[Susan]

Hi Shannon.
next time try a low fat dry biscuit like Jatz or some dry toast white bread toast is best that’s what I use to do before Patch was put on an ant acid medication Omeprazole (Prilosec) also liquid “Mylanta” 5mls 1 teaspoon works great lines the esophagus & stomach… aren’t Milk bones high in fat? just have to be careful with fat it doesn’t make things worse….
Acid reflux can be from high carb diet, high fat diet, diet with fermentable fibers, barley, oats, oatmeal, legumes, beans, lentils, carrots, apple, peas… Best to avoid these type of foods & see how she goes.

[Susan]

Hi Mary,
why not try the Hills Metobolic + Mobility Tuna stew canned food?? I looked at ingredient list there’s no green lipped mussel, just ask vet can you try 1 tin around cost $3-4 then if he likes & eats you buy the 12 pack cans in a cartoon, Hills is money back for palability & any health problems it make cause, feed the Hills wet tin for say dinner & the dry kibble for breakfast. also instead of grinding up the kibble let the kibble soak in warm water when the kibble is soft (a good kibble soften in 20-40mins, TOTW is good soft in 20mins) all the way thru drain all the water thoroughly, then you put your clean palm of your hand in bowl & push about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of the soft kibble against bowl edge & squeeze out as much water out, this way there’s no excess water no real sloppy kibble, then add his yogurt to the moist kibble, I was sqeezing out all the water then putting the soft swollen kibble in a blender & pulsating for 2-5 sec, the kibble becomes nice & fluffy then mix thru the yogurt my boy also loves his yogurt he gets 1 spoon every night as dessert….

[Mary G]

Thanks!!! For all the suggestions!!! I have tried just not feeding him the mobility diet and just stick to TATW dry kibble and still refuses to eat. I am at my wits end. He refuses everything unless I grind the dry food and mix it with yogurt. He is only eating like 2/3 cup and then refuses to eat anything else but asks to be fed and when he sees what it is, he walks away.

I think we will try to go back to Royal Canin Mature Consult again I wanted to improve the diet but again, he refuses to eat anything that is grain-free. We wioll switch to that again and just hope for the best. I just want him to eat.

[Judy G]

I feed my standard poodles Canidae Pure Sea. One of my pups has many food allergies and does great on this food. There is no chicken or chicken meal in it. It is limited Ingredients, grain free, has antioxidants and probiotics, and is an all life stages dry food. There are other flavors available in this formula. I have found that Chewy.com is the cheapest and easiest place to purchase. Hope this helps.

[Susan]

Hi Mary,
take the Royal Canine back to vet, all vet diets are money back guranteed, ask the vet nurse at the front desk can you try the “Hills” Metabolic + Mobility Tuna stew canned food instead there’s also the matching dry formula, there’s NO green lipped Mussel in the wet tin food or the dry that I could see, the wet formula will be nicer to eat & have better ingredients, ask vet can you buy 1 can then if he eats it, buy the 12 pack cartoon or get a script to buy online, it will probably be cheaper online….Hills must add something to make all their food more palatable my boy loves the Hills foods but he wasnt as keen on the Royal Canine vet diets.
or look at the “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior dry formula, it’s high in omega 3 & has Glucomine + Chondroitin, the old dog up the rd acts like a young pup again since eating the “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior formula….https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

You could rotate different meals, Patch eats 4 smaller meals a day, I feed his TOTW at 7am & 5pm then 12pm & 8pm feed, I feed something else either wet tin, cooked, or another brand of dry food & rotate everything….
I was taking Green Lipped Mussel and Turmeric with BioP & the Green Lipped Mussel would repeat on me, I’d burp it back up but it did help with my joint pain but I couldnt handle the taste coming back up, now I’m trying Glucosamine + Chondroitin joint repair it doesn’t repeat on me……
When your weather starts cooling down a bit get those heat packs, I’ve got the wheat heat pack, you put in microwave for 2 mins, make your boy lay on his side & place 1 heat pack on his shoulder area & another heat pack on side of his hip & a electric banket for the other side of his body to lay on, you can buy those heated pet beds the heat really helps the joint pain, he’ll look like a heated sandwich lol
after I go to Physiotherapy once a week, he puts the heat pack on my neck/shoulder & another heat pack on my lower back & gives me a light massage, I feel really good afterwards…

[haleycookie]

Whatever food you feed I would just use the suggested feeding chart while he’s a puppy. Start at the lowest for his weight and adjust as you feel is needed. If you give lots of treats. That means a little less food at breakfast and dinner time. If you mix 6 oz of wet food in then that’s usually a half cup of food maybe a 1/4 depending. But most dry food bags will have an indicator of what to do when adding wet food in and the wet food cans also sometimes have a guide on mixing with dry.

[pitlove]

Hi Randy-

Unlike fats and carbohydates, proteins do not store in the body, so when fed in excess will be excreted from the body as waste. This is why it was originally thought high protein diets cause kidney damage.

According to my current edition textbook (I’m studying to become an RVT), dry pet food for dogs should not contain more than 40% protein on a dry matter basis. Anything more than that is not being used by the body. I personally have found my dogs do well on foods around 26% protein and 16% fat or under. You can find puppy foods with those %’s usually or at least close to it.

I have however read literature written by a nutritionist that states that puppies need between 22-25% protein.

As for fiber, I find anything over 5% MAX fiber to be too high. You will usually find 5% or more fiber in weight control diets.

Hope this helps!

[Susan]

Hi Sue,
Vet diets were once made to eat until the dog/cat became better then the owner looked for alternitive diets to feed, then Hills & realised vets were telling pet owners to just kept feeding their pets the vet diets, when owners didn’t know what else to feed their pets, so around 2014 Hills re formulated a few of their vet diets so the dog could eat the vet diet for the rest of it’s life & brought out a few more dry vet formula’s & more canned stew formula’s that were more palatable for sick dogs with kidney, weight management, skin health & intestinal health problems, my boy loves the I/d Digestive Care Chicken & Vegetable stew, I get it for him as a treat even though he gets his red paws from the chicken..
When the internet came along having a sick pet become very confusing epecially when there’s some poster that are anti healthy not into holistic natural ways to feed sick pets, you don’t need scientific proof to see how healthy your dog has become after being feed a balanced healthy home made diets, changing a pets diet can make a real big difference follow “Rodney Habib” on his face Book page & see the difference with dogs that were dying from cancer & now are cancer free after eating the Ketopet diets, after feeding either raw or home cooked especially when they’re sick or even healthy pets, you can tell by their coats, skin, their behaviour they are more switch on & act like they want to live all of a sudden they feel better also how they are getting around when they feel so good….
Chico would know he’s not eating the same food as his brother & sisters are eating, he’d smell & know his food is different…. I always feel sorry for my boy he has to eat his dry kibble & my cat Indy gets nice raw meat for breakfast & dinner, freeze dried for lunch, she gets everything healthy & he doesn’t he gets his dry boring kibble… he has IBD

Start looking for a Vet Nutrionist in your area, here’s a link it’s called “Just Food For Dogs”
https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/vet-support-diets
they also make Custom diets for dogs with multiple health problems.. you can still feed 1 meal the k/d wet tin food & the other meals feedthe new cooked meal, thats what I did with my IBD boy he ate his vet diet for 2 of his meals & the other 2 meals were home cooked lean beef or lean pork rissoles balls with broccolli, egg, parsley, kale, then add sweet potato.

