[Tucker]

Hi All,

First post. Great site! Can’t believe I have had labs my entire life and never found it. I replied under large breed nutrition and wasn’t sure if I should have started another topic so I put it in both. Not sure of the protocol here yet 🙂

Apologies for the length… I wanted to get it all in 🙂

We just lost both of our labs last year in a one two punch within 2 months. Killed me 🙁 Floyd (my 11 1/2) Chocolate to prostrate cancer and KC (my girl 15 1/2) yellow to lack of mobility. That girl was bolted together more times and just kept on trucking. Pretty amazing… I was blessed. She may have cost me a fortune, but she was worth every penny and more. As close to a human as a dog can be 🙂 For anyone who has an older dog that is having trouble getting around I HIGHLY recommend trying acupuncture. I got two extra years of love out of her. 🙂 Now to the new…

A few months ago we started a new chapter in life and brought Tucker home. (I would put up a pic but I can’t figure out how to do it.. lol. Gorgeous White Male Lab. Great breeder, all of her dogs looked so healthy, great referrals. Then the unthinkable happened. We brought him home a few days before 8 weeks and on day two we were all on the bed ( I know… don’t even say it. There is a crate on there for when we sleep… Still want him on Daddy’s bed) I was at the top and my fiancé was at the bottom.. Tucker in the middle and he did a scoot and rolled of the bed… and began limping 🙁 I almost died. You all can only imagine! He favored his should for a few minutes and he was fine. Then two weeks later my finance was holding him, put him down and he favored for a minute and was fine. I was thinking maybe a bone bruise. Two weeks later it happened again!!! That was it… x-ray time. Our regular vet said there was a slight deformity in the round of the shoulder bone where it goes in the socket but it would it probably just go away and to keep him calm for a month or so. That doesn’t work for me. I’ve paid the price for listening to first opinions in the past and not investigating issues. I brought him to my Ortho who bolted my girl back together so many times and he gave me the real scoop…

OCD… I knew when he said come in my office it wasn’t a bone bruise. I’ve taken that walk before. 🙁 He’s old school and said monitor and if it gets bad we will fix it. He wasn’t showing signs of distress on manipulation. He said if it’s bad they yelp. I’ve researched everywhere and my brain feels like it is full of Bingo Balls right now.

Our breeder said she has never had a dog with OCD. I know nutrition and heredity are two factors, but in this case I have to believe that this is trauma related OCD and not from the others. With that in mind, I know slow growth, low calcium. Some say no carbs so grain free, others say not too much protein is bad which is what you get with grain free…

Bingo Balls :-/

Our breeder did not believe in puppy food and fed Kirkland Signature Salmon and Sweet Potato. I have a problem with Costco dog food. We got home and the vet said Iams puppy large breed was good. I think that is worse. Can’t believe I went there… I just wanted to do it all right. So here we are now.

I need the best dry food I can get considering his OCD condition in his left shoulder. I really don’t care what I spend on my bag of kibble. I just want to fix my puppy!!!

We got a harness instead of a collar so there is no unnecessary tugging, There are ramps everywhere so there is minimal impact on up a downs, and we try to control him as much as anyone could control a 4 month old lab. When the zoomies come you just have to go with the flow…lol.

Now I need to know the best dry kibble to feed him. Whatever will help as much as possible for this to heal and his bones to grow big and strong. 🙂

Side note … The vet did start him on a glucosamine pill that seems good. And then we talked to the lady at the holistic dog food store who says it may be bad because he is young and you don’t want it to take the place of his own body making it… seriously!!! like I didn’t have enough to worry about with the kibble….

Any help would be sooo greatly appreciated. I love my dogs more than people! I can’t change what happened and I have accepted that it was an accident, though preventable 🙁 Now I need to do everything I can to put things right!

Help me Doggie Food Forum… your my only hope! 🙂

Thank you everyone for all of your posts. They have been very helpful. This place is fabulous!

[Tucker]

Hi All,

First post. Great site! Can’t believe I have had labs my entire life and never found it.

Apologies for the length… I wanted to get it all in 🙂

We just lost both of our labs last year in a one two punch within 2 months. Killed me 🙁 Floyd (my 11 1/2) Chocolate to prostrate cancer and KC (my girl 15 1/2) yellow to lack of mobility. That girl was bolted together more times and just kept on trucking. Pretty amazing… I was blessed. She may have cost me a fortune, but she was worth every penny and more. As close to a human as a dog can be 🙂 For anyone who has an older dog that is having trouble getting around I HIGHLY recommend trying acupuncture. I got two extra years of love out of her. 🙂 Now to the new…

A few months ago we started a new chapter in life and brought Tucker home. (I would put up a pic but I can’t figure out how to do it.. lol. Gorgeous White Male Lab. Great breeder, all of her dogs looked so healthy, great referrals. Then the unthinkable happened. We brought him home a few days before 8 weeks and on day two we were all on the bed ( I know… don’t even say it. There is a crate on there for when we sleep… Still want him on Daddy’s bed) I was at the top and my fiancé was at the bottom.. Tucker in the middle and he did a scoot and rolled of the bed… and began limping 🙁 I almost died. You all can only imagine! He favored his should for a few minutes and he was fine. Then two weeks later my finance was holding him, put him down and he favored for a minute and was fine. I was thinking maybe a bone bruise. Two weeks later it happened again!!! That was it… x-ray time. Our regular vet said there was a slight deformity in the round of the shoulder bone where it goes in the socket but it would it probably just go away and to keep him calm for a month or so. That doesn’t work for me. I’ve paid the price for listening to first opinions in the past and not investigating issues. I brought him to my Ortho who bolted my girl back together so many times and he gave me the real scoop…

OCD… I knew when he said come in my office it wasn’t a bone bruise. I’ve taken that walk before. 🙁 He’s old school and said monitor and if it gets bad we will fix it. He wasn’t showing signs of distress on manipulation. He said if it’s bad they yelp. I’ve researched everywhere and my brain feels like it is full of Bingo Balls right now.

Our breeder said she has never had a dog with OCD. I know nutrition and heredity are two factors, but in this case I have to believe that this is trauma related OCD and not from the others. With that in mind, I know slow growth, low calcium. Some say no carbs so grain free, others say not too much protein is bad which is what you get with grain free…

Bingo Balls :-/

Our breeder did not believe in puppy food and fed Kirkland Signature Salmon and Sweet Potato. I have a problem with Costco dog food. We got home and the vet said Iams puppy large breed was good. I think that is worse. Can’t believe I went there… I just wanted to do it all right. So here we are now.

I need the best dry food I can get considering his OCD condition in his left shoulder. I really don’t care what I spend on my bag of kibble. I just want to fix my puppy!!!

We got a harness instead of a collar so there is no unnecessary tugging, There are ramps everywhere so there is minimal impact on up a downs, and we try to control him as much as anyone could control a 4 month old lab. When the zoomies come you just have to go with the flow…lol.

Now I need to know the best dry kibble to feed him. Whatever will help as much as possible for this to heal and his bones to grow big and strong. 🙂

Side note … The vet did start him on a glucosamine pill that seems good. And then we talked to the lady at the holistic dog food store who says it may be bad because he is young and you don’t want it to take the place of his own body making it… seriously!!! like I didn’t have enough to worry about with the kibble….

Any help would be sooo greatly appreciated. I love my dogs more than people! I can’t change what happened and I have accepted that it was an accident, though preventable 🙁 Now I need to do everything I can to put things right!

Help me Doggie Food Forum… your my only hope! 🙂

Thank you everyone for all of your posts. They have been very helpful. This place is fabulous!

[Badboris27]

:o) To be honest, when we heard about giving honey to the dogs, it made complete sense if you believe that allergies are the root cause. We were so desperate that we would have tried almost anything!

The impact of “something in this combination or the entire combination”, whether it be the honey, yogurt, non-poultry grain-free food and-or the vitamin, did have a very dramatic effect on our dogs. The sores that were so bad that they used to BLEED went away completely and their coats started “regenerating” for lack of a better word. The hair got thicker and a LOT softer. Prior to that, the ONLY progress we ever saw was when they were on antibiotics and steroids. When those medications were done, the problem always came back. Not anymore.

