[Jenny Rellick]

I believe the most Ketogenic food on the Editor’s Choice list is Primal Freeze-Dried Canine Venison Formula. The Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content is 62% protein and 1% carbohydrates. It is high in fat, which is okay for dogs, but you should be careful of how many calories you feed. If dogs are like people, what looks like a small serving will satisfy your dog’s appetite after a few weeks. If your dog gets pancreatitis, a high-fat food may be bad. In that case, a canned food for a weight control may be your best option. Wellness Core Grain Free Weight Maintenance (Canned) has a dry matter estimate of 50% protein, 16% fat and 26% carbohydrates. Grain-free low-fat foods are not all ketogenic. Some include potatoes and legumes full of carbohydrates.

If you feel like you would be feeding Bambi’s mother to your dog, the next most ketogenic food is Stella and Chewy’s Chewy’s Chicken Dinner (Freeze-Dried.) Its dry matter is an estimated 51% protein and 12% carbohydrates.

For a large breed, these freeze dried ketogenic foods are expensive. The next best ketogenic foods on average are wet, but not all quality wet foods are ketogenic. The Editor’s Choice canned foods with 5 stars are a good place to start looking for high-protein, low carb foods you can afford.
Fish oil, such as Bayer Snip Tips, is supposed to help a wide range of brain-based neurological conditions, and I think CBD oil is an excellent supplement.

[anonymous]

Natural Balance began in 1989 when Van Patten was a guest on John Davidson’s show. Van Patten had lunch with the show’s band drummer[who?] who rescued dogs and cats. Van Patten told him when he was a kid he had snakes, alligators, and other animals. The drummer and Van Patten had an idea of making a health food for dogs. At the time, Van Patten played tennis with a veterinarian and she said the best quality food should have no filler, no wheat, no corn, no soy, and no by-products.
Many of Natural Balance’s dry formulas maintain this initial ingredient list; others, such as the dog food rolls, include wheat flour and sugar. As of 2014, the food rolls have been reformulated to not contain wheat flour and instead utilize brown rice.
Initially Natural Balance lost money, until the brand was picked up by Petco and featured in more than 625 stores.
On May 22, 2013, Natural Balance merged with Del Monte, maker of pet foods such as Kibbles ‘n Bits, Meow Mix and Milo’s Kitchen. In March 2015 The J.M. Smucker Company purchased Natural Balance and the Big Heart Pet Brands from Del Monte.

above is an excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Balance_Pet_Foods

[Susan]

Hi Terri,
quick question, are you mixing the Tylan Powder in with the wet Venison food?? have you ever tasted the Tylan powder, it taste very bitter, taste a little bit it taste awful…
Best to get those empty capsules from chemist & put the Tylan powder in the capsule & put the Tylan powder in capsule,open her mouth & put teh capsuleon the back of her tongue then give her a few dry kibbles or her wet can food & she wont smell the tylan powder in the wet food…..or the wet can food makes her feel a bit unwell after eating it, where after eats the Natural Balance Venison dry kibble she feels good, you know the fat is higher in wet can foods, when you convert the4%min fat% in the N.B Sweet potato & Venison wet can its 18.18%min-fat so email Natural Balance & ask whats the max fat % in the Wet can LTD Venison formula, it will be over 20% fat, my boy cant eat wet can foods he gets bad acid reflux maybe this is happening with her aswell she wants to eat it but then knows she doesnt feel well after she eats it??
If only they could talk…

[Sue H]

I have a Colie with a VERY sensitive stomach and he is not on Galliprant. The food that works best for him is Purina ONE SmartBlend True Instinct Grain Free Nutrient-Dense Nutrient Dense Formula Dry Dog Food. The only food that has NOT given him diarrhea. If he happens to eat some of one of my other dog’s food, then I give him a big teaspoon of pumpkin (this does not turn a dog’s stool orange that I have even known of, as it is a small amount). The fiber in the pumpkin is what helps curb the diarrhea. It may be that the bland diet is making him worse. There is a product called Purina Fortiflora Canine Nutritional Supplement (box can be bought on Amazon or from your vet) that restores the proper bacteria in your dog’s GI system, which may be out of whack from the diarrhea.)

I hope you have spoken with your vet and come up with a plan to help with the diarrhea. I know the feeling of being awakened at 3 am to let my Cody outside when he has to go, but better than cleaning him and diarrhea up inside….

Again, be sure your dg is drinking enough water, even if you take him out a few extra potty times, way worth this.

[Anonymous]

The best way for you to truly understand the answers to your questions is as follows: Look up your current food on the alphabetical list of dog foods, both dry and wet. Each analysis will enable you to learn the reasons why certain ingredients are not recommended. Grains, by large, are simply fillers: the dog FEELS full … and the dog poops MORE. Some dogs are allergic to particular grains and/or to rice. There are many opinions regarding wet versus dry versus raw versus frozen. Again, if you read up on the recommended foods, the ones that are 4- or 5-star winners, you will begin to understand. There is a lot of homework for you to do and a lot of homework for each and every dog owner. We come to our own conclusions and biases. Personally, I feed my Beagle dry with two tablespoons of wet on top. My best friend does the rehydrated frozen food for her Boxer. Boxers have a sensitivity to chicken, so she can’t feed that. I had a Dalmation that was allergic to grain, so I made him his food. Every breed is different. Don’t be put off: it’s fun and educational learning all this … and isn’t it about time people started wondering about what we feed our pets? Good luck. Never hesitate to ask questions on this forum. There are people here who are experts: I’m not. This is just MY opinion. Have fun!!!

[pitlove]

As far as I’m aware pH strips are fairly unreliable, but it isn’t something that could hurt most likely. Best thing would be to find any way to increase water intake and to keep the dog on the weight control food your vet recommended with the S/O index. The S/O index will help with water intake. You could also purchase the canned food or add water to the dry food.

[Lauren]

Hi everyone!

This is my first post here 🙂

I’d like to get your suggestions for a food plan for my new rescue pup. I need help making sure I’m balancing the proteins, fats, and nutrients, and giving a good mix of different main ingredients.

I also would love suggestions for what wet food or toppers I should add for the most beneficial diet.

My puppy is a 14 week old Dachshund, only 4 pounds, likely to get to 10 pounds, 15 max.
His energy level is low medium. He’s pretty laid back, not super high energy puppy.

Currently, I’m planning to generally follow the recommendation on this site for food rotation, which is:
-Mix 1/5 of a small can of a single-species wet food (chicken, lamb, rabbit, etc.) with his kibble.
-As each can runs out, switch to a different wet food from the same brand.
-When each bag of kibble is empty, start with a different kibble from the same brand).
– Twice a year, gradually switch brands, too.

At the end of this post I’ve listed all the brands and formulas I’m considering. I’ve laid it all out so it’s easy to compare, and ordered them by highest protein % to lowest.

Here are some questions I have:
— Should I try to rotate foods with different protein and fat percentages AND also with different protein and veg ingredients?
OR
Should I try to determine which protein percentage is best for my pup and stick to that, then focus just on rotating main ingredients and formulas that contain that protein %?
— Do you have suggestions for a good rotation using these foods for a nicely balanced diet?
— Wet food toppers – suggestions to best balance these brands/formulas??
— Do you advise on switching brands more rapidly than 2x a year? What about switching formulas faster than one bag of kibbel at a time?

Thank you everyone!!!

———————-

FULL LIST
Kibbles I considered, with nutritional breakdowns, for easy comparison:

HOLISTIC SELECT
— Holistic Select Small & Mini Breed Puppy Health Anchovy, Sardine & Chicken
PROTEIN 30.0% min / FAT 20.0% min / FIBER 3.4% max
— Holistic Select Adult & Puppy Health Salmon, Anchovy & Sardine Grain-Free
PROTEIN 29.0% min / FAT 14.0% min / FIBER 5.5% max

CANIDAE
— CANIDAE All Life Stages Chicken Meal & Rice
Main ingred: Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Rice Bran, Cracked Pearled Barley,
Peas, Chicken Fat, Millet, Flaxseed Meal
PROTEIN 26.0% / FAT 15.0% / FIBER 4.0% / O6 3.7% / O3 0.5%
— CANIDAE All Life Stages Multi-Protein (chicken, turkey, lamb and fish)
Main ingred: Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Lamb Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Rice Bran,
Peas, Potatoes, Oatmeal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Chicken Fat, Millet, Flaxseed Meal,
Ocean Fish Meal
PROTEIN 24.0% / FAT 14.5% / FIBER 4.0% / O6 3.7% / O3 0.5%
— CANIDAE All Life Stages Lamb Meal & Rice
Main ingred: Lamb Meal, Brown Rice, Cracked Pearled Barley, Rice Bran, Peas, Millet,
Lamb, Flaxseed Meal
PROTEIN 21.0% / FAT 12.5% / FIBER 4.0% / O6 3.55% / O3 0.5%

TASTE OF THE WILD
— Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Grain-Free
Main ingred: Buffalo, Lamb Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Egg Product, Pea Protein, Peas,
Potatoes, Canola Oil, Tomato Pomace, Bison, Roasted Venison, Beef, Flaxseed,
Potato Fiber, Ocean Fish Meal, Salmon Oil
PROTEIN 28.0% / FAT 17.0% / FIBER 5.0% / O6: 3.8% O3: .3%
***Looks like a good option
— Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Puppy Grain-Free
Main ingred: Salmon, Ocean Fish Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Peas, Pea Protein
PROTEIN 27.0% / FAT 15.0% / FIBER 5.0% max / O6: 2.4% O3: .3%

MERRICK
— Merrick Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato Recipe Small Breed
Main ingred: Deboned Beef, Lamb Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Peas, Potatoes, Natural Flavor,
Potato Protein, Salmon Meal, Pork Fat, Pea Protein, Salmon
PROTEIN 38.0% / FAT 15.0% / FIBER 3.5% / O6 3.5% / O3 0.35%
— Merrick Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potato Recipe Small Breed
Main ingred: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes,
Peas, Natural Flavor, Chicken Fat, Salmon Meal, Apples, Blueberries
PROTEIN 38.0% / FAT 17.0% / FIBER 3.5% / O6 4.8% / O3 0.4%
— Merrick Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Peas,
Natural Flavor, Turkey Meal, Chicken Fat, Potato Protein, Deboned Salmon,
Chicken Liver, Apples, Blueberries
PROTEIN 30.0% / FAT 12.0% / FIBER 3.5% / O6 3.0% / O3 .3%
— Merrick Real Beef & Sweet Potato Recipe Grain-Free Puppy Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Deboned Beef, Sweet Potatoes, Peas, Lamb Meal, Potatoes, Pork Fat,
Pea Protein, Potato Protein, Natural Flavor, Salmon Oil, Deboned Salmon, Flaxseed Oil,
Apples, Blueberries
PROTEIN 28.0% / FAT 12.0% / FIBER 4.5% max O6 2.0% / O3 .3%
— Merrick Grain-Free Puppy Real Chicken & Sweet Potato Recipe Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Peas, Sweet Potatoes,
Natural Pork Flavor, Potato Protein, Chicken Fat, Natural Chicken Flavor,
Deboned Salmon, Apples, Blueberries
PROTEIN 28.0% / FAT 12.0% / FIBER 4.5% / O6 2.2% / O3 .3% min

ZIGNATURE
— Zignature Zssential Multi-Protein Formula Grain-Free
Main ingred: Turkey, Turkey Meal, Lamb Meal, Chickpeas, Duck Meal, Pea Flour, Peas,
Salmon, Flaxseeds, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal
PROTEIN 32.0% / FAT 16.0% / FIBER 5.5% / O6 4.5% / O3 2.0%
— Zignature Turkey Limited Ingredient Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Turkey, Turkey Meal, Chickpeas, Peas, Pea Protein, Sunflower Oil, Flaxseed,
PROTEIN 31.0% / FAT 18.0% / FIBER 6.0% / O6 4.0% / O3 1.0%
— Zignature Trout & Salmon Meal Limited Ingredient Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Trout, Salmon Meal, Peas, Chickpeas, Pea Flour, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal
PROTEIN 30.0% / FAT 14.0% / FIBER 6.0% / O6 1.8% / O3 0.5%
— Zignature Lamb Limited Ingredient Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Lamb, Lamb Meal, Peas, Chickpeas, Pea Flour, Sunflower Oil, Pea Protein,
Flaxseed
PROTEIN 28.0% / FAT 16.0% / FIBER 6.5% / O3 0.9% / O6 5.0%
— Zignature Kangaroo Limited Ingredient Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Kangaroo, Kangaroo Meal, Peas, Chickpeas, Pea Flour, Sunflower Oil,
Flaxseed, Red Lentils, Green Lentils, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Pea Protein
PROTEIN 26.0% / FAT 14.0% / FIBER 4.5% / O6 3.0% / O3 0.6%

