[Chuck]

I couldn’t find a search function on this site that worked to see if this topic had been answered.

Basically I have been feeding my Brittany Darwin’s for almost her whole life (she is 2.5), however the cost has gone up astronomically since I first started using them and I know they changed their formula not too long ago and the fat content went up.

She currently gets a Darwin pack in the morning and a pack a night with a little Orijen dry mixed into the night feeding. She has consistently maintained a weight of about 34.

Aside from making the food myself (my wife would rather not) what is the best company that I can switch to for food? I was never really impressed with Bravo or Primal, but it has been years. Also saw this Big Dog Natural company, if anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Pat J:
Here are some forum threads discussing BDN:

/forums/topic/big-dog-natural-dehydrated-food/

/forums/topic/big-dog-natural-2/

/forums/topic/big-dog-natural-freeze-dried/

[Pat J]

I am new to this site. I would like to switch to a raw diet, I am elderly with health issues. The diets mention are too complicated and time consuming for my condition. I have been looking into a dehydrated food from Big Dog Natural company. A dog breeder told me about this company and likes their food. Has anyone tried their food and if so, what were the results and opinions? Thanks

[Susan]

Hi, when I rescued my boy I had the same problem but he was 4 years old, we did every test, in the end the only food that worked was the Vet Diet “Eukanuba Intestinal” low residue kibble, the fiber is only 1.7% & fat is 10% fat…Not the Iams Intestinal the fiber is higher 4% & different ingredients…You may need a vet diet just to get him stable & doing firm poos, then when bowel has healed after feeding the vet diet for about 6months & he’s stable doing firm poos everyday, then very slowly add a new limited ingredient kibble, I email the companies & ask for insoluble fiber %, soluble fiber % & dietary fiber% they only put the crude fiber on their bags…introduce the new kibble very slowly over a 2-3 week period, I start a new kibble using the new kibble as treats for a couple of days, also you feed nothing else, no treats nothing…..

There’s insoluble fiber, soluble fiber, dietary fiber & crude fiber & the pet shop foods are not formulated for dogs with stomach & bowel problems, the kibbles are formulated for healthy dogs, where vet diets are made for certain health problems, don’t get me wrong, I’m not into vet diets but sometimes the vet diets help fix the health problem, the vet diet was the only kibble that firmed up Patches poos & you get so excited when they do a firm poo lol, after just 1-2 days of eating his Eukanuba Intestinal, Patch was pooing a nice firm poo that I could pick up & not leave a big skid mark on the lawn at the park…… the Hills Z/d Ultra has more insoluble fiber, insoluble-3.7% soluble-0.1% crude fiber-2.9% the Z/d Ultra did not help my boy gave him water diarrhea, The Royal Canine HP Hypoallergenic was OK the fiber was 1% but the fat was 19% fat & Patches morning poo was firm but afternoon poo was a cow paddie…… all vet diets are money back guaranteed, if they don’t work, that’s what I liked..
The Eukanuba Intestinal has more soluble fiber & less insoluble fiber & worked for Patch after trying 3 different vet diets…..

You need to work out what works for your pup, when you fed the home cooked hamburger mince, rice & pumkin did that firm up his poos completely? cause pumkin is high in fiber & pumkin made Patches poos very sloppy also the cooked boiled rice irritated his bowel giving him diarrhea, but he can eat the grounded rice in kibbles…

The next time you cook buy some lean beef mince, not hamburger mince, hamburger mince is high in fat…..buy some potatoes, boil the potatoes & mash 1/4 potatoes thru the cooked lean mince, no pumkin & no boiled rice, see if that firms up his poos, then add some pumkin & see if poo goes sloppy again, if poo goes sloppy then he needs a lower fiber diet,

I stay away from kibbles with peas most of the grain free kibbles have peas, lentils, legumes, all high in lectins & lectins can cause leaky gut..

I started to feed a cook meal for breakfast & feed his Eukanuba Intestinal for lunch & dinner, cause I knew the Eukanuba Intestinal made his poos firm & he was only doing 1 maybe 2 poos a day on the Eukanuba Intestinal, so I started to feed the cooked meal for breakfast to see the difference in his poos & what foods worked, you’d see his sloppy orange pumkin & chicken poo, then I knew the pumkin wasn’t working, then I added boiled rice with the boiled chicken & he had diarrhea, then I change to lean beef mince, broccoli, celery with quinoa & he does firm poos now, firmer poos when he eats a cooked meal then when he eats his kibble…..

“California Natural” has their limited ingredient Puppy Chicken & Rice it has just 6 ingredients but chicken is the protein & the fat is 16%min-18% max …. I know puppies need fat but I’m wondering maybe he can’t handle too much fat & a lot of puppy kibbles/wet are higher in fat…. http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/1161.

It will take time but you will work out what his stomach/bowel cant handle, so keep a diary….its best to start with a vet diet first, get him stable & doing firm poos, then after 6months start looking for a new limited ingredient kibble that has around the same fat % & fiber % that’s in the vet diet that’s working for you pup…Good-Luck 🙂

[C4D]

M Y,

These are just terrible treats. It doesn’t matter where they come from. They have been sold off to Smuckers now & there are various ingredient labels depending on which site you go to. I can’t even find the actual ingredients from the company that owns it. The website doesn’t even link to anything about the products. The ingredient panel on any of the sites is just awful, with all kinds of coloring and artificial additives. I think Petfooddirect might be the older formula, but they may still have it in stock. Either way, dogs don’t need BHA, sugar, 4 different artificial colors and a bunch of other preservatives in their treats!

Big Heart Brands website:
http://www.bigheartpet.com/

Bacon flavor on Petfooddirect:

Ingredients

Chicken, Corn Syrup, Soy Flour, Wheat Flour, Corn Starch, Water, Propylene Glycol, Animal Fat (BHA Used As A Preservative), Animal Digest, Calcium Sulfate, Soy Protein Concentrate, Sugar, Beef, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Phosphoric Acid, Titanium Dioxide, Sorbic Acid (Used As A Preservative), Red 40 Lake, Garlic Powder, Natural Smoke Flavor, Iron Oxide, BHA (Used As A Preservative), Citric Acid (Used As A Preservative).

Bacon flavor on Pet360, Target & Walmart:

Ingredients

Wheat Flour, Soybean Flour, Water, Beef. Glycerin, Whole Corn Sugar, Bacon, Corn Syrup, Natural Smoke Flavor, Bone Phosphate, Salt, Potassium Sorbate (Used As A Preservative), Phosphoric Acid, Red 40 Lake, Glyceryl Monostearate, Yellow 6 Lake, Titanium Dioxide, BHA (Used As A Preservative), Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 1 Lake.

[Susan]

Hi, yes they say that EPI dogs can have a high fat diet, what I’m noticing on the F/B EPI group, a lot of dogs are suffering from Acid reflux & need ant acid meds, high fat diets are no good if your dog suffers with acid reflux or if you dog doesn’t suffer with acid reflux they can get acid reflux from eating a high fat diet kibble or wet tin foods..
I wouldn’t go too low with the fat, I stick around 8%-12% max fat cause of Patch skin problems.. also sardines in spring water are good to add as a topper on their kibble for their skin….
When your dog was eating Taste Of Wild did he start his scratching & itchiness or when he was on a vet diet did he get his S.B.I.O?
You need to start limiting certain carbohydrates like, Lactose, Fructose, Resistant Starches like potato, peas, lentils, beans, legumes, banana etc you need a diet where the carbs don’t ferment in the gut & bowel causing the S.I.B.O…
Patch has had SIBO twice now & both times his skin & paws were yeasty & smelly as well….I keep a dairy but I didn’t write what foods he was eating at the time, so now I’m writing what he is eating so if it happens again I’ll know what kibbles & foods to avoid. I’ve stopped giving a little bit of banana as a treat in the morning..