I’ve scoured the internet for information about giving honey & bee pollen to dogs since then and everything I’ve found has been very positive.

To your question – Yes, we will absolutely keep giving the honey because of the “micro-climate” area we live in (So Cal wine country, 25 miles inland of the coast and just at the edge of the desert – lot’s of variety in that). On top of that, a drought or a wet season can cause certain plant species to flourish while others don’t do as well. The local beekeepers must have a Co-Op of some sort because all of the raw, local wildflower honey in our stores is all packaged the same but some weeks it is darker, lighter, thicker or thinner. I suppose that depends on where that batch came from. My wife gets the honey at the smaller, natural stores and not the big name chains. Farmer’s market’s also have the local honey around here – and again, all packaged the same.

Lastly, the more I read the more that I keyed on the allergens getting into the feet. We walk our dogs 2x a day no matter what. Often, we’re out in nature on grass, in the weeds, in the dirt, in shrubs, bushes, whatever. Our vet taught me how to scrub their feet using 1 gallon Ziploc bags and I do that a few times a weeks (the theory here being that dogs walk and “spin” in all of that flora which puts everything deep in those pads…then, they lick them and lick their fur, etc.). Take two Ziplocs, fill each one about 1/4th of the way up w/ warm water. Squirt some shampoo in one of the bags for the “wash” cycle and leave the other one as-is for the rinse. Stick your dog’s foot in the wash bag and from the outside of the bag, use your fingers to work the shampoo in between the toes and up inside the pads. Rinse the same way and dry with a towel. My “dog kids” are used to it now and they actually LIKE it, I think!

I’m not a vet and I’m no expert at any of this. All I can attest to is that this worked for us. Like anyone else going through a canine allergy problem, I was ready to be fitted for a straight-jacket!

If ANYONE has any other questions or observations, I’d love to hear them or help if I can.

One other note, our dogs also used to be on Soloxine for a thyroid condition and we’ve been able to get off of that, too.

Best to you,

Jeff

[Shasta220]

I’d definitely get your dog off of Beneful ASAP. I’m stuck feeding a friend’s dogs Beneful whenever he’s away… The smell alone tells me that there isn’t much health benefit in it. Beneful is so expensive because of its appeal. They have fancy advertisements, colorful kibble, and lots of vivid pictures on the bag. That is what you’re paying for, you’re not paying for anything wholesome or nutritious.

Okay, Beneful rant over: Make sure your dog’s teeth are okay, too. My dog started slowing down on the crunchy dry food…the next day I went to brush her teeth, I saw she had a slab fracture with a bad cavity growing (tooth had to come out…).
If he is all healthy in the mouth, but still prefers that chewy texture, you could find a quality dry kibble and try adding some of the brothy/stewy canned food, so it gets that liquid all over the kibble and helps soften it a little. If you don’t really want to get into canned food, then you could probably even pour a little water or chicken broth (I’d do home made so you can avoid unnecessary sodium. Just boil some chicken backs/necks for a while), that will soften the food.

If you get into feeding soft foods though, be sure to keep up on the oral hygiene 😉 if teeth brushing is too difficult, you can keep chews around and they even make food/water additives. Regular dental cleanings would be needed too if the tartar still gets built up.

Best wishes! Hopefully you’ll be able to get your fella on something wholesome and good for him 😀

[Mom2Cavs]

Okay…I’ll go. Warning! It’s gonna be a long post LOL!

Lucy Mae – 12.5 year old adopted from a no-kill shelter 11.5 years ago. She’s a mix of Poodle/French Brittany/Chihuahua (finally did a DNA on her), is black and white and looks like a small Border Collie. She’s always weighed in at 24-25 lbs. According to the shelter she was found running in the road (by the shelter President on her way to work), was covered with dirt, oil, mud. She was only in the shelter a month when we adopted her. Didn’t know anything about dogs really and went looking for a puppy with the kids (14 and 12). My husband and I had always had cats. Anyway, we saw Lucy and decided to visit with her. I liked her looks and she was a smaller dog. She immediately put her paw on my leg in the visiting room! We also had a puppy brought in, which proceeded to jump all over Lucy, and wee in the middle of the floor LOL! Lucy was just very quiet and kept up with the paw….so the rest is history hahaha. The shelter was calling her Mae, because that was the month she came to them. They had another May…so. I didn’t especially like the name Mae for a first name (and I always give my animals middle names) so we decided on Lucy Mae. Lucy has done agility work/beginner competitions with me and rally obedience competitions (which she liked and did the best in). She has also been my demo dog when I’ve taught beginner obedience classes. Her temperament, however, has always been so-so. She didn’t know how to climb steps, or walk on carpet when we adopted her. She’s very protective of our house and tends to not like many other dogs, except her Cavvie ladies of course. I have been known to put a yellow ribbon on her leash when out and about, and at the dog club. About a year ago, Lucy developed a mass on her bladder. We decided no surgery (due to her acting very normal and her age). But, I feel it did undermine her immune system and this past Nov./Dec. she developed a very rare form of canine skin cancer called CETL (cutaneous epitheliotropic t-cell lymphoma). It only happens to old dogs (beginning around age 9 and up), no one knows what causes it, no treatments seem to help it and the prognosis is poor (6 mos. to 2 yrs. at most). Also, the dogs don’t seem to be bothered by it much and tend not to die with it per se, and usually the owner has to make the decision to put the dog down due to quality of life. We are taking Lucy Mae one day at a time now and have been blessed with her all these years!! She’s one great dog!

Hazel Louise – a 6.5 year old Black and Tan Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I will give a back story here: When my kids got older and didn’t need me as much I took a part time, 2 day a week, job at a local pet specialty store (which is now a Petco due to a buyout). I feel God led me to the job as it “fell into my lap”, so to speak. This is also where I became knowledgeable about pet nutrition. I had always wanted to do pet therapy work but my mixed breeds (Lucy and Desi (rip)) were not suited in temperament for it. One day I met a breeder of Cavaliers who came into the store monthly to buy their food. She said she had a 5 year old retired show champion that she would love to rehome, if she found the right one…..so….after a few more meetings with her, I finally went to her kennel and met Stella Agnes, my first Cavalier (a Blenheim). Stella was wonderful and I immediately had her certified to be a therapy dog with TDI. We did this for 5 years until Stella could no longer do it and I had a back issue. Stella passed away this past January 13, 2013 at 12 years of age, rip. While Stella was about 7 or 8 the breeder called me to say she had another Cavalier…Hazel, who was 2 years at the time, who she wanted to rehome. Hazel and her brother were purchased from a breeder in England to enhance my friend’s breeding line. When they took all the dogs to Ohio State to be seen by the specialists for testing, Hazel didn’t pass. She had a mild heart murmur, which is prevalent in Cavaliers. Even though she was going to be okay the breeder could not breed her. So, they didn’t really show her either. At age 2 they decided to give her a good home as a beloved pet, so she came to me! She did some therapy visits with me and Stella and did well on them…she’s a shyer dog, though. I was going to get her certified, but when I retired Stella I decided to just wait on it. Hazel is a great dog!!! She is so loving, and she is definitely my shadow. She is my best eater and though she tends to have dry skin in the winter, she is beautiful and shiny with a fish oil supplement. She weighs 19 lbs. and I keep her a perfect weight due to her murmur issue. She is not on any meds and the murmur hasn’t changed since she was 2, thank goodness! She is now certified as a therapy dog and does better than I’d expected due to her being a shyer dog. She has really come in to her own with it. I love Hazel Louise (Hazie as I like to call her) and I hope she continues to do well healthwise….she’s a very special dog!