VICTOR
— Victor Select Nutra Pro Active Dog & Puppy Formula Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Chicken Meal, Beef Meal, Whole Grain Millet, Blood Meal, Chicken Fat,
Menhaden Fish Meal, Pork Meal, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Flax Seed, Feeding Oat Meal
PROTEIN 38.0% / FAT 18.0% / FIBER 3.5% / O6 2.5% / O3 0.4%
— Victor Yukon River Salmon & Sweet Potato Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Salmon, Menhaden Fish Meal, Sweet Potato, Peas, Canola Oil,
Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Flax Seed
PROTEIN 33.0% / FAT 15.0% / FIBER 3.8% / O6 2.4% / O3 0.4%
— Victor Active Dog & Puppy Formula Grain-Free
Main ingred: Beef Meal, Sweet Potato, Chicken Meal, Peas, Chicken Fat, Pork Meal,
Menhaden Fish Meal, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Dried Egg Product, Flax Seed
PROTEIN 33.0% / FAT 16.0% / FIBER 3.8% / O6 2.8% / O3 0.4%
— Victor Professional Formula Dry Dog Food
Beef Meal, Grain Sorghum, Chicken Meal, Chicken Fat, Whole Grain Millet, Pork Meal,
Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Flax Seed, Feeding Oat Meal
PROTEIN 26.0% / FAT 18.0% / FIBER 3.8% / O6 2.6% / O3 none?
— Victor Select Beef Meal & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food
Main ingred: Beef Meal, Whole Grain Brown Rice, Whole Grain Millet, Grain Sorghum,
Pork Meal, Chicken Fat, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Flax Seed, Feeding Oat Meal
PROTEIN 23.0% / FAT 11.0% / FIBER 4.0% / O6 2.0% / O3 .4%

NATURE’S VARIETY
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Original Grain-Free Recipe with Real Salmon
Main ingred: Salmon, Menhaden Fish Meal, Herring Meal, Peas, Canola Oil, Salmon Meal,
Tapioca, Dried Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavor, Salmon Oil, Montmorillonite Clay,
Carrots, Apples, Cranberries
PROTEIN 37.5% / FAT 20.0% / FIBER 3.5% / O3 1.8% / O6 2.7%
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Original Grain-Free Recipe with Real Duck
Main ingred: Duck, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Peas, Chicken Eggs, Canola Oil, Duck Meal,
Tapioca, Dried Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavor, Chickpeas, Montmorillonite Clay
PROTEIN 37.5% / FAT 19.5% / FIBER 3.5% / O3 0.5% / O6 3.0%
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Raw Boost Grain-Free Recipe with Real Lamb
Main ingred: Lamb, Salmon Meal, White Fish Meal (Pacific Whiting, Pacific Sole,
Pacific Rockfish), Peas, Canola Oil, Tapioca, Menhaden Fish Meal, Lamb Meal,
Suncured Alfalfa Meal, Freeze Dried Lamb, Chickpeas, Pumpkinseeds,
Freeze Dried Lamb Liver, Freeze Dried Lamb Spleen, Montmorillonite Clay,
Freeze Dried Lamb Heart, Freeze Dried Lamb Kidney, Carrots, Apples, Cranberries
PROTEIN 37.5% / FAT 19.0% / FIBER 4.5% / O3 1.5% / O6 2.5%
***Note: Seems like a good option
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Original Grain-Free Recipe with Real Chicken
Main ingred: Chicken, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Peas, Chickpeas, Chicken Fat,
Salmon Meal, Chicken Eggs
PROTEIN 37.0% / FAT 20.0% / FIBER 3.0% / O3 0.3% / O6 2.6%
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Raw Boost Grain-Free Recipe with Real Chicken
Main ingred: Chicken, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Peas, Chickpeas, Chicken Fat,
Salmon Meal, Chicken Eggs
PROTEIN 37.0% / FAT 20.5% / FIBER 4.0% / O3 0.35% / O6 3.2%
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Raw Boost Small Breed Grain-Free Recipe with Real Chicken
Main ingred: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Chickpeas, Turkey Meal, Tapioca, Herring Meal,
Chicken Fat, Peas, Freeze Dried Chicken, Dried Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavor,
Freeze Dried Chicken Liver, Coconut Oil, Pumpkinseeds, Montmorillonite Clay,
Freeze Dried Chicken Heart
PROTEIN 37.0% / FAT 16.0% / FIBER 3.5% / O3 0.3% / O6 2.5%
***Note: Seems like a good option
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Original Grain-Free Recipe with Real Rabbit
Main ingred: Rabbit, Salmon Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Chickpeas, Canola Oil, Tapioca,
Rabbit Meal, White Fish Meal
PROTEIN 36.5% / FAT 20.5% / FIBER 3.5% / O3 1.5% / O6 3.4%
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Raw Boost Small Breed Grain-Free Recipe with Real Duck
Main ingred: Duck, Duck Meal, Chicken Meal, Peas, Tapioca, Herring Meal, Chicken Eggs,
Chicken Fat, Freeze Dried Duck, Freeze Dried Turkey, Freeze Dried Turkey Liver,
Coconut Oil, Pumpkinseeds
PROTEIN 36.5% / FAT 16.0% / FIBER 4.5% / O3 0.4% / O6 2.5%
***Note: Seems like a good option
— Instinct by Nature’s Variety Raw Boost Puppy Grain-Free Recipe with Real Chicken
Main ingred: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Peas, Chickpeas, Chicken Eggs,
Chicken Fat, Menhaden Fish Meal, Tapioca, Freeze Dried Chicken, Lamb Meal,
Dried Tomato Pomace, Freeze Dried Chicken Liver
PROTEIN 34.0% / FAT 18.0% / FIBER 3.5% / O3 0.4% / 3.8% min

——–
——–

[crazy4cats]

Hi Diane S-
Sorry to hear about your pup! As you probably know, the s/d food can only be used short term due to it not being complete and balanced. The c/d food can be fed long term. That being said, they both are formulated to dissolve and prevent struvite stones. Neither work to dissolve the oxalate ones. They cannot be dissolved, only passed or removed.
Are you using the dry or canned prescription food? If not using canned, I’d give it a try. It would add more moisture to the diet which in addition to dissolving helps flush both types of crystals/stones.
Also, Royal Canin has an Rx food for bladder and urinary crystals as well. It has an S/O index which is supposed to help prevent both types of crystals. Maybe your vet would approve of one of their urinary formulas. That is what I feed to my cat with this issue. I also add plenty of canned food to his diet. I know that canned food is expensive, but as we both know, the surgery with an overnight stay cost a lot more!!!
I’m curious, has your dog had urinary tract infections too? If yes, have they been treated with antibiotics?
As was mentioned to you above, try to get as much water and plenty of bathroom breaks as possible to help your pup’s pee diluted. I wish you the best!

[Karen G]

Hi Stefanie, I agree with anon101. Maui’s body has been through a lot of change and suffering and it would be very good if you could keep close contact with the veterinary nutritionist. Is the surgeon still available to you for Maui’s post operative care? I have found with Abby that we have to be very careful about making changes because her body reacts quickly when she is fed something new, and the reaction is usually more diarrhea, which we all want to avoid. Also, Maui isn’t even a month since all the surgeries started. He is still acutely recovering from surgery and should be getting lots of rest. For the first few weeks after Abby’s surgery we were hand feeding her very small amounts 6-8 times a day. also, I would watch to make sure she was getting enough water because she was losing so much through her bowels. The first food Abby was eating was Royal Canin gastrointestinal both canine and feline both wet and dry(dogs can eat cat food but cats can’t eat dog food- the cat food has a higher protein content) and we also tried to give her more of the dry food because we hoped it would absorb some of the water in her bowels. When we started to see the clinical nutritionist at the veterinary college here in Ontario (Canada). Abby was switched to a hydrolysed protein diet. Originally we gave her Hills z/d – both dog and cat but she didn’t like it very much. Now she is eating Purina H.A. and she likes it a lot. But she has to eat almost 3 times the amount recommended for a dog her size. We carefully measure and record every meal she eats and we never give her more than 40gms per meal. She still eats 6-8 times a day. You will have to monitor Maui’s weight as well, it sounds like he lost a lot. To answer your questions we did not have a lot of luck with the metamucil Abby continued to poop like crazy with it. Also, we were giving Abby Fortiflora but the internal medicine service at the vet college has suggested we try Visbiome instead. I have just ordered it so I can’t tell you how good it is yet but it looks like it is very well regulated and produced. Again, I would check with your vet about switching foods and go slow if you do. Maui may never have formed stool. Abby rarely does. It’s a big job you have ahead of you but hopefully Maui will recover enough to enjoy his life. That is our priority with Abby. I hope this is helpful. I am happy to share our experiences with you but I think the best thing you can do is follow your vet nutritionist’s instructions, monitor ins and outs carefully and keep records of them for the nutritionist, and enjoy every minute you have with Maui….Cheers for now, Karen

[STEFANIE]

Hello everyone! My name is Stefanie, and I am from Brazil, so for starters, let me apologize for my not-so-good English, but I’ll try my best! My dog, Maui, a 7th month old Border Collie, just went through three surgeries (yeah! amazing survivor!). On Jan 4th, 2018, he ate a HDMI cable and had it removed by undergoing a 3 and 1/2 hour surgery which ended up removing about 9cm of his jejunum. One week later, his internal stitches from the anastomosis had problems, and he ended up with about 800ml of fecal liquid on his stomach cava. With this severe peritonitis diagnosed and confirmed with an ultra, he had his 2nd surgery, which then removed about 10cm of the jejunum again. Less than 72hrs later, the same problems occurred with the internal stitches, and Maui had to undergo his third surgery. On the last surgery, the vets are not sure of the length they removed from his jejunum, and unfortunately, they had to remove his iliac valve. His duodenume and colom are still 100% intact! It has now been 20 days since his last surgery, and he has been home for the last 8 days (blessed!). As predicted by all vets, we are really struggling to help him out since he now has all the signs of SBS. He started all this nightmare with 15.200kgs, and now weights only 10.700kgs. He is currently on a restricted diet, which includes, only 600ml of water a day, served in small portions of 100ml, and now eats 4x times a day the following meal: 2 spoons of mashed potatoes (home cooked) + 2 spoons of a high-caloric meal (canned), which includes turkey, carrots, beet, olive oil, pumpkin and some other ingredients. 3x times a day, I give 1/2 smashed banana with a scoop of whey protein (for dogs, in Brazil named Caninus Protein). With all his 4 main meals, I give him a teaspoon of Pancreatin (mix and wait 15minutes before serving). And 2x a day I give him Omega 3 (1000ml), L-Glutamine (1 teasp), Taurina, a probiotic (in Brazil named Lactofos), and a medicine to help him hold his stool (in Brazil named Duspatalin).
By now I havent really seen any major improvement with his diarrhea, and my MAIN concern is that it is obvious that he cant really digest the food. We can observe the pieces of his meal on his stools. On the poop chart (http://www.epi4dogs.com/poopchart.htm) he has never scored more than 6! and often has an 7.. He varies from 5-9 diarrheas a day.
We have a nutritionist and exchange facts and info on a daily basis! Next week I am considering changing his meals for dry nibble ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY GASTRO INTESTIONAL FIBRE RESPONSE, since the canned options are very wet and it is clear that whenever he drinks water his stools get worst, since the canned meals include 70-80% of water, I am really considering giving him PROCESSED dry nibble and only adding some small spoons of water (so I can control the amount of water taken).
I would really appreciate ANY ideas, suggestions, feedbacks, information on this subject! I am reading a lot about SBS, and am totally committed on helping him as much as I can. Maui is an amazing dog and deserves to live for as long as he wants – and it seems he wants to outlive us all!  He is a little FIGHTER and I love him with all my heart.
For now, I would really like to know how all of you guys managed to help them better DIGEST the food, and also what helped with the stool problems. Did you guys give them Metamucil (Psyllium)? If so, how much? Any feedbacks about the ROYAL CANIN VETERINARY GASTRO INTESTIONAL FIBRE RESPONSE? What seemed to work best as a probiotic?
Thank you all for the help and attention! Its very warm to know that there are so many people out there willing to help.
Best Regards, Stef and Maui

[melissa e]

Hi i am switching my 2 year old french bulldog to a better dog food he has no issues. I am so confused , I know it should be grain free, however I’m torn between salmon or meat based poultry . Reason is a trainer said chicken and turkey is bad for him. I am between Acana, then there is Wellness i am really stumped and have gotten such mixed information. I am not doing raw I know that is probably best but I need a dry kibble. Please any advice would be so appreciated!