The Honest Kitchen Zeal is suppose to be really good, its low in carbs, low in fat, gluten free high protein, but I think its expensive to feed a big dog, I feed 2 different meals wet tin for breakfast, kibble for lunch & dinner & a late small feed of wet tin food that I feed for breakfast..Patch can’t eat 2 large meals a day he gets pain either stomach or pancreas pain, so I divide all the meals into 4 smaller meals..

With wet tin foods the fat % is different to the fat % in kibbles..it isn’t lower in wet tin foods….. if the wet tin says 5% fat when converted to dry matter (Kibble) 5% fat is around 22% fat, so I feed wet tin foods where the fat is 3% & under so that’s around 7-12% fat when converted to dry matter (kibble).

This link is for humans with S.I.B.O it explains about foods that ferment & are no good..

SIBO Diets and Digestive Health – It’s about Fermentable Carbohydrates

I have found kibbles with just rice seem to be better then the grain free high starch kibbles… Here’s California Natural Lamb & Rice limited ingredients it has just 4 ingredients & the crude fiber is 2.5% or there’s their Chicken & Rice with 5 ingredients & the fiber % is the same as the Lamb & Rice, a few people I know have dogs with IBD & feed their dogs on the California Natural limited ingredient chicken or lamb kibble….
you will need to email California natural & find out what the soluble & insoluble fiber % is in the Lamb & rice or chicken & rice…
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/1181

[Jessica A]

Hi! I am a new member and have been researching dog foods for years now. I have been involved in animal rescue for 3 years and now have 7 dogs and 2 cats of my own. My dogs range in age from 4 months-12 years old. Most are large breed with 3 being medium size. I have had my dogs on everything over the years from Iam’s, Wellness Complete, Core, Blue, Blue Freedom, Basics, Science Diet Sensitive Stomach, Active Maturity, Large Breed, Advanced Fitness, Simply Nourish, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient, and a few more….I have a 4 month old lab, 2- 17 month old mixes (unsure of breed), 4 yr old border collie mix, 4 yr old golden, 5 yr old lab and a 12 yr old lab….so we need different ranges/types of foods. Biggest problem is allergies with our Border Collie and size/growth for our labs…any thoughts??

Thanks so much,
Jessie

[Susan]

Hi, that’s happened with my boy, I finally found a food & his itch & hive like lumps all went away but he was pooing about 5-6 poos a day, big & soft & had bad gas, he has IBD so when he starts his farting, I know something is wrong, so I stopped the food, his bowel was working over time, I was scared he may have blood streaks thru his poo again, so I looked for another food with similar ingredients minus the barley & less fiber…Dogs don’t need fiber in their diets, dogs have a smaller gastrointestinal track then humans…
I just had a look & the fiber % all the Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance foods & the fiber is high at 6-8% in all the Pureformance flavours… Have you tried the Valor fish or another flavour, the fiber is 5% in all flavours & has Quoina instead of the chickpeas …there’s also Artisan, in the Artisan Pork the fiber is 3.9% so less poos, but the Pork has potatoes & sweet potatoes, so no good if you have a yeasty dog problems….write done all the ingredients & maybe look for another brand there has to be another brand with similar ingredients minus the chickpeas & a lower fiber%..

There may be an ingredient in the Pureformance that is causing the poo problem, I’d say its the chick peas, chick peas are high in lectins, lectins can cause leaky gut, here’s a few links about Lectins & leaky gut…. also I wouldn’t be adding things that are high in fiber…
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/5-things-all-dog-owners-should-know-about-lectins/
http://trulyglutenfree.co.uk/2013/01/15/gluten-grains-and-lectins-why-remove-all-three/

[Gracie’s Mom]

. . .but wouldn’t it be great to have a sort of calculator that allows you to input ingredients that you want to avoid, and it would then filter all the dog foods listed on the site, leaving only the foods that don’t include those ingredients? That would be so helpful to those of dealing with numerous food allergies and picky eaters.

I spend a great deal of time looking for foods to add into rotation that 1) my dog will eat (very picky!), 2) don’t cost a small fortune to feed a 65-pounder, 3) don’t contain one of her many allergens (white potato, rice, alfalfa, flax, peanut, soybean, rabbit. . .being just the more severe ones), and 4) provide a good nutritional balance (high in protein and not ridiculously high in fat with some fiber). I should also add that I’m a big believer in grain-free and minimal cooking/processing, but have a husband who is opposed to a home-cooked diet for our girl (that’s another story).

We started out with Darwin’s and that seemed to work great until she decided not to eat it anymore. I’ve since not had any luck with frozen raw. She just barks at it. Ziwipeak was good for a while, then she quit eating it. I’ve tried Arcana Duck and Bartlett Pear (the least successful in terms of willingness to eat it), and several freeze dried and dehydrated brands that don’t contain something on the allergy list. There don’t seem to be many options once the allergens are eliminated.

We’ve just started on Against the Grain canned, but there are only two proteins available, and she would need four cans a day, which would be expensive. I need something less expensive to add to it. Also, I have to offer variety, or she will refuse to eat anything in a few weeks. I’m going to try rotating in ZiwiPeak again. She has consistently liked K-9 Naturals freeze-dried, which I often mix with Honest Kitchen’s Preference Base Mix, but I’m concerned about the extremely high fat content in the K-9, and she has been a bit iffy on the Preference lately, sometimes refusing to eat it at all. The K-9 venison has somewhat lower fat, so I’m going to keep that in rotation. I’ve just ordered some small bags of Fresh Is Best freeze-dried to see how she likes that. She also likes Vital Essentials freeze dried, usually mixed with canned Tripett to provide some moisture. She does love tripe, but I know it doesn’t provide everything she needs nutritionally.

I worry not just about her allergies but also a diet too high in fat. She’s a three-year old lab mix and pretty active. She needs lots of protein and some fiber (judging from poop consistency).

I don’t currently have her on any supplements, having taken her off of them the last time she refused to eat her food (I’ve always put liquid or powdered supplements in her food, because she won’t eat treat-style supplements or pills). I need to identify any supplements that she may not be getting from her diet and try to find a way to get those in her.

It’s a difficult thing to manage. All advice is welcome. Mike–any chance for that ingredient eliminator program?

[Susan]

Hi, Alex I feel like a broken down record cause I’m always recommending the “California Natural” limited ingredient kibble, Lamb & Rice…. Looks like you haven’t tried Lamb as a protein, the kibbles you have feed are either fish or duck with sweet potatoes & potatoes, give the “California Natural Lamb & Rice” a go…heaps better then starchy vet diets…..the California Natural Lamb & Rice has just 4 ingredients Lamb, Brown Rice, White Rice & Sunflower Oil…try a kibble with limited ingredients a novel protein & ingredients that you have not feed before…
Most grain free kibbles are more starchy with potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, tapioca, lentils, legumes etc……I found kibbles with just 1 protein & brown/white rice, work best for my itchy boy…stay away from peas, potatoes, tapioca, sweet potatoes, oats & see how he improves, its worth a go & remember less is best with itchy dogs…

also weekly baths, have you tried Malaseb Medicated Shampoo bath every 5-7 days & leave on the paws & skin for 5-10mins then rinse off… after 1 month on new food & weekly baths you will see a big improvement, use the new kibble as a treat as well no treats unless they have the same ingredients.. http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/1181

[Skye G]

Thanks for responding! That sounds pretty reasonable for a dog w an average metabolism, maybe slightly higher or lower. My parents 25lb Cocker Spaniel w/ a slower than average metabolism gets slightly under 1/4 cup twice a day of the Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potatoes at 380cal/cup, w/ a generous helping of green beans mixed in. She is constantly ravenous.
I’m pretty big on calories, probably not least because I am in recovery from an eating disorder, and calories were at one point my entire life. I do agree w you that the labels are most likely a bit off, but probably not by much, at least IMO. I think it’s a little part of the puzzle of dog nutrition, probably not too important for easy keeping dogs, but for hard keepers like mine I feel like its something I should pay attention to.
Again, thanks for the input. =)

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Skye G.