Are you on Face Book? join this group “K-9 Kitchen” it’s run by Monica Segal a nutritionist you can contact her & she’ll make Chico a recipe for kidney disease, she also post recipes on her page or send them in an email if you subscribe join hersite its all free, then once you have joined her K-9 Kitchen group, post a post asking for a recipe for Kidney Disease, either Monica or a poster will post 1 of her Kidney disease recipes…
Have you joined the “Canine Kidney Disease” groups on Face Book there’s a few…then post in the groups where a good vet nutritionist is in your area near you & start from there…
Chico is only 5yrs old, he’s way to young to be just eating the k/d food
Do you have a crock pot? I also would start making cooked meals for all your dogs & freeze small meals or 1 big meal you can divide for all of them, still feed their food they are eating at the moment for 1 of their meals & feed the cooked healthy meal for their other meals….especially if you have small dogs that might be predisposed to stones/crystal, pancreatitis etc, there’s also Dr Judy Morgan find her face book page & follow her & she answers all post, here’s her link below, she has a few recipes on You Tube very easy to make, she has around 8 dogs, a few of them are sick, look at her Homemade Pup Loaf video very easy to make & can fed your other dogs… http://www.drjudymorgan.com/category/videos/

[Angela L]

So…like y’all I noticed this dog food..but I saw the canned before they started carrying the dry. I was feeding my dogs the canned mixed with Rachel Ray dry (I usually mix the Pure Balance). All dogs like it. The chihuahua prefers the salmon but she is super old and because it is ground can eat it better. I also have been looking for reviews but came up empty. After seeing that Rachel Ray was given only 2 and a half stars, I am on the hunt for a replacement.

[Richard P]

Hello Kathryn,

Everyone seems to have their own idea about what is the best dog food, but what is best for one dog may not be the best for your dog. Obviously, feeding the “best” food you can find and having your bloodhound throw it up is not the best food for your dog.

It appears that every food you have tried is not tolerated by your bloodhound except your vet’s recommended Purina EN Gastroenteric Wet. So listen to your vet. Purina EN also comes in a dry kibble so you could ask your vet if it would be alright to add some of that to the canned food.

Also, (and with my vet’s approval I might add) I will cook (crockpot or grill for flavor variety) a family pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts and chop them up to add 1/2 cup to my Great Dane’s kibble. I store portions in freezer bags and defrost each bag as needed. Chicken breast is probably the easiest meat on your dog’s GI tract. Ask your vet if that would be OK to try with your bloodhound.

As info, I also cook boneless skinless chicken thighs which are tastier than the breasts but have a little more fat content. Additionally I rotate other meats–lean ground chuck, lean pork roast. If something gives him a bout of diarrhea I discontinue that or at least try a smaller portion added to his kibble. All this is with my vet’s approval. Great Danes have sensitive stomachs but these fattier meats might not be appropriate for your bloodhound.

Lastly, if you are concerned about the ingredients in the Purina EN, keep in mind that the first ingredient, brewers rice, has a very beneficial effect on canine GI/diarrhea issues. Years ago I had a Great Dane with a severe diarrhea problem. Instead of giving him medications for it, I cooked large batches of white (not brown) rice in chicken broth and mixed it 50/50 with his kibble. Within a week his diarrhea was gone.

I hope some of this information was helpful to you. Good luck with your bloodhound and rub his belly for me.

Sincerely,

Richard Pflueger

[anonymous]

Glad to hear things are improving. Remember to add a little water to any dry food 🙂
Be careful about overfeeding, as much as you would like her to gain weight, rapid weight gain can have issues.
Slow and steady is better.

[Heather C]

Thank you so much for the suggestions, Susan. I use a liquid Omega 3 in a pump called Omega-Tri-V (purchased from the vet, brand is Henry Schein). I store her dry food in an air-tight container inside the house, but I agree, I need to try a different food. I’ve tried a few salmon-based dry foods but she turns her nose up at fish; however, I haven’t tried the brands that you suggested so maybe one of those will taste better to her. l’ll look at both of the food recommendations and start transitioning her over to something new this week.
I still bathe Daisy with her oatmeal puppy shampoo that get at Petsmart. I’ll check out Malaseb.
Poor girl, she acts like she feels fine but I still worry that she doesn’t. Oh how I wish they could talk!
Thanks so much – I’ll let you know how it goes.

[Kim B]

I am still trying to figure out how to do the calculation on the food. I am looking at Canidae. I have fed their food in the past and now they have grain free options.

Life Stages Dry Dog Food for Puppies, Adults & Seniors

Here is a link to see a screen shot of the ingredients, etc so how do I turn this information into the equation to confirm if it is a well balanced food for a giant breed?

Thank you for your help with this!

[Susan]

Hi Heather,
Daisy needs a diet high in Omega 3, have you tried a salmon/fish diet yet? you write you give her Omega 3 but what brand are you using, is it a New Zealand brand? in America they tested a heap different brands of un opened fish oils supplements off the shop shelves & 70% of them were no good, a waste of money, then they tested the fish oil supplements from New Zealand & their fish oil capsule were of better quality, the whether is cooler in NZ, so there’s no damage while being made.. Oxidation occurs when unsaturated fats such as omega -3 fatty acids EPA & DHA are exposed to heat, light or oxygen…how you’ll know if capsules are rancid/oxidized the smell is awful, smells real fishy smell & the gel capsules may have discoloration… store any fish oil in fridge…
same as oils in a kibble as soon as you open bag of kibble & the oxygen hits the kibble the oils start to oxidize, they say you have 2 weeks life on a kibble, so make sure its put in an air tight container & stored in a very cool place in the house, alot of people put their dog food in the garage or hot shed…
Cause you don’t know if the fish oil capsules are good or bad, best to buy tin sardines in spring water or olive oil, take sardines out of the tin & put in a glass air tight small container, store in fridge & give Daisy 2-3 sardines a day either as a treat or as a topper on her dry food….
I would start looking for a Salmon dry formula but not Orijen or Acana, Orijen & Acana tested high for toxins & contaminates….
Have a look at “Canidae” Pure Sea formula, alot of dogs with skin problems do really well on the Canidae Pure Sea formula, ingredients are good, its high in omega 3, feed for 2-3 months then rotate & feed the Canidae Pure Sky it has turkey meal & duck meal, turkey & chicken are cleaner meats, or rotate with the Canidae Pure Elements also the wet tin foods are really good to use as a topper, read thru the ingredient list see which formula you prefer but make sure you rotate with the Pure Sea especially when Spring & Summer is coming start back on the Canidae Pure Sea, https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