Laverne Marie – Vernie (my nickname for her) is an 8.5 year old Ruby Cavalier who weighs 17 lbs. She came into our household 2.5 years ago right after my mixed breed Shih-Poo, Desi, passed away. I like to say he sent her to us, as she has some of his characteristics (only the good ones, thank goodness, as he was quite the stinker, lol). Anyway, when my Desi passed my husband told me to contact the breeder to see if she had a dog I could adopt. I wasn’t too sure yet but went ahead and made the call. She had one, Laverne, but she was actually promised to a couple where the wife had M.S. to be a companion for her. I was bummed but knew that perhaps it was for the best. However, God had other plans, and about a week later the breeder called me to say that the wife did not want Laverne and the husband didn’t want to keep her either, so they were returning her! She said she should’ve just given her to me in the first place :). I took Laverne home and she fit right in!! I now had 3 Cavaliers (Stella was still with us then) and Lucy Mae. I was in heaven! I joked the only thing I needed was a Tri and then I’d have a matched set. When Stella passed away, I started feeling like I should get back into therapy dog work. I also knew that Laverne would be great at it. She is actually from the breeder’s own kennel and has quite the personality, and is still loved by them, as is Hazel. We keep in touch still. She had 2 litters before I got her and was retired from show at age 6, the March before I adopted her in Sept. She is quite the jokester and is one of the lights of our lives! Very special dog indeed. I found a TDI testor and had Laverne certified this past Feb. 2013. In March 2013 Hazel was officially certified, as well. Now we visit a local hospital, library reading program and nursing homes. It is very fulfilling. Laverne and Hazel actually have the same birthday, Aug. 16th, and they are 2 years apart. For one of Laverne’s litters she was mated to Hazel’s brother, so they are sisters and sisters-in-law hahahahaha! I will always have a Cavalier from now on. If God deems it that I have another one while Lucy’s still alive, then that’s wonderful. If not, then I will actively seek another one (or two) when Lucy goes to the bridge. Btw, Lucy does like the Cavs…..sometimes I think she thinks they’re little divas lol. She is the alpha and lets them know it, but she loves them and takes care of them, too. 🙂

Princess Di – My Princie is going on 9 years old and is a Tortoise Shell cat who thinks she’s a dog! Princess first came into my oldest daughter’s life when she decided she needed a cat for company. She lived in Lima, Ohio at the time and was teaching H.S. math there. She didn’t have family close so she was sometimes lonely. One day I visited and we went to the local cat no-kill shelter. Princess had been there for around a year and a half! We adopted Princess (her name at the shelter, too) because she was very friendly and actually wanted to just stay on Erin’s lap the entire visiting time lol. Erin thought about changing her name but kept it when she found a food bowl at the pet store with Princess written inside of it …fate you know lol. Well, eventually Erin moved back to Bowling Green, Ohio where her fiancé was. But, she was moving in with some girlfriends and they couldn’t have pets. She asked me and her dad to keep Princess for her until she could take her back. I told her fine, but she needed to know that her dad would probably not give Princess back when that time came. He is definitely a cat lover. As you guessed it, he wouldn’t give her back! Now Erin has 2 other cats (Sheldon and Penny) and the rest is history. Princie gets along fine with the dogs and comes running when it’s dinner or treat time, just like they do! Very affectionate cat and very loved by all. 🙂

Now, I know this was long-winded and thanks if you read this far. I just wanted to tell you all the whole story. Bless you all!

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by Mom2Cavs.

[houndlovr2]

Hi everyone, today I adopted a 3 year old walker hound mix from the local animal shelter. I’ve noticed she has a minor case of dry skin. From the history I got on her she turned in because her owner died. I can tell she was very important to her previous owner, she is very well trained. My question is what kind of food would be the best to help with skin issues and gain a little weight. She was 55 lbs at her last vet visit in October, but looks like she lost some weight due to shelter life. It will be a week before we go to my vet for a health check and I wanted to get a good food to get her on her way to feeling 100% after what she’s been through. Sorry so long I’ve never had a dog with skin issues so not sure what to do to help her until vet time.

[Scruffy312052]

Keep reading on the personal dog food creations. They are all over the web. I was paying an average of 247 per week (over 12K per year) for dry dog food with dismal results. I now spend just under 165.00 per week and I am developing ideas for diets and beneficial supplements to lower that cost even more. My goal is to reduce my intial cost by 65 to 70% while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet for my pack. The info is out there. Just keep reading. If you have a favorite Vet, It’s best to keep them in the loop.

Scruffy

[wparsons]

I signed up because I’ve been through this exact issue with my beloved basset hound, and I think I have a handle on it.

His episodes began at about 1 year of age, and would happen seemingly at random, sometimes every few days, other times weeks apart. The first time it happened was pretty terrifying, and after a late night emergency vet visit and $500 later, I didn’t feel any better informed than when I started.

Eventually I stumbled across a forum post where it was suggested that in some dogs an empty stomach can lead to overproduction of stomach acid, which causes stomach discomfort and irritation of the esophagus.

What has worked wonders for Patton (my basset) has been to make sure he never goes too long without eating something. We’ve settled into a pretty good schedule of normal meals for breakfast and dinner, with a couple additional small snack-sized meals at night.

It goes like this (all dry food):

7:30 am – 1 cup
5:30 pm – 1 cup
9 pm – 1/3 – 1/2 cup
10pm to midnight (just before bed) – 1/8 – 1/4 cup

This has pretty much completely cleared up the problem for Patton. I also keep 10mg famotidine tablets (Pepcid, but generic is much cheaper) on hand, and whenever he has an episode or seems gassy, he gets one. This is what the vet prescribed after his first visit, with an inconclusive diagnosis, so I know it’s safe to give him.

In the last year and a half, he’s had maybe 3 or 4 episodes, and all I do is give him about a 1/2 cup of food and a Pepcid, and he’s back to normal within 10-15 minutes.

I hope this helps. I know how scary this can be, and how helpless I felt to help my best friend.

[RukatheBlackfish]

I have a 6 month old lab/pointer mix. We can’t do all raw food so we are trying to do the next best thing with 4/5 star kibble on rotation, with a wet food topper, and raw food stuffers. We noticed that he had an incredible amount of gas. I did some research on here and started him on a probiotic/enzyme supplement. That helped a lot, like incredibly so with nearly instant results. However he still has gas. I don’t know how much is normal. Usually he has gas around the same time of day too, that’s what I find interesting. It’s around 5:30pm then again at night (I think 10pm). He eats usually between 11:30-12pm and again at 8:30-9pm. He gets the probiotic with each feeding but not the raw food. However he’ll be gassy whether he eats the raw food or not.
I was thinking it might be the wet food. I think I’m rotating it too fast. There’s definitely some wet foods that make him have horrible gas. It’s nearly all stews (chunks of meat) and Merrick. His gas isn’t as bad on the food that’s one solid blob like Wellness Core, Halo, and Nature’s Variety Instinct.
I guess I’m wondering how much gas is normal. And if his gas is unusual what I can do to help it. Should I keep him on the same wet food through the whole bag of kibble? Or should I rotate it more often. And like with dry food should there a transition between wet foods? Or this normal as he’s a young dog and his gut flora is still maturing. I don’t know, shooting in the dark.
I really appreciate any help!

[Tulmaster]

Hi, new here and hope I reached an appropriate page for comment. First I am searching for the best dry food to give Odin, my 7 yr old Lab/Rot. I have been feeding him Blue Buffalo for years. So to cut to the chase, I was reviewing the Stars, 5 and 4 and noticed when I got to some, and I will use BB as an example, it said in the 4 star category, there were 17 different food that were offered. Of those on the list there were 4 or 5 that did not display a stars rating, and the rest were rated from as low as 2 and as high as 4.5. I tried to find a rating method explanation, but could not so, what do they mean? Did some not meet the 4 star rating and if so why? If they are all 4 star, then why the difference. If they are not 4 star then why are they listed under the 4 star link? All to confusing for me.