[cindy q]

thanks for your reply, my Standard is about 40-44 lbs. I only gave her a little of the Darwins with her big dog natural and she still threw it up.

[cindy q]

I just got my order of Darwins yesterday, this morning I fed both my dogs a little with their regular big dog natural food my Standard Poodle threw hers back up, my Toy Poodle did fine with hers. Any one else have a dog that threw it up?

[cindy q]

those that feed raw do you rotate between different brands? I am going to be feeding Darwins and Big Dog Natural. Big Dog Natural in the morning and Darwins at night. How many different brands do you use? And what brands are your favorite?

[bigthree]

OK, my little Athena has done it again. I love her to death but I’m at my wits end. I changed from Nutro Natural to Orijen which I thought was a big hit since she scarfed it down like there was no tomorrow. But now she has turned her nose up and I have to beg her to eat her food. I have taken the advise from a few and gotten a different brand and tried to change her to that (Fromm) but she literally looked at me and walked away. I figured it was because it had a different smell so I just kept with the Orijen. So I have a few questions. First is it really good to constantly change dog foods? An if that’s what I need to do is there a place were I can get samples instead of buying one she doesn’t like?

[cindy q]

Yes I did get the sample offer, thanks Amy. I am going to be feeding Darwins once a day because I also use a dehydrated raw, Big Dog Natural my dogs love it. I am concerned with it staying frozen all day in the Summer because I work and won’t be home when it’s delivered.

[cindy q]

Holistic Blends grain free it has a 5 star rating and is made in Canada. I pour coconut oil over this and my dogs love it. I also feed a dehydrated raw Big Dog Natural.

[cindy q]

I have a picky eater the only food she would eat is big dog natural dehydrated raw now she suddenly doesn’t always want to eat it, I got a bag of Holistic blend which has a 5 star rating and she liked it. Is it ok to feed the dehydrated raw in the morning and this kibble in the evening? I know some people say not to feed both raw and kibble.

[RebeccaRose]

Hello,

My 2.5 yr old Shih Tzu has a history of vomiting & occasional diarrhea. She has no IBD dx yet but vet is treating it as such. She has been on various meds. Right now she takes a 1/2 Pepcid at night. Here is a list of dog foods she’s been on, time on & her reactions:

Wellness Core Puppy, 8 months, bouts of diarrhea
Wellness Complete Health Small Breed, 1 yr 3 mo, occasional bile vomiting early morning hrs
4Health Small Bites, 2 months, HGE like illness
Wellness Complete Health Healthy Weight, 2 months, occasional vomiting
Hills Science Diet Sensitive Skin & Stomach, 2 weeks, poops small pellet like
California Natural Lamb & Rice, 3 weeks, 3 days at 100%, poops less firm, glossy exterior.

My question is… She just completed the transition 100% to the California Natural Lamb & Rice this past Saturday, her poops are not as firm as they used to be before going 100% but my biggest concern is they started having a glossy wet look to the outside. She has NEVER had this problem before. Unless it was flat out liquid diarrhea she has never had wet looking stools.

What ingredient in the Lamb & Rice could be causing this? This is the first time she’s ever had Lamb obviously but has had rice before.

[Naturella]

I also love feeding a variety of foods to my terrier mix Bruno. Since my husband and I have adopted him in 2013, he’s had, in no particular order of dry foods: Nutro Natural Choice Small Breed Puppy, Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy, Nutrisca Chicken & Chickpea, Dr. Tim’s Kinesis GF, Holistic Health Extension Original, Blue Allergix, and Lamb & Brown Rice, Earthborn Holisitic Coastal Catch, Primitive Naturals, and Great Plains Feast, Back to Basics Open Range, Wysong Nurture with Quail, Nulo Medal Series Lamb & Lentils, Castor & Pollux Ultramix Duck, Victor Salmon, and samples of Fromm, Victor, NutriSource, TOTW, Wysong, Orijen, Acana, Nature’s Variety Instinct (the Rabbit formula he was supposed to eat but it made him very sick, but other samples he did great with), Hi-Tek, Nature’s Logic, and many other foods I can’t recall ATM. Lined up we have Wellness CORE Ocean and Original, more Earthborn, Canidae Pure SEA, Castor & Pollux Organix GF, and right now he just got on Dogswell LiveFree Salmon.

For toppers we used The Honest Kitchen Embark, Force, Keen, and Love, and Big Dog Naturals Green Tripe (air-dried). I have used various canned foods too, like Weruva, Green Cow by Solid Gold, and Green Tripe from Petkind, and also some more dehydrated/air-dried like Sojo’s. Now I use some small Merrick dog cans and some cat food pouches and cans for some of the toppers along with coconut oil, yoghurt, raw egg, canned sardines, and a RMB for his Sunday dinner. I also almost always add extra water to the food when served with a topper so he eats “soup” most of the time. Sometimes I just give him plain kibble as part of a training routine or from a puzzle toy to stimulate his brain. He likes it just the same!

He gets regular treats (Fromm, Canidae, Yummy Chummies, and Think! Alligator and Crawfish Jerky, and also kibble as treats (a different brand and flavor of the main food he is on at the moment), He also has a few natural chews like cow and lamb ears, beef tracheas, bully sticks, pig snouts, fish skins, antlers, hooves, etc.

Sorry for the rant, lol, but yeah, rotations are awesome, and Bruno loves the daily variety, and I love how he looks and feels (shiny and soft). I used to take 10 days or so to transition from one food to the next at first, then about 7 days, then 3, then 0. Now he switches so quickly because he eats a constant variety of foods and treats.

And LM, I guess you can see the replies of a person, but it will be hard to follow an Editor’s Choice topic reply by reply from individual authors. And some topics are EC exclusive.

[Pitlove]

Senior dog food is one of the worst things to happen to the commercial dog food industry. basically senior dog formulas came about after protein started getting this bad reputation that it was making less active dogs fat (which is usually most senior dogs). However, what people didn’t udnerstand was that it was not “protein” that was the culprit it was the TYPE of protein. Proteins like corn can not be fully digested by dogs and thus end up breaking down into sugar and end up getting stored as fat creating the weight gain.

I found an article for you by a holistic vet that most of us on the site are big fans of for her all natural and holistic outlook on pet nutrition. She discusses the nutrition needs of senior dogs in this article and discusses the flaws in commercial dog food marketed towards senior pets.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/05/surprising-findings-from-tufts-study-of-37-senior-dog-foods.aspx

[Amanda G]

I have a 6 year old Great Dane. He is allergic to what seems like everything. He was finally allergy tested after chronic ear infections and has been on shots for the last year. The shots do not help as much as I’d hoped. He is allergic to white potato, sweet potato, flax, peas, corn, and soy. This has left us with few options. Even high quality kibble has at least one of those ingredients. We found a few that didn’t and had horrible results. We thought we were making progress with Big Dog Natural until his neck and ears went crazy. Come to find out they use potato as a binding agent. Next we tried Sojos original and added meat. We could not figure out why his ears swelled up like pork chops. They were even worse than with Big Dog. There seemed to be no listed ingredients he was allergic to. The only thing I could figure was it had pecans in it and he is allergic to pecan trees? Now I am making his food. I am lightly cooking meat, veges, oats, and egg with shell. His coat is dull, he is tired, and still itchy. His ears are not 100% but better. I can’t continue this. I know he’s not getting all the nutrition he needs out of my homemade food. I want to try raw. We’ve attempted it before but he has no interest in raw meats especially organs. I’m thinking of trying the Dinovite recipe. It seems to be a simple place to start but I’m afraid it’s also lacking. It’s only egg, shell, ground meat, rice and their supplements. Can anyone help with suggestions or experience with anything I’ve mentioned? I feel like I’m failing my dog and all I want to do is feed him. All opinions and advice will be respected and greatly appreciated. Sorry about the book. I just want to give as much info as possible so that one of you could possibly help us. I’m begging! Lol I feel like I’m going crazy.