or try a vet diet try Hills new “Derma Defense” wet & dry, it’s a vet diet for Environment allergies, skin problems, with high levels of Omega 3 & 6 fatty acid, the Omega 3 is high at 1.80% the Omega 6-3.96%, the Omega 3 should be around 1/2 of what the Omega 6% is, alot of pet foods aren’t balanced properly & are very low in Omega 3 & very high in Omega 6, they’re not balanced properly & cause skin problems….
Hills Derm Defense helps strengthen skin barrier, formulated to help soothe & nourish skin & coat, helps skin recover naturally, supporting a healthy immune system, works with proprietary complex of bioactives & phytonutrients, antioxidants, including vitamin E, high levels of Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids….
I know I lot of people don’t like the ingredients in vet diets, but they’re formulated for certain health problems, you could give the Derm Defense a try for just 3 months & see does her fur start to grow back, you’ve got nothing to lose also Hills is guaranteed to work or money back, contact Hills speak with one of their Vet Nutritionist & see what formula they recommend… I rotate & feed the Hills D/D Venison & Potato Skin health & Stomach, my boy has IBD & Skin Allergies or try the Canidae Pure Sea & Pure Sky formula’s first & see how Daisy goes…. Canidae will be cheaper then the vet diet… Canidae gets 5 stars on American consumer affairs site, Canidae grow all their own vegetables, Canidae is a family run business…. what your feeding at the moment isn’t helping, so you have nothing to lose..
also shampoo what are you bathing Daisy in to moisturize & nourish her skin?
Start bathing Daisy weekly with Malaseb medicated shampoo to wash off any allergens on her skin…

[Heather C]

Hi, My boxer-lab-mystery mix, Daisy, is 2.5 years old and has been experiencing patchy hair loss on and off for 18 mos. I have taken her to 2 vets and a vet dermatologist. She’s had biopsies and blood work. Her thyroid is fine, she has slightly elevated hormones, but otherwise they can’t find a reason for the hair loss. She was diagnosed with a form of alopecia (which can be allergies, seasonal, eclipse, anything, etc.). We got her when she was a few months old and her puppy food was blue chicken dinner. When we switched her to adult food, we changed to beef (blue bison dry and blue beef wet). I noticed the first round of hair loss when we changed her food from beef back to chicken after a few months. We thought the hair loss was normal shedding at first, but it started getting patchy. Her skin on belly and legs also got a lot darker. She has been off of chicken for a year and she still has periodic shedding. She currently eats Merrick Texas Beef dry and Blue beef dinner wet. I changed the dry food to Merrick because the Blue did contain some chicken in it. She seems to feel good and doesn’t itch or scratch. I recently reduced the size of her meals because she needs to lose 7 pounds. She has started losing her hair again since I reduced the volume, but i doubt that would be the cause. I also use an omega 3 oil on her food but it doesn’t seem to help at all. Her coat is fairly shiny in the sun but it’s pretty much bare on her belly and her legs. I would like to find one food that would help her issues.
Any advice out there would be much appreciated. Thank you

[Susan]

Hi Therese,
Glad you have finally found something Lucy likes, so she is a gravy lover like most dogs, this must be the type of food her original owner feed her gravy type stews, now when you give her her anitibiotics make sure she is taking them on a full stomach, this is why she’d be feeling nauseous, antibiotic’s must be taken with a meal & if she wasnt really eating much it would be hard to give her her meds…..

With Pancreatitis just make sure the fat in a wet tin food is 4% & below when feeding some wet tin foods, some are 5,6,7,8,9% min in fat, eating high fat foods 24/7 can cause Pancreatitis.. even with this Mighty Dog 1 food might be 3%min fat then another formula might be 6%min fat, just make sure you read the can first, if you see 5%min fat min when you convert 5%min fat it will be around 20-25% max fat, depending on the brand when it’s converted to dry matter, so it’s best to stay around the 2-4%fat in wet tin foods, for now just stick with the mighty dog wet tin food, then once she is off all her meds & she is feeling heaps better you can venture out & try better quality foods…

Hills Science Diet has their new Youthful Vitality 7+ Chicken & Vegetable Stew, the can is lime/green back round with a border collie dog running on the side, the Youthful Vitility food has everything a dog needs, even thought Lucy is only 3 she could be in poor condition on the inside, the Youthful Vitility Stew has antioxidants for brain support, L-carnitine helps with stomach & diarrhea, Vitamins C & E help bolster a strong immune system, Omega 3 & 6 for skin & coat & has high quality ingredients, the fat is 15%max, Hills converts all their wet tin foods fat, protein, fiber etc it’s on their Hills site, even if you just buy 3-4 tins a week & she gets 1 tin every second night for dinner or breakfast, if she does not eat this food then wash out the Hills tin & take it back to Pet Shop, Hills is guaranteed money back for palability….it’s a bit embarassing but the workers get to know you & your dog…
also instead of the boiled pumkin, try boiled sweet potato, the orange sweet potato, maybe its called Yams in America, it’s healthy like pumkin & taste like pumkin but it’s sweeter, just add 1spoon mixed thru wet tin food, I boil cut up squares about the size of 1 spoon & freeze then I take out when I need 1-2 spoons to add to a meal, it thaws very quickly & then heat in micro wave so its not cold, that’s another reason dogs & cats won’t eat their food if its cold from the fridge, I warm my cats wet & raw food for just 7-8 second to take off the chill..

[Tom A]

We switched our two dogs to BCR about two weeks ago. The one dog is a 15 year old golden retriever, the other is a 13 month old schnauzer, both are neutered. The golden has severe arthritis and a mass on his liver, between these two issues we were considering euthanasia in near future. Within a couple of days of starting the golden on the turkey dinner which is complete other than Omega three and 6 we supplemented this with a salmon oil once a day. The golden is now showing a marked increase in vitality and activity. Although his arthritis continues to limit his physical activity since beginning the BCR we have found that instead of just lying flat on the floor all the time he now sits on the floor with his head and body upright paying attention to everything going on around him.

We were considering euthanasia within a matter of days or weeks, however his improved vitality is causing us to rethink this plan. The only problem the Schnauzer is having is he seems to love the food so much that he eats it faster than we would like.