[AT]

New here…We are bringing an 8 week old Labrador puppy home next Saturday and I am trying to narrow in on food options. I have spent the last few days reading every single post in this thread and it has been quite an education – thank you to all of you who spend time here to help educate others!
My questions:
1. Our puppy will be coming home on Purina Pro Plan Focus Puppy Large Breed Formula and I want to transition him to something better as soon as possible. Would a few days after he is home and settled in be too soon to start a transition, provided he is not showing any signs of GI distress?
2. If price/cost is not a constraint, what off the shelf product would you feed a lab puppy? I am not up to a homemade diet at this point (might consider this in the future, but don’t trust myself to get up to speed in one week and to get it right during this crucial growth period). Most of the discussions I’ve read here involve rotating quality dry foods (with added toppers/supplements). Would this be the best way to start since our puppy will be coming home on a dry food?
It has also been stated that raw, canned or reconstituted is even better. I can see the raw recommendations in the document linked to several times throughout this thread. What do you consider to be the best of these brands? Would transitioning directly to raw be ok for our puppy; or should we go first to canned, then to raw?
Can anyone offer recommendations for the “best of the best” of canned foods for a large breed puppy? I figure I can call companies to calculate exact calcium/kcal, but could anyone offer the best brands/formulas to start my efforts? The fives stars listed in the library are:
By Nature 95% Meat (Canned)
Castor and Pollux Natural Ultramix (Canned)
Dogswell Dog Food (Canned)
EVO Dog Food (Canned)
Fromm Gold Nutritionals (Canned)
Go! Fit and Free (Canned)
Great Life Essentials (Canned)
Kirkland Cuts in Gravy (Canned)
Life’s Abundance (Canned)
Merrick Dog Food (Canned)
Merrick Grain Free Dog Food (Canned)
Nature’s Variety Instinct (Canned)
Pet-Tao Dog Food (Canned)
Pure Balance Dog Food (Canned)
Tiki Dog Food (Canned)
Wellness Core Dog Food (Canned)
Wellness Stews (Canned)
Weruva Kobe (Canned)
Weruva Kurobuta (Canned)
ZiwiPeak Daily Dog Cuisine (Canned)

Thank you so much for any advice!
AT

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by AT.

[pacalady]

I have been doing research on the best dog food to feed and I am more confused than ever. I find complaints and bad reviews about all of the brands. I have fed Iams lamb and rice for years. For some reason my dogs will always get an ear infection when on other foods that i have tried so faR and i have fed iams puppy for our puppys but I have heard of some negatives there lately. Then I was in the vet for puppy check up on our Aussie and the receptionist recommended 4health after feeding iit for one week mixed with the iams our puppy started dry heaving. And vomiting. Did research found other complaints about the same thing I dont think I want to take any chances I had found a lot of good reviews about fromm and was going to switch to that but of course I fell across bad reviews. How I cant afford the top of the line and 70 a bag type food. I am thinking about sticking with Iams I have never had problem. I am so confused. My dogs are like my kids. They are family. How does one know what dogs foods are really okay. Talk about confusing. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions..

[cinner00]

I am very satisfied with 4Health dry food for my dog. I have a question about which adult food would be better for my pup. My trainer said I should go with the higher protein one, 4Health Performance, another person suggested the adult large breed formula. I have a 9 month old Bernese Mt, Shepherd mix. He is 63 pounds, tall and lean, healthy shiny coat. He did great on the puppy food and handles both of the a fore mentioned formulas fine. I am not looking to switch brands, just which of these would be best for his diet moving forward. You give the performance 4.5 stars. Note: My pup did not do well on grain free food at all.

[Missmillie01]

I have 3 dogs, a 14 yr old shelti, and two 4 lb Maltese mixes. I feed the Shellie Now senior, he does ok ,but poops a lot! The little ones seem to do well on Buffalo grain free, but have terrible eye tearing, could be genetic or from food. Either way all three are chow hounds! They eat fast. I want to add a canned diet to the regimine, but I’m confused, do I add the canned to the kibble? Or is it best to feed dry at one feeding and wet at another?
I have also give the little ones Stella and Chewy freezes dried, I have added that to the kibble. I’m concerned the protein level is to high when I do that. If someone can help me understand all this…..

[Naples_vidiot]

This is what Blue came back with:

Hi Christine,

Thank you for contacting us. We are sorry that BLUE did not work out for your pet. When switching foods, there is always a possibility that the food will not agree with your pet or they may not like it. Which Wilderness formula were you feeding your dog? Wilderness is a higher protein and fat diet for active, sporting and working dogs. Due to the higher protein and fat, it is not always the best fit for some pets. Whenever you purchase BLUE it comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you find that BLUE is not a good fit for your pet, you can return the unused portion to the retailer for a full refund or exchange with your receipt.

We do not have any current recalls. In the unfortunate event of a recall, we would work with each of our retailers to immediately remove affected product as well as post signage alerting consumers of a recall. In the case of our larger retailers, such as PetSmart and Petco, we are able to work with them in contacting customers that purchased a recalled product based on information obtained from their Pet Perks and PALS program. We would also post the most up-to-date information on our website as well as work with veterinary websites (such as Veterinary Information Network) to educate veterinarians across the country of the issue so that they can share it with their clients.

We are aware of the postings and blogs that are unregulated. Unfortunately we can’t control what is posted in an online forum and unless the Pet Parent contacts us directly, we can’t investigate their claim fully. We always encourage pet parents to contact us if they feel there is an issue so that we can gather all of the product information for our QA Team and investigate. Product quality is our #1 priority. We have strict controls in place to make sure that our ingredients meet the highest quality standards.

These controls include the following:

Certificate of origin for all ingredients
COA’s (certificates of analysis) on all our ingredients prior to accepting
Testing of each ingredient for known toxins prior to accepting
Testing during production to ensure that our formulas meet our nutritional specifications.
Testing after production to ensure product stability and freshness.

We use a government certified laboratory to test for normal analyticals, toxins, bacterial contamination, and spoilage.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions.

Take care,
Tracy

Blue Buffalo Co.

Yada yada yada

[mellowmutt]

Well, the food’s already mixed… I’ve read this advice a lot, but the only links I’ve come across are to those marketing rotational feeding. Maybe one in ten dogs I’ve ever known had food allergies (mostly to “bad” grains); most of the rest lived long, happy lives on the same food day in and day out, mostly dry kibble of dubious quality by today’s standards. I have two very good, related reasons for mixing rather than rotating.

First, the different kibble sizes, and one kibble being “preferred” really slows down Amiga’s feeding rate. I don’t want her “inhaling” her food, which she does when all the kibbles are the same size/smell. Mixed, she’ll try picking out the Orijen kibbles! Of course she winds up eating most of the other kibbles along with, at which point I guess she figures she may as well finish the meal. But it does take her twice as long to eat, this way, and gives me control of what she’s eating with no fuss because…

Second, she’s one of those picky mals who drive their owners to despair with hunger strikes, this being a well-known feature-bug of many individuals of most arctic breeds — which evolved to be headstrong, independent, and require less food than other dogs of similar size. If I rotate the food, which I did try, she’ll just ignore the food dish until what she wants gets put in it — which turns into a battle of wills the human usually loses (I know I’m a sucker for those sad puppy-dog eyes with whimpering), best not let it start if I want her growth rate to be steady not spurty, though.

http://wildpaw.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=8333
http://wildpaw.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=4462
(list goes on)

I also think Amiga’s spoiled enough without letting her choose her own menu, but it’s a real challenge to get her to eat what I want her to eat, regardless of when she eats it. For instance, when she was protesting NVI Rabbit she got away from me, into a neighbor’s house, and chowed down a whole bowl of Kibbles ‘n’ Bits. Came when called, after a short delay, licking her chops and grinning while the neighbor shooed her out of her house… pinned her ears back and rolled over on her back at my feet in a typical-malamute show of faux-submissiveness (neither hind leg straight), then ignored her own food for two more days. Which turned into four when she figured out how to raid the cat food for a few seconds before I caught her at it, then ate the rest of my sandwich off the countertop while I relocated the cat dish. 🙂

This can also be an issue when using toppers, but I’ve figured out how to train around this. I’m redirecting Amiga’s prey drive into SAR training (informally, can’t train with other dog/handler teams until she’s more mature about working when other dogs are present, there’s a reason so many SAR dogs are Goldens). Aside from disliking all forms of transport (no rhyme or reason for it I can figure, which I also hope she matures out of), all the aptitude for SAR work is there, her kibble OCD really shines through in “re-find” work. Her name is well-chosen, especially where kids are concerned; if the scent she’s on is animal she pricks her ears forward, but pins ’em back submissively for any and all humans… excellent potential despite being a malamute, even on tracking work.