• This topic was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Fix Duplicate Topic Title

[idunnowhat2callmyself]

Okay, I’m just going to throw this out here because I’ve found this to be a remarkably useful website, and if there’s anyplace I might productively ask my question, it’d be here. I apologize in advance for the length of it.

My family’s got four dogs currently: One small, one medium, one medium-large, and one large. It’s a nice range. I try to order higher-quality kibble brands to offset the lower-quality ones sometimes brought home by other people. A month or two ago, I had a two-hour phone conversation with my aunt, who’s got one small dog on a raw diet (with wet canned stuff in the mornings.) I’d hoped to simply be able to follow her precise regimen, adjusted for our pack…and got a half-page worth of notes during that convo in Microsoft Word. I should’ve figured it wouldn’t be simple, and I suppose I could start ordering some whole rabbits or tripe or turkey necks and supplements or any of the other various things I jotted down from the site she mentioned…but the whole thing still seems so overly, excessively complicated and worrisome. She said that she hadn’t even told her vet about the switch, but had been at it for about a year now.

A few benefits stood out: Cleaner teeth naturally, because no matter how much toothpaste or how many correct-ingredient-inclusive wipes I use, nothing removes the ‘icky’ stuff (which is worst on the oldest dog.) My aunt also noted that cleaning up after them is much easier thanks to the raw–and since that job typically falls to me, I’d really appreciate that. AND potential weight loss/healthy-weight management, as well…I almost always opt for the low-fat variety of everything to be on the safe side. Fortunately the hefty Brittany did recently move down to a smaller dosage of heartworm med, and can suddenly fit behind the sofa again–so I guess it finally paid off.

I’ve given the pooches everything from the raw-coated kibbles to Stella & Chewy patties to Fresh Pet to Honest Kitchen “green slop” (we’ve had that huge box for over a year now), to dozens of kibble brands that all seem essentially identical–and so on and so forth. When I try to look up which kibble or commercial raw food to try (assuming that cans would disappear far too quickly to be worthwhile), I am instantly overwhelmed and confused–I see loads and loads of brand names and packaging and shapes, but all of the food and flavors appear to be the same. I have no idea how to even tell which to buy. The sizes and portions and pricing baffle me–how am I to tell what will feed multiple dogs of various sizes and breeds for more than a couple days? We usually get a new big kibble bag about twice a month. I simply cannot tell what the raw equivalent would be…and even for dry food, I’m now kinda stumped. Every time I’m asked to order another bag, I freeze. How to choose?!?! My list’s grown so long, and we’ve tried so many…now I usually go with whichever has the best price per pound at the time, and a decent rating/reviews. I wish I could just find the perfect brand to consistently turn to, and continuously rotate through their flavors and treats. (Deciding which treat to pick up becomes a whole other can of worms, and I’m just like, “Gods, why, why, why must this be so bamboozling?! Why the hundreds of redundant choices? The dogs don’t even care, they just want our stuff!”)

Only one of the four dogs eats neatly (my Saluki, who has a snood. 😉 The other three are slobs, knocking the bowls around and splashing before they even touch the floor. The little Beagle frequently flat-out refuses to eat from a bowl, insisting that the food be spilled onto the floor for him. Also, my mom’s a clean freak–and I’m a bit of one myself at times. For these reasons, I knew that any attempt to transition would be tough and drawn-out, if not impossible. I knew I’d have to discover the cleanest, neatest, easiest, least odiferous method.

Now, before I got older and started performing more research into these areas, my parents…well all right, let me just put it this way. The two Beagles we had at the time I was born ate cheap supermarket kibble and human leftovers, lived in the backyard, never once to my knowledge had their teeth brushed (the one had green teeth and rancid breath) or nails trimmed or even saw the vet…yet both lived happily & health-problem-free for 16-18+ years (we can’t be exactly certain because they were adopted from a shelter.) Thus it can be very difficult for me to convince these guys, no matter how many times I reiterate what the healthy-food brochures say, to go out of their way for “special frou-frou dog food” or anything they’re unused to.

WHEW. Ever so sorry to unload all that frustration here. Any advice, recommendations, or assistance that anybody ever feels like dropping would, of course, be most appreciated.

[crazy4cats]

Hi codexstark-
I’m not Pitlove, but interested in helping you if possible. She mentioned on another thread that her kitten did settle down and quit playing and eating in the box.

What kind of litter are you using now? I prefer a clay unscented clumping litter for my crew. Why do you want to switch? I’d be a little leery of switching if things are going well now. If you do, I’d do a gradual transition replacing new with old over a week or more. Maybe even just add a new box with the new litter and leave the old one out to see if they use the new one. We both know the last thing you want is for them not to use it at all or end up with an infection.
Here are some great links with wonderful information:
catinfo.org
littlebigcat.com
Naturalcatcareblog.com
On the catinfo site, there are directions on how to make a nice big roomy cat box out of a tote. For large or multiple cats it works great. I know Bobbydog has made one and I think Pitlove mentioned that she did also. I have four cats and seven litter boxes. At least one box is in the garage and two in their outdoor enclosure. They are not all in the house. I also have a male with urinary tract issues. Write back and let us know what you think.

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by crazy4cats.

[Ryan K]

Yes, I have actually tried Fromm’s Pork and Peas formula with her and she wouldn’t even touch it. It shocked me. I have noticed that most other Fromm’s (even in the Four Star) use Potatoes in their ingredient list. I’m not a big fan of Fromm’s for either of my dogs. My Dachshund/Terrier mix will eat ANYTHING and even he hasn’t been won over by Fromm’s. I now stay away from that brand since both the dogs have never shown interest in eating the foods from them that I have tried.

I think it might be a combination of seasonal allergies for her though like Susan mentioned. She won’t stop licking and chewing at her paws and I am wondering if it’s just because she has been in the grass/yard more lately? I wanted to get her off the Kangaroo though just based on the price. It’s costing me an arm and a leg to feed her and my other dog (he’s on another food!) and I am curious if there are alternatives to that food that would be free of the potato.

Any thoughts on Natural Balance Legume & Wagyu beef? I only had one outing with Natural Balance and the potatoes in the blend I got were a disaster. That was around the time I was discovering her response to potatoes. The Wagyu beef food is free of potatoes but it seems to have a lot of starch. I’m not sure if the overall guaranteed analysis is good for a senior dog or not. I’m not sure what levels I should keep an eye on for a dog her age? Is the protein supposed to be higher or lower as they age?

[Bobby dog]

Labs:
4 Health is a decent food for cats, however mine don’t care for the brand. My one senior female will eat the GF Whitefish and Chicken dinner occasionally, but I really don’t like feeding a fish based food wet or dry too often. If I do, I prefer smaller species because they are likely to contain less contaminates. Wellness and Tiki cat have recipes that use either sardines or menhaden that I prefer.

pitlove:
This is a long thread and you would have to have the time to read through our trials and tribulations of transitioning our cats to a more species appropriate diet. The regular posters on this thread have written about spending several years trying to transition to other foods. We mostly have dry food addicts; not a healthy form of food for kitties. My cats grew up eating grocery store foods and like what they like. They are 7, 10, 12, and two are 17 years old. It is very dangerous, even life threatening, for cats to go on hunger strikes. I for one am not willing to risk my cats life if it comes down to a hunger strike. So rather than dwelling on the negatives of Purina I keep my cats eating consistently for good health and keep searching for other foods to try. As far as Purina products go I have a list of a few recipes from different lines I feed that IMO have the least offensive ingredients for my cats. Some have little or no fish, none have glutens, most have no added colors, some no grains, all are under 11% carbs for UT health, and probably other things I have forgotten about. Since wet foods make up a majority of their diet any food I feed must be 12% DMB carbs or under for their UT health.

A quote from Dr. Pierson, DVM of catinfo.org:
“…I would much rather see a cat eat any canned food versus any dry food – regardless of quality level of the canned or dry food. This includes Friskies, 9-Lives, Fancy Feast, etc., canned options.”