We can’t help but Wonder as we read information about declining life expectancies in pure breds over the last number of years what role current dry Foods play in this. We don’t know if it is just a result of better knowledge by pet owners but we do seem to talk to more owners everyday who’s dogs are dying from cancer. Could this be a result of some of the additives which dry foods are putting in their kibbles?

Regardless, so far we are very happy with the BCR dinners and plan to continue using them.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Tom A.

[Therese M]

The vet knows the antibiotics are making her nauseous. She gave us a couple anti nausea pills when we were there. She basically said she weighs enough that just waiting out the antibiotics is okay- I guess for heartworms one antibiotic is the best and that’s what she’s on?

We did the rotisserie chicken and she did eat it, I was just worried about all the salt. If we start mixing things she won’t touch it so I dont think we can mix in the prescription stuff. If we mix with dry food she picks out the good stuff, if we mix with wet she won’t touch any of it. The vet said return that if she isn’t eating it so we will. Vet suggested we try Fromms which she wouldnt touch so I took it back. I’ll get mighty dogs- I know I saw that at target. We only have one tray of cesars left so I need to get more of something today anyway. 🙂

[Therese M]

Thanks for all your replies. When we got her, they seemed to think she was perfectly healthy, which made us comfortable taking her. We all assume that her issues are antibiotic related. She’s been to 2 vets, both think the same. Other than the not eating, she’s overall healthy. We have insurance for her, so if we need additional testing it’s not a problem for us to cover it, but neither vet mentioned anything about it. We’re not giving her back- we’ll work out what we need to to get her better. We’ve had (sick) pets before just not a dog.

I tried Costco canned but I didn’t get the stew one and she hated it, although it looked pretty gross to me too. She really likes gravy- she’ll lick that out of the bowl first then eat the chunks with other brands. I can get the stew kind- I was looking at it last time I was there actually.

This is the info on Cesars: “The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 44%, a fat level of 19% and estimated carbohydrates of about 28%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 45% and a mean fat level of 21%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 26% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 48%.
Above-average protein. Below-average fat. And below-average carbs as compared to a typical wet dog food.”

The paste looks like it would be very helpful- I’ll ask about that tomorrow. I’ll get the costco stew today, no more dry, low fat. Thank you all for your help- Lucy certainly appreciates it!

[Joyce B]

Hi there, have you tried Pepcid? When one of my dogs was on several prescription drugs for a ruptured disc and wouldn’t eat, Pepcid made the difference. He is small and only required a half a tablet at 12-hour intervals. It’s inexpensive and you can use the generic. This was on the advice of our vet; please check with yours. And as others have said, I wouldn’t keep trying different foods, just give him whatever he will eat for now. There is plenty of time later when he is healthy to experiment. (Dry food is usually the least appetizing of all.) For another of my dogs – and I may get criticized for this – but I added plain cooked pasta to his wet food when he had a tummy ache. He loved it and while it has no nutritional value, it was soothing and added calories. Best of luck and hang in there! He will get better and be forever grateful to you.

[a c]

C C, I am sorry about your Sheltie. I also lost my miniature schnauzer a few months ago to lymphoma. He was on Hill’s Science diet with topper of other kibbles, wet food, or human food all his life. At that time, I thought science diet was the best. It was recommended by multiple vets. I later learned that was not the case. I agree with you that vets just aren’t trained regarding food issues or other ways to treat diseases, just dispense drugs… I know first hand on that. My schnauzer was misdiagnosed by our regular vet. Three visits within the same month and the vet though he has hurt his back and put him on steroids which
probably was one of the reason that he was not responsed to the chemotherapy later on. It was the ER vet who diagnosed him with lymphoma. The vet oncologists just followed the protocols to dispense medications like the assembly line.

Back to the topic. I am in the process switching from Orijen puppy to Horizon Amicus puppy, but has to deal with sloppy stool. Horizon Amicus is make in Canada. It was not tested by the Clean Label. I don’t know if I make the right choice? Do you know anything about Horizon dog food? There are so many information out there and it’s very overwhelming and confusing. I am so new on the dog food issues. I was blinded by the dog food marketing for years.

Btw. I have a new discovery this morning. I have been soaking the kibbles in water. I noticed the soaked kibbles smells really bad. Since I soaked Orijen and Horizen Amicus together, I couldn’t tell which one is it. Both kibbles smells ok when it’s dry. So, I soaked them separately this morning. It was the Orijen. 10 minutes into soaking, the kibbles smells bad but the kibbles are still pretty hard. Horizon Amicus still has the same herb smell as the dry and it’s very soft.

[anonymous]

Try boiling some chicken, chop it up, mix it with the dry food and pour water or the chicken water over it. She needs to stay hydrated. Maybe a little boiled white rice mixed in too.
Don’t keep adding all kinds of stuff or supplements, it will only make her more nauseous.
Keep it plain and simple, only give what the vet has ordered. Don’t leave food down, but offer her small meals with water added frequently.
This dog has been through a lot, heartworm treatment is hard, she still has a way to go.
She may have diarrhea when she is going through the treatment, but you have no choice, the heartworm treatment is crucial and needs to be done ASAP, it is a priority.
I assume the shelter is paying for it.

You said this is your first dog, this may not be a good match considering the dog’s medical issues and ongoing care she will need.
If you are not up for it, if your gut tells you it won’t work, talk to the shelter NOW.
There are experienced pet owners that will be better able to take care of her.
If you return her to the shelter, they will most likely place her with a foster while she recovers.
Take a break, and next time get a dog that is doing well, and is younger.

If you decide to keep her, work closely with your vet, ask if she’s dehydrated? Sometimes they need subq fluids once or twice to get them over the hump.
This is not veterinary advice; consult your veterinarian.

[Susan]

Hi Therese,
sounds like she has stomach or panreatitis problems & the cesars food probably doesn’t upset her stomach any cause any pain or whatever she is having, I would NOT start any treatment for her heartworm yet, it will kill her, vet needs to work out what’s wrong with her stomach first & why she is hesitant to eat, something is wrong, Golden Labradors LOVE their food….
I got a rescue 5yrs ago & he was the same in very bad condition, but he was the opposite & ate everything in site, even cat poo, after vomiting weekly, doing bloody diarrhea, sloppy poo’s, acid reflux, up thru the night with rumbling, grumbling bowel noises, in the end I asked the vet can we do Endoscope + Biopsies, vet put camera down his throat into the stomach & did 2 Biopsies, you need the biopsies cause when the vet looked into Patches stomach everything looked excellent, there was no stomach ulcers like we thought, but what I thought he had, he had, waiting & waiting for biopsy results Patch had the Helicobacter-Pylori & IBD, he was put on triple therapy meds for 21 days, Metronidazole, Amoxiccilin to kill the bad bacteria that lives in the stomach walls & Prilosec for the acid reflux the Helicobacter causes, Patch did real well while taken the triple therapy meds then once the 21 day course finished it all came back again within 1 week of stopping the meds, it was a nightmare in the end now Patch takes 20mg Prilosec every morning & only takes the Metronidazole 200mg for 10-14 days when needed, if he’s doing sloppy poos or diarrhea, starts feeling sick everyday & whinging for me to rub his stomach/pancreas area & is eating & eating grass…

