravy are 2% fat..

Have you have a Endoscope & Biopsies done for the Helicobacter? I found with the Helicobacter all the ant acid don’t work…. Zantac worked the best for Patch also, Zantac doesn’t affect the bowel, where Losec affects the bowel & gave Patch bad wind pain & sloppy greenie/black poos…..another thing I’ve just read on Dr Karen Becker site about fiber & prebiotics don’t use kibbles with Prebiotics Beet Pulp, FOS, a lot of vet diets use Beet Pulp & FOS & MOS… for a healthy dog with a healthy Gut, prebiotics are good but for a dog with GI problems Prebiotics can make things worse, another reason Patch was taken off kibble…The link has been put up on the Face Book group…

There’s a group on Face Book called “Dogs with Inflammatory Bowel Disorder” a few dogs on that site have bad acid reflux & stomach problems, the group was called, “Dogs with Stomach & Bowel problems” but the name was changed about 3 months ago..

[Susan]

Hi Christine, the Gulping is Acid Reflux, my boy started getting this when on the Royal Canine HP that’s when all Patches problems started, 2013, fast forward 2 years, Patch had Endoscope & Biopsies done December 2014 & he has Helicobacter, IBD, they get real bad acid reflux, burping, heartburn, he was put on triple therapy Metronidazole, Amoxicillin & Zantac cause he cant take Losec but they are normally use Losec, he was on this 3 weeks, as soon as the triple therapy stopped within 1 week Patch was gulping & swallowing again, at night early hours of morning is worse, I’ve been giving 3ml Mylanta this really heaps…Patch was put on another triple therapy Metronidazole, Clarithromycin & Zantac, the Clarithromycin made him so ill, I had to stop all meds, that was last week, I have also stopped any kibbles, no more kibble, I have been buying turkey breast mince 99% fat free about 1 kilo =(2.2 pounds) I add 1 egg & mix thru mince & then I make about 4 long meatloaf & with the left over turkey breast mince I make real little turkey balls as treats, I put on baking tray & bake, I boil a heap of butternut pumkin & freeze 20g squares, I section the turkey when cooked & freeze, to 1 cup of cooked turkey after I’ve mashed all up, I add about 1 heap spoon boiled pumkin….pumkin soothes the GI tract…… Patch is on this diet for 6 weeks to let everything rest after the strong antibiotics made him ill….

You need a real low fat diet as fat makes acid reflux worse, high protein kibbles normally have high fat, also limited ingredient diets are best, if you can, feed a wet diet, as kibble is too over processed & makes things worse with acid reflux & gulping.. Your dog is small, you could cook & freeze like I’m doing, boil a heap of potatoes & freeze sections for the day & buy some fresh white fish & freeze after cooked. I use to use tin tuna & spring water then I tried tin salmon but the fat was too high in the salmon…so far turkey breast has been the best…

“Wellness Simple” limited ingredient has Grainfree Salmon & Potatoes or Turkey & Potatoes in wet & dry, the fat is min-12% here’s their link to have a look, just scroll right down to the bottom for the Simple range, I use to feed the Duck & Oatmeal & the Lamb & Oatmeal as Patch cant eat potatoes & these flavours had the lowest fat, min-11% & min-12% fat but that’s min fat-11%, so u add another 1 & 1/2 more for max fat%…
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/recipes.aspx?pet=dog&ft=1#Complete

[Christine U]

Hi everyone,
I seriously need advice.
I’ve been to regular vets and holistic vets.
I have a 4 year old Parsons Terrier/Shitz Tsu mix with bad GI issues. He’s had so many tests and it seems to be food related. We’ve tried so many foods and right now he’s on Royal Canin White Fish and Potato both wet and dry. He still has the occasional ‘gulping’ type issue but no diarrhea or vomiting.
Recently I found Grandma Z’s grain free fish and potato and he loves that and the ingredients seem to be a bit better than Royal Canin.
Here’s my issue. First…I’m ALWAYS open to finding the best food I can for him but we are getting ready to RV full time. My concern is finding his food on the road. Every vet has to order it and it can take 1-2 weeks. I plan to carry a lot with us, but I know there are so many new grain free foods out there. Maybe there’s one I haven’t heard of.
Any tips, advice, recommendations?
Thanks so much!
Christine

[Naturella]

@Oleanderz, Lucille looks so cute in your pic! 🙂 But the link you posted says I don’t have permission to view it or something…

Yes, I would probably have her stay overnight. She won’t hate you, I promise. And yeah, I would say she is about medium… I think large breeds are the ones 50+ lbs when adults.

And awwh, you’re welcome! I hope it helps! I really tried to make it as diverse and balanced at possible. I would say that for a start, 4 brands are fine to rotate between. By the time you finish the suggested schedule, you can decide whether to repeat it or add more to the mix. I personally always add more, cause there are so many foods I want to try on Bruno, but many of the pros here stick to just a few brands and rotate between them and the flavors. I think 4 brands is a good start.

If Luci doesn’t have a grain allergy, it won’t hurt her to have grains again. It is only 2 formulas with grains anyway, and if you notice her reacting to them, just keep alternating between the Kinesis and RPM GFs.

Eggs: dogs’ digestive tracts are much shorter than ours, so the probability of them getting salmonella is much lower. They were meant to eat raw food. If it bugs you though, you can totally lightly or fully cook the whole egg and give it to her. You can use coconut or olive oil to cook it in, or no oil if you’re poaching it. It is, in fact, recommended that you lightly cook the egg white, and not cook the yolk at all, because there is an enzyme (I believe) in the egg white that could mess with the dog’s body properly absorbing the biotin in the yolk. If you cook the yolk, some of the biotin goes away too, is my understanding. So cook the egg white lightly. BTW, for Luci, I would probably give her 2 eggs together when I do give eggs, and a whole 3.5-oz can of sardines if I were to give her any. She is 3 times Bruno’s size after all. 🙂

Now, for food storage and rotation. As long as you keep it in a dark, cool, dry place, as long as you use it up by the BEST BY date, you should be fine. I personally have a bit of a stocking-up (NOT hoarding… Not yet, hopefully not ever!) problem with dog food because of amazing deals, so I basically stocked up enough food to last Bru till the end of this year. Luckily, I will be able to use it by or close to the BEST BY dates. But for the future, I would probably still get 3-4 months’ worth at a time, depending on deals, because in case a food doesn’t work out for him and I have to scrap it, I don’t want him to be foodless till I order or buy the next bag. So, what you can do, is stock up with say, the first line of medium-sized bags of EB, Dr Tim’s, Nulo, and Victor (medium-sized should be good, just so you see how she’s taking it) and start going through them and when you get to the Nulo, order the next line. This way you will always have about 4-5 bags at a time in case something goes wrong. Plus, at all times there will be an EB there if she can’t or won’t eat any of the other foods. But I hope she likes them!

As for the keeping track – make sure your family doesn’t feel like Big Brother is watching, lol. It is mostly important for feeding to keep track of times, amounts, and toppers, etc., as well as making sure no treats are given till she learns to eat her food quickly when put down. It shouldn’t take her too long. After that, still make sure she’s not getting too many treats to make her skip her next meal. And that’s about it. Exercising with a dog can be fun, so I’m sure someone will do something with daily, it doesn’t have to be super tracked, but you can do it if you want. I probably will track everything one day when we have kids and another dog though, lol! But that’s still far in the future.

One last thing that I’m sure you probably know, but I will just throw out there – all the foods in Luci’s future rotation, including EB, are pretty calorie-dense (Especially Dr. Tim’s Momentum). So keep track of how much she is being fed also, because she may just be one of those dogs that can self-regulate and between possibly too much food and too many treats, she is skipping meals. Use the bag feeding guidelines as a guideline only, not as a rule, and just adjust accordingly. She should have a waist when looked at from above, and her ribs should be easily-felt.

I am happy if I have been able to help with anything. Please do stay around in the forums, keep us posted, and let us know if you have any more questions! 🙂

[Lyndel M]

Hi Gloria,

Yes, there is certainly a lot of confusion amongst the raw and the cooked dog food camps. I have been reading heaps about it. Those in the raw food camp put forward for the raw food diet. I shall do my best to summarise a few of the key points that are important to me. First, they say that the dog’s metabolism has changed very little from the wolves, the original wild dogs. They suggest that when we provide our dogs with the right proportions of meats, organ meats, vegetables, fruit matter and bones, they’re digestive systems have the best chance of exacting the nutrients they need for shiny coats, healthier skin and teeth, stronger bones, and decreased chances of modern-day ailments and diseases that dogs in the wild rarely if ever have. Some of these ailments include itching, skin irritations, including dryness, fleas, hip dysplasia and arthritis.