She knows the difference between “food” and “umm-umms” and has figured out what I mean when I say “umm-umms on your dinner-food” — a big reward delayed until dinnertime instead of little treats over the course of a long, physically-demanding training session (which she sees as playing hide-and-seek in the forest for a few hours, at this stage). She’s very treat-motivated. Oh, she’ll still skip a meal here and there, but that just lets me know she isn’t getting enough exercise — that and the zoomie circles around the yard. Both of which I’m currently chalking up to being in season, total psycho malamute puppy on my hands atm.

Some Amiga videos here, the one running next to the bike was taken a month ago while the ones playing with the neighbor Husky are from last week, and aren’t mally pups just adorable before they become terrors?

http://www.veoh.com/list/u/bikefat

What worries me is topping kibble with raw/freeze-dried due to the different rates of digestion. If I just feed the toppers as a meal, I’m worried she’ll lose the correlation with it as a treat, and hold out for it as a regular meal by again spurning her kibble — perhaps even the Orijen. With the mix, when she’s hungry she’s really quite excited about being fed, with none of the malamute games we played when I tried rotating five foods and she’d only eat one of ’em.

YMalMV. 😉

[mellowmutt]

I got Amiga at 8 weeks old, back on June 1st. Her breeder recommended Nutro LBP Lamb & Rice, so that’s what I fed her at first. I wasn’t happy with her gas or her stools, so I did some research and decided to mix Orijen LBP and NV Prairie LBP with the Nutro. Did some more research and discovered that I was feeding her way too much calcium. So I added two other foods to the mix in mid-July, NV Instinct Rabbit and CC Open Sky, had to set up a spreadsheet to keep CA, CA:K, calories & protein in order. I did the calculations based on the max-CA values, not averages or the tested values of a specific batch, to be on the safe side.

Ran out of this mix a month ago, at 8 months apparently she can regulate her CA herself, so I quit worrying about it. Now I have her on a mix of Orijen Regional Red, NV Instinct Rabbit, and NV Prairie Venison & Barley. It seems reasonable to me to feed her a red-meat diet in winter, and switch to a fish-and-fowl diet come summer (ancestral-wolf feeding pattern). In a few months the mix will be Orijen Six Fish, NV Instinct Rabbit LID, and NV Prairie Duck & Oatmeal. Both supplemented with the occasional topper of Orijen Tundra freeze-dried. LID Rabbit doesn’t have turkey, which is in the Duck & Oatmeal formula, so Turkey’s on the menu all year, too. Protein content of these blends is 33%.

The Prairie kibble’s mixed in to lower my cost from $3/lb to $2.75/lb, which adds up with a large breed. Rabbit is in the mix year-round, because I read some research (I’ll post the links if I find them again) about how wild/feral canines/felines primarily eat bunnies. The missing “meat group” in the prepared foods is rodent, so I’ll also occasionally feed raw beaver meat as a topper. I’d like to add a third brand into the mix instead of the Prairie, unfortunately I haven’t found anything that doesn’t have either the “wrong” grains or is loaded with potato (a no-no for malamutes as white potato is known to trigger bloat in this breed), or is too expensive to serve the purpose.

I set up another spreadsheet for amino acids and did yet more research; I believe she’s getting the full spectrum in sufficient quantities from all the different protein sources (also gets Orijen Tundra freeze-dried treats, used these to teach her to swim ‘cuz they float without getting soggy) such that she doesn’t need the glucosamine/chondroitin/taurine supplements typically found in large-breed-specific formulas — her body ought to be able to produce as much of these as she needs provided the proper building blocks (amino acids & cartilage). Her stools, on the “winter blend” anyway, are firm and dry, and not too voluminous or frequent and she seems to be thriving; my Vet is pleased with her physical condition and says her growth rate is right on target.

Many thanks to this site and all who contribute for helping me navigate the dog-food waters, it’s enough to make one’s head explode, but it’s also nice to have so many quality options in dry kibble. It’s been several years since I’ve had a dog (Amiga’s my 4th), Iams and even Purina just aren’t what they once were so I didn’t even consider those despite two of my dogs living to 15 (Keeshond on Eukanuba and Golden Retriever on Hi-Pro). My last malamute got Iams Lamb & Rice, but was shot (with cause) by a sheep rancher at 3 1/2 back in ’94 so I have no long-term report, there.

What got me to not trust dogfood manufacturers and do this research, leading me here, was how horrific the first month was feeding Amiga just the Nutro. Glossy, semi-soft, mucousy stools (if not diarrhea) and lotsa smelly farts — just like my friends’ dogs being fed Nutro. Enzymes, pre- and pro- biotics didn’t help, de-worming only cleared up the worms. No surprise given the ridiculously-high Zinc content in Nutro formulas, apparently since Mars bought them out — these are symptoms of Zinc toxicity, not poor digestive-tract health; no band-aid for that. Wish I’d figured that out sooner, and the calcium-level thing.

If I had the puppy-food phase to do over again, I wouldn’t touch Nutro with a 10-foot pole. These problems lessened when blended with the other kibbles, and disappeared entirely (OK, occasional fart still, probably the grains) this month after discontinuing the Nutro. I would do the four-kibble mix again, going with just the Rabbit and Duck would be lower calcium, but would also lack the glucosamine/chondroitin/taurine supplements the two LBP kibbles contain, as well as the cartilage and broad spectrum of amino acids which make these supplements unnecessary.

I did rush her to the vet after-hours back in September for bloat, but I didn’t alter her diet because of it. Sometimes she eats stuff that isn’t “on the menu” so to speak, mostly I blame my kitties because they love hunting and killing — just not eating their kills, which they leave for the alley cats. And for Amiga, sometimes she finds these before I do and accounts for occasional fur/feathers in her stools (Amiga’s also killed a mourning dove, robin, grackle, and a magpie). At least they’ve learned not to bring them in the house! I’m following all the best-practice guidelines for avoiding bloat, so hopefully this was a one-time thing, scary for both of us…

[RedsRock302]

Did you have any luck with this? I also have a diabetic dog and we are having problems regulating her blood sugar. We found out she was diabetic a year ago and the vet put her on the Science Diet Prescription W/D canned food ( I am not a fan of this food, but thought I would try it). Recently we are noticing that her blood sugar is still in the 400’s at around 3pm. I feed our other dog the 4health dry food, which has great reviews on this site. I need something low on fat, lower on carbs, and a decent level of protein as she is losing some weight. I am in the same boat as you in trying to decide on the best food for her.

[Harpers Mom]

I’ve been doing research and going through ingredients on the Best grain free dry dog foods and came across Best Breed grain free, in the ingredients it it lists natural chicken flavor, would this be a concern to my Bully’s chicken allergy? or does the flavor itself not contain the chicken protein?

We are looking to try Earthborn next to see how she handles it.

Since we will be switching foods, would probiotics be recommended just to boost her digestive system?

[klynnway@aol.com]

Hi,
I continue to question Jasmine’s diet. I have ordered Evangers canned vegetarian to add to a dry food which I thought would be Canine Cavier. She did well on C.C. for 3 days but her stools are soft today and she is straining to go – my husband calls it dancing – althought it isn’t funny at all. I thought I should now mix it with the R.C. Gastro. I am now officially going crazy, this is going on a few months and I also am going in circles.
Maybe the Veg Evangers will firm up her soft stoold.

I was wonderiing if Dave spoke to his holistic friend, please let me know at klynnway@aol.com as I have had trouble getting in the discuss groups and logging in.
I thought I should take her to a holistic vet in Mass if this doesn’t improve. Remember she is on a low dose of metrodonizole. Is that just maybe needed and no diet may help this completely and a condition low dose metro.is needed.

Thanks all. Karen

Please helpif you have any suggestions. There are some great ones above – maybe honest kitchen or a low fat option would be best.