Can you ask the rescue group do they have some money in their budget for her to see a Gastro specialist or a vet that knows about stomach/bowel problems, in Australia the rescue groups post picture of the very sick dog & asks for help on their face book page & raise some money so dog can be treated by vet & do the Endoscope + Biopsies need to shop around cause there’s cheaper vets around that do Endoscope & Biopsies, people will help with donations…..
I wanted to do the same give Patch back to rescue group so he got another foster carer, he broke my heart, I couldn’t give him back cause I thought will the new foster carer care for him like I do or will he just be thrown out the back yard again & suffer & the rescue group puts dog up for adoption & someone else gets stuck with the problem hoping they will pay all the vet bills, Patch was weeing blood the day I got him from teh pound, the rescue group had to paid $1,500 for 2x ultrascan, desexing, vacination, vet diet wet & dry food the dissolve his crystals, medications, at that stage he just had Urinary crystal, the rescue vet said he must of gotten infection from being used to breed, I thought everything was done all fixed, he’s all healthy now & I adopted him but it was just the beginning of my sleepless nights the vet office I ended up staying with felt sorry for Patch & me for adopting a sick 4yr old Staffy + all the vet nurses were Staffy lovers & my bet did alot of discount rates & now my vet writes out repeats for his prescriptions so I can get his meds from a chemist it was costing $120 for 1 month of Prilosec, now all I pay is $8 & the Metronidazole only cost $7 when I need it I keep spare in cupboard….

I would be only feeding low fat wet food, nothing over 3% in fat, the fat & protein & isnt like it is in a dry kibble, wet raw & cooked hasnt been converted to dry matter (Kibble) yet, Do NOT feed any more dry kibble, it must make whatever she has, worse, like my boy the kibble made him worse with his IBD (Stomach) in the beginning till we worked out what was wrong & I found a kibble that works for him.
Read what is the fat % in the Cesars wet food??? also start boiling potato or boil sweet potato whatever firms her poos up best & start adding say 2-3 cesars foil tin & the same amount boiled mash potato do not add any butter or mil to the mashed potato & mix potato all thru with the Cesars food, maybe start off with only 1/2 mashed potato with her food cause she may not trust the potato yet, whatever she has got, has cause her alot of pain & she doesn’t trust food no more… I have to go the Pet Shop it’s closing, I have to pick up something, look what are the ingredients & fat % in these Cesars foods she etas & post, stop trying all type of foods for now, I’ll try & find a similair food to the Cesars same ingredients once you post, that is in a bigger tin size & low in fat, maybe someone else knows of a lower fat wet tin food similair to Cesars food….
Do you shop at “Costco” ?? Costco has their “Kirklands Signature” Nature Domain wet tin & its cheap & looks pretty good, click on “Reviews” look for Kirkland, Signature Nature Domain canned foods & click on link & scroll down a bit & there’s a photo of Turkey & Pea stew looks good & you can mash with boiled Potato this will work out cheaper till vet works out whats wrong, also ask the vet can you try a 21 day course of Metronidazole?? take back the vet diet food she won’t eat for refund & ask can you try 2 tins of the Hills I/d Canine Chicken & Vegetables Stew, Digestive Care wet tin food, do not get the Hills I/d Low Fat, Rice, Vegetables Chicken stew Restore, they look similair, the I/d Low fat Restore wet tin is full of rice & fish oil, the I/d canine Chicken & vegetable Stew Digestive Care has less ingredients & has more chucks of meat no fish oil, fish oil can make them feel sick, see if after being taking the 21 day course of Metronidazole if she starts to get better after 4-5th day, it has to be taken with a meal every 12 hours…
What is her name??

[Therese M]

We got our 3 yo golden mix from a rescue 3 weeks ago. They got her from shelter a week before we got her so no real history. She’s heartworm positive and almost done with her 30 days of antibiotics. She was 5 lbs underweight when we got her and has lost another 1 lb since then. She’ll start heartworm treatment soon and I understand she’ll likely be very ill and lose weight from that so we’re very concerned.

Pretty much from the beginning she refused food. We fed her what they gave her (Muenster dry, pro plan chicken and rice wet). Wouldn’t touch it. Tried each separately, no go. Tried tuna, chicken toppers, nothing. We’ve rotated through at least 10 dry foods and 20 canned foods. We took her back to the rescue and they tried a bunch of stuff on her. Of 7 dry and 6 wet, the only thing she ate for them, and has consistently eaten for us is Cesars trays. I’ve been trying desperately to get her to eat anything better than that but nothing else will work. I’ve tried everything form Fromms to Weruva to Bil Jac picky eater. Nothing works. I’ve mixed in pumpkin (plain and fruitables), raw goats milk, broth, nothing works. Homemade chicken and rice, ground beef, oats, green beans, eggs, cottage cheese. We took her to the vet earlier this week for vomiting and diarrhea. The vet gave us some prescription food, which she refused to eat, and some antinausea pills which stopped the puking but hasn’t helped her appetite. Said otherwise shes great. My husband is starting to wonder if we’re capable of dealing with her, and I’m not far behind him. We throw out $6-8 of food every day bc she just wont touch it. Is there anything left to try? We’re trying to stay on the high quality foods but at this point I could care less what it is if itll get her to eat. For her weight she should be eating 16 trays of Cesars a day- she eats at most 2. She eats less than 1/3 what she should every single day, on the days she eats at all. We will do literally anything at this point, so all suggestions are welcome. We live in Dallas so we have access to pretty much everything, we just need to track it down. Thanks for any help you can provide. If you need any more details please be specific- this is our first dog and we’re doing our best but I’m not up on lingo just yet, or what might be important that I’m leaving out.

[Caroline C]

Below are the heavy metal results from a bag of ACANA Wild Atlantic dog food that was purchased in February. My dog died from kidney failure in July caused by an immune disease. I can’t help but think that feeding her food tainted with heavy metals did not help.

Acana Wild Atlantic Dry Dog (special project)
Pet Food Test
Heavy Metals by ICPMS

Lead (ppb) 289.7
Arsenic (ppb) 3257.7
Cadmium (ppb) 99.0
Mercury (ppb) 45.6
Nickel (ppb) 1172.6
Chromium (ppb) 400.8

[anonymous]

Zignature Dog Food
Our catfish are farm raised in Georgia so that we can monitor what they’re eating (which are GMO free foods). Knowing how catfish behavior is we made this decision and were very selective with choosing a farm to guarantee it’s humane.