In the other camp, there is some criticism of the raw diet saying that giving a dog only food i.e., meats risks feeding contaminated food, that people don’t take enough care in raw food preparation, that dogs today have evolved to adjust to modern (cooked, commercial) food and that dogs are at moderate – high risk of injuries from bone which become lodged in the throat or gut.

I am definitely against using any commercial dog foods. There are some great you-tube documentaries disclosing the shocking truth about the poor quality of nutrition of kibble and canned dog foods and the associated illnesses. In addition, that most Vets receive very little real knowledge of nutrition in their veterinarian studies and are just as influenced by the unregulated marketing and commercial dog food producers as GPs are by drug companies.

Regardless, Jean Hofve & Celeste Yarnall “Paleo Dog” is one book that has been recommended provide excellent information for providing your dog with all of the information needed to provide our dogs with all of the nutrients required and how to do so, if we want to go down the raw food pathway. Also there is the BARF raw foods that you can purchase and other online info about this pathway. And there are heaps of recipes for cooking our dogs food as well. Andi Brown “The Whole Pet Diet: 8 wks to great health for dogs and cats”, which is also excellent for going down the cooked food pathway. They both recommend certain supplements and they both provide enough evidence to suggest that just like for humans, if we give our pets fresh wholesome, organic foods (either raw or cooked) we will be doing our beloved pets a great service.

Given I have been a passionate advocate of healthy, unprocessed foods for more 40years, I certainly want to extend this to my pet. People on this post have just been concerned that I was being cruel to our new puppy for placing his food into chewtoys. However, I made the mistake of saying that we would be putting all of his daily foods into chewtoys, whereas that won’t be the case. But I will definitely using chewtoys together with crate training, self-soothing, stimulation and entertainment as I mentioned in my previous post. I am definitely not an expert, but a concerned pet owner who has done lots and lots of reading in order to do the best by our new puppy in terms of nutrition and training. All the best!! :0)

[Dori]

Hi Oleanderz. If you are going to wait to have her spayed until the summer when you are home from college then you can start to transition her to a different and better food right away. Just do it slowly as all transitions should be done with a dog that is not accustomed to rotation feeding.

As to fruits. Many of us routinely feed our dogs fruits (small pieces depending on the size of your dog). Bananas are perfectly fine. I think what Naturella was trying to tell you is that certain fruits and veggies should never been given to a dog such as grapes, raisins, onions. If you are given your dog a fruit make sure not to give any seeds or pits. They can be toxic. For feeding apples, remember no seeds and no peel. Apples are some of the most heavily sprayed fruits of all with pesticides trying to keep worms at bay and then all the wax that is applied to make them look pretty for the consumer so it is always best to peel them. We shouldn’t be eating the peels ourself unless purchasing organic apples from your local farm market. I give my dogs apples, bananas, blueberries, carrots, cucumbers, peaches, pears, all types of melons, broccoli, the list goes on and on. You can google what fruits and vegetables are safe to give your dogs. Or in reverse you can google what fruits and veggies should not be given to your dog.

I don’t think that weight loss or gain is going to become an issue once she’s spayed. I’ve never had that occur with any dog I’ve had spayed or neutered and all my dogs have been spayed or neutered.

If your dog drinks a lot of water or at least a normal amount of water that you don’t also have to add water to a wet food. If feeding just dry food than it is always a good idea to add a little warm water to the kibble. Helps break down the kibble sooner thereby with digestion and helping the kibble to break down and move through the system sooner and the more water a dog drinks the healthier their kidneys will be also. Most dogs don’t really drink as much water as they should especially with a dry food. The longer a food sits in their system the more possibility there is for bacteria buildup which is why it’s always advised to make sure a dog always has free access to water. The only exception to that I find is when you have a puppy and you are trying to potty train but that’s a completely different method for another day.

Another thing if I haven’t mentioned it somewhere along the way is what you say is your dog’s “strange” eating habits. The correct way to feed a dog is to put his/her bowl of food down and leave it there for 20 minutes then pick it up regardless of how much she has eaten. Even if she didn’t eat any of it, pick it up. At her next meal time, not when you think she’s hungry, but at her regularly scheduled p.m. meal, put her food bowl down and again, leave it for 20 minutes. Same routine. Pick it up regardless of what she ate or didn’t it. You may have to initially stay with her in the room while she eats so that she doesn’t decide to follow you around. Once she’s retrained you won’t have to do that. Keep doing this for both her meals every single day. In a few days all dogs figure out that when food appears they must eat it because it’s going to disappear. I’ve never known a single dog that didn’t learn that. Leaving her food down all day for her to pick at it has led to her “strange” eating habits. You just have to teach her that when food is given she is to eat it and if she doesn’t she will have to wait until the next meal time. While you are retraining her you MUST NOT give her any treats during the day and in between meals or she won’t be hungry to eat her food. It’s okay if you give her a little treat later in the evening after her meals have been eaten but while training with the correct way to feed and eat she cannot be given any treats. She’s probably getting so many “treats” that she’s not really all that hungry when food comes along or she prefers her treats and knows she doesn’t really have to eat the food because treats will be coming her way.

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

[Naturella]

Welcome to DFA! It can be overwhelming, yes, but sometimes the best way to learn is just by trying some of the different ideas people post that appeal to you, see how it works with your dogs, and tweak the thing or choose something else.

I just posted the below info for someone else, lol, but it is altered to fit your questions. I am not a professional or anything, I can just tell you what I think and do:

I think that no single dog food is perfect, and different foods have varying amounts of protein, carbs, and fat, but Victor is a high-quality food and all the flavors within it seem pretty good to me. If you want, you can also rotate both within a brand (basically switch up the Victor flavors), or rotate the Victor brand with other good foods, like Dr. Tim’s, Earthborn Holistic, and Annamaet, among others – this will offer your dogs a variety in the formulas, tastes, vitamins, etc. The kibble sizes in most of these foods are pretty viable for a Chihuahua to handle, but I am not sure about Dr. Tim’s – the kibbles may be a bit big for a 4-lb dog.

If you choose to rotate brands, give it at least 10-14 days, adding a little bit of new food to the old at a time, and watching the stool – if stool is good for 2 days or so, add more new food, take more old food out, and so on. If stool is not good, back down the amount of new food, up the old food. When they get used to rotating, you can switch brands with every big bag (what I do, but with small bags, lol). For now, you can switch to a brand, then exhaust most of the flavors within the brand just so they don’t have too many changes at once, then go to another brand. Also, you can add canned plain pumpkin to aid their digestion in the process, or a supplement called Perfect Form by The Honest Kitchen (THK). I swear up and down by it – anytime my Bruno has an upset tummy, it tightens him back up in a snap! But don’t overuse the Perfect Form – use it only as needed, and the amounts to feed are on the package, as well as on THK’s website. Which leads me to…

… if feeding Perfect Form with kibble, you will need to add some water to it. It will look like a greenish soup of kibble, lol. But, with that said, extra moisture added to dry kibble is always good for the dog. You can add plain lukewarm water, yoghurt/kefir, coconut oil and water, or canned food (and water). Any mix of kibble and canned is fine as long as the dog’s tummy is ok with it and as long as you adjust the amount you add and remove the appropriate amount of kibble so that the caloric intake stays about the same. So introduce the canned slowly, and not while transitioning between brands. You can also add dehydrated/freeze-dried/air-dried foods and water to kibble as toppers too, canned sardines (no salt added, in water only), fresh vegetables and meats, some fruits, and the above suggestions. Make sure you add NO onions or any grape products (grapes, raisins), some mushrooms.

For my 15-lb terrier mix I feed 1/4 cup of dry kibble twice/day, each time with some different topper from the ones mentioned above. I use coconut oil (twice/week), raw egg (once/week), The Honest Kitchen dehydrated foods (4 recipes, each one once/week), Big Dog Natural air-dried food (once/week), yoghurt/kefir (twice/week), 1/2 of a 3.5-oz can of sardines (once/week), 1/2 of a small can of dog food (right now either Weruva or Wellness, twice/week, no kibble at said meal), and a raw meaty bone once/week. All toppers minus the egg, sardines, can of dog food and the RMB I give a teaspoon of. And I add warm water to the mix in all meals. The dehydrated/air-dried foods kind of require it, lol. Bruno loves his “soups” (that’s what kibble and water and toppers look like) and he is slim, but muscular – his body condition is great, his coat is great, and he loves meal time.