Thanks,
Karen

[A.Sandy]

Hello,
My name is Ana I am the owner of a small pet nutrition consulting business called Pupcat Nutrition Consulting I am a pet nutrition expert/advisor. Dogs with pancreatitis have very fragile immune systems, avoid high protein and high fat diets, feed small frequent meals through out the day, and less or no processed diets and avoid dry foods and rotation. The next thing PLEASE STOP feeding science diet it’s killing your dog! Here are some suggestions: lean meats,(bison,chicken,turkey) low fat treats, try senior formulas they have less fat and less protein. Here are some awesome brands that will transform your pup forever!! ok , your best bet would be dehydrated raw, I recommend Honest kitchen preference or all except thrive mix with canned for extra moisture and flavor try senior formula canned like merrick , and natural balance(try to stick with 4% fat or less) avoid grocery store pet foods. and it would be beneficial to add a probiotic/prebiotic to aid digestion, like PROZYMES is a really good one I like. and remember there is a transition period when switching foods (7-10 days) for more info on honest kitchen go to thehonestkitchen.com and for more real nutrition facts follow me on twitter @pupcatfacts and on facebook or at pupcatnutrition.com
good luck!!

-Ana

[Akari_32]

The only reason it’s in the garage is because it’s cooler out right now. It’s usually in the pantry, but it’s full of human food ATM (for once LOL). Since I buy small bags, it’s usually fits right in the cabinet over top the human food.

Hey, another FL person! That’s good you guys get a discount! I wish we got one at Publix lol I would go with Core over BB, personally. But as I said earlier in the thread, Core is my favorite grain free food. But I like to switch it up, so I do try most everything. I’ve not used the dry BB, but I’ve used some of the cans. The dogs seem to like Pro Plan cans best, plus I get them free, so that’s what they mainly get for canned mixers, but I like to have fun with my dry food purchases.

Seems we’ve got a similar line up of pets! I’ve got the three dogs, a Mali Uromastyx, three leopard geckos, about two dozen goldfish (I have a goldfish problem… I have a 150+ gallon tank in the works for my 6 indoor fancies LOL), and several tropicals. Between the fish, I have almost 400 gallon of water worth of ponds and aquariums.

What kind of Uro do you have? Did you get yours at PetSmart or a show? We got Rex about 4 years ago at our local PetSmart. My Leos all came from breeders at various Repticon conventions :p Are you near the Pinellas County type area? I buy all my feeder inscects at White Hot Dragons, in (what I call, but may not actually be) St Pete. They are super cheap, and have better quality bugs, as well as a variety 🙂

Use those coupons, girl! Save some money! 😉 I bought $25 worth of etcetera for $8 today at PetSmart Lol

[theBCnut]

Just remember that dog food should be stored in an air tight cool dry dark place, because environmental factors affect the quality of the food. Heat, fresh air, and light in particular break down the fats in dog foods. So the best way to store it is under air conditioning/indoors in it’s original bag with the top rolled down and all the air squeezed out. In the Winter heat is not so much a factor, but over the Summer, the garage is not a good place to store dog food, and here in FL that’s 3/4 of the year.

[voxleo]

Sadly, Natural Balance going over to the Dark Side of the Force with Del Monte has completely buggered my trust in the brand after my boys were doing so well on their Ultra and/or Synergy formulas. Ever since I learned of the merger, I have been hypervigilant about any signs of food sensitive issues with both dogs (some kind of shepherd with long hair mix-mutt and our runt-y most likely pitbull/staffordshire we think).

As of the last bag of food, the Natural Balance Ultra, I noticed that our Pit has had more than one issue of vomiting and notable signs of apparent nausea (lots of lip licking, less than energetic), and the Shepherd mutt has had some issues with stool that starts okay and then becomes runny, but not quite full blown diarrhea. If it had been just once, I would have just assumed it was them eating something out of the trash or garden that they oughtn’t have, but twice or more, and it starts to become a THING. Add that to the fact that they seem notably less interested in the food (they are free feeding dry kibble, and they don’t eat with enthusiasm but more like obligation) and that the mutt has been acting like HE has a tummy ache when its usually the Pit with the sensitive stomach, and now I have enough reason to switch from the NB line, because I don’t trust Del Monte to maintain the standards with it.

What dry kibble can I get that will approximate the ingredients that were in the Synergy? I think that was best since it really seemed to cut down on the number and size of the poops, which were always firm and never gooey like the second half of them are now. and the Pit didn’t spend all day itching and licking paws and shaking his head the way he does whenever he eats cheap food. He has had an increase in ear itchiness lately, and lots of butt licking and even the mutt seems to be chewing on himself more nowadays, but the last two bags have been Ultra, not Synergy, so that may have something to do with it.

Still I would prefer to stay away from anything that is mass produced by a corp that spent millions to oppose GMO labeling along with Monsanto, and now the Natural Balance is on that list, so Synergy is out too. Looking for a replacement kibble from a brand that is at least popular enough to be carried in Petco or a feed supply chain that isn’t going to have boutique hours only, and one that is sold in LARGE bags of at least more than 25 pounds, preferably more. I figure similar makeup will have similar results with the boys and I’d like to have similar effects as the Synergy, which did nice things for their coat and their apparent digestive tract tolerance, resulting in smaller neater and fewer stools, and gave them lots of energy and they didn’t have to eat a ton of it. I don’t mind if it has rice, as that seems to suit them well enough without issue.

Anyone got a good replacement suggestion that doesn’t cost 85 bucks a bag? I am exhausted from the researching and have no idea where to begin now. It doesn’t need to be ultra premium, but should be at least a 3 star choice. It would be easier to pick something to replace it with if I understood what was good about the Synergy in the first place beyond the effects, but I just have no idea why it worked, it just did.

Curse them for selling out!

(After reading more articles on that acquisition, I am even more nervous about the direction that the NB brand may be headed. There was one article that had some scary wording in it concerning the awareness that people would pay more for foods that APPEARED TO BE better for their animals. It almost seemed to be a deliberate avoidance of what it actually WAS as opposed to how it LOOKED to be. The emphasis was all on how they wanted to capture a bigger share of the market and were interested in the premium lines because of what consumers would be willing to spend, with no focus at all on providing quality that would sustain that. I think it was a money grab, and that means that they will maximise it by cutting costs wherever possible too. And I’ve noticed in the reviews on their foods over the last two months, there are a lot of dogs with similar vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy that had been feeding NB for years without that happening. I can’t risk it.)

[Naturella]

Healthy Doggie Pizza Treats

Ingredients:

1/2 Best Bully Sticks Chicken Sausage
1/2 Best Bully Sticks Bacon Sausage
1 Best Bully Sticks Beef Sausage
1 Dried Fish Skin (optional)
3 strips Duck Jerky (optional)
1 medium carrot
1 radish
2 celery stalks
1 egg
2/3 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used Colby Jack)
1 small low sodium beef bouillon cube dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup tomato paste or tomato puree (made of tomatoes and water only, no sugar or other added ingredients)
1 teaspoon olive oil or bacon fat
2/3 cup unbleached flour (whole wheat or brown rice flour would work too)
1 tablespoon dry parsley leaves
1 tablespoon dry rosemary
1 tablespoon turmeric powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a food processor or blender, grind up beef, bacon, and chicken sausages as well as the duck jerky and fish skin to fine powder/tiny crumbs. Fish skin and jerky may remain a bit stringy, but that is okay.