Recent response to a question I asked over in comments, Zignature reviews

https://disqus.com/home/discussion/dogfoodadvisor/zignature_dog_food_dry/#comment-3474690040

[Carol R]

I have noticed that there is a website for the Cat Food Advisor saying that it’s coming soon. Does anyone know when it will be up and running? I have a new kitten that I’m trying to find the best food for. She seems to love the Wellness canned but not the Wellness dry. I’d like to find a good quality food for her that can be purchased locally.

[leslie s]

I have a 5 year old Shepard that has food allergies to peas and barley/ Any ideas on what kind of dry dog food can i give to her? Thank you for your help.

[anonymous]

Don’t believe all that propaganda junk. It’s from the homeopathic vets and raw feeders (biased)

If you want science based veterinary medicine go here: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/category/nutrition/
Nothing is being sold there and veterinarians tend to participate. I have found the site to be very helpful. If you ask a question it may take a bit for it to show up, they don’t allow haters to rant so I suspect they check comments before posting.

Zignature is an excellent dog food, my 2 dogs are thriving on it. If you go to Zignature’s website and ask a question, they will respond.

Also, from the review section regarding that rumor about the sodium that isn’t true
https://disqus.com/home/discussion/dogfoodadvisor/zignature_dog_food_dry/#comment-3387123965

[anonymous]

See recent comment on this topic by the moderator.
https://disqus.com/home/discussion/dogfoodadvisor/acana_regionals_usa_dry/#comment-3352454949

[anonymous]

Excerpt from a recent discussion on this topic: https://disqus.com/home/discussion/dogfoodadvisor/acana_regionals_usa_dry/#comment-3352454949
Mike Sagman Mod Caroline C • 2 months ago
Exercise caution when relying on these kinds of reports.
When testing any (human or pet) food, the results can differ significantly from day to day based on the specific farm or batch used as a source for any one individual ingredient.
As with any laboratory study, it is absolutely critical to collect a statistically significant (large) number of test samples from multiple batches to avoid a misleading variable known as sampling error. Read about that here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…
In addition, guidelines used for interpreting the results can also be change or manipulated. This can cause certain products to move from one rating category to another — and even from “best” to “worst” lists. Read about that here:
https://wagbrag.com/clean-l…
By the way, Champion Petfoods, the maker of Acana and Orijen, has recently (2017) been recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) for its food safety program at the company’s new Kentucky DogStar facility. You can read about that here:
http://www.bgdailynews.com/…
You can also learn about the GFSI program here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…
Hope this helps.

[amy r]

Keep in mind that a Newfoundland primary diet is normally fish based they need the oils to have healthy coats and skin. Make sure you not only use a fish oil everyday but add in fish as well to the kibble I use salmon or sardines only In water also several times a week I add in 1200mg of fish oil daily. We had crappy skin with litte sores for awhile tried several different foods finally ended up on fromm gold lb and the above plus I use raw veggies as snacks no dog cookies at all and her skin is great and her coat is soft and shiney. Becareful not to over bath her newfs are waterdogs who have a natural oil in their coat which will dry out if over bathed with shampoos

[Brianna C]

-Pitlove,
Sorry I didn’t clarify and sorry for my slow response! I didn’t get a notification that you responded. I recently switched him from BB to Fromm Gold Large Breed Adult food. Do you have any insight on this brand or any other food recommendations. I am looking to stick to dry foods for adult giant breeds.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Brianna C.

[Susan]

Hi Dave,
do your researched pick a few brands you like, then start introducing 1 of those brands see how our dog does in a 2-4 week period, then start rotating between a few of the brands you like but make sure they have a different meat protein, don’t ever just feed a kibble that is fish based, dogs need to eat different meat sources, fish is the highest meat to have toxins. Pet food companies would be buying the cheapest fish off cuts, they wouldn’t be buying premium quality salmon, tuna, sardines etc, these fish kibble formula’s wouldn’t be the best & higher in toxins, your better off buying human grade tin salmon & sardines in spring water & add some as a topper to your dogs kibble, I stay away from any fish kibbles now & chickpeas & lentils, chickpeas lentils can cause gas, wind pain, intestinal problems & are hard to digest they also up the protein %, we need to start asking these pet food companies to write how much is the meat protein % & the plant protein % on their pet foods, I bet there’s alot of kibbles out there that are very high in plant proteins…
Do you follow “Rodney Habib” on his face book page? he’s been exposing pet food companies & telling the public about all their little tricks these Pet food companies use to see their pet foods, how they up the protein %, false advertising on their kibble bags, he has really good videos on all this…..Rodney is a raw feeder now after his 14 yr old Golden Retriver Sammy was diagnosed with cancer 2014, he makes his own raw for his dogs & Sammy is cancer free now, he has a video that shows just adding 1-2 spoons of fresh whole healthy food as a topper to your dogs kibble meal can prevent them from getting cancer, even after you have cooked dinner if you have some left overs keep in fridge & give to your dog instead feeding 1 of her/his kibble meal or add as a topper….this is what our parents did & the dogs were living longer back them then the dogs are living now, dogs are dying much younger now & most are feed dry processed kibble…

[Susan]

Hi Anne,
there were other good quality 5 star brands that didn’t have corn or corn meal, these test were to expose pet food companies that are using meats/ingredients that are high in toxins & contaminates…
“I and Love and You” “Smallbatch” “Sojo” “Canidae” “Wellness” “Stella & Chewy” “Nutro” “Solid Gold” “Primal Pets” “Nutrisource” “Petcurean” “Artemis” these brands all got 5 stars & they do not use corn & are low in Carbs. http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/category/product-list/dog-cat-food/dog-food/dry-dog-food/

Don’t feed a kibble that’s real high in meat protein% & no fish based kibbles, fresh meat that you would eat add to your dogs diet instead of feeding a kibble that’s real high in protein, pet food companies are not going to use quality human grade meats in kibbles so add your own…..