So you can implement some, all, or none of the suggestions, or tweak them to fit your dogs’ needs. Good luck, keep us posted, and let us know if you have any more questions. 🙂

[Naturella]

Oleanderz, thank you for the kind words! You are such an eager-to-learn doggie mommy, it is awesome! 🙂

Ok, let me first say that I completely second Dori’s suggestion to NOT start rotating foods before she is well recovered from the surgery and back to normal, stool included. Sometimes stress, or the pain meds, can affect the stool, so if you had just started introducing a new brand of food, you wouldn’t know what’s causing the stool change.

But, after she has fully recovered from her surgery, you can start introducing and transitioning her to a new food of your choice. I think that no single dog food is perfect, and they do have varying amounts of protein, carbs, and fat, but all 4 brands are high-quality foods and will offer her a variety in the formulas, tastes, vitamins, etc. Like Dori said, if she’s gaining weight, feed her less, exercise her more; if she’s losing weight, feed her more, and still exercise her – she will be gaining muscle mass, which is healthy.

Now, for the rotation – it really depends on how her tummy’s taking it. Give it at least 10-14 days, adding a little bit of new food to the old at a time, and watching the stool – if stool is good for 2 days or so, add more new food, take more old food out, and so on. If stool is not good, back down the amount of new food, up the old food. When she gets used to rotating, you can switch brands with every big bag (what I do, but with small bags, lol). For now, you can switch to a brand, then exhaust most of the flavors within the brand just so she doesn’t have too many changes at once, then go to another brand. Also, you can add canned plain pumpkin to aid her digestion in the process, or a supplement called Perfect Form from The Honest Kitchen (THK). I swear up and down by it – anytime my Bruno has an upset tummy, it tightens him back up in a snap! But don’t overuse the Perfect Form – use it only as needed, and the amounts to feed are on the package, as well as on THK’s website. Which leads me to…

… if feeding Perfect Form with kibble, you will need to add some water to it. It will look like a greenish soup of kibble, lol. But, with that said, extra moisture added to dry kibble is always good for the dog. You can add plain lukewarm water, yoghurt/kefir, coconut oil and water, or canned food (and water). Any mix of kibble and canned is fine as long as the dog’s tummy is ok with it. So introduce the canned slowly, and not while transitioning between brands. You can also add dehydrated/freeze-dried/air-dried foods and water to kibble as toppers too, canned sardines (no salt added, in water only), fresh vegetables and meats, some fruits, and the above suggestions. Make sure you add NO onions or any grape products (grapes, raisins), some mushrooms.

Finally, where to find Victor dog food: sportdogfood.com Victor GF and Farmina N&D GF are the best options, but Farmina is on the pricy side. Victor is pretty affordable.

Oh, and for the boxes – hope she gets some flying discs in her BarkBox or whatever other boxes she gets! 🙂

Ok, sorry for the novel… Good luck, keep us posted, and let us know if you have any more questions! 🙂

[l0vx3]

So I’ve been reading Dog Food Advisor for awhile now and reading peoples’ comments and suggestions, but there are just too many options for me. I have two dogs: a 2 year old 60 pound pitbull and a 7 month old 4 pound chihuahua.

I’ve been feeding them Victor Dog Food. It’s sold right by my house and it’s a great price for the quality. I have SOO many questions I’d love to ask. But I’ll try to keep it to a minimum lol.

For my two dogs, which Victor foods specifically would be best for each of them? I do not show, breed, or exercise either of them intensely. The chihuahua obviously has more energy than the pitbull, but the pitbull has amazing stamina.

Could someone who knows a lot about each compare and contrast each of them or the best ones? I’m confused about “atwater figures” so is one better than the other in terms of protein/fat/carb ratios? I’m not even sure how much of each a dog is supposed to have?

Also, after comparing and choosing the best ones, should I rotate some of them? Is water added to dry kibble? Is there any best way to feed dry kibble? Should it be mixed with canned food? If so, how much? AHHhh please just tell me as much as you can haha. Thank you!

[patrick h]

I have to give my Schnauzer antibiotics for 3 weeks for a squishy mass between his toes. The vet wants to try this before operating because of the location. They already did a needle stick of the mass to check for bad cells (waiting on the results still). Right now I am “hiding” the antibiotic capsule in a little chuck of coconut oil, and I give him 2 table spoons of melted coconut oil on his food. I want to give him a probiotic to help his stomach. I read that you should NOT give the dog the probiotics WITH his food. He only eats Wellness dry formula. I was looking for a tablet or something that he will eat easily. Any suggestions?

[crazy4cats]

Hi Bailey5244-

I have a cat with struvite crystals as well. I am also currently feeding Hill’s C/D. It is an OK food to feed long term, unlike the Hill’s S/D. But you are right, the ingredients do not look great. Are you feeding canned or dry? One of the most important things that I am learning about crystals and possible stones is that moisture is of great importance. It is best to try to feed as much canned as possible and try to get them to drink and pee often also. Another thing that I’m reading is that stress can be a factor with forming the crystals. My cat is on an anti-anxiety pill that seems to help a lot too. I think the addition of two crazy dogs was very hard on him.

In addition to the C/D, there are other prescription urinary tract foods that you could possibly rotate with, such as Purina, Iams and Royal Canin Rx urinary foods. I am currently adding some over the counter urinary foods that are made by Purina, Friskies and Dave’s. I am going to slowly attempt to wean him off the expensive prescription foods. But, so far they are working as his recent urinalysis showed no crystals, blood or infection. Woo Hoo! It has been about 3 months since his blockage and he is doing well.

I definitely could not recommend you doing any of these things without approval from your vet. You would need a prescription for the RC, Purina, or Iams food anyway. But, I like the fact that at least I am giving him some variety. I hardly feed any kibble to any of my cats any longer, but I do plan to transition off the vet food some time. But, like I said, in good conscience, I could never suggest you do the same. Most vets say they need to stay on it for life. But, I’m hoping if I feed mostly high quality canned, like Weezerweeks mentioned above, he will stay healthy. Good luck!

[Akari_32]

Hi, Kimi! What are you feeding now? And is it dry or canned? Canned or raw are the best when it comes to feeding cats. Cats do not have a high thirst drive, which can lead to sever cronic dehydration while on dry foods. And not enough water can lead to all kinds of health problems, such as the ones you are seeing. Most health problems, especially in cats, can be fixed with a simple change of diet, under the direction of a vet. So, yes, go see your vet, but express that you would like to not do all the crazy meds if it’s not absolutely necessary (I have to remind my vet of this quite often lol).

[LabsRawesome]

Hi Flowers, you’re welcome! Sounds like your pup is off to a great start. 🙂 Yes, canned is definitely better than dry. Caned is higher in meat protein, species appropriate, moisture rich, contains no preservatives. Here’s a list of the best 5 star puppy foods. You have to scroll down a bit to see the list. /best-dog-foods/best-puppy-foods/best-canned-puppy-foods-5-star/ I use 2 from this list Pure Balance Puppy Stew @ Walmart $1 per can and Costco’s Nature’s Domain $20 for a case of 24 cans. Your puppy would probably eat about 1 can per day.

[MelSnowy]

Thank you much, crazy4cats for responding. Old vet, (since my pup wouldn’t even eat much, (a few kibbles) of the high quality dry foods, like Royal Canin, Nutrisource, and Wellness – too rich for her,) New Vet recommended I give her the Purina Pro-Plan SELECT Sensitive Stomach/SALMON. She has been eating this for awhile, however, the recently opened bag she has eaten from, the Vet determined was the cause of her issues. (Very Scarey, Vet thot renal failure). I will never feed her that anymore! All of the times she has transitioned to new dry food – did it very, very gradually. Am stymied, I don’t mind paying the price for a good quality dry food but don’t see any others for sensitive stomach. She loves boiled lean hamburg and rice but know she needs other nutrients. Am so very willing to make home made food, (am retired, so have the time) yet, having seen so many ‘recipes’, (many raw meat, which I won’t use) don’t even know where to begin. “Snowy” is such a cuddle bug, 1/2 Great Pyr, 1/2 St. Bernard. She is small for the mixed breed (both parents seen in person were small, too) weighing 80 lbs. Her only other med issue, (6 months ago) was a Seresto Collar making her very aggressive, which when removed, she was back to her loving self.