3. Pour dry meat flour mix in a mixing bowl.

4. In a food processor or blender grind until finely chopped the carrot, radish, and celery.

5. Pour in the mixing bowl with the meat crumbs.

6. Add all remaining ingredients.

7. Using a spatula or your hands, mix until a homogenous wet mix forms.

8. Pour mix on a cookie sheet or pizza pan lined with parchment paper and even out until about 1/4 inch thick.

9. Bake for 30 minutes.

10. Take out, let cool down just a bit then cut up in desired treat sizes.

11. Serve to beloved pooch(es).

P.S. This is where I got my dry sausages for the “meat flour” from: http://www.bestbullysticks.com/home/bbs/search?keywords=sausage&submit.x=-959&submit.y=-93

[hamish]

Hey all

Been lurking for quite some time with great results in my dog food rotation. Over the past 2 years I’ve fed my Sheltie and Cocker; Orijen 6 fish, Fromm Surf and Turf/ Salmon a la Veg, Brothers Fish, Go! Fit, Annamaet Lean, and Annamaet Aqualuk. As you can see I have an affinity for fish based foods due to my Shelties sensitive skin and I love the coat it produces. The Annamaet, for me, has by far been the best. However, I’m only using Aqualuk and Fromm right now and in an effort to keep a good rotation I want to branch out into new foods. More specifically, I’m interested in dry with some sort of raw mixed in. I was about to buy a bag of Great Life grain free wild salmon until I saw the catastrophe with the recall but it wasn’t a recall ;). I’ve come across Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Boost Lamb and Salmon. Before I buy a bag I wanted to know if you guys knew of any other options that include freeze dried with dry kibble. I don’t want to get too complicated so please just keep it to all in ones.

Thanks in advance!

[cherikeeusa]

I will be getting my large-breed puppy in about a month. My pup is a Goldendoodle, a Golden Retriever/Standard Poodle mix; they are well known to have a propensity toward grain allergies. I would like to provide a rotational diet for him, adding homemade meals (Sojo balanced) as well as grain-free, white potato-free dry foods topped with canned foods, sardines, etc. Can anybody help me with what sort of time-table for changing up his meals should be? Also, I’ve seen someplace that pork is a definite no-no, and chicken has a fairly high risk of allergy. True? Or…? In addition, any suggestions you might have for which brands I should start with would be very helpful. A full dietary plan would rock since I know next to nothing! LOL! I know…newbies suck right?!

[UTI_Overlord]

cdubau,

If your cat has crystals in her urine, those may be the cause of her condition (volume may be good even with crystal formation, a urinalysis can confirm this). Years ago, my cat became fully blocked and almost perished as a result of urinary crystals and constant UTIs. The crystals were so numerous that his bladder looked like a snow-globe on an ultrasound. The vet flushed his bladder as best they could, but he still had a lot of crystals left over. After about 2 months on Royal Canin’s Urinary SO, his bladder was completely clean. To date, ultrasound and urinalysis reveal no crystals.

He gets 1/2 a can of wet food every day. I pour some water into the can after opening to add moisture; it mixes well and he drinks it right up. Afterwards, he gets a small amount of the dry food. At first, I did not give him any dry food. As others have stated, it is vitally important to have high levels of hydration and dry food does nothing to assist in this regard. Now, I use both the Urinary SO and Purina’s UR to add variety.

UTIs and bladder issues are not conditions you want to take a test and see approach with. In addition to the severe pain they feel, it only takes a few hours for these conditions to become fatal (bladder gets blocked, bladder bursts, cat dies). I am all for natural remedies, but go with what is PROVEN to work and stabilize her condition; THEN, try to maintain a healthy urinary tract with alternative methods.

May The Force be with you my brother and/or sister.

[Mahaghaith]

Thanks for that advice…

One question though I keep reading that it’s important to switch food types around and not have a consistent diet. Is that true? I always thought consistency was better for dogs digestion/stomach issues.

Also my dog is a very picky eater, even with treats he only eats his favorites when teased. So I keep his food/kibbles out all day and he barely goes through a small bowl in a day or two even.

Would you suggest I don’t keep food out? Should I change between dry and canned food? He’s got a sensitive tummy, the times I feed him cooked meat or chicken, he might get diarrhea the next day.

Sorry for my endless questions.

If money was no issue what would you say is my best bet to experiment.
Thanks a bunch.

[Nancy M]

Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! What an ordeal you and your dog have been through! I’m a little surprised that the surgery you did had little effect, as I’ve been told that if anything can do the trick it is that. I just could not do it financially and then just didn’t have much faith in any surgery. Very risky, expensive, life threatening, difficult recoveryand a guarded solution at best……also my vets were not too optimistic.

In my case, maybe I’ve been lucky. Time will tell. To date, the fluid that is there is minimal (since last having it drained in late September) and has not increased any. My dog acts as normal as ever and for the most part, I can’t tell there’s anything wrong. For how long, is pure guesswork. So for the time being, I am extremely happy!

This is what I have done, as far as diet and supplementation. Keep in mind though, that at the onset of this, the first specialist I saw, put him on high doses of prednisone, which after almost 2 weeks I ended up weaning him off of…..while it may have helped with the inflammation of the chyle, it gave him high blood pressure. So, I felt it was counter-productive, plus the frequent urination was very difficult to manage. So, I’m not sure if this had anything to do with the improvement I’m seeing right now or not. He has also continued taking a low dose of Benazipril, for the entire circulatory system.

Since his diagnosis, he has been on the Hill’s I/D, Low-fat Residue formula. I feed him the dry, mainly, with a little bit of the canned in with it. I have also used in place of their canned food, the canned formula made by Purina; EN Gastroenteric, also available through my vet(black can). Occasionally, I will top off his dry food with various canned meat formulas; not much, but just a little for variety. I’ve never been a fan of the Hill’s or Science Diet in general, but at this point, I’m using what they tell me. If it helps, so be it, whatever is in it.

Finally, I have, since day of diagnosis, given 500 mg. of the Rutin, (I’m using the NOW brand capsules right now, which really only have 450 mg. each), at least twice a day, sometimes 3. I have recently added the recommended dose of Solid Gold’s Sealmeal, just to give his entire system some extra support. So, that’s about it. Along with some help from above, I’m hoping for a miracle, as I’m sure you are. It is a very frustrating and unpredictable situation, to say the least.

With all you and your dog have been through, with such disappointment and probably having such a feeling of helplessness, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I wish you the very best. If I can help in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact me again.

[TuckNRoll]

Hey guys! I just got a new baby to add to my family, his name is Tucker and he is a lab/basset mix. He is the cutest thing ever but the mix kind of makes me wonder about what type of food would be best for him! He is about a year old and the people I got him from had him on Pedigree (Yuck!) and I was looking into changing him to Premium Edge. With the mix he is what nutrients does he need most? Should I look into getting more glucosomine for him because of his bone structure? Thanks!

[weezerweeks]

I just have to make this comment about chewey’s.com. I ordered about $90 worth of canned food and could not use them. I called the site to send them back and the lady told me to take them to a shelter and she would credit my card. Needless to say they now have all of my business!

[InkedMarie]

I agree with PetFlow, wag and chewy for great places to order. I, too, had less than a good experience from doggie food.

[DogFoodie]

I order from wag.com and chewy.com most often. I used to order from petflow.com a lot.

I find that wag has the best service, but is probably the highest priced of the three. Free returns for 365 days after the date of purchase on unopened and unexpired items.

I used to use petflow a ton, but got annoyed that when I recently wanted to return something, I found out that they had just changed their return policy and didn’t make it a point to send out an email to their customers notifying them of a change in their policy and they didn’t post it in plain view on their website. They used to offer free returns and don’t any longer.

Chewy has great prices, ships fast and good service. Free returns for 365 days after the date of purchase on unopened and unexpired items.

I had a bad experience when I purchased something from dogfooddirect.com once, but they did apologize and correct the error. I wanted to give them another shot to see how things went and have ordered from them since and the order was problem free. They don’t offer any free shipping.

[RescueDaneMom]

I use amazon occasionally for dog food but chewy.com and petflow.com are my primary online sites to get dog food from. I’ve heard wag.com is good too. I didn’t have a good experience with doggiefood.com and will not be ordering from them again.

[Molzy]

I have used amazon in the past and been happy, but I plan on switching to the Petango store now, where you get 15% off if you do auto ship! So amazon isn’t ALWAYS the best, and I am usually a diehard amazon shopper!

From amazon, I’ve gotten Merrick Classics dry food, Chicken Soup canned food, and Honest kitchen dehydrated food, all have arrived without issue.