[Leanne M]

My dog was on Novox Long term and started to have liver and kidney levels highly increased. We moved him over to Galliprant after researching the medication, while taking him to an internist. While on Galliprant he had two other blood test results over a three-week period. During this time his kidney and liver levels came down to almost completely normal. We were prescribed tramadol instead for a short period of time. This did not alleviate his inflammation and pain. He went back on the Galliprant and he is not only frolicking and out of pain but he is also not chewing his hindquarters anymore. For years we thought The chewing was an allergy and we’re giving him Benadryl as well as spent a year and a half researching food and trying different formulas. He has not been on Benadryl for weeks and the chewing is under control with Galliprant. It must’ve been due to pain in his hips that even the Novox was not controlling. This has been going on only for five weeks and we will have his liver enzymes tested again in a month. I hope this information helps. I felt much safer with this medication considering we had his liver enzymes tested at three different times while beginning this medication. It is a newly released prescription but it has been approved and there was testing done. it works on pain in a different manner.
The vet is not sure if he got into something or if the Novox created this issue. Many vets are still leery of this medication because it is so new. All I can go by is how wonderful my dog feels and acts and the blood test.
Galliprant at 100 mg is impossible to get at this time. We put him on 60s and give him one and a half for a total of 90 mg. This dosage is working just as well as the hundred milligrams for him. The vet had us try to 60 mg but he is 114 pounds and by the afternoon he was in pain and I then had to supplement with tramadol. That did not work nearly as well. This is a very expensive medication but I do believe that it is saving my dogs life. He is only 7 1/2 years old and has had pain in his hips for about three years.
I hope this helps some wonderful pets out there.
The company does offer a rebate.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by Leanne M.

[anonymous]

I don’t believe this negative stuff about Zignature. My two small breeds are doing very well on the whitefish (lowest in sodium) kibble, and the catfish.
If you go to the Zignature website they answer your questions and disclose sodium levels on all their products.
I had a dog with calcium oxalate bladder stones, struvite crystals and urinary tract infections. It was serious, emergency surgery and all.
From what I could tell, the main culprits were genetic predisposition and inadequate water intake, not the food.
A lot of pet owners serve kibble dry. Put down a bowl of water and assume their dogs are drinking enough….this is often not the case.
Also, expecting these dogs to hold their urine for 10 hours a day is conducive to stagnant conditions in the bladder, perfect environment for crystals and bladder stones to form.
Keep the bladder flushed, offer bathroom breaks at the minimum, every 4 hours (every 2 hours is ideal). Exercise, long walks, keep the weight down. Feed twice a day, measured amounts.
Sorry, if I went off on a rant 🙂
I am just sharing what worked for my dog with this problem.

[Richard P]

My Great Dane was just diagnosed with DCM. Loss of appetite and weight loss are huge issues. What is the best tasting dry and canned dog food without regard to nutrition?

[Dave R]

Okay, after reading the testing for heavy metals for dog food i.e purity, I’m even more concerned. Honest Kitchen, except for their fish formula rates great but Acana and Orijen all rate 1 star with a few rating 3 which is average. Nulo also rates 1 in wet food and three in dry, which saddens me.

Has any tried that ‘I and Love and You’ brand?? Zig looks great but it has yet to grt tested. The tests also could be bunk.

[Dave R]

So, my three dry options are;

Orijen – Seens great, filler free, high protein

Acana – Looks great ingredient wise, high protein; however, there’s some horrid negative reviews on kidney failure, not sure if theyre recent or due to the new kentucky plant. And they contain catfish meal, are they not bottom dwellers?

Nulo – Not many reviews, USA Made, looks great, no negative reviews

Honest Kitchen – Already Have it. I’ll probably just add this to his dry and wet foods on occasion.
________

Wet foods;

Nulo
Koha
Natures Logic – Possible raw frozen as well
________

So man to choose from it can be overwhelming.

[Dave R]

Lots of people have said their Acana dry has caused Kidney problems once they moved to Kentucky. I am wondering what others think of Acana grasslands formula and its use of catfish meal. Are they not bottom dwellers and suck up PCB’s and all kinds of crap in the silt at the bottom.

Other than that it’s regional, not outsourcing from China an looks great! I have a medium sized poodle mix.

My other choices are dry orijen which also looks great but has a lot of protein, Koha for wet food or natures logic wet food or Nulo which seems like a great dry food, and a honest kitchen topper.

So confusing and hard to choose.

[Tyla M]

Hey Tabitha,

Welcome to my life about 2-3 weeks ago. My puppy just turned 4 months and has been scratching and biting since I got her at 9 weeks. It definitely isn’t fleas so vet gave me fish oil incase it’s dry skin. Hasn’t helped, so I also felt like it was a chicken or dairy issue. I was using Fromm’s large breed puppy food but it has eggs and chicken so I did tons of research to find a food low in calcium with no chicken. My vet also wanted me to try grain free, so that made this process even more difficult. I personally would stay away from corn… I’m trying zignature zssentials… it has no chicken or dairy and calcium isn’t horrible. When I looked it up online it had said minimum 1.0% so I figured the max couldn’t be too high (Don’t want over 1.5%). However, the bag says the min. Is 1.2% so I’m assuming the max. Is 1.5%. I’m waiting to hear back the exact max. Or average because I emailed the company. I couldn’t wait longer though so I am currently weaning her off fromm’s to the Zignature. I also bought Weruva’s Hot Dayum canned food which has no chicken, and I use it as a topper. There is just so much info. Out there though and it’s hard to find a food that hits everything you want, especially for a large breed pup. I’ve spent way too many hours trying to research it all and now I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this food works. Fortunately, my pup, Luna, hasn’t scratched or bit until she was raw or losing hair…not yet anyway. Best of luck!!

[Alisha B]

I have an 8 month old Newfoundland and I’m honestly at a loss when it comes to him. I’ve never had a dog with sensitivities to food. Hes always had slighty lose stools since i got him. He’s been on Eagle Pack large and giant breed puppy food for months. The first couple of months everything seemed fine. I took him to the vet in the being of june for a check up and he was healthy. 2 days after he had a hot spot on his belly it cleared up a couple days later but more would show up. It’s been almost 2 months of sores coming and going on his belly. I clean the area and use a 3 in one spray to help them heal faster.
About 2 and a half months ago I noticed his skin was really dry so I started giving him salmon oil and 2 weeks later his skin was improving and his cost was shiny. When the sores stared, I stopped the oil seeing if that was the culprit but it wasn’t. I tried nupro supplement powder for large breed dogs and he had diarrhea. I give him organic pumpkin puree to try and firm up his stool but it doesn’t seem to work. Is it time to switch his Food? If so what should I give him? Aside from the licking his behavior is normal. He loves to play and run, he enjoys his sleep and eats and drinks like he should.