?????? Want to give her the best, but don’t know where to start. Thank you, crazy4cats!

Melinda

[Naturella]

I will honestly admit that in the beginning when we adopted our Bruno, I got on the “grainfree” bandwagon and really did think grain-free is necessary and better. Now I know better thanks to the above ladies and many more, and as far as dry food is concerned, I’d look for high-protein, low-carb foods, with loads of meat as first few ingredients. Many of the foods I have stocked up on happen to be grain-free for this year, but it is not a rule at our household to keep it this way.

I do eventually want to work up to feeding balanced raw though, which I consider the ultimate best/species-appropriate food.

[Jennifer L]

I have a six year old golden retriever that constantly has brown smelly wax oozing in his ears and scratches all the time. I hate that he is so uncomfortable…currently I am feeding him a salmon & sweet potato dry food by Eathborn called Coastal Catch. Looking to change his diet as I am afraid he has now developed a fish allergy and the starch in the sweet potatoes is feeding the yeast. Please help my baby!!

[Heather L]

Thank you all for your suggestions.
Prior to this ordeal he was eating dry food with a bit of warm water. Unfortunatly at his last teeth cleaning 2 yrs ago he had to have a bunch of extrations that ended him with 5 teeth left. He totally adapted well to that and has had no isues with eating pretty much anything. This past week i have been giving him a special food from the vet that is high in nutrients via syringe and stage 2 baby food (no onion or garlic). I am finding that now that he is attempting to eat the chicken, it is best if its cut in longer strips. He seems to be able to get it in his mouth easier. I thought little boiled meat balls would be good but they seem to just roll out. I am also still doing food by the syringe due to me not feeling hes getting enough with just chicken. I know its going to take time for him to adapt. As of right now my husband and i are just excited he has come this far with all of this. Hes one strong PUP!! To answer your question Dori were thinking he may have had a seisure that cut off the blood supply due to his jaw clamping down on that area. The line that was on his tongue from good tissue to bad was identical to his upper jaw gum line. He has had seisures in the past but never enough for the vet to put him on meds. They are far and few between. He may have had one when we were not home and we didnt even relize. We do have two other dogs another mini poodle and bichon frise so to say if a Pee accident occured which is a sign of a seisure we wouldnt have known it came from our oldest. 🙁
Thank you all again for your help and comments

[CaneCorso15]

Yes, the food was pretty decent and a local company that I did not mind supporting. The new formula however, is something i’m not willing to feed my dog. Looks to me like they replaced the more expensive Protien sources with cheap alternatives. What gets me more is, they just posted on their Facebook page a link to dogfoodadviser showing they are one of the best dry dog food. But, when you compare ingredients, that doesn’t seem the case anymore.

[Bobby dog]

I think you are off to a very nice start for your best hairy friend! My dog loves Freshpet. My dog and cats also do great on Wellness products, canned and dry. Remember, when feeding kibble with a topper to reduce the kibble to avoid over feeding.

Freshpet has several lines and each line has a kibble shaped food, Freshpet Select, Vital, or Nature’s Fresh. In each line the kibble shaped food is packaged in a plastic bag. Here’s a link to a page featuring each line. Just choose a line and look for food packaged in a bag:
http://freshpet.com/our-foods/our-brands/

The Freshpet Select line also has a shredded chicken food that is packaged in a plastic bag:
http://freshpet.com/products/freshpet-select-fresh-kitchen-home-cooked-chicken-recipe/

Freshpet has a store locator on their site to help you find a retailer. It looks like Petsmart carries the Vital line of foods; grocery stores and Wal-Mart carry Freshpet as well.

Petsmart:
http://www.petsmart.com/gsi/webstore/WFS/PETNA-PETUS-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewStandardCatalog-Browse;pgid=bRZky3Uq7YZSRpWB6nh5Lmz30000nes-oeFm?CategoryName=800687&CategoryDomainName=PETNA-36&_t=pfm%3Dsearch%26SearchTerm%3Dfreshpet

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Robert,
I would also like to add a dry food that you can order online & have it delivered right to your door.
The name of the company is Horizon Pet Food Co. they are located in Canada
you will want to look at the “AMICUS” line small breed Kibble, good co..
I think Dori mentioned Orijen also small kibble size -a bit higher in fat than Amicus (i don’t know if that is a concern or not) both excellent companies.
Websites: k9cuisine.com
petflow.com
I know k9cuisine sells the 5 lb bags-i prefer smaller bags since my girls don’t eat that much-I also ALWAYS top it with lightly cooked meats (i boil) -I forgot to add these are all grain-free kibbles, I don’t know if you want a grain inclusive kibble or not.
I have to agree with Susan a little plain pumpkin is excellent for the tummy or a bit of a cooked sweet potato just maybe 2 tsps. to coax him to check out what’s inside the bowl!
Good luck, i know how you feel I had a Samoyed Nicholas who never left my side when I was sick- He was the best! I wish I knew then, what I have learned now , I didn’t do enough for him, there wasn’t a site like this with such wonderful, knowledgable people to help.

[Bobby dog]

Have you had a dental exam for your dog? Kind of sounds like he might have trouble with harder foods.

Hard food does not keep teeth clean and wet food does not harm teeth. Wet food is a healthy addition to a kibble diet. Brushing his teeth several times a week is one of the best ways to care for his teeth.
Here’s some info on feeding canned foods and dental care.
/choosing-dog-food/canned-or-dry-dog-food/
/choosing-dog-food/dry-dog-food-cleaner-teeth/

[Robert B]

The reason is sometimes, Louie just doesn’t want to eat. Isn’t best for him to not to eat wet
food with dry food because of decay of the teeth? He is very picky eater when it comes to dry food, he will not even it a HARD dog treat….I just don’t know.
Now, every time I make his food, I start to stress because I don’t know if he is going to eat the food and if he doesn’t eat….I feel sorry for him.

Robert

[Carol M]

My Aussie has epilepsy. Some recommend grain free, rosemary extract free. what is a good dry food that meets these requirements?

[Robert B]

Hi, I have a serious problem with my pet not eating. He is an 11 pound silky terrier, name Louie and he is my best hairy friend I have in my life. He said alone my side when I was sick….unconditional love. But, he is a very, very picky eater. I feed him the best……Blue Buffalo dry food mix with hot chicken or some other flavor meet. It’s driving me crazy that I have to heat up some meat and mix it with his dry food. I have been doing it for 6 years now and I’m starting to get all stress out.
I know it’s my fault and I take all the blame. I was looking at some other dry dog companies that sell small kibbles with FLAVOR. But the problem that I’m finding the dog food isn’t really that good for him, they have by-products and other ingredients that’s not good. I really need help on this one and I do appreciate all the help I can get.
My main goal is to get him of the wet mix food and put him on just dry food, that
has flavor, small kibbles and great dog food.

Again, thank you for your help and will check back for your replies.

Bobbart

[Susan]

Hi, another thing to do is lower the fat% in diet, I found this helps heaps & a low fat dry biscuit at night, I feed 1/2 a thick Rice cake biscuit around 9-10pm…
My new vet said do not use Losec for more then 4-6 weeks, he said Zantac (Ranitidine) or Pepcid (Famotidine) are better to use for stomach reflux as they don’t affect the bowel in anyway like the Losec does also Losec takes 24 hours to start to work, its not quick relief drug like Zantac or Pepcid….Losec is more long term that you must take daily 1 hour before food best taken in the morning & its a newer drug & we don’t really know the side effects on dogs yet, they’re finding it causes osteoarthritis in humans when taken for long periods….also when stopping Losec you can not just stop the drug you need to wean off slowly & use another ant acid medications like Zantac or Pepcid if needed…
My dog reacted to the Losec he did black/green poos after 5 days on Losec, he had a dry mouth & seemed to have more pain after eating cause there was not enough acid in the stomach to digest his food…

[Andi G]