[Susan]

Hi RollTide10,

some vets + Anon 101 who aren’t up to speed with what a Dermatologist recommend to do for itchy dogs with allergies, yeast dermatitis, food sensitivities & other skin problems, will say bath less, this is old school now, “if you wash a dog you’ll dry out his skin, you’ll wash away their natural oils” this is not true, if your dog is eating a healthy balanced diet & the shampoo you’re using is a shampoo that moisturizes the skin, paws etc & agree’s with the dog skin, baths are the best thing to do for itchy skin & paws, the dog will be better off & can be bath daily if needed, we humans feel heaps better after a bath/shower especially if we have itchy skin, once you’re using a medicated shampoo like “Malaseb” medicated shampoo you can bath the dog daily if needed, Malaseb has ingredients to keep the dogs skin moisturized soft & beautiful, after I bath Patch in his Malaseb shampoo he feels so soft, silky & stops his scratching & it relieves his itchy paws & skin… I bath Patch as soon as I see him starting to scratch & he’s itchy, it’s Summer here in Australia & Patch has Seasonal Environment Allergies & Food Sensitivities so he also gets yeasty smelly paws, ears & skin if he eats ingredients he’s sensitive too, I’ve finally worked out his food sensitivies but with environment allergies it can be so many things he’s sensivtive too & I cant put him in a bubble…so baths is the next best thing.

Join this face book group called “Dog Issues Allergies & other information support group” a Dermatologist, Karen Helton Rhodes from “Healthy Skin 4 Dogs” frequents the f/b group she highly recommends bathing…

Why the Royal Canin kibble was helping your dogs skin the Omega oils were probably balanced properly, start looking for a few new kibbles that have better ingredients & make sure the Omega 3 & 6 are balanced properly, also add either the tin sardines/salmon daily or fish/salmon oil capsule daily or Krill Oil capsule daily if dog has stomach problems & make sure you keep your fish oil capsules in the fridge out of the heat.

Start joining/following groups, sites that support natural healthy dog health, “Rodney Habib” has a few really good post at the moment on his f/b page…. https//www.facebook.com/rodneyhabib

[Susan]

Hi RollTide10,

If you want more info on a dog kibble its best to send the dog food company an email & ask what the Omega 3 % is & what is the Omega 6% is, the Omega 3% should be around 1/2 or a bit under 1/2 of what the Omega 6% is, “Rodney Habib” is really good to follow on his FaceBook page….Last year Rodney sent away a few popular dry kibbles & results found most of the kibbles that they tested were unbalanced & the Omega 3 was very low & the omega 6 was very high, this can cause skin problems in a dog, so it’s best to buy tin Sardines & tin Salmon in spring water & add about 2 spoons of the sardines or salmon to 1 of his meals a day, Omega 3 is Neutral-anti inflammatory & Omega 6 is Pro-inflammartory…. Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation, and some omega-6 fatty acids tend to promote inflammation. … Most omega-6 fatty acids in the diet come from vegetable oils, such as linoleic acid (LA), not to be confused with alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is an omega-3 fatty acid.
If you want to continue feeding dry processed kibble to your dog then make sure you start rotating between a few different brands & meat proteins, eg: 1 month feed salmon kibble then next month change to another brand & feed lamb, the next month feed Turkey dont just feed the same brand & formula of kibble 24/7 this is when health problems can occur especially if the kibble is unbalanced or very high in toxins…

Have a look at “Wellness Simple” Turkey & Potato the Omega 3%-1.00% the Omega 6% is 2.80% it also states on the Wellness Simple kibble bag,”Skin health & for dogs with food sensitivities” there’s also the Wellness Simple” Salmon & Potato formula, Omega-3%- 1.00% Omega-6% 2.75% so you can rotate between them but not straight after each other feed another brand inbetween “Canidae” Pure Sky, Pure Wild & Pure Sea are really good for dogs who have skin problems…

another thing google “How long does kibble last once opened” Steve Brown wrote a really good article, after you open a bag of kibble it has a life of 14 days the air gets to all the oils & the oils start going rancid, so make sure you keep some kibble in a air tight container that you use daily & the rest of the kibble bag close & seal air tight as good as you can then put in the coolest place in the house, I leave in the air con room & put the kibble bag in another plastic bag seal with sticky tape then put in one of those storage containers…
another good reason why its best to add 2 spoons of salmon or sardines daily to your dogs diet, adding fresh whole foods to your dogs diet daily or 4 times a week is very healthy & better then feeding a dog just dry kibble 24/7, also meals you cook for yourself any left overs that a dog can eat add to his kibble, take out some kibble & add some of the home cooked meal, if you follow Rodney Habib look thru all his video’s he also has another f/b page called “Planet Paws”
Baths make sure you’re bathing weekly Baths wash off any allergens that may be on teh fur/skin Environment allergies cause problems as well, I use “Malaseb” medicated shampoo it’s excellent for itchy skin, yeasty skin, dry skin, most skin problems, Malaseb puts the moisture back into the skin & kills any bacteria yeast that may be on skin & paws….

Good-luck with your new rescue & feed a healthy diet that’s rotated with different foods dry kibble, freeze dried, cooked meals & raw meaty bones for teeth health….

[anonymous]

For best results I would make an appointment with a board certified veterinary dermatologist for accurate testing, diagnosis and treatment.

Environmental allergies? Has mange been ruled out? Atopic dermatitis? Medical condition? Has lab work and skin testing been done?
Treatment is often a multifaceted approach. It’s not just about finding the right food, or the right shampoo, or the right supplement.
In fact the food may have nothing to do with his symptoms.

Do you have pet health insurance? You may want to consider getting it before he is officially diagnosed. Treatment can be a little expensive.
If it is environmental allergies, there is no cure. There is effective treatment, however it is lifelong, allergies tend to wax and wane so you may get lucky, they could be mild or seasonal (if that’s what he has). He could very well have some other skin disorder or medical condition that is causing these issues.

Bathing with a very gentle puppy shampoo at least once a week may help, but not if the skin is red, bleeding or irritated, in that case I would defer to the vet.
Talk to your vet, if you want to rule out food sensitivities ask about a prescription/therapeutic diet, that might be a good place to start, it depends on how severe his symptoms are and how uncomfortable the dog is.

I would go directly to the specialist if it was my dog, my dog sees a veterinary dermatologist once a year and has had a positive response to treatment.
She did well on Nutrisca salmon for years but is now on Zignature whitefish or catfish.
You could add fish oil (approved for veterinary use) once a day to his food, it’s supposed to help with dry skin. I add a little water and a topper, like a bit of scrambled egg (2 meals per day)

[Jude B]

My new puppy is 2 pounds, 10 week old tiny poodle and I don’t know a good food to feed him. Dry? Grain free? Any suggestions will be so appreciated! Thank you.
Judy

[Susan]

Hi Ravae,
Sorry for your loss, I hope your new rescue is doing much better now…..
Do you know why a dog gets liver failure from a kibble, the kibble is high in contaminates & toxins.. google “Toxins In Pet Foods” you’ll see a company that completed a study of 1,084 pet products 80 brands, 5 stars brands that did really well when tested were,
I & Love & You grain free naked esssentials lamb & bison, I Love & You naked essentials Duck & chicken formula’s were best formula’s 1st & 2nd 5 star dog foods, Canidae Pure formulas, Under The Sun, all of Artemis Fresh Mix formula’s, a few of the Nutro Natural Chioce grain free formula’s, a few Purina one, Purina Beyond Simply 9 formula’s got 5 stars… those brands were very good & then there’s was some brands of kibbles that were very high in contaminates & toxins, Racheal Ray had 3 bad formula’s that got 1 star & a few Racheal Ray formula’s got 3 stars.
If you can its best to feed cooked meals & maybe 1 of the meals feed a dry kibble..

[Susan]

Hi again,
Yes stop all treats as they can be very high in fat & just use the dry kibble your feeding for her treats, did you take back the Simply Nourish & get a refund? i would contact Simply Nourish company & they should pay for the vet bill as well, 1 of my cats got ill after I applied Revolution I contacted Revolution & they told me to wash the Revolution off ASAP I had already done that then the lady said if he needs to see a vet they will Pay for it just tell the vet you’re seeing to contact this lady, my new cat is fine with revoluton spot on treatment but my other cat wasnt,…
What are you using to prevent fleas?? Please dont say Bravecto or Nexgard as these flea chews can cause stomach problems & other health problems
I wouldn’t make her drink water, when they eat wet food they don’t need to drink as much water, wet food, cooked & wet can food is around 70% water, its when you feed kibble they drink heaps of water… also when she hasn’t eaten all day thats OK she is resting her stomach, Pancreas, dogs are smart & know when not to eat, when to drink water etc, then when she finally does eat a meal feed her slowly & only feed 1/2 the meal then feed the other 1/2 of the meal about 30-60mins later, sometimes I feed Patch 1 spoon cooked food at a time in his bowl cause he gulps the whole cooked meal in 5sec then he gets pain & I think the pain is wind pain & he needs a to have a big burp, I ,ake Patch sit & hold his chest area & rub his back up & down like you’re burping a babythen he does a big burp & feels better, what I do with Patch & drinking water I use a small bowl & I go fill it 1/2 up & I take the water to him & I ask do you want a drink Patch if he does his head pops up & he moves to drink the water, I do this at night while I’m watching TV & he’s sleeping he gets lazy so I get his water for him but he’s 9y yrs old now & couldnt be bothered getting up om a comfy bed sometimes….
Do you live near a “Costco” or know someone that shops there? Costco have their “Kirkland Signture” Nature’s Domain dry Kibble look at their Turkey & Sweet Potato all life stages kibble, that’s if you can not afford the Natural balance LID kibble this Turkey & Sweet Potato doesnt have too many ingredients, it has probiotics for the gut, & has low Kcals Per cup336Kcals per cup so easy to digest, Patch was eating the Taste Of The Wild Sierra Moutain Roasted Lamb this last 1 & 1/2 years & he was doing very well on teh TOTW Lamb & kirkland Signature is made by the same maker as TOTW
Here’s are the ingredients.

Turkey meal, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, tomato pomace, flaxseed, natural flavor, salmon oil (a source of DHA), salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus reuteri fermentation product, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein 24% Minimum
Crude Fat 14% Minimum
Crude Fiber 4% Maximum
Moisture 10% Maximum
Zinc 150 mg/kg Minimum
Selenium 0.35 mg/kg Minimum
Vitamin E 150 IU/kg Minimum
Omega-6 Fatty Acids* 2.4% Minimum
Omega-3 Fatty Acids* 0.3% Minimum
Total Microorganisms* Not Less Than 1,000,000 CFU/lb
(Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium animalis, Lactobacillus reuteri)

Calorie Content
3,590 kcals/kg (336 kcals/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

Does she have a fermenting smell coming from her mouth?? if yes then stop feeding the boiled rice & start buying Sweet Potatoes & peel cut up in pieces & boil them you can freeze Sweet Potato it freezes well, I freeze sweet potato pieces then if I need some I just take out of freezer leave out to thaw, also potato is also good to feed, I also buy the Gluten free pasta for Patch Aldis sells it cheap, Aldis also sells tin Tuna in Spring water cheap keep a few tins of Tuna in the Cupboard for when she becomes unwell & you dont have any chicken, I have my Sweet potato cooked in the freezer & a couple of cans of tuna just in case, scramble egg is also good to feed when unwell or as a light meal..