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

My cats have transitioned to about 3/4 of their diets being canned foods. Wet foods are the healthiest for cats. My cats have passed all wellness visits (blood work included) over the last several years and the couple that were chubby have lost the extra weight. Paying attention to the recipes regardless of the quality of the brand has made a significant difference in their health.

I feed them a variety of commercial raw, canned, and dry foods. I only have one cat that is not finicky so my dog gets any leftovers from a new food that does not go over well with them. If you would like my list of what I call my cats’ “grocery store foods” just post and I will be happy to share. I also have a list of premium foods wet/dry/commercial raw if you are interested. And, welcome to the Cat Rec thread. The cat lovers on DFA post here about any cat topic!

Here’s my favorite cat sites:

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

Home

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/
http://www.felinecrf.org/
The last site is for a specific feline health issue; I have found the site helpful in regards to foods to try.

[losul]

Hello Aimee
I’m glad my pup raising days (and child raising days) are long past 🙂 or I’d have to study all over again to get enough confidence to homemake even then half of a pup’s food properly. I think it’s very important to start off a pup on good foundation to health early for the proper build of health throughout life. And then to think that someone could be using an exclusive food (most of us regulars here on DFA never would ) through gestation, nursing, puppiehood, and adult hood, one should be even more careful. if I did ever aquire another puppy, not at all likely, but I’d definitely want to see that at least some wholesome rawness was a part of the diet, but I’d also want to make certain it was properly formulated, and well rounded with wholesome ingredients, whether formulated by myself or someone else. Getting the macronutrients right at the VERY least, and not dependent to any large degree on any one formulation.

But I also think many raw maunufacturers face a dilemma, do they add a bunch of vitamins/minerals, many of them perhaps needlessly, and some perhaps harmfully,
in order to be able to put that AAFCO label on them? I think AAFCO guidelines were
designed for and are a must for heavily processed foods, the most so being kibble,
and even much more so when low grade, questionable, and inadequate ingredients are
used. I can’t imagine how nutritionally devoid most kibbles would be without rather
heavily added vitamins/minerals.

But, if you take vitamin E for example. It gets used up with time, processing, and
natural peroxidation/oxidation of fats, especially the sensitive, unstable fats.
What vitamin E added when a kibble is made, needs to be sufficient throughout the
manufacturing process, the time that the kibble is stored, and then throughout the
time someone is feeding the bag. Probably if measured at the time a kibble is fed,
it would be a very small fraction left of the original vitamin E included
originally, but hopefully it would still retain at least some smaller amount. I
think the AAFCO guidelines likely allow for these losses.
Whereas a raw, minimally, but properly processed diet, fed immediately, or that is
frozen in well sealed packages is going to retain most of the original vitamin E.
The food/fats is still going to undergo some peroxidation, albeit at a much, much
slower rate. I believe to much vitamin E can be very harmful, just like to much
much of many other added nutrients. Even AAFCO is concerned with overnutrition.
“Maximum levels of intake of some nutrients have been established for the first
time because of concern that overnutrition, rather than undernutrition, is a bigger
problem with many pet foods today.” I’m satisfied that Allprovide has more than
sufficient of vitamin E in that food for MY dog, with the added wheat germ oil.

Another example, I think you know of the importance of vitamin D in regulating
uptake of calcium and some other minerals. Probably you also know the detrimental
effects of to much vitamin D in supplemetation, including possible hypercalcemia.
And we have both seen how many raw foods, both homemade recipes and some
commercially prepared, appear to be “deficient” in vitamin D when going by AAFCO
guidelines.
I found this study interesting, “Some Observations on the Dietary Vitamin D
Requirement of Weanling Pups” and the conclusion; “Dogs fed diets with and without
supplemental cholecalciferol did not differ in growth rate, food consumption or
selected serum or urine values. Likewise,there were no differences between the two
of response to added cholecalcifrol was probably due to adequate levels of calcium
and phosphorus in the base diet and possible synthesis of vitamin D. However, it is
possible that some vitamin D could have been present in one or more of the
ingredients of the basal diet. It has been suggested that dogs may only require
additional vitamin D when there is a mineral deficiency or imbalance in the diet
(11). However, one study reported canine rickets in diets containing 1.2% calcium
and 1% phosphorus (6).It has been reported that carnivores may not possess the
mechanism of vitamin D synthesis in the skin (7). Another study demonstrated that
dogs fed a nonpurified diet without added vitamin D under conditions of total
darkness did not exhibit bone defects (Kealy,unpublished data). Previous reports
did not record the ultraviolet light status of the environment. It is not
understood at this time how the dog acquires sufficient vitamin D for metabolism.
Part of the explanation appears to be related to a very low vitamin D requirement
in the presence of adequate dietary mineral balance.The observation that large
breed dogs raised in indoor-outdoor kennel runs do not require added vitamin D is
important <b>because supplemental vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus are frequently
recommended and used at levels in excess of the nutritional require
ments of the dog, presumably to enhance bone growth and development. The data
reported here suggest that supplementation of nonpurified, commercially available
dog foods with vitamin D may not be necessary.</b>

http://www.2ndchance.info/homemadediet-Kealy1991.pdf

Aimee, I know you’ve expounded about the blatant abuse of some other raw manufacturers in applying the AAFCO label of completeness on their foods, and I largely agree with many of your points, especially when it comes to all life stages/puppy, and especially the macronutrients Ca,P. etc.

I never expected you to approve of this one either. But for us, the puppy blend, good quality balanced proteins and well balanced fats, The meat, bone and beef organs in the proper proportions, and it’s other rounded whole food additions, and it’s 95% of the way there for us. I have a few more questions to ask, but as it stands for now, when my food supply runs down some, I intend to buy some Allprovide puppy blend and use at least as a sometimes meal/topper for my adult. It can replace some of the to expensive canned foods we’ve been using for the second meal of the day. I see it as a step up and less money too. The first meal will still always be raw homemade, or another solid commercial brand raw. If I did see a long list of added synthetic vitamins/minerals, for me, I’d likely just pass on this food. I’d still really appreciate someone (Dori?) to take a visit to them and report back.

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by losul.

[crazy4cats]

I guess I can understand where the creator is coming from. I currently have a cat with a medical condition that warrants Rx food. I have been feeding it to him for about six months now and it is healing his urinary tract. So, for him the prescription food should be rated a big 10 as I think it is saving his life. I am currently weaning him off of it and making some other important changes as well. But, for my other three healthy cats, the food would be OK to feed them, but not optimal because they do not have the same health condition and are fine eating regular food, the Rx food would probably only be rated a 2 or 3 for them.

Yes, by all means if you think your dog is doing better and want to transition to a non Rx food, consult with your vet and see what he/she thinks. I think I would want to do that also if I were in your position. You might want to start with a limited ingredient food such as, California Natural, Nature’s Variety, or Natural balance recipes. Good luck!

[JPStPierre]

For 2 years now I have been feeding a home made “natural” diet.
We have 6 dogs.A bassador,Great dane,Pyrennees,Boxer,Jack Russell and Kelpie.
Every day the batch consists of a 5 pound chicken ground bones and all.Frozen veggies ,eggs and yogurt in a blender w liver added in.
This yields 10 pounds per day.We feed twice a day.1 pound ea meal for the bigger dogs.3/4 pound per meal for the other 4 dogs.
They used to have health problems while on dry.We did feed them premium food.
My lawn was a minefield of undigested food.They rarely had enthusiasm for meals.
Now when I start to grind they all get very excited.
We have also noticed that it actually costs us less doing this.
Even if it cost more I would still do this.

Wish you all well! Take care and enjoy your companions.All ours are rescues.

[Anonymous]

http://store-kneew2.mybigcommerce.com/natural-flea-tick-mosquito-control-for-dogs-evolv/
Wondercide

Seems to help, so that I can use less pesticides/poisons.

PS: Regarding flea/tick killing products. They are not medications.