I too am having a hard time deciding on what foods to try next for my giant dog (a mastiff/lab mix) who also happens to be picky eater. It’s so not fair, the neighbor’s dog comes over from time to time and eats up my dog’s rejected food like it’s the best thing ever (HAHA). Affording quality dog food in such large quantities is definitely a challenge that I didn’t think would be quite so challenging when we first got him. 🙂
I’d love to buy him the best of the best no matter the cost, but that’s not possible 🙁
I’ve been giving him Cosequin DS (double-strength) Plus tablets that I find on Amazon for $19 for 60 tablets or $35 for 132 tablets. I give him 2 a day in his food. It seems to make a difference in his stiffness. I ran out of them for a few weeks and couldn’t afford to get more and I can tell he is moving slower and looking like an old man trying to get up from laying down. He’s 6 yrs old.
I used to feed him Purina Pro Plan dry food until the day I became informed on DFA and so now I’m trying to find something I can afford and still be in the 4 or 5 star range. I’ve been giving him Authority Grain-Free dry food and canned food for a few months. He likes the canned food okay but he will leave the dry food in his bowl all day and then give up and eat it eventually when he finds out I’m not giving him anything else. I want so bad to give him food that he enjoys and looks forward to eating but switching around foods is stressful (on him and me) and expensive 🙁
I gave him Blue Buffalo Life Protection Chicken and Brown Rice dry food this past month. He seems to like that a little bit better but still not “loving” it. I’m looking around to try different canned foods to supplement but gosh, they are expensive! Authority is often on sale for $1 a can. Everything else is close to $2 a can or more.
Just now I was checking out Whole Earth Farms canned food on Chewy.com. They are rated 5 stars on DFA and are $1.69 per can on chewy. They look tasty but I’m sure that’s just good marketing! ha I might try it though. If he won’t eat it, it looks good enough that I could make a meal out of it. HAHA just kidding

[Bobby dog]

Hi Peggy,
I haven’t fed the dry, but do feed the stews & tubs; don’t feed the 95% canned anymore. Wal-Mart may have changed the labels, however on the stew cans I have “Premium dog food by Ol’ Roy” is written below the Pure Balance name. On the tubs & the one 95% canned I have left “The best ingredients pure & simple” is written under the PB name.

Wal-Mart CS would be the ones to ask about the Pure Balance brand, Ainsworth is only a co-packer. FYI, Simmons is the manufacturer of the canned foods.

[mike s]

We are fostering a bear-hound dog that has a tumor on the outside of his scrotum that bleeds a lot. The vet wants to castrate and do an ablation but his red blood cell level is too low to undergo surgery. We are feeding him high iron foods such as beef livers. Does anyone know of a superior dry dog food high in iron or a supplement that we could give him.

[Shawna]

When tested at the time of diagnosis, Audrey’s BUN hovered around 57/58 and got as high as 77 when I was experimenting with her diet. Interestingly her creatinine went down when her BUN was up that high. She eats a high protein (45 to 54% dry matter) diet so not unusual for her BUN to be a bit high to begin with. Her phosphorus has never been high when checked so she’s not eating low phos or taking binders. Dogaware.com would be a good place to get some additional info on binders etc.

Your puppy is lucky to have found you!!! Some other things you can try is eliminating as many of the chemicals in your home that you can. When I first learned of Audrey’s illness I looked at the ingredient lists of all the items I used in my house and then check the CDC and/or Material Safety Data Sheets for the products. If they gave any warning about the kidneys — they were gone.

Supporting the liver can help too. I’ve had Audrey on Standard Process Canine Hepatic Support off and on as well as the Renal Support.

Interesting that they use lamb and spinach in the Just food for dogs kd food. I’ve read (and had discussions on DFA) about lamb being the hardest protein to digest. And Veterinary Nutritionist warns against feeding spinach to dogs with kidney disease (I believe because of the high amounts of oxalates). http://petnutritionbysmart.blogspot.com/2013/02/home-made-diets-and-renal-disese-in.html

My brain is shutting down so I best head off to bed.

Wishing you and your baby wonderful results and optimal health!!.. Please ask any more questions you might have and update me, if you think about it, on what you decided for her and how she does with it!!!

[aimee]

Dori,

I ‘ll be happy to discuss THK or anything I post about. I agree with you that their customer service is very responsive but CS hands are tied by the overall lack of nutritional knowledge of the company as a whole.

I think I covered the “kickback” thing. Marking up a product isn’t a kickback. Income stream from selling foods in a vet hospital EH… minor at best… It isn’t worth a vet’s time to sell pet food, his/her time is better spent in the surgery room! Considering the small volume of food sold and taking into account overhead and theft it is likely a bit of a wash. Someplace on Dr. Wynn’s vet blog she addressed this topic as her accountant said stop selling therapeutic diets, it is too much of an income drain!!

Sure vets get volume discounts on food as does anyplace buying the diets but again that isn’t a “kickback” and the volume they deal with in general is so small compared to a large retailer. If vet offices sell food I don’t see it as primarily income related I see it as providing a product they have had success with and trying to increase client contact. If they break even woo hoo!

Ok.. Why I wouldn’t currently recommend THK. On its most basic level I expect a diet when fed as directed to meet my dog’s nutritional needs. I first looked at THK when a poster posted about all the “sticks” in the product. I looked at the profile for the product she was posting about, Preference, and using the information they posted and their feeding directions I ran calculations. When fed to my dog Preference didn’t meet NRC rec or AAFCO min recommended amounts. This alarmed me!

In fact I immediately contacted THK, especially as Preference was being marketed on their website as being appropriate for feeding puppies!. To their credit after I contacted them they removed the information and feeding recommendations for puppies from their website within days. BUT why did it take someone with minimal nutritional training ( that would be me) to point out to them that their food is deficient? They acknowledged I was right by removing the puppy feeding recommendations but why still market it to adults? What about the adults eating the diet? Don’t they care about them as well?

I’ll run through a calculation with you. I’m going to feed my dog Brooke who weighs 68 lbs Preference. I’m to feed her 3/4 cup mix and 1 1/2 cups meat using their active dog recommendations.

The Vit E content of Preference is 70 IU/kg as received, Calories/kg 3510 and Cal/cup 333. From the caloric information 1 cup has .095 kgs of food and 3/4 cup is .071 kg Preference.

.071 kg of food X 70 IU/kg = 5 IU of Vit E in 3/4 cup Preference. NRC rec amt for Vit E is 1 mg/kg body weight to the 3/4 power. Brooke is 68 lbs = ~31kg. To calculate bw to the 3/4 power multiple bw three times and square root twice. 31X 31X 31= 29,791, take the square root twice = 13. Brooke’s body weight in kg to the 3/4 power is 13 and NRC rec Vit E is 13 mg Vit E of the alpha tocopherol form.

Now we have to convert IU vit E to mg vit E (alpha tocopherol) which is what NRC uses. The accepted conversion factor I found is 1 IU vit E = .45 mg alpha tocopherol So 5 IU Vit E x .45 mg/IU = 2.25 mg alpha tocopherol supplied by Preference. The Vit E content of the added 1 and 1/2 cup 85% lean ground beef is .58 mg Vit E from the USDA nutrient database, I’m estimating 1.5 cups as 12 oz. 0.58 mg from meat plus 2.25 mg from the mix = total Vit E fed 2.84 mg. Preference provided about 20% the NRC recommended daily amount of Vit E. This is why I don’t recommend Preference, it doesn’t meet needs.

I’ll compare Preference to AAFCO on an energy basis. AAFCO rec Vit E is 50 IU/kg and a kg of food is defined as 3,500 kcals 50 IU/3,500kcals x 1000 = 14.2 IU/1000 kcals.

I was recommended to feed 3/4 cup Preference which gave me 5 IU Vit E and 250 kcals and 1 1/2 cup meat. 1.5 cups 85% ground beef from USDA database approx 731 kcals and .58 mg alpha tocopherol. I convert mgs Vit E from the beef to IU and I get~ 1.3 IU Total Vit E fed 6.3 IU and total calories 981 kcals 6.3IU/981 kcals x 1000 = 6 .4 IU/1000 kcals. AAFCO Min is 14.2 IU/1000kcals so Preference provides less than half the min AAFCO Vit E requirement according to their posted nutritional information.

Dori, I hope you can now see that using the information provided by THK and adding meat to the pre mix it does not meet either AAFCO or the NRC recommended min levels for Vit E.

Now let’s look at their complete diets, are they complete and balanced? Go to their site and pull up the nutritional information for Keen. The posted content of Vit E is 23.45 mg/kg DM and their posted arginine content is 0.06% DM. Compare that to AAFCO. AAFCO min Vit E content for maint is 50 IU/kg DM and arginine AAFCO min is .51% DM. It really is as simple as that…. 23.45 IU/kg is less than AAFCO requirement of 50 IU/kg and 0.06 % is far far less than .51%. But consider that KEEN caloric content is reported as 4524/kg and AAFCO requires any diet over 4000 kcals/kg to be corrected. The correction is simple 4524/3500 x 50 = 64.6 IU/kg. A diet with KEEN’s caloric density requires 64.6 IU Vit E/kg and THK says there is 23.45 IU/kg. The company reports that their diet has only 36% the amount that AAFCO requires. THK is saying that their diet is not “complete and balanced” b AACo nutrient profile.