[Susan]

Hi Ashley,
My boy didn’t do well on the Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Digestion, read the ingredients in the Purina Pro Plan large breed puppy, I bet you there’s a ingredient or a few ingredients that’s she is very sensitive or intolerant too & can not eat, also write down the ingrediets & the protein, fat & fiber % in the Purina Pro Plan Large Breed formula, the ingredients are not the best in the American Purina Pro Plan formula’s…
Keep a diary just in case you need it later to look back on if this keeps happening…

Can you afford to buy the Hills I/d Digestive Care dry kibble formula the matching formula to the I/d wet tin your feeding at the moment? it comes in a dry kibble as well you could buy a cartoon of the I/d wet tins & a medium size bag I/d Digestive Care dry kibble, enough to last 1 month so you can start introducing the new kibble as well that you want her on?
My boy does real well on the Hills I/d Digestive Care wet & dry formula I use this or the “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb kibble when Patch has diarrhea & his poo’s will not firm back up, both formula’s fix his stomach, bowel & get him back on track again, the Hill’s I/d Digestive care has vitamin B’s, electrolytes & antioxidents what’s needed for diarrhea, to make their Intestinal tract healthy again….
Your better off sticking with the food she is eating at the moment & doing well on, then after 2-4 weeks when she is doingreal well, then start introducing a limited ingredient large breed puppy formula with around the same protein% & fat% & fiber % as the vet diet kibble she’s been eating, but if your feeding wet tin food then your not going to really know what percentage she does best on when eating a dry kibble?? just stay around the 25 % in protein nothing over 27-28% in protein & not too many meat proteins, stick with just 1 meat protein in the new kibble, less is best..

“Canidae” has a few Large Breed Puppy formula’s with grains like the vet diet she is eating at the moment has, I would be taking back the Purina Pro Plan Large Puppy & getting a refund or exchanging with something else, then you have to slowley introduce the new kibble over 10 day period, I start with under 1/4 of a cup new kibble added to under 1 cup old kibble feed this for 2 days & use old kibble for treats for training the first 4 days, do not buy any other brand treats that have different ingredients cause the more different foods you feed then if she has diarrhea again you will not know which food has caused the diarrhea…. then you feed 1/3 of a cup new kibble added to her old kibble, you take away 1/3 of the old kibble to make 1 cup, feed for the next 2 days, if poo start to go sloppy then you go back to 1/4 a cup or what ever she was eating & doing firm poo’s on…
Here’s “Canidae” life stages, large breed puppy, Turkey meal & Brown Rice puppy formula
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products/canidae-all-life-stages-large-breed-turkey- meal-brown-rice
Another good kibble to start with is “California Nutural” Chicken & Rice or Lamb & Rice Puppy both these formula’s only has 4 ingredients…. the Californiia Natural puppy would have been good to feed when the diarrhea first started…. http://www.californianaturalpets.com/brands/california-natural

[Molly M]

I have a 1 and half year old German Shepherd Labrador hybrid. We got her at 6 months old and she threw up every morning and had diarrhea constantly. When it wasn’t diahrrea, the poops were still yellow. We had assumed she was getting pesticides in her when our apartment complex sprayed the grass, and tried walking her on the road. It worked for a while but then continued to happen. Finally we decided it was food. We put her on a “Bland Diet” of boiled rice and ground turkey to detox her system and began researching new dog foods. We were struggling with how expensive they were being a newly wed couple just starting new jobs. We were contemplating a raw diet because it was the cheapest natural option, but then we found Abound at Kroger and got very excited, because it wasn’t much more than a raw diet, and dry food is much less hassle. She has been on Abound for 2 months now and has not thrown up once, and her poops are finally more solid, and brown in color. We are stoked! We will continue to use Abound! She has gained back her weight after losing 12 pounds, and looks and plays like she’s very healthy again.

[Cindy P]

I tried several dry foods and my dog would not eat well. I found zukes crunchy dry food and he loves it. They are discontinuing so back to the drawing board. Anyone with picky eaters? What worked for you?

[Rea S]

I have been reading now for the last week on what food to switch to. I’m driving myself beyond crazy. My baby is a 10year old lazy boy. He has a heart murmur and arthritis. He has aged so much in the last year. The only exercise he gets is swimming in the pool about 4 days a week. He will swim for several hours.
For the last year he’s been on Chicken Soup Senior. My husband went to get him another bag and came home with the large breed. I knew something was wrong when my Buddy wouldn’t hardly eat it. He’s very food driven. The food actually smelled funny. Smelled stale. I threw that out and got him a bag of Whole Earth Farms Salmon and Whitefish. This doesn’t agree with him. He has bad gas and the kibble is very hard in texture.
(PLEASE HELP ME WITH ANOTHER FOOD)

[Susan]

Hi Mirjana,
your not in Australia by any chance??
this happened with my Patch after I rescued him, the vet said he has Colitis, now he’s been diagnosed with IBD, he does the best on “Taste Of the Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb grain free dry kibble & Canidae Pure dry kibble, I tried the Ziwi Peak venison formula before they changed their ingredeints but it didn’t agree with Patch, the Ziwi Peak new improved formula’s seem better then their old, there’s less ingredients, my cat does real well on Ziwi Peak cat formula’s, why I ask are you in Australia there’s a new organic ethically farmed freeze dried pet food that has just come out, you add water & it swells up, Frontier Pets has a lower fat formula their chicken formula…….
If you live America then join the “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” look in the “Files” click on the first link, “Low Fat Dog Foods” scroll down a bit & you’ll see low fat wet tin foods the fat% has been converted to dry (Kibble fat) matter on your right…. you might be better feeding a low fat wet tin food now she’s 10yrs old, wet tin or homemade cooked food is easier to digest, just make sure you get a limited ingredient formula, so there’s less chance your dog won’t react to an ingredient…. has the vet given you Metronidazole script that you can get from chemist on hand so if you see her poo’s starting to go sloppy again, you can quickly put her back on antibitiics (Metronidazole), maybe she couldn’t cope with the raw Ziwi Peak….need a strong healthy gut to eat raw food, my boy can’t cope with raw, he needs his food cooked so all the bacteria is killed off…

[CockalierMom]

… so the wet food is much lower…

Dawn, no the wet food is higher in fiber than the kibble. To compare dry kibble to wet can, you need to convert both to dry matter.

[Susan]

Hi,
sardines, salmon, blueberries, broccolli, also make frozen coconut oil treats in ice cube tray, there’s a frozen Golden Paste treat as well, if you follow “Rodney Habib” on his f/b page, he
has some really good post & videos on whole healthy foods same as Dr Peter Dobias DMV…
I tend to give extra healthy foods as treats instead, Green Lipped Mussel are excellent…
I’ll try & find all Rodney’s video’s links, Dr Karen Becker is in a few vidoes making healthy treats high in Omega 3… Under the Sun is a cheaper formula made by “Canidae”
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
What brand of kibble are you feeding & is it grain free? have a look at “Canidae” Pure formula’s the “Pure Wild” & “Pure Land” Canidae was tested by Clean Label Project & got 5 stars so did the Under The Sun Chicken & Lamb formula’s.. http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/ click on “Product Ratings” up the top the click on “Dry Dog food” on the left.
It’s good to rotate between a different kibbles with limited ingredients & single meat protein kibbles…