If you do see the vet on Tuesday ask can you try a 14 day course of “Metronidazole” (Flagyl) twice a day every 12 hours with a meal, when she was vomiting & became unwell she probably needed a course of the Metronidazole when Patch starts having any stomach bowel problems Patches vet tells me to start him on the Metronidazole for 21 days, he’s taking the Metronidazole again at the moment & seems to be getting better, I hope….
You could ask the vet can you have a few repeat script of the Metronidazole 21 tablets 200mg & you take the script to chemist, I got 2 packet of te Metronidazole today only cost me $7.21 for 21 X 200mg tablets… heaps cheaper then seeing the vet & buying from the vet just explain your at Uni Studying & the vet might understand what its like & see you’re a good dog owner & care for your girl heaps I’d say its the Pit Bull in her, some Pit Bulls, Staffy seem to suffer with stomach problems…..
Maybe if she seems OK by Monday then cancel the Tuesday vet visit unless you want to ask for the Metronidazole but if she isnt sick the vet may not prescribe any medications, it will all depend on the vet, cause there’s nothing they can really do except with do further test & the stomach is the hardest health problem to diagnose & the only good test that gives answers is the Endoscope/Biopsies as the camera looks down her throat into her stomach they take a tiny tissue sample & thats ur biopsies no pain they come home in the afternoon & eat a small cooked meal & back to normal the next day, it might be best to save your money & get another LID kibble & wait till she is unwell again, an Endoscope isnt as expensive as people think, it cost around $400-$500 best to shop around first then you pay extra for the Biopsies they cost arount $50 each Patch had 2 biopsies I think, my bill wasnt itemized this time, but I saw teeth cleaning & scaling cost me $200, I dont even get my teeth cleaned & Patch comes out with these pearly whites but he had Gingitivitas back left molar teeth vet wanted to stop any bacteria going down his throat…..
I have to get to bed very tired, Patch is waiting for me… dogs are so loyal arent they..

[Susan]

Hi Christain,
I would try “Natural Balance” LID Sweet Potato & Bison look at all the N/B ingredients, a lady told me the Sweet Potato & Venison has gone up in price so maybe pick the Sweet Potato & Bison or Potato & Duck instead read ingredient list & see which will be best…
the fat is low 10%min in the N/B & teh protein is law as well…
Why I dont recommend the fish formula’s no more as its higher in omega fatty acids this is excellent for dogs BUT Patch deosn’t do well with his acid reflux when he eats any fish kibbles….
Do you live at home with mum, it would be good if she cooed & froze the meals?? what breed is your girl?
It’s best feeding 3-4 smaller meals a day & cooked meals would be better then dry kibble, lean low fat cooked meals, also look for the “FreshPet” loaf in the fridge section look for one with the lowest fat% & try the Freshpet loaf or another brand that has good ingredients & the fat isnt real high best to stay under 6% fat, when you convert 5% fat to dry matter fat (Kibble) for wet tin food, the dog loaves, raw dog food, 5%min fat is around 20%min to 26%max in fat…So best to feed lower fat for Acid reflux kibble is higher in carbs so this can make teh acid bad as well but once you do find a kibble that agrees you’ll be OK but what I found I need to rotato foods with Patch breakfast he gets kibble lunch he wetsa cooked meal the dinner 5pm 1/3 cup kibble then another small meal 8pm sometimes a cooked meal what I ate for dinner as long as it has no onion & isnt a hot curry/spicey meal or he gets 1/3 cup kibble, it all depends if he seems unwell then he gets the cooked meal I freeze small meals,
Do you have more then 2 vets in your area? what about if you drive to the next suburb I’d ring around all the vets in your areas who are within 40 mins drive & id’ask do they have the Endoscope machine ? if they say yes ask whats the vets name that does the Endoscope + Biopsies ?? write his name down he should know alot about the stomach small bowel etc…
Patch just had another Endoscope + Biopsies, he had Endoscope + Biopsies done 4-5 yrs ago vet just found teh Helicobacter was bad he was treated with Triple therepy meds & later put on Losec (Ranitidine) 5yrs later this time I thought he’s has stomach cancer as he went down hill so quickly, he had very sore throat, Simon (vet) is Patches second vet he specializes in the IBD & other health problems, when Simon looked down Patches esophagus he saw his wipe pipe was very red & inflammed the acid had come up his throat, our brain sends a msg to close the esophageal spincter (Flap) to the wind pipe but Patches brain isnt doing this & the acid was soo bad & coming up his throat then going back down into his wind pipe, I still havent picked up his biopsies results, after when the bisopies result came back Patch also had mild Helicobacter, Im wondering does your our have the Helicobactor cause you say she has gotten worse this is what happened with Patch just after Xmas, all dogs have the Helicobacter Simon said but its healthy, but Patches helicobacter has taken over & is living him his stomach walls, this is way he’s always hungry, first sign of helicobacter they have a big appetite, acid reflux, eating grass, vomiting acid up this is when their throat gets burnt from te acid best to give liquid Mylanta 4 mls in a syringe I dont know if you have Mylanta its á white liquid & coats the esophagus, their aci is often bad first thing of a morning, best to let them eat some grass not too much about 1min then vet said stop PAtch they will vomit from eating just 2-3 picses of grass Simon said a dog can make himself spew they dont even need grass to speI didnt know that I wish Patch would spew the acid up its better out then in, we do not use Pepcid (Famotidine) in Australia no more, its an old drug the chemist lady said, you can get the liquid “Pepto-Bismol” its pink this helps kill the Helicobacter my vet said but it seems to make Patch symptoms worse & I havent given him the Pepto-Bismol again since I bought it 1-2 yrs ago, I keep it in the fridge same with the liquid Mylanta so when it goes down their throat it cold & soothing, the vet put Patch on the Triple Therapy meds again 1 week ago, Metronidazole-200mg, Amoxcillian- 400mg & Prolosec-20mg, taken every 12 hours with a meal for 3 weeks, the Losec is only given in the morning once a day but cause your dog is so young you do not want her on prilosec yet full time like Patch is on & after 1 yr it doesnt seem to be helping him no more, he’s just turned 9yrs old so its OK giving him a PPI but being young únder 4yrs old there’s other ant acid meds, Losec is a Protein Pump Inhibitor (PPI) once you start taking a PPI for more then 3 weeks you can not just stop taken it very bad side effects, while taking the PPI the brain stops you making stomach acid or not making as much then if you just stop taking the PPI Losec your brain releases the stomach acid & from what the vet said its too much stomach acid until it gets back to normal again so you need to slowly stop the PPI-Losec.. I tried all the ant acid meds then Patch stayed on Zantac (Ranitidine) 1/3 of a 150mg tablet 30mins before food for a while then the Zantac didnt seem to work no more, so vet wrote Patch out a script for 20mg Omeprazole-Losec heaps cheaper from a chemist then a vets, I started giving Patch the Losec for 3 days when he was bad then i’d stop Simon said yes thats what he does takes the Losec for 2-4 days then he stops then I found while Patch was on the Losec he was HEAPS better, no eating grass as soon as he woke up, no vomiting, no whinging all the time, he was sleeping thru the night not getting up 5am wanting grass..so I put him on the Losec full time around May 2016, now I want to try another PPI Somac (Pantoprazole) 20mg what I take for my GORDs.. cause why has Patch gotten so bad where now, his acid has inflammed his wind pipe? the losec isnt helping him no more he needs to try another PPI, Ive changed his food to a lower fat 9%min & Im cooking for lunch & second dinner 8pm meal & kibble for his other meals..5 meals a day…
You’re lucky you can get the Natural Balance heaps of dogs with IBS, IBD, Pancreatitis, are all doing really well on the Natural Balance formula & some of the dog owners cook meals as aswell so their dog isnt just eating a dry processed kibble..
Another thing make sure you read what the Kcals per cup are & stay UNDER 370 Kcals per cup best to stay under 350Kcls per cup, the higher teh Kcals per cup the harder teh stomach has to work digesting the kibble…

I would change your girl food, do live at home with mum? cause cooked meals would be heaps better then dry processed kibble, or have a look at those “Pet Fresh” loaf in pet fridge section at pet shops or supmarkets, look for a loaf that has the lowest amount of fat % around 3-5%-fat & start feeding her 4 smaller meals a day breakfast lunch & 2 dinners I do 5pm-kibble & 8pm-kibble or cooked meal, if your not home get one of these kibble machines that will give her 1/3 to 1/2 a cup for lunch & dnner….. Do you belong to any face book groups “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” Canine IBD group? I wonder if you ask does anyone have a kibble machine they dont use any more & if you could set a up a donation account once you find a good vet then you give the new vets account details & people can start donating money so your girl can get an Endoscope & Biopsies done, no point in doing an Ultra Scan it cannot see the stomach properly or do teh biopsies there’s another test the dog drinks a solution Barium meal test but you need bipsies done once you get biopsies your vet will get some answers, even if she has ulcers teh endoscope will see teh ulcer of if she has scarring form old old ulcers, this is if only after changing her diet & you have tried Zantac (Ranutdine) twice a day before feeding main meals even thought your feeding 4 smaller meals 2 of the meals are just a bit bigger thats why I asked what breed is your girl??? is she small or a bigger dog, theres so much’info I probably have forgotten, so keep CockerlierMom & me posted please…
Have you tried the “4Health” Special Care, Sensitive Stomach, its Potato & Egg kibble Potato & Egg is really good to cook as well, I always make Patch a scramble egg when he’s unwell dont add any butter or milk you just scramble the egg & use a non stick frying pan or do in the micro wave but if you cook too long in micro wave you can get rubber scramble egg.. also boil soom potatoes leave in air tight container & add to some chicken I often buy the reduced BBQ chicken I eat the fatty part of teh chiken & give to the cat & I give Patch the breast section & freeze any left overs for next time, also tin tuna in spring water with boiled potato is also another good easy tomake meal for your girl instead of feeding her the kibble also look for wet can foods but tehfat has to be #% & under best to email teh pet food company & ask what is the fat% when converted to dry matter the max fat % you’ll be shoked sometimes you see 55-fat after you contact the pet food comany they tell you its 26% fat so be careful with wet can foods,
With Probiotics they seem to make PAtches acid reflux worse I do not know why?? neither does teh vet also stay with loer fiber lower carb kibbles as teh higher fiber 7 higher carbs make teh acid worse, I just hoping it’s just teh brand of kibble your feing & thats the problem an ingredient or the kibble has fish/salmon oil that is causing the aid reflux with your girl cause after eating a cook meal she is better so maybe she s better off eating a balanced cooked meals but dont wory yet about balancing het dietyet she is OK for 2 month with out her diet being balanced just work out this problem first & how can you raise money to get Endoscope & biopsies if it all continues.. finger X it doesnt… she is young hopefully she’s just eating the wrong food..

[Susan]

Hi LC,
Do you rotate between kibbles, raw, wet can food, cooked etc in the same day?? I feed one brand kibble for breakfast then for lunch & dinner he gets something else never eats the same thing that day, I ask Patch which 1 (kibble) & I put 1 brand kibble in one hand in between my fingers then I’d get another brand kibble that has a different meat protein & put that kibble inbetween my fingers & I ask Patch, “sniff” let him sniff both kibbles, then I ask Patch which one do you want to eat & he’d takes the kibble he wants to eat for that meal, (Patch suffers with IBD & stomach pain & I normally ask him “which one do you want to eat that doesnt give you sore stomach & make you sick” this is how this all started with him picking a kibble) also I cook & make small meals & freeze them & I buy wet tin food, do you know dogs aren’t ment to eat the same dry proccess food (Kibble) every single day 24/7, the pet food companies brain washed us back in the 90’s in believing a dog has to eat their food 24/7 or they will get stomach upsets sobest to stay with the same food their food, I admit some dogs do get sloppy poo/diarrhea when quickly changing foods but once your dog has a healthy gut this shouldn’t happen. Rotating foods is very healthy for a dog if one brand kibble isnt balanced properly then your dog isnt eating this kibble or wet can food 24/7 cause you’re rotating with something else…
I have a question, is your dog a grass eater?? especially when he wont eat?