Diet after diet, nutrient after nutrient the information that THK posts doesn’t meet AAFCO

Have I reported them? The company on one hand says it is complete and balanced and on the other says it is not. For a feed control official to take action I think a nutrient analysis would need to be done to settle the question and a full analysis can cost thousands. I don’t have that kind of money to donate to the cause. I asked THK if their nutritional analysis are accurate and they said they are. I asked how they can say their diet are complete and balanced. They say they are. Both statements can not be true. Either the nutritional information is wrong or some diets are not complete and balanced. I don’t know which is true. The company said it didn’t have time to investigate it, but would get back to me. It has been over 6 months…Is that good customer service?? I’ve been waiting over 6 months for the company to answer as to how it can say their diets are complete and balanced when the information they post does not meet AAFCO.

I found a similar situation with Grandma Lucy’s, they say the diet is complete and balanced but they report that the Phos max is .45% which is below AAFCO min. I did report Grandma Lucy’s to the feed control official. Grandma Lucy’s printed their nutritional information on the package in their guaranteed analysis so the feed control official didn’t need to run an analysis. The food is misbranded: the label can’t say that it meets AAFCO while guaranteeing that the food is below AAFCO. So the official in my state placed a stop sale order on Grandma Lucy’s. Does that mean it isn’t being sold? Of course not!! The feed control official can’t be there 24 /7 in every little boutique that chooses to violate the law. Does the company care? They gave me the same line as THK; Our diets are complete and balanced. I’ve been waiting over 9 months for them to tell me actual Phos level in their foods.They said they should have the information sometime in 2015

People tend to buy food on an emotional basis. THK is very good at appealing to emotions: “human grade”, “whole food”, “non GMO” etc. They excel in it… I’m analytical.. I like numbers and data. I like things to be consistent and this company is full of inconsistencies. They say the food is “never cooked”…. but they “heat” to high temps. How is that not cooked? I asked THK but they wouldn’t answer. It isn’t raw… yet their phone number is “4 dry raw” and Lucy Postins says right on the video that it is raw. If you use their as received nutrient data the DM protein content is 21.85% for Keen but if you use their as served data it is 40% protein DM basis. They say the diet is highly digestible but expect your dog to poop three to five times a day. That’s normal… Really?? Normal for your dog to poop 3-5 times a day with undigested whole hunks of celery and sweet potato and alfalfa in it? They haven’t ever done any type of digestibility trials, how do they know it is highly digestible… they told me they know it is because raw foods are highly digestible… but wait… they told me their food isn’t raw. Do they have a nutritionist Nope… have they ever had a nutritionist review their diets? Nope. Since the company doesn’t use any nutritionists does it surprise me that their diets wouldn’t be balanced and they can’t do simple nutritional calculations… Nope

I see this company as a marketing company. They appeal to people who evaluate foods on an emotional basis only which is pretty much everybody! They say it is not cooked to appeal to raw feeders and they say it is heat processed to appeal to those that don’t like raw. How can it be both?? According to the nutritional information the company posts and depending on the diet their diets may not meet the most basic thing that a food should, which is meet the nutritional needs of the pet. As long as you don’t feed it consistently it should be fine. But why pay a premium price a food that comes out as it goes in? And why support a company that promotes feeding unbalanced diets to pets ?

Dori I hope this explains to you why I can’t currently recommend this company.

[Cait Y]

Ok so I have lurked here for a little over a year, and recently started making my own raw cat food via Lisa A. Pierson, DVM because one of my boys almost died after getting into the Dry food AGAIN and his whole GI system blocked up because he cannot handle the lack of fluids in dry food. He is such a picky eater that I had put off the raw diet dreading that he would turn his nose up at it like he did the other high quality raw/semi cooked food I tried buying him. He LOVED the home made food, he even batted off his BFF to eat his food too!
HoundDogMom, other raw feeders please bear with me I know that the whole shebang I know as of now it is 6 pages long. I am trying to paint the whole picture with the dogs, their special needs and what is causing me confusion with the Raw feeding books I have read. There is so much going on right now in my personal life that I am having a very hard time understanding this and if anyone could help point me in the right direction or even a book or website or from experience I would be so very very grateful.
The biggest reservation I have about feeding Raw to the dogs (who LOVED the scoop of homemade cat food I gave them as a test) are the bones and sadly the limited ingredients I can use for my Special Needs Hound.
I have a 14 yr old Walker hound (Forest) who has like no teeth left and was just diagnosed with cushing’s disease but has some pretty abnormal liver tests because of the damage that was done while he went undiagnosed. His liver is so enlarged it displaces his stomach sideways and upwards which makes EASILY digestible food a must. He cannot have food high in phosphorus, copper or ammonia which means little to no red meat and lots of poultry, eggs and pork. He also has problems with chronic Constipation so I would have to be VERY careful about the amount of bone I add to his diet but I also want enough in there to give him the nutrients he needs. Since he is older he also burns a LOT of calories, He is on Vital Fresh pet Turkey or Chicken and gets 1.5 lbs a day. I don’t know what is causing him to burn so many calories except for old age or maybe his body is trying to repair itself – all he does is lounge in the lawn and do his hound dance for food – people or animal whichever he can mac on at the moment lol
My 3 yr old yellow lab (Nova) is also a high calorie burner but she is super active, we do scent tracking, retrieving, and lots of walking/running on the grass. She will go until she drops which I have never seen before, so now I watch her very closely for signs she is over heated. She eats up to 2 lbs of the above dog food a day but is still losing weight on occasion when her activity jumps up again. She has always had double the amount of Eosinophils in her blood that she should at a “normal” rate. She has been checked for parasites so the best I can come up with is that she might have GI issues going on intermittently – she doesn’t transition food gracefully and really doesn’t tolerate even high quality kibble (after research it’s not such a mystery anymore) which is in part what turned me onto Freshpets Vital.
To top it all off I have a Four month old female lab puppy (Ellie) that is still growing. I have her on 2 lbs of Freshpets vital but I am worried that she is not getting something in her diet as well. She has three white lines running across her nails – each nail on every paw. In my experience when the horses have white lines or even indents it means either they were very very sick or have a mineral/vitamin deficiency of some sort. I know when Ellie came to us she had a severe infection of hook and round worms. Her infection was so severe at 8 weeks old that the vet said she would have died untreated – thank you OCD and taking her to the Vet the same day she was brought home lol. They were resistant to the normal worming meds and for 2 months we battled with getting them under control and gone. If Dogs are like horses that would cause the lines because of how sick she was during this (Great going Lemon law Florida) yet I also worry because I know parasites in small animals or even large can cause a huge system imbalance with nutrients which hinders growth.
OK Limited ingredients – because of Forest I have to stick to Chicken, Turkey, and Eggs as a main protein source due to his liver problems and because Rabbit in completely unviable to me unless I want to raise them myself. I have no local butcher – the closest one is three hours away so Chicken and Turkey liver will have to do for organ meat – sometimes I can get chicken hearts once in a blue moon. For Fats I have to choose VERY easily digestible fats from an animal protein because with Forests Liver problems his biliary system can be overloaded very easily and that would be disastrous. Maybe I can add some duck occasionally to his diet?

Copper Issues:
If ammonia restriction is required, feed less red meats and organs since they produce the most ammonia. You may not want to eliminate them entirely though, as they have important nutrients that help with liver function.
Instead, cut back. Feed more poultry, fish, eggs, and pork. If feeding red meat, even in small quantities, buy the absolute best quality you can afford. Preferably grass fed, antibiotic, and hormone free.