[theBCnut]

Look for Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Logic, Nature’s Variety, and NutriSource. But don’t feel you have to limit yourself to just one food. Feeding a variety is just as important for dogs as it is for humans. It is healthier for the gut and all the probiotics that should be living there.

[Benf207]

Hi,
I have a Shih-Tzu and a medium sized Collie, we are currently on Castor & Pollux Organix, but it is getting harder to find around here. I’m looking to start getting dog food off of Amazon, is there a better option out there?

Thanks

[lizbethc41]

ok that was weird, I was typing a post when poof ! So if this ends up being a double post, sorry!
Let’s try again…..Against my advice, my part time employee got a lab puppy over the weekend. She absolutely cannot afford a dog, so I am really sorry she did this. However, now that it’s done, I am trying to find the cheapest of the best food. I think Fromm sounds promising as the least expensive 4 star food I’ve found (though I don’t like rice in a food & it has tomato pomace, it’s better than the Beneful she is feeding :/ ) & so far I’ve found it for $51.49 for a 33 lb bag.
Having never fed a lab puppy, I have no idea how long a 33 lb bag will last. If someone could give me a ballpark on this I’d appreciate it. It’s been a while since I fed Muggsy dry food & he’s a smaller dog than a lab puppy will end up. I think his 5 lb Castor & Pollux Organix lasted about a week.
I really hope to not have to go lower than 4 stars, but she really is on a limited budget <sigh> I’m really open to any suggestions as to a good yet cheap food!

[theBCnut]

I do just the opposite, when I see the word cheapskate, I read Chesapeake. But when I started out in dogs, two of my friends and mentors were Chessie breeders.

[InkedMarie]

I just have to say, I read your name too fast, thought it said cheapskates, not Chesapeake!

[Mom2Cavs]

There are plenty to choose from on the market. It might take trying a few to see which works the best for you, but some I’d recommend are:

Nutrisource
Earthborn
4Health – grain free only
Fromm Gold, or any Fromm (but Gold is more cost effective, along with their Classic line)
Merrick
Holistic Select
I also like TOTW, but be aware that it is a Diamond product.

[hickorycreekchesapeakes]

Hi,
We have several Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, and I am searching for the best dry dog food for them. I want a really good food, but since I am feeding several dogs, economics comes into play as well. Our dogs are active, as we have 200+ acres and five ponds at our home. If we ever have a sick dog, I supplement with a homemade dog food of chicken fat, beef, long grain brown rice, peas, carrots, and eggs. Yet, I need a good everyday food for them. I work full time, and have two very active children, so making their food everyday is not an option.

Thanks,
Leah

[Akari_32]

He’s crazy active, Sandy! You should see him when he’s all hyped up LOL He puts it back in under 3 minutes too (dry food is mixed with canned and an egg). I have no idea where he puts it all :p

I mind the diamond thing as much as I don’t. Yeah, diamond sucks, but dog food companies are in it for the money, no way around it. Diamond is the cheapest, so everyone (not everyone, but you know what I mean) uses them. Best you can do is try to avoid them.

[hwhalen]

I’ve been giving my 4lb, 2 year old, healthy Maltese Royal Canin Xsmall Adult” dry food as the breeder recommended that brand since he was a puppy. I’ve tried others including Merrick (which he would not eat at all). I’ve been very leery of all foods given all the recent issues. Recently I was introduced to Evangers Grain-Free dry food via a boutique dog shop. He loved the sample he tried and the treats. I’m just wondering a) should I move away from Royal Canin since it had under 3 stars rating; b) would Evangers be something suitable for this breed and size; c) which of the grain free dry is best? I’m very nervous about trying new foods and of course like everyone wants to give my dog what’s best. Thank you.

[BAndersen34]

My dog is a Yorkie Terrier Mix. He is 12 years old and weighs about 12 pounds. He is very healthy and active I want to start feeding him the best dry natural dog food and I came across this site(I currently feed him Canin Royal Adult Dry dog food). It seems like all the food recommendations are for large dogs or specific breeds. Anyone have a recommendation for a dry natural dog food from the 5 star list for a small dog?

[sor]

I wonder if he has a malabosorbtion problem. Sounds like he is not absorbing nutrients from the food he is eating. Get a lab work up on him. I would seriously change his diet and ask your vet about purchasing a supplement called pancreazyme. It is for pancreatitis but it will help him absorb nutrients from the food he eats and he will gain weight. It is safe to use even if he doesn’t have pancreatitis. Pancreazyme is pricey but well worth it and the best product to use. He needs to be on a much better diet. Diet is MEDICINE for pets and for people. Try Halo dog food. I highly recommend it! Introduce it slowly with cooked chicken and cooked pasta – make sure it is very soft. (easy to digest) Feed him three times a day – 1 1/4 cups three times a day, use 1/2 cup dry and the rest chicken and pasta and slowly make a transition to feeding him twice a day. He needs 2 cups of food twice a day once he is back to normal. The protein i look for in a pet food for a large dog is: Crude Protein 28% (Min), Crude Fat 12% (Min), or Crude Protein 28% (Min), Crude Fat 16% (Min) Halo dog food has the correct protein/fat ratios. I would recommend the turkey and duck to start with because it has less fat, not knowing if the fat content in the food he is eating is causing him to have problems. Trust me this is the best food out there!

[theBCnut]

Many vets want to see dogs on nothing but dry because of the old mistaken belief that dry keeps the teeth clean, but kibble fed dogs get nasty teeth too. The only way to guarantee good clean teeth is to brush them every day. The second best strategy is to feed raw meaty bones every few days.

[InkedMarie]

Duh! LOL, we have a spare bedroom: it’s the laundry room and dog grooming. There’s no AC but that would probably be the best place in the summer and I’m probably smart to NOT stock up on dry food in the summer.

No one’s eating raw at this time. I’m having a heckuva time with Boone’s ears (anyone reading happen to have an ingredient list for the old Brothers allergy formula) so he’s eating just THK Zeal now, Gemma has been constipated twice & needed an enema so she’s getting THK with canned & some Abady granular. Not buying raw just for Ginger.

[sor]

Do not feed Canine Caviar to your pet!!!! I was feeding Canine Caviar for years and the past year and half the food smells tainted, has a perfume smell and tastes as it smells. None of the protein in the food smells like duck, venison, chicken or fish. I cook for my dog and add 1 cup of dry dog kibble. My rottweiler has developed a dry, pungent smelly hair coat, pungent stools, goopy eyes, and a hot spot that is slowly healing for 9 months now. (thyroid is normal) I was constantly returning bags of dog food because of the tainted smell and recently the feed store stated that I could no longer return the food because they don’t get reimbursed for it. So, I contacted Canine Caviar again with this ongoing problem – the tainted perfume smell and etc. The company mailed me a new batch of their food and it smelled worse! Canine Caviar has not been returning my phone calls and they don’t have an email address. (makes me real suspicious) Canine Caviar is processed in Georgia, but they change processing plants all the time. PLEASE DON’T BUY THIS FOOD for your pet! IF YOU DO, SMELL AND TASTE IT. RETURN IT IF IT SMELLS TAINTED! DO FOOD SHOULD SMELL GOOD NOT TAINTED! I do not want my dog or any other pets to die of kidney or liver failure from tainted pet food. Most pet food companies care more about profit and saving money, than caring about the quality of pet food they produce. It is very sad. After much research, I decided to feed Halo dog food that is ownd by actress Ellen DeGeneres. It is the highest quality pet food on the market!!!! I feel Ms. DeGeneres is a very honest person, has integrety and cares about quality ingredients in Halo pet food. She can afford to buy the the best of the best ingredients for her pet food, unlike her competitors. I wish I fed my dog Halo a long time ago. All of the Halo products have the correct protein and fat ratio along with real meat (not meal or rendered) just real food ingredients, and nothing from china. – Smaller size kibble for large dogs (helps prevent bloat) and the food SMELLS amazing! My dog did not have any issues with digestive problems during the slow introduction of the food. He loves Halo dog food and so do I. This is the ultimate pet food on the market with real food ingredients !!!! Halo also makes a vegan food which is fabulous for dogs that suffer from pancreatitis.