Start buying wet can healthy dog foods, tin sardines in spring water, tin salmon, tuna in spring water, boil some potato or sweet potato drain the tin tuna or salmon & mix more tuna then boiled potato & see does he like this meal make it small about 1/2 a cup, with the tin sardines add 1-2 sardines to one of his kibble meal mash 1-2 sardine pieces thru his kibble, sardines/salmon are VERY healthy & have everything he needs especially when he’s not eating, put the rest of the sardines in an air tight container & put in the fridge, next day ask him does he want a sardine see does he lick it or turn away, this way he’s getting his omega fatty acids for his skin, coat, brain etc have you tried freeze/air dried foods like “Ziwi Peak Air Dried & their raw wet can foods? email Ziwi Peak & ask them can they please send you some samples of all their air dried formulas & explain to Ziwi Peak whats happening, my cat inhales Ziwi peak the air dried & the wet tin foods https://www.ziwipetscom/
When you have cooked a meal that is not hot spicey have onions etc give him some of the left overs, this is what dogs ate back in the 50’s, 60’s,70’s,80’s & they lived longer & were healthier back then, now our dogs are dying from cancer & other diseases, what happen? Dry Kibble that what happened, toxins in the dry dog food…
I cook more if Im cooking potato or sweet potato & if Im cooking steak I cook Patch some aswell but I bake Patches in the oven in a small casserole dish, I thinly slice potato, carrot & sweet potato & thinly slice the beef rump steak, I put the steak on the bottom of dish, then add thinley sliced carrots & sweet potato then the potatoes, I chop some fresh parsley & add about 1 teaspoon parsley mix in with the boiled water & pure water onto everything in dish just till it overs the potatoes on the top & bake in oven till ready, as its cooking the house smells of food & tell your boy, look what Im cooking for you, my Patch waits then sleeps, comes checks the oven like a kid, is it ready yet mum, I say no it has another hour Patch go back to sleep.. I involve him with the whole process from when I bring home the meat veggies as soon as I bring in the shopping bags he looks thru my shopping bags, I show him what is his, this all started when I rescued him he couldnt eat anything except vet diet food cause of his IBD, I felt so bad for him so I’d bring him home toy, squeaky ball etc & he’d look thru the bag for his toy I bought him, now he looks for food & whats his, when I start to cooking I show him look what your getting for dinner…then any left overs I section & put in those clip lock plastic sandwich bags & freeze dont bring that meal out again till the end of the week put in fridge to thaw for the next day & show him do you want this or get some dry kibble or do you want his & Patch licks what he wants…
Honest Kitchen has base formula’s you just add your own cooked meat….
Start making him excited with foods different healthy whole foods, do you have another pet, a cat etc that comes in the same time to be feed? maybe the competition with a rescue cat eating at the same time might make him want to eat…
Dogs normally love their food, thats why I’ve asked is he a grass eat?? first thing of the morning after eating he eats grass?

[Meghan K]

Hi. My Golden is currently on medicine for his allergies. I know the best is to go grain free as far as food but I need help deciding what is the best brand to try. He also is very overweight and needs to probably be on a rather healthier type of dry food preferably. I doubt I can find a 2 for 1 (helping allergies and weight) but any recommendations for a good brand on either issue would be so appreciated! Thank you in advance!

[pitlove]

I worked at an independently owned pet store for 2 and a half years and at least at my store, we would always get comments about how much lower our prices were than Petco and Petsmart. Also they will usually price match for you, unless its a sale item or online price. Independent stores can not usually compete with online pricing, but they try their best.

I’m not sure about Authority or Simply Nourish, but I know with Purina I can call them and they will tell me exactly how much fiber is in the formula I’m asking about. The Pro Plan formula I use reports 3% MAX fiber, but when I called and asked how much the actual true value was it was much lower (dry matter fiber was 1.6%). It is possible that she may need a little more fiber in her diet yes. However, if you chose to go with a food that reports the MAX fiber high like 6% I would not also add pumpkin as it could cause too loose of stool.

Also I would highly encourage you to contact Purina Pro Plan directly. Their customer service is beyond wonderful and I think they will help put your mind at ease.

[Susan]

Hi Julia,
you’re going around in circles & not getting no where, I did the same….
now you have added more infomation this has made things more clearer, go back to your vet, a vet you liked & will listen to you & knows a bit about IBD, ask your vet can you start a 21 day course of the “Metronidazole” (Flagyl) twice a day given every 12 hours with a meal, sounds like your pup has Bacteria overgrowth of the small bowel (S.I.B.O) the Metronidazole will kill the bacteria in his small bowel.. also ask vet can you try either the Hills I/d Digestive Care vet diet kibble or try the Royal Canine Hypoallergenic HP formula or the R/C Gastro Intestinal Low Fat dry kibble this is for bacteria overgrowth & it’s LOW in FIBER not the R/C formula that’s high in fiber, in American you have a few R/C Intestinal formula’s, in Australia we only have the R/C Gastro Intestinal Low Fat wet & dry formula & this is really good for stopping the bacteria overgrowth, I’ve just bought Patch a can of the R/C Gastro Intestinal Low Fat Wet tin food, ingredients are not great but if it helps thats all that matters but cause you have a pup he might need more fat in his diet but your just feeding this vet diet for about 2 months then you’ll introduce something else…I really think your dog may have bacteria owergrowth & this is what happens they start to do well on a new kibble then go back down hill after 2-3 weeks Patch did the same, I really would only feed a kibble or wet tin food that has just 1 protein & 1 carb for a good 3 months when he’s doing well firm poos, you need to work out does he need a higher fiber diet or a lower fiber diet as well how I did this is I bought some pumkin peeled it boiled small pieces about 1 sppon in size, I frooze the cooked pumkin, it thaws very quickly when you take out of freezer, you add 1 sppon of teh pumkin to his meals & you’ll see the orange colour in his poos then start adding 2 spoon/pieces of the pumkin & does his poos firm up & go sloppy? Patch can only have about 1 big spoon of pumkin then his poos start to go very soft..
I would also start him on a “Dog” Probiotic, Purina Forti Floria is suppose to be very good when they tested a few dog probiotics out of 10 probiotic that they tested only 3 dog probiotics came back with active live bacteria in them & the Purina Forti Floria was number one…When you give a dog probiotic & the dog is taken antibiotics you give the Probiotic either 3 hours before or 3 hours after he has eaten & taken his antibiotic & its best to give a probiotic on an empty stomach, so first thing of a morning when stomach acid are low or I gave probiotic to Patch to drink, I did this around lunch time cause everything in his stomach would have been digested by then & it was 4 hours since he had his antibiotic & food…
When the probiotic is a powder I put the recommended dose in a bowl & add about 15ml water then I swirled the water & probiotic around to dissolve then I let Patch drink it, he loved it he thought he was getting something special, Im learning after 4-5 yrs if he loves something thats a medication/supplment then it must be helping his stomach & makes him feel better….. It can take 1 day for a dog to react up to 6 weeks for a dog to have a food sensitivities, so when you’re doing a food elimination trial it takes time that’s why the vet diets are good to use once your dog is doing really well after 2 months on the vet diet this is when you start adding 1 new ingredient add for 6weeks & see are his poos going soft stop adding the new ingredient if he had diarrhea but over the years I have retry ingredients I thought Patch was sensitive too & this time he wasnt sensitive to them…
Google S.I.B.O also has your boy been tested for Giardia?? I say your vet was giving you the wrong vet diets & she isnt giving you the vet diets that are higher in soluble fiber & lower in in-soluble fiber the Royal Canine Gastro Intestinal Low fat is low in fiber, its a low residue kibble…Talk to your vet about low fiber diets… google & look on the Hills & Royal Canine vet diet web page & see all the info or like I posted before email them & ask to speak with a vet nutrionist that knows about IBD & to ring you back on give you phone number..

[charisse]

Dr. Karen Becker mentions the best dry food to be “human grade dog food”.
https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2015/11/08/best-to-worst-pet-food-types.aspx

Dr.Karen Becker has a great blog that I subscribe to.

…But human grade dog food may be going through some changes now see this article:

Concerning Change for Human Grade Pet Food

[charisse]

Best dry dog food: “Human Grade Dog food”.

Best Human Grade Dog food according the munch zone:
Canidae…https://www.munch.zone/human-grade-dog-food/

So I nominate Canidae #1 and Honest Kitchen for #2 best Human Grade Dry dog food

….and what is Human Grade Dog Food:

The Only true Pet FOOD, Human Grade

[charisse]

Best dry dog food: “Human Grade Dog food”.

Best Human Grade Dog food according the munch zone:
Canidae…https://www.munch.zone/human-grade-dog-food/

So I nominate Canidae #1 and Honest Kitchen for #2 best Human Grade Dry dog food

….and what is Human Grade Dog Food:

The Only true Pet FOOD, Human Grade

[Susan]

Hi Deb,
I too live Australia & was having no problems with TOTW Lamb formula it actually seem to be the best kibble for Patches IBD when I started feeding Patch about 2 yrs ago until this last bag of TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb 6kg bag I ordered my pet food thru Pet Circle (Pet Circle is excellent & quick for delivery they dont use Australia Post they use Couriers Please) I opened the TOTW Lamb bag 1 month ago & the smell seems different now also the kibbles were really small 1/2 their normal size, I thought OK the smaller kibble will be easier to digest when he doesn’t chew his kibbles & swollows them, Patch eats 4-5 meals day cause of his IBD after he ate his cooked meal or another brand kibble he wasnt eating grass or looking ill & whinging but after eating the TOTW kibble Patch kept eating grass & seem very unwell cause I had just moved I thought he’s a bit depressed & his IBD is playing up from all the stress of moving then one morning he just refused to eat the TOTW, in the whole 5 yrs I’ve owned Patch he has only refused to eat 2 times the first year I rescued him when he became real ill with Colitis & Pancreatitis, he always eats even when unwell, I contacted Pet Circle & they are really good they refunded my $70 & said to give the remaining 5 & 1/2 kg of the TOTW to rescue/pound or a friend then at the end of our conversation the lady said maybe throw the whole bag of TOTW in the bin & she wrote everything down & was sending it off to TOTW Australia.

You are better off feeding Australian made & owned brands like “Meals For Mutts” “Ivory Coat” Ivory Coat is Australian made but has just been sold to a big Chinese company that’s still making the Ivory Coat here in Australia & taking Ivory Coat to America & all over the world, probably cause its Australian made & the Kangaroo & Lamb formula will reall sell dogs love Kangaroo its a very strong rich meat, the Ivory Coat has proper Kangaroo Meal in it the American made Kangaroo formula’s write “Wild Kangaroo” we dont eat our wild Kangaroos they are full of disease & parasites & they add Lentils to up the Protein % & add less kangaroo, the Ivory Coat will be heaps better Kangaroo pet food when does come to America, but I’d say it will be expensive unless the Chinese start cutting corners & change the ingredients & start adding Chickpeas & Lentils to up the protein% & take away some of the Kangaroo Meal & Lamb Meal, we’ll have to see what happens with Ivory Coat …
MfM is a really good kibble also sold oversea to asian countries, “Canidae” is really good, Candiae is American made & they grow their own veggies & source from local farmers like some of our Australian made pets foods do, look at their “Canidae Pure” formula’s & “Canidae All Life Stages” formula are really good & sell out by the end of the month, you can get a 20 kg bag for $99.95 of the Canidae All Life Stages formula from Pet Circle it’s on Special at the moment, here’s the link
https://www.petcircle.com.au/product/canidae-all-life-stages
also look for “Canidae Pure Meadow” Senior formula for your 9yr old dog, it has all the supplements needed for aging dog, the Pure Meadow is excellent, I’ve put a few eldery dogs on it where I use to live & they went from a itchy, dull coat, sick looking, stiff old dogs to dogs that think they’re puppies again, there was very big improvements with these dogs, they were eating cheap Aldi & Supermarket cheap kibbles, My Pet Warehouse sell the “Canidae Pure Meadow” Senior it’s new it came out last year there’s Pure Wild Boar & Pure Resolve weight management formula’s came out aswell….
Look at “Nutro” new grain free formula’s & their Frontier formula’s they are made in Australia they look pretty good theyre on the Pet Circle link above, I quickly had to order a another food when Patch wouldn’t eat the TOTW & the Nutro Essential was 1/2 price $18 so I got a bag it came the next day & Patch loves it & no eating grass & there’s been no following me & whinging. Im buying a bag of “Meals For Mutts” new CN Vital Health Hypoallergenic Holistic Remedy Diet Turkey & Veggies today too try, Patch was feed TOTW & I’d rotate with other brands, TOTW was his go to food if poos went sloppy etc now I need a new go to food if Patch becomes unwell with his IBD.