Meats generally low in copper are:
• Beef (muscle meat, not organs)
• Eggs
• Turkey (white meat)
• Chicken (white meat)
• Rabbit
• Fish
Meats generally high in copper are:
• Lamb
• Pork
• Pheasant or Quail
• Duck
• Goose
• Salmon
• Organ Meats
When feeding organs for copper issues, some animal livers contain more copper than others. Beef liver is higher in copper than chicken or pork livers. Regardless, the zinc and b vitamins in liver help to reduce the risk of copper toxicity. Though if your dog has an issue with copper, opt for chicken or pork liver. (http://primalpooch.com/raw-feeding-guidelines-dogs-liver-disease/)

I have read Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet and Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Health of Dogs and Cats. I have some major issues with either of the books, UtCaD is so absolute – if you feed this protein then you need this oil. First of all Canola Oil? Corn Oil? Soybean Oil? Walnut oil? Flax and hemp seed oil? I own horses and I would NEVER give them Corn oil with the GMO crap going around I don’t trust Corn or Canola at all. If I am not comfortable feeding to my strict Herbivores I am definitely not OK feeding it to the other animals. By the way the 2,000 lbs animals have had major GI upset from Canola, Corn, Soybean and Flax seed oil. I’ve given it to them in small amounts – 3 tablespoons a day and I have seen a massive systemic effect that made me take them off of it immediately. It was supposed to give them the right ratio of Omega’s 3 and 6 plus help my older guys move and keep weight on since it was winter. The recommended Ratio of 6 to 3 fats are 10:1 to 5:1 for dogs – I have read that small fish or Krill are the best to supplement dogs with because of the low contamination rate and it should not carry Salmon Sickness. Soybean oil is also something I would never give my dogs or humans or anything because of the way it can mimic hormones and interrupt the function of the Thyroid. Also Kelp is recommended a lot, but there are so many negatives that came out during the feeding kelp to horse’s fad that I will not touch the stuff. If it can affect the horses with the amount of iodine to the point horses became toxic I don’t trust the manufactures. It was not that kelp was being fed in large amounts there was absolutely no regulation on what type they harvested or what it contained. Missing link for dogs is a product I am familiar with and they do make it for dogs with trace minerals but it is flax based. Won’t this completely mess up the balancing? Does anyone here feed this instead of kelp?
The Missing Link Ultimate Skin & Coat:
Active Ingredients (per tbsp)
Flaxseed Dried Kelp
Glucosamine Hydrochloride (Vegetarian) Zinc Monomethionine
Freeze Dried Beef Liver Lecithin
Blackstrap Molasses Chromium Yeast
Rice Bran Selenium Yeast
Primary Dried Yeast Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6)
Sunflower Seed Niacin (Vitamin B3)
Dehydrated Alfalfa Garlic Powder
Dried Carrot Yucca Schidigera Extract
Shark Cartilage Powder* Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
Freeze Dried Fish Protein Powder Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1)
Freeze Dried Oyster Powder Folic Acid
Barley Grass Leaves Powder Cobalamin (Vitamin B12)
Guaranteed Analysis Amount
Crude Protein (not less than) 18%
Crude Fat (not less than) 28%
Crude Fiber (not more than) 15%
Moisture (not more than) 10%
Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) 450 mg
**Linolenic Acid (Omega 3) 1000 mg
**Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat/Dog food nutrient profiles.

Also if everything is so precise that does not leave room for error such as what if the chickens were raised on Florida soil which is heavy in limestone and deficient in other areas – rather than let’s say somewhere in the bread bowl what about if they were fed a corn based feed and another batch was fed free range? If the meat analysis is different it throws everything off and we all know that meat from south Fl is very different than meat from MI or IN – same principle goes with growing vegetables even organic. How much of a God Factor is there for the abundance of some micronutrients and lack of others? UTCAD also has an abundance of some nutrients way over the NRC guidelines – are dogs different in the fact that they can rid themselves of excess things very easily? I know in humans and horses Vit E and Selenium can be deadly because it builds up in fat and the body doesn’t flush it out like the water-soluble vitamins?
Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Health has a lot of oat meal, rice, beans?! Half and Half milk, whole milk, whole wheat bread corn? That sounds not so great for dogs and especially not for cats like it says it can be. What about kidney beans? With feeding my dogs I have learned they do OK on rice occasionally when they have an upset GI but if they are on a diet with rice too long they get backed up. Also the beans – the dogs seem to have issues with digesting them like people sometimes do – why are there so many carbohydrates? Why cannot I do sprouted microgreens or carrots or even baked potatoes because I know the dogs tolerate those vegetables very well. Also Brewer’s Yeast? Isn’t yeast as a whole bad? It’s in everything and I know Nova already is prone to yeast infections in her ears and when she gets a UTI – Also can Brewer’s yeast cause or attribute to bloat? Milk – isn’t milk products bad if they are in large amounts such as 2 cups milk plus 2 cups rolled oats and 2 eggs and calcium powder? Everything to me seems so skewed.
Also RMB are out of the question – Forest cannot eat them and Nova and Ellie are gulpers – they came from a large litter and it would be just my luck to end up in emergency surgery with one of them. I have a grinder to which I can grind the bone up with the meat and I know the purpose of the bone was for dental health but if I make Meat Jerky and other goodies can I replicate that without worrying about emergency surgery or broken teeth?
Since I own a grinder already for cat food why cannot I grind bones to supplement their food with? So far in my research the basic recipe and consensus I have come across is as follows:
16% Organ meat
10% – 25% Bone
The rest of the food would be muscle meat and muscle meat
Meat is very high in phos and the bone is high in Cal which means the Cal to Phos ratio should be 1.2 to 1.5:1 although 1:1 to 2.5:1 is ok as well. I just need to make sure the dogs consume more Cal than Phos but the question is do I need to add bone meal or can I grind my own bones to supplement?
Here is what the Article analysis the bone content to be in prey animals:
Bone Content In Raw Foods
When sourcing bones for your dog’s diet, it’s a good idea to know the approximate amount of bone in commonly sourced foods. Here is a quick guide to help you keep your dog’s bone content in the right range; between 10% and 25%.
Chicken Whole chicken (not including the head and feet): 25% bone/Leg quarter: 30%/Split breast: 20%/Thigh: 15%/Drumstick: 30%/Wing: 45%/Neck: 36%/Back: 45%/Turkey/Whole turkey: 21%/Thigh: 21%/Drumstick: 20%/Wing: 37%/Neck: 42%/Back: 41%
Pork Feet: 30%/Tails: 30%/Ribs: 30%
Beef Ribs: 52%
Rabbit Whole rabbit (fur and all): 10% Whole (dressed): 25-30%

From this can I remove the proper amount of bones or add more bones in to balance or would you suggest a bone meal powder? Also I have yet to factor in the percentage of vegetable/fruit/microgreens in the recipe – I am just so lost so if HoundDogMom could help or someone else could chime in I would be so grateful. I am trying very hard to learn as much as I can but between the animals and two sick family members and special needs animals by the time I have a moment to sit down I am out like a light for the night or my brain is so frazzled everything looks like it was written in French. Am I over thinking this? I just don’t want to screw Ellie up – she has already had such a bad start with the worm infection – and Forest needs nutrients to rebuild his liver correctly and I wanted to see if this change in diet would help Nova’s Eosinophils come to a normal level. Also has anyone ever seen white lines on every toenail that grows parallel with the skin? Any help would be so appreciated there is just not a lot of room for error with Forest right now with his liver Alt levels 4 times what they are supposed to be. They cannot stay on the Freshpet much longer because to feed the dogs its 19 dollars a day and that’s not a very good long term solution.
Thanks so much everyone~!~ I Hope everyone had a great New Year and wonderful Holiday
`RedMare

[debra r]

I have a 4 year old Miniature poodle who has never had any issues with allegries. But the past 6-8 months hes had outs of skin rashes and now he constantly naws at his groin area to the point of making it raw. At first i thought it was seasonal outdoor allergies, but now it’s winter and he is still so itchy and rashy. The vet gave me a steroid which does help, but i only give it to him when he gets really bad because i don’t like giving him steroids. I want to figure out the root cause. I have been adding omega 3 capsules to his food and Use Canine Life home made muffins (i make them with the mix and my own ingredients) which is his wet food once a day. I have had him on Wellness Complete Health for years and never had any issues with it, but i think this may be the cause. I want to change his dry food but am having a hard time deciding which brand to change it to. The vet is pushing the Ultra Low Allergen Hills Z/D prescription diet, but i feel its lacking nutrients and is super expensive. Any ideas or brands someone could recommend. I just want my pup to stop itching and want to give him a nutrient dense diet… Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Karla C]

Hi everyone! I am new to this forum and have come here for advice. I have read through many threads/replies but I want to ask specifically for the puppy I am rescuing. Her mom is a lab/hound mix and they think dad is a heeler. I will be getting her this Friday at 8 weeks old! Back in April I had to say goodbye to my 15 year old lab/golden mix. But I am now excited to be getting another dog! I didn’t pay much attention as far as researching best foods for my previous dog and unfortunately she became diabetic and had to give her insulin twice a day. She ended up losing a lot if weight (in a healthy way) and her last years were the best!