[Nate D]

Here’s a quick update after making some phone calls.
My dog will be going on the Science Diet for 2 weeks. I actually already started. Went and picked it up. After that if there are no crystals I was told I can go back on the dry food, I just need to add water to it……or I can mix wet and dry and add water. I’m told the solid gold supplement is also ok once off of the SD.
So I will still use dry food, but will mix it with wet. I just can’t afford all wet.
I’m also looking at switching the dry food to grain free. The big problem is with Doxies it’s not easy finding a food they won’t gain weight from no matter how little food you give them. Fromm Gold Weight Management has been the only food that keeps both of my dogs stable and where they should be. They do have a new weight management formula, but I don’t believe it’s grain free either. I have tried grain free in the past, but they just kept slowly putting on the weight. Even tried Wellness Core Reduced Fat. I kept lowering the amount I gave them, but anymore they wouldn’t have any. lol
I see Merrick has a grain free low cal dry food as well as canned. I’m also looking at Evo and Fromm for canned food. Natural Balance has a low cal food as well, but doesn’t look as good as the others, but it is more affordable. By Nature looks good as well.
The Evo dry looks good, but the protein is extremely high. I tried that route with Orijen and Acana before but that high just made their stools very soft and they farted all of the time. lol Not to mention my females anal glands were over active on very high protein.
What brands of foods are you all feeding your dogs that had crystals?

[Brian K]

Regarding commercial treats, I prefer freeze dried treats that are 100% meat. They are portable, light, and the dog loves them. Though expensive, Orijen has a line of these…I like the “Tundra” which has venison, elk, and trout. We also like Bravo! freeze dried treats….the Bison is a big hit (it’s just freeze dried bison). We used to offer Wellness “Just for Puppy” treats but he is less enthusiastic about these now that he gets real meat treats from time to time.

Our dog adores the Natural Balance “Jerky Bark” limited ingredient treats which we received as a gift, but I’m not a big fan of the fat content and preservatives…maybe I’m being overprotective.

[Naturella]

Hi, Dawn, and welcome to DFA! I commend you for the decision to switch your babies from Beneful – it is really one of the worst foods out there, along with other popular brands.

What I would recommend is switching your dogs gradually over 1-2 weeks to a mid-grade dog food at first, because switching directly to a 4-5-star food may really upset their tummies. I have a couple of recommendations. You can use Rachael Ray from Walmart, Nutro Natural Choice, or Authority (a PetSmart brand) as your mid-grade food. Look on this website for foods that are around 3 stars to begin with. Once you have transitioned to such a food and your dogs’ stool is good, and they are ok on it (keep them on it for about a month), I recommend Pure Balance (a Walmart store brand dog food, but it’s actually pretty decent) grain-inclusive and grain-free, Rachael Ray Zero Grain, Nulo (a Petsmart brand), Earthborn Holistic, Dr. Tim’s, Annamaet, and Victor are all pretty good, reliable foods in the 4-5-star range. I have fed many of these foods to my dog and have some lined up to feed for the future as well. Many of these you won’t find in big box stores like Petsmart and Petco so shopping online would be the way to go. Websites like petflow.com , chewy.com , wag.com often have deals on many of these good foods. Victor you can get from sportdogfood.com The kibbles are nice and small so even the chiweenie can eat it, and such is the case with most of these foods except Dr. Tim’s – the kibble is a tad bigger, but not huge at all.

Also, feel free to try all of the above brands – rotation of foods is essential for the dog’s health and you can learn more about that here: /frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/

Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes!

[aquariangt]

I keep 3-4 treats on me at a time. Regular, bulk of what I’m using treats-usually 2 varieties (i try to keep it low cal as possible) A high Value Treat, a treat too of natural unsweetened peanut butter. With Dani I also keep both a fleece tug and a Bumi for throwing, as those are rewarding to her and good for certain speed situations. Liesl has no interest in that 🙂

The regular treats i use (i like to use 2 for variety) for just run of the mill training, walks, classes, completing obstacles, etc… I throw in a high value treat every now and then to keep them on their toes 😉 I also use them for certain things they may be struggling with-say Bruno was having a lot of trouble with his recall, use a high value treat. I almost always use high value treats when training Leave It. Peanut Butter I only use for 2 things (usually, those big eyes can turn me into a sucker dad) Recalls, and completing a course in agility.

That was all a jumbled mess. my short version:

Low Value (as Dori said, not low quality, just less exciting): Everyday training, commands they know, group classes for warm up etc…
Examples: Zukes, Boulder Dog Food Chicken Bits, The Honest Kitchen Quickies, Bare Bites

High Value: Commands you’re struggling with, counter conditioning fear, recalls (maybe), Leave Its
Examples: Freeze Dried Stuff (Simply Sojos, Stella and Chewys, Fresh is Best)

Special High Value Awesomeness: I like this for recalls because they are so important, and then after a course or something where they don’t get a ton of treats
Examples: For me-Peanut Butter because they love it. I would possible lump in the Fresh is Best freeze dried organ meats as well, because I’ve seen dogs fall off of things for it 😉

Hope that was semi helpful

[Naturella]

Hey, all! So, today Bruno had his first beef green tripe can – Solid Gold Green Cow. It smells like vomit. Like someone had lamb innards and then vomited them, lol. Naturally, Bruno LOVED it! Then again, he loves everything, lol, little vacuum cleaner. I gave him about 2 heaping tablespoons (it’s a big can, we gotta use it up soon) and reduced his kibble too, so he had a nice dinner. His breakfast was Acana Pacifica with some yoghurt, and the dinner was Wysong Quail with the green tripe.

I also got him a new Kong toy, the regular but in black for heavy chewers, size small. It won’t fit his food serving, but I plan to use it for just goodie treats, like the tripe, doggie “ice-cream”, etc. So I stuffed and froze his new little Kong, 2 hooves, Casey’s medium-sized Kong (I have permission to give her dog-friendly treats and concoctions), and the remnants of a horn (won’t be buying those anymore as they are not naturally-shed. Hooves probably aren’t either, but mine 2 were a gift, so I will still use them). And we still have some of the can left in the fridge probably for both breakfast AND dinner tomorrow… Or I can feed half tomorrow, half Thursday, we’ll see. 🙂 But yeah, Bruno likes it a lot, I just really wish I either had more stuffable toys, or they sold small (up to 6oz) cans of green tripe so I can feed it quickly. Oh well. I was so excited to have the Kong and stuff it with the tripe that he had dinner a little early today. He didn’t mind, lol! 😀

• This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Naturella.

[David R]

I am new to Dog Food Advisor. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time so if you can point me to past postings or other locations to answer my question, please feel free to do so. I have been using some of the Science Diet canned foods for years based originally on my Vets suggestion, such as Slim and Healthy, Grain free,Perfect weight. Also, Nutro Natural Choice Dry food. I was also recently at the Westminster Dog Club show in NYC and Purina Pro Plan had a large booth there. What are the issues or ratings regarding these? I do know that no one staffing the PUrina booth could answer where the chicken came from that was in their food. I ask these things to assess how poorly my dogs have been eating and because with 3 dogs I have to be conscious of cost as well. Thanks

[crazy4cats]

Hi 10Vx3-
There are so many options! Like Naturella said, you just have to experiment. I regularly feed Victor grain free joint health to my dogs. I have two big guys. It is basically the same as the grain free ALS Victor with extra glucosamine added. Right now, I’m feeding California Natural grain free Pork kibble and the dogs are doing great with it. I also add a topper and water to every meal. I started out just adding canned. Then after coming to this site, I learned about adding eggs and sardines. Now I even add dehydrated, freeze dried and raw to their meals. It all happened fairly gradually. And unfortunately got,more expensive! I tend to stick to more basic budget friendly kibble so I can afford the extras to boost up the nutritional value. I just don’t think that over processed kibble can be all that healthy by itself. I feed both with and without grain kibble. I also buy kibble that is a little lower in fat as most of the toppers are a little higher in fat. Good luck!

[Naturella]

@Oleanderz, I will answer a couple of the questions you had to Dori, if both of you don’t mind – dogs can eat plain yoghurt, plain Greek yoghurt, and plain kefir. None of the fruity stuff – just too much sugar and other additives. Pumpkin doesn’t necessarily help with digestion per se, but it provides a lot of fiber, which helps calm the tummy, balance the stool and the bowel movements, and is overall a pretty good tummy additive when switching foods if problems occur. We tend to use canned plain pumpkin from the grocery store as it is already conveniently cooked and pureed in a can, but if you want to go through the trouble of peeling pumpkin, boiling/baking it, and pureeing/mushing it up, you also can. At the grocery store make sure you get plain (100%) pumpkin (and not pumpkin pie filling) cans.

Ok, now to my questions, lol:
When my roommate’s dog had her spaying surgery, he also lived in an apartment and his dog (Casey) was already pretty big, but for the day of the surgery he carried her up and down 3 floors for her to go potty. He didn’t want her stretching and pulling stitches and what not. I don’t know how feasible that will be with Lucille… Or if it’s even necessary, that’s just what he did. You may want to talk to the vet about that and see if she can stay overnight at least for the first day so that she doesn’t have to go up and down steps so much. We also carried Bruno on his surgery day, but he was small (still is), and by the next day he just ran out the door, perky and happy like he didn’t just lose his balls, lol. But talk to the vet about that, or maybe some of the pros will be able to answer. When she is healed, you can exercise her as normal, but not while healing.

Hm, I will look at chewy.com for small Dr. Tim’s – I have fed Kinesis GF, but I really wanted to try Momentum, Pursuit, and RPM… Haven’t seen them in small bags though.

Lucille is a German Shepherd, right? I would probably rotate her every large (not medium) bag for now, just to let her tummy get used to switching slowly, i.e. – you do the rotation, then she has a good amount of time to get used to the new food, then you rotate again, time of “rest” from the switch. If in a few bags all rotations go well, just rotate as you prefer – you can start rotating every medium bag, or just keep it at every large bag. It really is up to you how often you want to rotate, and how she’s taking it. I like to switch up every month or so, and luckily, a small bag lasts us just the right amount of time for that. I have, however, used larger bags even for Bruno (yes, that’s him in the picture, my cutie patootie) – 15 lb Dr. Tim’s Kinesis GF and 3 14-lb bags of Earthborn Holistic GF (Coastal Catch, Great Plains Feast, Primitive Natural), but after Coastal Catch, which lasted like 3 months, I decided to half them and put a different food in between them, as you can see from Bruno’s menu list, lol. Your rotation plan sounds good, I would also switch up the protein with every bag, for example:

EB CC – Dr. Tim’s Momentum – Nulo FS Lamb – Victor High Pro GF –
EB PN – Dr. Tim’s RPM GF – Nulo FS Turkey – Victor Yukon Salmon GF –
EB GPF – Dr. Tim’s Pursuit – Nulo FS Trim Cod – Victor Joint Health –
EB MF – Dr. Tim’s Kinesis GF – Nulo FS Salmon – Victor Ultra Pro – repeat!

*** EDIT *** – Don’t forget that Dr. Tim’s formulas Momentum and Pursuit are not GF! Everything else is. So you can switch between RPM and Kinesis GF to keep it all GF. Does Lucille have a grain allergy, or do you just like the idea of a food being GF? I used to think GF was better until I learned that dogs/wolves in the wild do consume a bit of the stomach content of the prey they kill, which is, often times, grains, fruits, vegetables, and greens, hence those foods contain those ingredients as well. But it is the meat content that matters most, so I still think that Dr. Tim’s grain-inclusive foods are a really good choice. The grain-inclusive Kinesis is the the only one rated 4 stars, all the rest are 5 stars. But you can use the GF Kinesis instead of the GI one. 🙂

This schedule provides diverse recipes and protein sources and if you choose to use bags that last Lucille about a month each, she will be set for about 16 months before a single recipe is repeated! Or 12 months, if you don’t use Victor. Feel free to use the above “meal plan” if you want, I hope it helps in giving you an idea of meal rotation and protein diversification. Or, you can switch the list up, or not use it at all, whatever works for your dog. 🙂

As for my lists, lol, thank you! Feel free to use them as templates anytime, lol, they are NOT proprietary information, lol! I made them for hubby’s ease in feeding Bru when/if I’m gone. And it did take me about an hour to look at all my foods, their expiration dates, and sort them out by dates and also by protein variety, which warranted the freezing of some foods and refrigeration of others… I did scrap some papers in the process, lol, but eventually made it work! So yeah. The toppers were easier to figure out as I only put a bit of each, and they are things I normally have around the house, except for the THK stuff – I mean, I do have it in the house, but it’s not like people-food. Eggs, yoghurt, coconut oil, sardines, and RMBs are though, so yeah.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by Naturella.

[Nancy C]

Here’s what I did. I was very nervous because my GSD had had terrible digestion problems and the vet was pouring down HILLS WD formula (which is sawdust) in him which made me cringe.

I ordered an air dehydrated dogfood called BIG DOG NATURAL. You can Google it. My homeopathic vet recommended it and Darwin’s to me and HE suggested that I start out with Big Dog because it has fermented vegetables in it and that is outstanding for the digestive track. One morning I started cold turkey on it. They LOVED IT. I have an 11 yr old Golden and a 2 yr old GSD. They licked the bowl for almost a minute! I was amazed. So that fast they were on RAW FOOD. I took it carefully for two or three weeks – they had NO PROBLEM with that food, and it is air dehydrated RAW! Then one day I just gave them chicken. Raw. I followed the guidelines and gave the golden 17 oz and the GSD I had to end up giving him 2 1/4 pounds per day. I got the butcher to quarter the chickens (Whole Foods $7.99 and I would pick through the chickens and get a 5 pound one). He would quarter it for me. NOW I do all that myself. I get chickens at Costco that are non chemical/ no hormones. $1.09 a POUND! You have to have a set of scales to weigh out the proportions. And I cut the nub off the chicken drum sticks. Put the piece(s) in a bowl and voila. You need to give 10% organs and 1/2 of that must be liver. I also give them Mercola’s probiotics, a fish oil cap and garlic caps. Happy Dogs.
Good Luck.

[Bobby dog]

Shawn:
At Wal-Mart check out Purina Beyond and Pure Balance. They just rolled the Pure Balance cat food out so they may not have all recipes in stock. It’s 94 cents/3.5 oz. tub. I haven’t contacted anyone to confirm manufacturers, but Ainsworth manufactures the PB dog kibble and Simmons the PB canned dog food. I am assuming it would be the same for the cat food, but you never know.
http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=pure%20balance%20cat%20food&typeahead=pure%20balance%20cat%20food

4Health at TSC; the canned is manufactured by Simmons, GF kibble Ainsworth, grain inclusive kibble Diamond. As I wrote in my previous post, check with Ainsworth to confirm if they still manufacture the GF kibble.
http://www.ainsworthpets.com/

I am rusty on Petsmart and Petco budget friendly brands. I order over the Internet from both stores; I haven’t stepped into one of their stores for many years. Petsmart has their house brands Authority and Simply Nourish that are budget friendly for dog food, check out those brands.

Other budget friendly canned I feed; all are pates’:
Friskies – Poultry Platter, Special Diet Turkey & Giblets, and Special Diet Beef & Chicken.
Fancy Feast – Classic Tender Liver & Chicken and Classic Turkey & Giblets
Sheba – all pates’ that don’t have fish listed in the name of the recipe
Purina One – Classic Turkey, Chicken, or Beef recipes
Pro Plan Finesse – Chicken & Liver or you might find it under it’s new name True Nature Natural Chicken & Liver entree’ classic

For all things cat related check out these sites:

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

Home

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/
http://www.felinecrf.org/
The last site has info on a specific feline health condition. I reference this website for food recommendations.

[Naturella]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Dori]

Oleanderz, if you are using Sentinel Spectrum, which is what I use on my three girls (and before that I used regular Sentinel for more years than I can remember), then there is no need for you to use any topical whatsoever. As a matter fact you should not. I don’t want to jinx myself, I also live in South not too far from Naturella, and none of my dogs have ever had fleas. Here in the South we have a big population of fleas, ticks and Heart Worms and using Sentinel Spectrum every month all year long has kept them flea and heart worm free.

There are natural flea solutions but I don’t use anything other than Sentinel Spectrum.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by Dori.

[lovemypuppy]

Let me start by just saying, I’m a total dog novice. I grew up with cats and now in my mid 30’s have adopted my first puppy.

I have a 10 week old boston terrier. Her weight is OK, but she is on the small side with not a weight to spare. She’s pretty finicky. I really wanted her to like Amicus puppy small breed but she continues to turn her nose up to it, even when adding to it (pumpkin, yogurt, wet food, etc.)

I would like to try her on Acana puppy small breed (despite it not being grain free) but can’t seem to get it in the US due to regulations of some sort re: milk thistle ingredient. Anyone know a way around this? Or maybe when they open up production in the US it will be available w/out milk thistle?

(side note, is the US production site thought to be no good because the pet food regulations in that state are too lax? I remember reading a downside, but can’t remember where or what the details were).

My pup is currently eating Acana Lamb and Apple whole prey diet and really enjoys it. The kibble is big but she gobbles it down. Is All life stages OK? Seems like it is for puppies, but may be too many calories for a mature dog?

Is rotating kibble OK for a puppy? I know their digestive system is immature and more sensitive, but so far, we’ve made sudden switches and she has handled it just fine. I would prefer to not get her stuck on one food … just not sure if that’s something that should wait until she is past her puppyhood.

I would like to stay grain free if possible as her coat is already dry and dull. That said, she also has (smelly) gas, so I’m a little leery of lentils … but it seems like avoiding potatoes might help with yeast? she does have tear stains … waiting on probitiocs to arrive.

How much truth is there with ying/yang, cool vs heating foods? She is definitely a hot dog (not the kind you eat) so I’m thinking I will try her on Acana Duck and Pear whole prey and see if I notice a difference.

I’m hoping for some recommendations of kibble for a finicky puppy, preferably grain free with a moderate protein %? I don’t like natural flavors (there can be some pretty nasty stuff hidden there) or canola oil.

I realize there is no perfect kibble and even then it really depends on the specific dog. Just feeling a little overwhelmed and hoping some of you who have been doing this longer or have a similar dog, might have some input.

TIA!

[Connie M]

I have been feeding Big Dog Natural for at least 4 years now. I started with their frozen raw and was thrilled when they came out with the dehydrated line. Prior to starting with Big Dog my dogs were always at the vet for one thing or another. Now, the last time was about 3 years ago for their rabies vaccine. They love their food and are always looking forward to it. What I don’t understand L H is why you are instigating and instructing people to go to the Facebook page and make “public” announcements? I didn’t find your last post here very nice. They have a good food and, in my opinion, one of the best foods around.

[Caroline H]

Hi – Hounddog mom!

I have been using mercola’s sups and as you note they are very expensive. I have started using their joint sup but with a 96 lb golden retriever (no not overweight but tall, muscular and big boned 🙂 it is just cost prohibitive. Also there is a new similar product on the market although more expensive I believe but it has significantly more of the active ingredients, called EHP Myristin. My golden is not showing any signs of arthritis with exception of being a bit slower getting up but that may just be old age. They Cetyl Myristoleate Complex per chewable in this product is 500mg compared to the 130mg in the Mercola product so it would actually be cheaper based on how many tabs I would have to give my boy daily. Any thoughts are you familiar with this product or do you know a similar product – human one – that would work equally as well? Also wondering what else I should give him to support his older body now. He gets daily omega 3s from Northwest Naturals and coconut oil (2tsps a day is that enough without adding too many extra calories?) and I feed him small batch raw dog food with some added cruciferous veggies. He also has Mast Cell Tumor cancer (Grade II stage II) but we believe we have removed it all surgically (they don’t ever say they are in remission). The raw dog food says “complete” re other nutrients and it has bone and organ meat but I always wonder if he could use a basic minimum multivitamin. Also how much omega threes should I be giving him? Thanks so much. Sorry for so many questions. I research a lot but there is so much overwhelming info these days. My go to has been Mercola, I like Becker’s approach and trust their USA made formulas but I also have dog insurance for my boy that goes up every year and trying to manage the dog budget is ridiculous 🙂

[Naturella]

I have received samples from the following awesome companies:
Annamaet (samples of the GF formulas plus a full-size bag of treats)
Dr. Tim’s (sample of one formula and literature)
Canidae (a whole bag of PURE Sea plus full-size bag of treats)
Wysong (samples and literature)
Brothers Complete (had to purchase the samples, BUT they doubled my order either by mistake or just because for free)
Victor (had to purchase the samples, I ordered more than the limit, but they honored my order)
Big Dog Natural (had to purchase the sample)

Companies that did not send me samples when I contacted them:
Nulo (sent me coupons instead)
Fromm (said they have money-back guarantee, so if I buy it and Bruno doesn’t like it or whatever, I’d get my money back)
Merrick/Castor&Pollux/Whole Earth Farms (said they have money-back guarantee, so if I buy it and Bruno doesn’t like it or whatever, I’d get my money back)
TOTW (said my local store should give me samples)

My local store, however, offers free samples ALLLLLL the TIIIIME, and I have obtained samples of Fromm, Victor, Merric, Wild Calling, TOTW, NVI, Stella and Chewy’s (RAW! FREE sample starter bag! WHAT?! 😀 ) and more.

I love all the samples I have as I use them to spice Bruno’s menu up and I use them as training treats. 🙂

[pugmomsandy]

Some dogs can take longer than three weeks. Were their stools good during the transition? I usually will suggest not increasing the percentage of new foods until stools are normal. Natural Balance grain free is very low in protein and Merrick is high so that was a big change. Sometimes transitioning to something “in the middle” is a good place to start before moving on to a higher protein food. That would be a food in the 3.5-4 star range. You can go back and add some NB to their food until their stools become normal and that will bring the protein down some (closer to mid-range). As an example of a dog needing a long transition time, one of my dogs took two or three months. You can also keep “mixing” foods together just to add variety and to get the level of protein that you want.

I foster and have many dogs. I did get some Merrick grain free of them once and put too much of it in their food at first and 4 or 5 out of ten maybe had GI issues. I just cut the Merrick some more with a lower protein food and they finished the bag without any issues and I’ve fed it again since then (mixed) and no one had issues.

My personal dogs have tried a dozen kibbles and have worked up to eating raw foods. You can just give it more time or try another food as there are many to chose from.

[l h]

To Michael,

I would be calling them, e-mailing them but joining their big dog natural facebook page if you use that… and posting publicly asking why first) and stating no other companies have done that

[crazy4cats]

Hi Elissa-
Typically if a brand is safe for dogs, it will be a good choice for cats as well. Us cat lovers that also have dogs are patiently waiting for a cat food advisor that hopefully will be available in the future. In the Meantime, check out these sites. They are my favorite cat resources. I believe that all four of them have a recommended list or chart of cat foods. All of them suggest feeding as much canned, raw or homemade food as possible. They believe that kibble is not species appropriate for cats as they are carnivores.

I’m sorry about the loss of your pets and best of wishes with getting your current pets healthy.

Home

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

http://www.felinecrf.org/

Good luck!

[Katy G]

Here are some of the benefits of giving coconut oil: http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil/

It’s usually suggested to give them a tablespoon for every 10 pounds of their weight. Try the Wellness Simple, but if that doesn’t seem to help them, I would suggest having an actual allergy panel done to see exactly what they’re allergic to. My guy hasn’t had an issue since I switched to that food, and I’ve noticed a big difference in all of their coats and skin with the coconut oil. I hope this helps!