Canidae & TOTW & a heap of other best selling Amerian pets foods & treats were tested for Contaminates & 130 Toxins last year, Canidae did really well & so did their other brand called “Under The Sun” But TOTW did poorly with a few of their formula’s, their Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon formula & their High Prairie formula were very high in contaminates & toxins, I’m not allow to post their link or mention the company name on this site but if you google “Toxins in pet Foods” you’ll see the site click on it & look at the American pet foods we get over here in Australia, Holistic Select, TOTW, Wellness, Earthborn Holistic they all were very high in toxins they were on the worst top ten dry dog foods back in March 2017 testings & some of these brands formula’s were in the August testings last pages with 1 star for being very high in toxins again….

Go onto the Australian “Pet Food Review” site he reveiws all our dog foods that are sold here in Australia & he post the name of the company that tests Pet Foods & Baby foods in American, I think it’s really good its about time we know what pet foods & which treats are high in Toxins & Contaminates, he also tells us when there’s a problem with certain pet foods & writes in RED warning us when a pet food is BAD like “Baxters” kibble & treats from Woolworths is killing dogs & Woolworths wont remove it from their shelves they have only removed a few formula’s but they left the Senior & Adult Baxter formula, healthy puppies & adult dogs died within 24-48 hours of being feed a new bag of the Baxter dry dog food, he also posts information on his “Dog Food Review” Facebook page…

[Donna B]

Dear Jim, I just ordered Carni4 & should get it today. I used A 6lb bag before{because of the price}& mixed it w/ACANA duck & pear SINGLES DRY. D akota did very well on the mix. This time I bit the bullet & ordered a 25# bag to mix.However I do know Dr. Becker & have used a couple of her products in the past, this food I found & decided to purchase at White Dog Bone Co as part of my auto ship. Dakota IS NOT a picky eater but suffers from a very sensitive stomach & digestive problems. Between Acana & Carni4, its the best mix I’ve found for his digestive health. He’s 13.

[Jamie S]

Have fed Merrick for two years. All my dogs began having bad GI upset on Merrick. After finding out about Purina buying Merrick, I quickly stopped feeding it. I have been making homemade food and my dogs are well. This isn’t feasible longterm, and I am in search of the best dry kibble for my low energy dogs. Any suggestions? Can’t decide between Wellness, Candidae or Acana. These seem to consistently make the list of five star rated foods.

[Sheila N]

Hi all – This website was super useful to me when I first got my chi/terrier rescue pup, Lola, nine years ago. I ended up trying a few high quality foods and Lola adapted to the raw diet well (we feed Nature’s variety raw – she gets one small patty in the morning and one at night. She would also get a small handful of dry food – wellness senior healthy weight – around lunch time. Up until now, she has been very healthy with no problems. Unfortunately, in the last few weeks, she began limping and holding up her back legs while sitting, and will yelp if we try to touch them. We took her to the vet yesterday who said she has arthritis and needs to lose weight to get pressure off of her joints. She’s 22 lbs at the moment. So we’re going to cut out the midday meal completely, but I was thinking that perhaps I should replace the evening raw patty with a small amount of dry food instead. The vet recommended Hill’s metabolic weight loss (Rx only) but I would love any other suggestions. Wellness core reduced fat seems to be popular – anything else people have used and like? Thanks so much!

[Susan]

Hi Misti,
yes start with a Limited Ingredient food that has 1 novel protein & 1 carb she hasnt really eaten before there’s “California Natural” Lamb & Rice it has just 3 ingredients or there’s “Natural Balance” Sweet Potato & Fish or Sweet Potato & Bison, Sweet Potato & Duck the NB is very similar to the Vet diet Hills D/D Potato & Duck or the D/D Potato & Venison also Royal Canin has their Select Protein formula’s Potato & Rabbit, Potato & Salmon but the Natural Balance is cheaper then the vet diets, or look at “Canidae Pure” formula’s the Pure Sea is really good for skin problems, it’s high in Omega 3 fatty acid what’s needed for the skin problems..
The vet will probably put her on a steriod (Predisone) this is just a bandaid as soon as you stop the steriod it will all come back & he’ll probably put her on a vet diet & a medicated shampoo so maybe first try the LID Premium dog food, do weekly baths in Malaseb shampoo & wash her paws twice a week in the Malaseb & use the Sudocrem morning before she goes outside & at night before bed I also use “Hydrocortisone 1%” cream on Patches paws just before he goes to bed I check out his whole body & see where is red & lightly apply the Hydrocortisone cream & use a cotten tip to apply inbetween his toes where’s red by morning he has no redness paws are nice & pink then I apply teh Sudocrem before he goes out teh door, chicken, barley, oats, tapioca all make Patches paws red 20mins after eating these ingredient….. Keep a diary & start writing everything down & over the years you will start to see a pattern, I have a rescue who has IBD, Seasonal Environment allergies & food sensitivities & he gets the red paws, itchy smelly skin from certain foods, I bath him in Malaseb medicated shampoo weekly, the Malaseb is excellent, relieves the redness stops their itchy paws & skin & puts moisture back into their skin, when you bath them you wash away any allergens on their skin & paws etc also the snow?? when Patch walks on wet grass the morning dew or its been raining more then 2 days he also gets his red sore paws I have a small towel near the front & back door & I wipe down his paws if its raining I also buy teh Baby wipes & use them as well try & get some “Sudocrem” sold on Amazon this is what we use in Australia & the UK, the Sudocrem a healing cream for Dermatitis, Excema, Nappy Rash etc & it repells water & protects the paws & skin from allergens, I cant up load photos I have of a Staffy that had a really bad red stomach & then her owner got the Sudocrem & the dog stomach was all clear the next day, can you afford the Pre made raw? maybe try a premade raw instead of a dry kibble…
also are you on Face Book? join this group, “Dog Allergies, Issues & Other Information Support Group” its a really good group & good info & a Dermatologist frequents the group.
Misti will get better but you need have a strict routine when doing the food trial, with time it gets easier but allergies dont go away they get worse as they age, she probably is like Patch & has both Seasonal Environment allergies (worse in the Spring/Summer months) & Food Sensititivies so best to start now & you’ll work out what she can & cant eat, it the snow/water makes her paws worse she might ned some type of shoe Patch wouldnt wear shoes so I use the Sudocrem it repells, allergens, the water & wet grass, Good Luck

[Sheila K]

I just joined and found the editor’s choice list very long – and couldn’t find any lamb there (or did I miss this somewhere?) I have two dogs, one with lupus so she must have grain-free and she licks her lips all the time (esp. at night). I’m thinking it’s something in the dog food and her stomach (fed her Nutri-source grain free chicken and peas along with two scoops of a whole cooked ground chicken from our local pet deli)l. Does anyone else out there have a dog with discoid lupus and if so, what foods are best. I was told (by the pet deli person) that lamb is the most gentle on the dog’s stomach (don’t know if this is true). I also cook and feed my dogs chicken too, cause I think all-dry isn’t enough (no proof on this here). Thanks for any reponses.

[Sheila A]

My Bedlington Terrier has just been diagnosed with a decrease in liver function. she will be having a liver biopsy next week.

However, as much as I read the internet I have not found a good solution on what to feed her. For example how much protein and how much fat or a ration????

Until recently I had been feeding her Orjen dry kibble and Wellness Shredded chicken pouches.

And to add to that she is an extremely picky eater.

Any suggestions and/or recommendations would be appreciated.

Sheila

[Alex]

Hi everyone,

I have a 1y/o chihuahua mix (either terrier or Italian greyhound) and I’m always on the hunt for the best quality food I can feed her. As I’m sure you all know, it’s hard to find a really great dog food that offers our fur babies the best nutrients. I’d like to see her live until she’s around 45 (haha), so if anyone has any suggestions on diet plans for small breeds that ensures the best health and provides them with all the essentials I’d love some advice! She’s not a huge eater, only around 9lbs, but she eats well for her size. Currently, I’ve been feeding her Canidae Grain Free Pure Bison, but I’m wondering if there is something that would be better for her breed/size.

Also, if I can post a picture to the forum I’d like some input on what anyone thinks her mix could be, as it’s still a mystery!

Thanks!

[Susan]

Hi Deborah M,
I really understand how you’re feeling & I know what you’re going thru, I took on this dog & I was just his foster carer, I had to take him to vet get him desexed vaccinated meds for all his sores that were around his neck & legs from being tied up then he has his photo put on the Rescue site & adopted out, his name was Patch & he just turned 4yr old in very bad condition, I’ve never seen a rescue dog this bad before I think he wasnt Put To Sleep cause he became the pound favorite, there’s always a few pound favorites, the people who work or volunteer at the pound do everything to get them a home or into rescue before their kill day so they called me (cause they know I love Staffys) to fix him all up & adopt him out but as the days went by he was weeing blood, so off to see the rescue vet, she said looks like he was being used for breeding, so he gets put on vet diet for 6 weeks to dissolve his crystals then he is diagnosed with IBD & Helicobacter-Pylori, Skin Allergies & Food Sensitivities, In the end I adopted him myself, I felt all the people that came out to meet & greet him weren’t listening to me when I said “but he’s sick, he has a few health problems” they’d all say, “Oh he seems fine he’s really happy, he doesnt look sick”, I couldnt handle not knowing whoever adopts him would they continue with his meds etc or would they just give up on him like his old owners did & surrender him back to a pound & he’ll continue to suffer, he just turned 9yrs old last week & it’s been a very hard 5 yrs & the money I’ve spent trying to fix Patch, I even stopped doing rescue for a few years when he was real bad & sick, I couldn’t leave him at home while I was out helping other dogs all day & worrying about him, he does not do well on ANY vet diets they give him bad acid reflux, make his skin itch & smell yeasty cause he has food sensitivities to some grains, gluten corm/maize & beet pulp, he can NOT have any Beet Pulp he gets bad acid reflux, all these things that are suppose to fix & help his stomach & bowel make Patch worse, then finally I started looking for other diets beside these vet diets & FINALLY after trying a few kibbles, I found “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb dry kibble, people in the IBD & EPI face book groups were saying how well their dogs were doing on TOTW Sierra Mountain or TOTW Pacific Stream both are lower in fiber & TOTW uses Purified water, the Sierra Mountain formula just has 1 single meat protein Lamb, has Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, that firm his poo’s up & his acid reflux stopped & his skin all cleared up, cause he wasn’t eating a diet that had ingredients he was sensitive too but he still get his seasonal environment allergies in Spring/Summer so I have to bathed him weekly in Spring/Summer in “Malaseb” medicated shampoo to wash off any allergens on his paws & skin, the Malaseb shampoo realives & stops his itchy skin…. I’ve never found a kibble that helped most of his health problems all at once, a few years ago I started rotating his kibbles between a few different brands kibbles he does well on, I was feeding the Lamb TOTW thru the winter months then a Salmon fish kibble thru the Spring/Summer months but then I seen 2 studies a company thet test dog foods for 130 metals toxins & contaminates alot of these fish kibbles were very high in toxins, so now I prefer to add a tin salmon to his diet instead, for breakfast he gets his TOTW, lunch time he either gets a small cooked meal with 1 spoon salmon or 1/3 cup of “Canidae Pure Meadow”or an Australian salmon kibble, then dinner time he gets his TOTW Lamb again then he gets another small meal 1/3 a cup 8pm so he doesnt wake up early hours of the morning with acid reflux, whenever I try something new if it says add 1 teaspoon then I only add 1/8th a teaspoon & slowley introduce to his diet, I’ve learnt I ned to slowly add any new supplements or kibbles to his diet or I’m up 12am, 3am 5am & poor Patch has diarrhea….

I found Homeopathy, natural healthy foods works the best for Patch & other sick rescue dogs I’ve helped over the years, you’ll be surprised how feeding a simple bland lean cooked meal like turkey, tin Salmon or chicken breast, lean beef, I feed lean pork mince or lean beef mince I make rissoles with boiled Sweet Potato or boiled potato can make a big difference & is heaps better then these dry kibbles, then I slowly start adding 1 teaspoon of tin Salmon in spring water to the cooked meal, just feed 1 small cooked meal & still feed his normal limited ingredient dry kibble for his other meals or if he’s eating a cooked meal already start buying tin Salmon in spring water then drain water put in air tight container & add teaspoon of salmon to the cooked meals, I also buy “K-9 Natural green lipped mussels freeze dried & Patch started with just 1 mussel as a treat around 11am daily now he gets 2 mussels as a treat daily, Mussels are very healthy & help balance their diet,
here’s a link on Mussels https://drsarahbrewer.com/supplements/green-lipped-mussels-health-benefits
are you following “Rodney Habib”on his face book page, he has really good info also follow “Judy Morgan DVM” https://www.facebook.com/JudyMorganDVM/ click on her Video link look for her “Pancreatitis Diet” & her “IBD IBS Diet” video’s, you can leave out the ingredients you dont want to feed & what I did was just start with 1 lean meat protein mince grounded meat & 1 carb then after I saw Patch was OK I started to add 1 new ingredient egg, then another new ingredient broccoli etc, I make 1/2 cup size rissole balls & bake in oven & boil sweet potatos & freeze in sections & take out the day before, Judy has a 16 yr old dog called Scout, he has a few health problems, she cooks for him & her other sick elderly dogs, Judy shows you how to balance the diet with healthy ingredients, I don’t bother balancing every single meal, I just make sure he’s getting his Omega 3 fatty acids for his skin & stomach, the Dinovite would be very high in Omega’s for the dogs skin my Patch can’t take fish oil or fish oil in kibbles he gets bad acid reflux, so I supplement his omega fatty acids thru foods instead, I add salmon, freeze dried mussels, roasted Almonds a treats I bite & eat 1/2 a almond & Patch gets the other 1/2 of the almond just start off slowly just give 1/2 a almond for 1 week see how he goes, they need 3 almonds a day, read the link I posted above, the health benefits from freeze dried mussels for skin, stomach, joints, brain etc

Have you tried “4Health” Special Care, Sensitive Skin, it has Hydrolyzed Salmon or
“4Health” Special Care, Sensitive Stomach it has just Potato & Egg as only ingredients 4health is sold at Tractor Supply shops only, it’s worth trying a small bag & ask is it money back guaranted if my dog wont eat it?? I always just say Patch wont eat a kibble when he gets his diarrhea & I need to take back the kibble its easier….
You know your dog best so do what you feel will works best for your boy… Good Luck

[GSDsForever]

Chris,

I’m just seeing this. But I thought I’d throw in a few more suggestions, as they’re not mentioned above.

My vet recommends green beans as a treat or added ingredient to food — including for weight loss, satiety filling up on low calories (raw or cooked). Many people here buy the giant organic frozen bag Costco sells — such a deal!

If you are able to afford it, Zeal from Honest Kitchen is a food I’d strongly explore using, try. VERY low fat, high protein. Excellent ingredients, quality sourcing & quality control, from a great company. Caveat: Yes, higher calories — but you would just feed less of it, and add in healthy veggies/fruit (low cal, low fat, non-sugary/starchy) for desired bulk/satiety.

“Fat Dogs” by Natural Balance is a dry food some good vet practices — ones that otherwise promote & sell higher end “health food” commercial brands of dog food — prescribe to clients with overweight dogs and get compliance and excellent results quickly. Extremely low calorie (250 cal/Cup), very low fat (7.5%), pretty good to decent ingredients. Well worth considering, trying — esp. for short term, quick weight loss.

Anything you feed, remember that you will have the best results from monitoring & tightly controlling overall calories in a day, feeding (w/vet advice, supervision) UNDER what is recommended for your dog’s weight, and increased regular EXERCISING your dog with you.

[anonymous]

Your dog is old and sick.
For the best results, I would stop looking for advice on the internet, forums, and the like.
A lot of misinformation out there. Not to mention the homeopathic miracle cures and such, example: dynovite. These things may add to his pain and discomfort.

Instead I would do exactly as the vet that is treating the dog instructs you to do.
Diet, medication, etc. No supplements. Just the prescription food with water added.

The food recommended for your dog is good. Prescription food is formulated for specific conditions. He may need to stay on it the rest of his life.

“Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Ultamino dry is a complete dietetic feed for dogs formulated to reduce ingredient and nutrient intolerances. Royal Canin Ultamino is guaranteed by strict safety and food control processes to avoid risk of potential protein contamination. This food requires a veterinary prescription.”
Science based veterinary medicine here http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2016/07/more-nonsense-from-holistic-vets-about-commercial-therapeutic-diets/

[GSDsForever]

Cathy,

I agree with suggestions to feed a variety of food, ingredients across a lifetime. I also believe fresh foods, homemade feeding with high quality ingredients you can select/control can provide the best diet.

The idea behind these two things is the same as striving for optimal health in a human by eating a variety of healthful foods with various health benefits — nutrients, antioxidants and anti-cancer, immune system boosting foods, etc.

The truth is we really don’t know enough about all the things that produce more long lived, optimally healthy dogs. We don’t know nearly enough — and the research is far more limited in dogs & cats than for humans — about all the things that contribute to increased cancer risks or that prevent cancer, despite the very high percentage of dogs & cats that get cancer and that die from cancer. Personally, I incorporate what I know from human information on diet for cancer preventative, immune system boosting, anti-viral, etc. foods and environmental toxins and from past experience with a veterinary cancer specialist.

As Haley noted, dogs can and do commonly develop allergies to repeat insult/exposure of foods. There is veterinary research to support that.

With my food allergy dog, I currently cautiously add hypoallergenic health-promoting wholesome fresh fruits, veggies, quality oils to my dog’s commercial LID (novel protein) dry + canned diet. I needed to get her stabilized and healthy first.

But I eventually plan to move toward feeding, under veterinary specialist supervision & direction, a rotating mix of balanced homemade meals. If that kind of thing interests you, the vet nutrition specialist (board certified) I would recommend is Susan Wynn; she can consult with your vet long distance.

As far as how quickly to switch, that really depends on the individual dog and breed (some are touchier digestively than others), whether you are switching to a much richer (much higher protein and/or fat) food or one with very different or special ingredients that might cause upset, etc.

[organic n]

Hi all, I’ve been researching a lot about what to do with my dog with kidney problems. He had acute kidney failure 2 years ago, and has since been doing well but often has episodes where he is not hungry and throws up. Usually clears itself up within the day, however. He also gets pancreatic problems when exposed to things high in fat (learned that the hard way).

I don’t have his bloodwork levels with me (I was actually going to see if i could get a copy from his vet in the next few days for my own records) but I do remember his BUN being higher than normal but the vet never said anything about it in terms of lowering it, but I feel like my vet doesn’t really see it as a problem despite him having high values.

Anyway, he is a few months shy of being 16 years old, and he is a 6-7lbs dog. We stopped feeding him dry kibble for many many reasons (around a year ago), and now we make his food at home. I don’t do raw meat (I don’t feel like trying out the raw meat thing at his age and conditions is worth it), his meals consist of:

Lean ground turkey cooked with white rice, carrots, peas, and green beans. I use a vitamin supplement (Only Natural Pet® Senior Ultimate Daily Vitamin Powder). After reading however, I will make some changes to his food by swapping out the peas (heard they are high in phosphorous) for some other veggies. And maybe switching out the turkey for ground beef 10% fat. He does get treats too – and if he is willing fruit as well particularly apples.

Also, I would like to start my dog on some more supplements – particularly green food supplements (have heard kelp is high in sodium though and the ones i’ve looked at contain many types of kelp..hmm), switching out the vitamin powder to VetriScience Renal Essentials Kidney Health Support Dog, adding salmon oil, and adding pre/probiotics to my dog’s diet.

Is the salmon oil necessary if I use the VetriScience kidney support tabs?

Can someone who is knowledgeable with kidney disease in dogs advise on the supplements I would like to add to my dog’s diet? I know the best thing is to consult my vet, but perhaps someone on here who has gone something similar can advise.

[Susan]

Hi Bailey,
thank-you for rescuing a shelter/pound dog, it could be a few reasons why he’s not eating, the antibiotics he’s taking are making him feel unwell, nausea, also having no food in his stomach then taking a tablet with a little treat isnt enough to absorb the tablet then makes him feel sick, only give antibiotic after youn know he has eaten at least 1/2 cup of food that’s if you can find something he likes to eat…
Is he happy, lively, excited etc or does he seem unwell?
I’d ring shelter or your better off going back to the shelter 7-9am in morning & ask the morning carers was he eating his dry kibble? he would have been feed a dry kibble coming from a shelter, the person feeding the dogs of a morning may remember him, if they say yes he was eating his kibble ask which brand was it & it’s the antibiotics making him unwell, how much longer does he have before antibiotics are finished? ask vet can the antibiotics be stopped & see if he starts to feel better, it will take about 1-2 days for him to feel good again…
He may be very depressed & is missing his old life/owner, he needs to gain trust with you & this takes time, he will come good it just takes some time & patience, best to get him in a routine, daily walks same time everyday, meals same time, get a plate or a chopping board not a “bowl” & put food on plate/chopping board in a certain place all the time that’s his special eating spot somewhere quiet & safe & walk away DO not look at him, NO eye contact just call him “Dinner” then walk away…

What I’ve found sometimes these rescue dogs have been feed a raw diet, not kibble/wet canned food, have you tried a raw meaty turkey leg take off the skin & sharp bone that runs along leg bone, run leg under hot water to take off chill off the meat & put in his special eating spot or outside on his chopping board & walk away & try watching him from afar but don’t let him know you’re watching him also egg have you tried whisking a egg, scramble lightly cook or add some boiled sweet potato & some cut up chicken pieces mixed thru… I buy the reduced cooked BBQ chickens from supermarket…

There’s a reason he’s not be eating, try & work it out why, the best place to start would go back to the shelter & ask staff more questions the people who does the feeding & hosing out cages of a morning, there’s always a few favourite dogs, he may have been one of the favorites & one of the carers took a liking to him & got to know him, how long was he at the shelter?

[Jeffery L]

I will suggest that a dog keeper should keep a stock of dry foods for your dog. as it stays best for 14 days without any hesitation. Dry foods dogs love the most if given in wet season like Snow winter or either in Monsoon Rainy season.

[Susan]

Hi Lyndsay,
have a look at “K-9 Natural Freeze Dried, Green Lipped Mussels, they are healthy crunchy & easy to digest but no more then 2-3 mussels a day so not really great if you want to use as training treats, sometimes a small bag of a dry kibbles is best that’s potato free if you want to do training there’s “Canidae” All Life Stages Bakery snacks, they’re a crunchy biscuit that you can break in 1/2 if needed, I was buying Canidae Grain Free Bison & Butter Squash snacks but these biscuits have potatoes but Canidae’s All Life Stages biscuits are Potato free,
here’s the link, click on https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products then scroll down a little bit looking to your right & you’ll see “View All” click on page 11 & you’ll see the ALS Turkey Quinoa, Butternut Squash snack biscuits 32.9 Kcals per biscuit & the ALS Wild Boar & Kale Snacks, 25 Kcals per biscuit, you can see picture of the size of biscuit…

There’s some real easy to make dog biscuits online you can also eat them & they are healthy, that’s why I like the Green lipped Mussels they’re very healthy, if you go onto “Rodney Habib” face Book page or his “Planet Paws” f/b page look for his video’s & he has some really easy to make healthy treats you can make & then put in freezer, I’ve just found his Video’s they’re on Rodney’s Planet Paws f/b page. here’s the link, https://www.facebook.com/pg/PlanetPaws.ca/videos/?ref=page_internal
scroll down a bit look for second row they’re called “Brain Booster treats” next to them is “DIY Meat Berry Pupsicals” then there’s “Honey, Ginger & Chicken Treats” you can change a few ingredients around if your boy can’t eat those ingredients….
When you make your own treats yourself you know what’s in them also if you have kids/grandkids it’s a fun thing to do & you can also eat some of them as it’s all human grade ingredients.. there’s even a video “How to make your own pet tooth paste”..

[Susan]

Hi Ginger.
here’s the Honestly Bare link https://www.honestlybare.com/about-us/
I looked at the Honestly Bare, Slow cooked tenders formula’s, here’s the Chicken, Peas Carrots formula ingredients, {Chicken, dried peas, dried carrots, “beef glycerin”, salt, “natural hickory smoke flavor”, potassium chloride, preserved with mixed-tocopherols, choline chloride}, also the Chicken Apple & Sweet Potato formula also has the “Beef Glycerine” & the “natural hickory smoke flavor” powder, these are not good or natural ingredients…”hickory smoke flavor” is a powder type flavoring to make the food more appealing & the Glycerin is a binder & a sweetener…
Some dog treats also use the Glycerine, I avoid those treats, your dog probably likes & eats this cause of the salty hickory flavoring…
The Honestly Bare slow cooked tenders formula’s are not freeze dried, it’s made to appear like the natural freeze dried formula’s, the Honestly Bare “Wholesome Topper” formula’s are freezed dried, you’re better of adding the Honestly Bare Wholesome topper to his kibble, you add water & then add to his Acana kibble as a topper the Wholesome topper don’t have the Hictory smoked powder or glycerine & the ingredients look natural but it’s just a topper not a proper balance meal…
When you read the “Wholesome Topper” it does say freeze dried chicken & 100% natural when you read the “Slow Cooked” doesn’t say 100% Natural & says 75% chicken…

When I’m on the other side of DFA the “Comment” section a few people who have very Fussy dogs have been posting that their dogs are doing really well & love “Fresh Pet” pet foods there’s, Freshpet Select, Vital & Nature’s Fresh, here’s the Freshpet link
https://freshpet.com/our-foods/our-brands/
there’s their Fresh Baked grain free formula’s & their Loaf style rolls that you can cut in sections & freeze…
Another really good Air dried food is “Ziwi Peak” https://www.ziwipets.com/
send “Ziwi Peak” an email & ask for some samples, give your address etc so they can send you the samples, Ziwi Peak is air dried & propely balanced so can be feed as main meal, your dog will probably like their NZ Tripe & Lamb it’s for Picky eaters & the Mackeral & Lamb, Ziwi Peak also do their raw wet canned foods, I bet your dog will love Ziwi Peak then just roatae between the different meat proteins, my cat goes nuts when I feed her the Ziwi Peak wet & dry food, she inhales it & doesn’t chew, the wet canned food can be a bit expensive so best to buy when on special….

[Chris C]

I have a senior APBT with thyroid dysfunction so she is on meds. She is overweight by about 8 lbs for her frame at 68lbs. We have used “Premium Edge Healthy Weight I” that got a 5 star rating here. After a year of using it Diamond discontinued the line. She is outside most of the time which is good for exercise, but she also forages grass, fruits, saw palmetto berries. basically whatever she can find. Doing so she has maintained her overweight status despite changing to the diet formulation. We were feeding 2.5 cups per day which was probably not enough nutrients but she would put weight on with her foraging if we gave her more.

What is currently on the market that has quality ingredients? Personally, I do not mind a moderate level of fillers since I would rather her feeling full from food ingredients we moderate than whatever she scavenges on the property.

[Lisa R]

I have a Chi, 10 yrs old who was diagnosed with Cushings in May. On Vetoryl. Symptoms of excessive water drinking and peeing continued, as well as a large appetite. I read that dry food is the worst food for Cushings dogs so I switched to a raw food which was highly recommended. He wouldn’t eat it raw, so I cooked it. He loved it for months and I saw his symptoms subside – he can sleep through the night and not have to go out to pee – most nights. Unfortunately, now won’t touch the cooked raw. So I’m looking for the next best thing. I’m going to look at Dr Judy’s site – thanks Susan. And I’m excited to see there’s a Cushing’s FB group! I need help.

[Pat G]

I personally feed my four shelties Acana dog food which I consider to be one of the best foods. I dogsit a fair amount and two shelties I cared for recently were overweight with a small amount of dog food with dry coats and and very dry almost crumbly poop. They drank and had access to plenty of water. I didn’t know what they were getting until they left because the owners brought premeasured meals in ziplock bags. I am trying to get them to feed a better food and they are going to ask their vet first who is probably selling them that crappy Science Diet weight management food. Well I hope I can convince them to upgrade to a better food.

[Susan]

Hi Cody,
start doing your own research so your puppy has a good start to her life, follow “Rodney Habib” on his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rodneyhabib & watch his new free 5 part video’s “The Truth About Pet Cancer” scroll down Rodney’s F/B page & find Episode 2 & 3 & WATCH these episoes PLEASE so your pup has the best start to her life, also feed 4 smaller meals a day “Canidae” has their All Life Stages, Large Breed Puppy Duck Meal formula, or Turkey Meal Brown rice Wet & Dry formula’s.
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products scroll down a bit look to your right for
“View All” then click on Pages 5 & 9 for Large Breed Puppy Forumla’s & later when your pup is 6 months old start adding fresh healthy foods to her diet & rotate between different kibble brands so she isnt eating the same food 24/7, Pitbulls Staffys are prone to food sensitivities & skin allergies so get her use to a variety of foods & this strengthen her Immune System, just make sure if she is going to be fed a dry kibble her whole life you rotate kibbles but after watching Rodney Habib video’s Im pretty sure you’ll be looking for healthier food instead of feeding dry processed kibble, I only feed dry Kibble cause my boy didn’t have the best start in his life & now has IBD & cant eat a raw/cooked diet..

[poodaddy]

Weston Pro Series #22 – for us this was the right balance of price for performance. We make 60 days of food for two dogs at one time, i.e., bones and all. Also important is the food processor for the non-meat portions of the menu.

Did my own comparative analysis of meat grinder specifications, price, company longevity, number of units in circulation, performance, risk, warranty, reviews, and then made the decision based on best value for us. For about a month prior, we used lesser capacity, lesser capable food processor devices when starting to mess with raw food augmentation of dry food, then when we were comfortable with raw food preparation in its entirety, and we committed, the decision was made. After 6-7 months of complete raw food preparation, we are convinced we made the right choice. The only reason we did not step up to the #32 was our volume did not call for it, otherwise if I were making raw food for friends or commercially, the decision would be for a more robust unit. As far as Weston, we love its sturdiness, and I really like its engineering/design. Anyone going 100% raw food preparation, which in our case includes the entire chicken or and bone-in red meat products (pork chops etc), a grinder that handles the bone, gristle, etc with ease is the key. Getting in the middle of a 10-hour production process the size we now do once every two months, and having a grinder break, is not a good thought. My wife cannot lift the Weston #22 from the pantry where we store it and onto the kitchen counter-top so be forewarned, good quality grinders (designed to handle bone, are heavy units).

[Melody G]

I have a Siberian Husky. She is almost 2yrs old. She seems to have a sensitive stomach. Currently she is on a lamb dry food. She was on chicken but we switched to lamb to see if it helped her, and it has not. After doing some research, I want to try a Limited Ingredient food for sensitive stomachs, but am undecided if I should stick with lamb, or try fish? I see a lot of Salmon and sweet potato. Does it matter? Or have you seen better results in the digestion when feeding your dog a specific protein in their food?
I have been looking on Chewy dot com and have a few brands that interested me. Just not sure which one to pick? Merrick (which she ate when we first picked her up as a pup, just not a LID one, she got bored with it after a while), Natural Balance, Wellness, Chicken soup for the soul dog food, Canidae..SO MANY OPTIONS!

• This topic was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Melody G. Reason: added

[Susan]

Hi Poodaddy,
Welcome to DFA, I really enjoyed your story, the same thing happened with my cat Jeremy he was 10yrs old & his breath was awful, his teeth were full of tarter from eating wet tin food & dry kibble & a cooked food (what I ate) Jeremy loved his food & made daily visits to a few neigbours places, same time everyday for 14 yrs, he was a Main Coon, a beautiful big cat, he was the same height as my English Staffy Patch, his vet said we can clean his teeth & it will cost $460 & if any teeth need removing it will be an extra $50 per tooth, plus he will need a blood test before we can give him any anaesthetic cause he’s 10yrs old or you can start giving him chicken necks, vet said I’ve seen really good results giving cats chicken necks, so naturally I pick the safe & natural way to clean his teeth & I started giving him meaty chicken necks & chciken wings he loved them & the tarter started to come off his teeth & no more smelly breath, I just wish I fed him a raw diet earlier, poor Jeremy passed away age 14, then Patch became real sick again with his IBD vet didn’t know what was wrong, his diet hadn’t changed but he was having a bad IBD flare, STRESS he was really depressed since Jeremy had been PTS, so the best thing to do was adopt a new cat so off we went to the RSPCA, they knew we were coming & had a few cats waiting to met Patch, Patch picked this scrawny, skinny 5 month old street kitten with a bent tail, a bent ear & had had bad ear mites & was still being treated for really bad ear infection caused by the ear mites infestation, I said to Patch look there’s a beautiful looking ginger boy he’s friendly he’s a kitten he’s NOT SICK, but Patch really liked this little scrawny kitten & she really took to Patch, they both really liked each other straight away… As the days passed Patch got better & was like a young pup playing, running, giving his balls to this kitten, the kitten “Indy” washes him at night before bed & now she thinks she is a dog not a cat cause she has been brought up by a dog, Indy is feed a raw diet she eats everything & loves her freeze Dried Green Lipped Mussels every day…..

….”Steve Brown” when asked if you had to pick just 1 food to add to your dog bowl of fresh food to make it better, what would it be, Steve said Mussels… they’re cheap, they have Iodine, Manganese, Omega 3, DHA, EPA, Vitamin-D, alot of raw foods are short of Iodine, fats & Vitamin-D so add 1-2 mussels a day, also add 1 tablespoon of Salmon & a pinch of Kelp…Follow “Rodney Habib” on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/rodneyhabib

Rodney & Ty Bollinger interview medical professionals & cancer scientists to find the truth about PET CANCER & their new documentry “The Truth About Pet Cancer” is finally being released 17th October 2017….. Best thing you’ve done is put your dogs on a raw diet.. when I move into my house 1-2 months I’m re trying Patch on a raw diet again this time no enzymes or probiotics & I’ll see if it works out this time, I hate feeding him dry processed kibble & he see’s Indy getting raw meal, it breaks my heart…

[Susan]

Hi Darlene,
He sounds like he has a lot of life left in him & has a exciting little life, going on daily walks, chasing squirrels, I’d say the Wellness Core Small Breed isn’t agreeing with him anymore it’s way to rich now for an older dog….Wellness Core Small breed is higher in fat & protein, probably causing bad wind pain like my boy gets when he eats a kibble that doesnt agree with him, he wakes up & is up & down thru the night & just walks around the common garden area then he comes back inside, I’d say he’s farting then feels better then my boy comes back inside goes to bed then he’s up again wanting to go out again, see how he goes after eating the Hills I/d wet tin food see if he settle down, cause he’s normal thru the day isn’t he??

I’d feed the Hills I/d low fat Restore wet canned food & also a Senior kibble like “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior if he still wants a few dry kibble bisuits to chew & crunch on, Canidae Pure Meadow Senior formula is GF very easy to chew & digest, only has 10.80%max fat & has all the supplements older dogs need for their joints, skin, brain, heart etc, I’d start feeding smaller meals thru the day/night, I feed 4-5 meals a day 7am, 9am, 12pm, 5pm, 8pm….easier to digest smaller meals then 2 bigger meals.
You could feed 1-2 meals a dry kibble like the “Canidae” Senior kibble & the rest of his meals he gets the I/D Restore wet tin food & see if he gets better thru the night. Ask vet about “Gabapentin” capsules, it helps them sleep at night, helps any joint or nerve pain & doesn’t cause any stomach/bowel problems, if your on facebook, put “Canine Pancreatitis Support” group in the “search” bar, join then on ur left is their “Files” click & then click on the first link “Low Fat Foods” then scroll down a bit till you get to all the wet tin foods, the fat has been converted to dry matter (DM) fat (Kibble) on your right, then he can have a few different flavours & see which one he really likes best..
Here’s Canidae’s site to look at the dry formula’s but the wet tin foods haven’t been converted & probably will be too high in fat for him, when you see say 5%min fat on a wet tin food after it’s converted to dry matter 5%min fat is around 20%min -25%max fat that’s way too high…
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products