I want to start out right with my new dog. The foster mom who has the litter is feeding them whole earth farms puppy food by Merrick (dry mixed in with a little wet)…so here I am looking for advise to see if anyone has a lab/hound/heeler mix and what has worked best for them. Thank you in advance! Thankful that I stumbled across this forum 🙂

[Holly C]

I own an adult small breed and recently adopted a large/giant breed puppy. What is the best food to buy them. I would love to do raw but can not afford it nor do I have the time to prepare it. I would like to be able to buy them a dry kibble with the occasional wet food, but having a lot of issues finding an appropriate brand. There is a local feed service store which supplies Diamond Naturals grain-free, Loyall, Holistic Blend(currently switching to this brand from Loyall), Summit, and Nutram along with very crappy brands like pedigree and purina. I would love to feed them a 4 star minimum. The small breed is a 16 pound Pomeranian/Shih-Tzu/Poodle male, neutered and the large/giant breed is a 12 Week Shepherd/Mastiff. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Dog_Obsessed]

I’m going to place my Chewy.com order today. I’m getting a bottle of Vet’s Best shampoo, a cheap dog toy, a Small Bergan Smart Storage container, a 4.4lb bag of Nature’s Logic Venison, and a 4lb bag of Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Lamb and Lentils Dry Dog Food.

Thanks to Dori who suggested the NL kibble, the storage container, and shampoo, and thanks to everyone for suggesting foods and being generally awesome!

[pugmomsandy]

Petkind Tripe dry food reads like a very good quality dog food that includes both fresh meat and meat meal. But tripe is best fed raw, so if you are looking to feed tripe for it’s health benefits, then I wouldn’t recommend a kibble since kibble can be cooked with high temperatures. I consider cooked tripe just another “meat”. Raw tripe is another story.

[Sarah]

Hello Dog Experts!

I would love to get your suggestions on what would be the best food to get for our new puppy Pearl who is 3/4 Golden Retriever and 1/4 Border Collie mix that the breeder refers to as a Coltriever. We have had her since she was 10 weeks old and is now 13 weeks and weighs 12 lbs and is a very active and happy pup. She is currently on Taste of the Wild Puppy which was what the breeder was feeding and we have switched between the Wild Prairie and Wild Pacific Salmon formulas and she has done well on both but seems to like the Wild Pacific Salmon formula more. She has a long and very fluffy puppy coat still and the Vet suggested having her on a fish based puppy food for both her longer coat and to help with the cancer that is so prevalent in Goldens. My understanding is TOTW is a good food for the price point however, I am looking to find what the best food would be for her. I joined the Editors Choice but the large breed Puppy foods listed were not fish based. I don’t mind paying more $$ as it is important to me to have her on the best food possible. Our vet is not pro Raw food and we currently are not looking to go that direction except for possibly supplementing. If anyone has suggestions on supplements we should be adding I would love to hear those as well! I am also scratching my head on whether I should be doing all dry or a wet/dry combo for her food.
These are some of the suggestions we got from Mud Bay for her dry food (a local high end pet store):
1. First Mate Puppy
2. Instinct Salmon (it’s not a puppy formula but they said that it has the same protein and fat ratios as a puppy formula would have)
3. Acana (they didn’t carry but said was great)
4. Orijen (they didn’t carry but said was great)
I appreciate the help, the more I research the more confused I get and would love to hear from people’s personal experiences!
~Sarah

[Madison R]

I have an 11 year old pug who has lost most of her teeth and has trouble eating dry food. She has an extremely long tongue that hangs out all the time and has trouble eating some wet foods. I’m in search of a great quality grain free wet food that is pretty chunky so she pick it up and eat it easily. I’ve sampled a few wet foods but haven’t had any luck.
Any suggestions?
Thank you!!

[Charlotte P]

What foods have you all switched to/had success with? My dogs have always been on grain-free, supplemented with pumpkin and goat yoghurt. Right now I have two, both are rescues… Phoebe is about six years old, she came to me four years ago, and her health is fine except for a reaction to yeast supplements which I tried as a flea treatment alternative (They are both on Comfortis now). Leo, also about six, came to me four months ago and has the anal abscess issues, was underweight, and ended up having TWELVE teeth removed – he was already missing five! Over the years, dry and canned foods I have tried include Natural Balance, Spring Naturals, I and Love and You, Wishbone Lake, and of course, home-cooked meals. Has anyone had success with any of these? How about Orijen, Acana, Blue Buffalo, or Taste of the Wild? Do I need to go raw? For the dry, I had the best outcome with Wishbone Lake.

[Dori]

A better way to know if your dog needs to lose or gain weight is by feel. You don’t need a scale for this. Feel your dogs body especially her rib cage both sides. Can you easily feel her ribs or do you really have to push in on her flesh to feel them. You should be easily able to feel her ribs but not to the point where you can actually feel too easily the space in between each rib. Also while she is standing still look straight down on her. You should be able to see a waist line. If you you don’t, then just keep adjusting her weight downward until you can. Same with the ribs. Also don’t forget that in feeding raw you feed much less than you would if you were feeding a dry or canned food. By regularly feeling her body you can then always adjust her meals by a little more or a little less once she gets to what feels right.

Also, as BC said. 5 – 10 lbs. overweight on a dog is a huge deal. Once she looses the weight you’ll be surprised as to how more active she’ll be. It’s best for all her internal organs and musculoskeletal system to be a little on the slim side. Much healthier all around.

[Amy G]

Hi everyone–I need some help. We just brought home an 8 week old Boxer puppy 3 days ago (who is adorable btw) and he will not eat his food. The breeder was feeding him Purina Puppy Chow, wetted down until soft. She told us that he was a fast eater and to watch him. The first day we brought him home he ate very little. The second day he refused to eat it at all. I went and bought Blue Wilderness Puppy food to mix with the Purina to transition him over but he will not eat this at all. I wetted it down with low sodium chicken broth until soft, he sniffs the bowl and walks away. So for almost an entire day he refused to eat. I went to PetSmart and bought a few tubs of Nature’s Recipe puppy food and he lapped them up completely. We were excited that he finally started to eat. I was worried about just feeding him the wet food so I tried mixing it in with the Blue kibble and he wouldn’t eat it, but once I put down just the wet food he started eating. I saw on here that Nature’s recipe pure essentials got 5 stars for wet food but then I saw someone else said it wasn’t good? So now I’m completely confused as to what to go and buy him for tomorrow because I only have 2 tubs left. He’s about 9 pounds now and according to that weight, I’m guessing he should be eating 1 3/4-2 tubs per meal? 3 times a day? I have a black Lab that eats TOTW with pulled beef/chicken as a topper but she has never had a problem eating just dry kibble. Is eating just wet food going to be bad for him in the end? I’m just overwhelmed with the choices and want to make sure we are giving him the best nutrition possible. I do have a lawn and garden center near me that sells TOTW and some other high end canned dog food that I could check out but would Nature’s choice do for now? Thank you so much for all your help.

[Elizabeth G]

How can I quickly find the best quality of dry lamb food on your website? I feed raw and have for 20 some odd years but my new rescue dog has frequent ear infections so my vet wants her on a limited lamb food for about two months to see which protein might be causing it. I will be feeding fresh lamb meat for one meal but need a dry for the other feeding. Any tips on how to find the best lamb dry on your website? Thanks for doing this website by the way. I recommended it to all my puppy buyers when I was showing and breeding.

[Lynn R]

WhAt would be the best foods dry & canned, for her?

[DogFoodie]

Hi Bill!

Great to see you again! I always love your positive energy!

Here’s the best dry matter converter I’ve found: http://fnae.org/dmb.html

I started to make a couple of suggestions, when I realized you were looking for foods with lower protein than what I was going to recommend. Any particular reason you’re looking for the lower protein? I don’t recall you saying anything about Billy having had pancreatitis previously, so are the protein and fat levels just your preference for him?

Sorry if I’m asking questions you’ve already answered or for which you’ve offered explanations!

[bill c]

Hiya,

I’m abroad (stationed in Singapore). I posted in the regular site but, thought I’d also do it here.

1. What’s the best dry food with 22-26% protein; 8-14% Fat; and 340-360 calories
2. Same question for dehydrated food
3. Same goes for canned food.
I currently feed Honest Kitchen and Acana Grassland but, am confused about the percentages on the packaging.

This is us: