[Jenn H]

Sometimes adding warm water to dry makes it more enticing.
Every dog is different. They may not like the same food or are sick of what you feed them. Sometimes they know something isn’t right w/ the food and won’t eat it.

Why do you not want to mix it with wet? Wet is little more costly, but better than dry food.

I’m assuming your dogs are otherwise healthy. It’s weird that a Lab won’t eat something. That makes me suspicious.

[Brian L]

I’m not trying to plug a website or anything, but when my dog was really sick and I didn’t feel comfortable with my local vet’s advice, i paid an online vet to give me their opinion of my dogs situation. It was $15 as I recall. justanswer . com and pay for a vet to answer your question with some advice.

But, that being said, my dog went through the symptoms you posted with pancreatitis. When she recovered, if she ever had diarrhea again, i waited 24 hours to feed her, but encouraged her to drink on her own by placing little glass bowls of water around as she would need an IV if she lost too much fluid (we had a IV bag the vet sent home with us to do Sub Q IV’s with).

She was put on Royal Canin Low Fat Gastro wet food and we just left a bowl of the dry out 24/7 in case she wanted any. After the 24 hour period would happen, we slowly introduced low fat cottage cheese.

[carol C]

Which food tastes good..dogs will eat without mix with wet. I have a lab and gs.
Ty

[anonymously]

Did you check out Wysong Senior: http://www.chewy.com/dog/wysong-senior-dry-dog-food-5-lb-bag/dp/50242
My senior was doing very well on this, however, I had to switch to one brand of food that agrees will all 3 dogs (Nutrisca).

[Debbie H]

Thank you for all of the advice. We bought 4Health dry, 5lb to start. She loved it and it appeared to love her. However, now she’s back to not eating, vomit a couple times a week, and loads of feces. The feces are good consistency, but she’s pooping out a lot. She is fed 2/3 cup twice a day which matches the calculator. She only eats 2/3 of a cup, though and most often has to be encouraged to do that. I’m starting to wonder if she is sensitive to foods. She’s had yeasty issues w/her ears since we got her as a pup. Vet said she had ear mites and gave us an ointment. It would clear some, but always come back. I can’t believe it’s mites after a year. She has no other animal contact. A friend suggested she might be having an issue w/chicken because it’s a common, though not primary, ingredient in both food choices. Back to the search.

[anonymously]

Hmmm, I would go with Wellness. I would do a combination of wet and dry food, I might even add a splash of water. I respectfully disagree with your breeder, I would not free feed. I would give a puppy 3 or 4 small meals per day, by the time the pup is 6-7 months old I would be feeding 2 meals per day, measured amounts. Maybe an occasional bite for a snack for training purposes.
See general guidelines for tips: http://www.homeovet.net/dynamic/php/downloads/dog-c8470f2c75dbe4b683205c3919ee2310/dog_diet_complete.pdf

[Sarah H]

I am getting an 8 week old Shih Tzu Puppy in a couple weeks. I have been reading a lot of reviews and I am torn between Blue Buffalo and Wellness. Any opinions? They both make Small Breed Puppy food in dry and Puppy food (not size specific) in wet. I realize there are some super premium brands with somewhat higher ratings but if I am going to stick to one brand I prefer to go with something I know I can find at Petsmart. I feed my cat some of these super premium brands which I buy at the smaller stores, in addition to the brands I buy at Petsmart, but I understand that puppies should stick to one brand. The breeders currently feed the puppies Purina Puppy Chow (yuck) and Mighty Dog (double yuck), so I know I will have to introduce the new food gradually. Also, should I stick to a puppy food for the wet food or is a small breed adult wet food OK? Also what size portion of wet/dry food for an 8 week old puppy? I have read that before 3 months old they should free feed the dry food and have wet food at meal times. Thanks in advance!

[Laura M]

I think they should disclose where their food is manufactured – either canned or dry. The Whole Dog Journal is a valuable resource to pet owners – I have subscribed for years. I base my dog food choices on what I read there and what I have learned from this website. I don’t see any reason why not to disclose that information unless they are not proud of the answer that they would have to give. After the melamine situation, I will do everything I can to know all that I can about the foods I feed my pets.

[Susan]

Hi Boo, stop feeding the can wet food, I was feeding a wet can food & my boy started to scratch & shake his head, I was feeding the wet tin food of a morning & his kibble for dinner, since I’ve stopped the wet tin food no more scratching, I started a elimination cooked diet for breakfast, I knew his kibble wasn’t making him scratch its Fish & Rice kibble, he cant eat the grain free kibbles tooo many starchy carbs, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Tapioca, Carrots, Peas, etc, with his new elimination diet when I added carrots he started to scratch again & shake head (ears)….you need to work out is it from food or environment allergies??
Be careful with the apple cider vinegar & lemon juice that will dry out the skin & make the itch/rash worse, also bath in Malaseb Medicated shampoo every 5-7 days when rash is bad bath time…..I apply Hydrocortisone 1% cream on my boy red paws & under his mouth when if real red & itchy… you can buy the Hydrocortisone cream over the counter at the chemist, thinly apply the cream of a night at bed time & thru the day if needed… or try the Sudocrem its in the baby section, its for eczema, dermatitis, nappy rash etc….

[crazy4cats]

Hi Suzanne-
While Purina puppy chow may not be the best food, it’s hard to say that it may be contributing to your dog’s condition. It is one of Purina’s cheapest foods. They have other lines that are rated higher such as Pro Plan and Beyond. I don’t know if there is a puppy recipe in either of those lines though. I have not fed either of them.

I am more concerned about your dog’s symptoms though. Is she still displaying them? It is very important in my opinion, that you figure out WHY she has the crystals and protein in her urine. If she is having a hard time urinating, she could end up with a blockage. I think you should have the recommended tests. If and when she has another urinalysis, please mention that you have been giving the berry supplement. It could skew your pup’s pH and it would be beneficial for the vet to have this information.

I do, however, disagree with your vet that dry food is better at this time. Keep adding water to it. Even soaking it in fridge might be helpful. I didn’t want to scare you earlier, but now that I hear your pup’s symptoms, I’m even more concerned. My cat had the exact same symptoms, so I started adding cosequin to his food, bought a water fountain and fed more canned food. He still ended up with a blockage and spent four days in an emergency vet hospital who gave him a 50% chance of survival. He had damage to his bladder from being so stretched out. I wish I would have had the ultra sound! The visit cost thousands of dollars, but, he’s still here! Maybe you can avoid that if you are able to find the cause of her crystals by having more tests. I don’t have any idea about the protein in her urine though. Maybe someone else can pop in with some information on that.

I have some links that may be helpful when I have time to get to my desk top computer today. I hope the best for you and your pup!

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by crazy4cats.

[Suzanne J]

Thank you both for your very kind replies. I had a feeling that Purina was NOT the best for my puppy, & that’s why I joined here ~ to educate myself & to find better food. I would appreciate any suggestions for food, and I don’t mind paying more. I’d do anything for her health. My vet said Purina was fine.

crazy4 cats ~ The reason the vet even gave her antibiotics in the first place was she suspected an infection because I said she pees a lot without much urine coming out, and she was licking herself a lot. When I took Cookie, my puppy, back again after the first round of antibiotics she did give her a urine test and it had some protein and crystals showing up so she gave Cookie another round of the same antibiotic. A week later her second test came back even worse with even more protein and crystals. She said I had to wait a week to get the antibiotic out of her system before the “clean urine test”. She suspected a resistant infection like e-coli or something. When my vet did the clean urine test no infection showed up at all, but she still had crystals. My puppy has not been the same since that test. She was so scared they had to sedate her to do the test. Now she’s jumpy and gets scared way more easily than she did before, but that may just be typical puppy behavior. My vet was stumped and put her on Cosequin, and just from stuff I read on the Internet I also added the Solid Gold Berry Balance. I was hoping it would help.

I am going back to my vet in two weeks for yet another urinalysis. If this one is still bad I am taking her for a second opinion before I take her out of state to see that specialist. I found a vet in Gulfport that has an ultrasound machine, and I have already told them I may be coming. His machine may not be as great as the specialist in Louisiana, but at least he could give me his opinion of what I should do. I think my vet suspects a structural defect, but she admits she doesn’t know. She just keeps recommending more and more tests. The specialist told my vet his test may not show anything, but then again it might. I’m hesitant to put my puppy through too many more tests. She’s just a little puppy, & I am really hoping with good food & The Berry Balance she may get better.

Yes, I am very open to suggestions on food. I’ve been trying to get Cookie to drink more water by adding ice cubs & taking her to the water bowl several times a day. I don’t mind feeding her wet food either, even though my vet told me dry food is better. Heck, my vet hasn’t helped me or Cookie yet unless scaring us both to death counts.

[Dawn S]

My adult Springer has been sneezing for three years. It is very productive of a large amount of mucous. He has had his nasal passages and upper airway scoped, he had been on antibiotics for 6 months, and we have tried benadryl. We have tried several types of dog food. We cannot think of anything new in our home environment. He is otherwise very healthy and active. We have had to limit where we take him because it is so messy at times. Has anyone had a similar experience?

[InkedMarie]

The best food you can feed her is NOT dry: raw, canned, dehydrated….If you must feed dry, please go to the review side & look for a 3 star food. Once she does well on that, you can upgrade to a 4 or 5 star if you wish. Her current diet is a very low quality food. Be prepared for diarrhea when you transition. Transition over a week or so. If you have to feed dry, add some high quality canned and water to her food. It is very important that she get water.

It is also very important that she has ample opportunity to urinate.

Good luck!

[Gina T]

http://www.trademarkia.com/heritage-ranch-by-heb-86260268.html for info and https://www.heb.com/product-detail/h-e-b-heritage-ranch-lamb-brown-rice-dry-dog-food/1866143

[anonymously]

Of course, cover and refrigerate all opened dog food in tightly covered containers. In fact, I refrigerate or freeze dry food in containers too, if I have the room.
Wet food or dry food soaked in water is good for about 3 days (in my experience).
Just sniff it, you will know if it’s going bad. Dry food without anything added in a tightly covered contained is good for at least 2 weeks, unopened bags are good a lot longer, but check the expiration/best by/use by dates on the package.

[Claire P]

He hasn’t had any dry food in over a month. The wet food only diet maybe helps slightly to keep food down. But honestly, it’s been so long since he’s had dry that I’m not sure if theres much difference. He’s still regurgitating liquid from the wet food almost daily and often several times daily. Drinking water always makes him regurgitate. He actually didn’t drink any water for over a month (i have stayed home with him pretty much 24/7 and he is overly attached to me/ deals with separation anxiety/follows me around whenever I get up, so I would know if he had any). Vets said he should be getting plenty of moisture from his wet food only. Today he drank from his bowl for the first time in a month and I was SO excited because i thought it was a good sign. But he threw it up a couple minutes after.

[Dori]

I’m assuming you feed him twice a day. If not, please correct me. I would portion his food into maybe four smaller meals so that he’s not trying to digest so much food at a time and that he doesn’t have long periods of time with an empty stomach. I’d definitely switch his water to filtered or spring, reverse osmosis would be great too. You can even buy one of those Brita filter pitchers and use that. You can also, but costs more, of course, add a reverse osmosis filter under your kitchen sink and drill a hole above for it’s own faucet and use that for his water. Yours to for that matter. There’s an awful lot of stuff in tap water that no one should be drinking let alone a dog that his having some health issues. But store bought water is perfectly acceptable. Just you have to deal with all the plastic bottles and the cost eventually adds up though he’s a poodle so he’s not going to drink all that much. I’ve got three toy dogs. Maltese, Yorkipoo and Maltipoo. No dry (kibble) for sure. It takes longer to digest and you don’t want his stomach to have food sitting around in him for that long. I should also let you know, full disclosure, that I feed my three dogs commercial raw frozen foods. I rotate the brands and the proteins with the exception of any and all poultry, fowl. But you shouldn’t start rotating foods with your dog until you can figure out what the issue is that he’s dealing with. Is he vomiting more with the dry food or the canned or does it make any difference at all? Just curious.

[Claire P]

Hello, I know this is a very old thread, but it’s the closest I’ve found to mirroring my dog’s issues. I can relate so strongly to the frustration and desperation that Lisa C. felt about Chewy’s problem. I have posted on other dog forums and basically shamed for soliciting advice on the internet instead of a vet. But I HAVE seen a vet. In fact, we’ve seen 5 vets. I adopted Frank, a small poodle mix in September (over 2 months ago). He is approximately 4 years old. He weighed about 14 pounds according to his papers at the time of adoption. From the first night I brought him home he had a severe cough so I took him to the vet by day 2 or 3 for that issue alone. He was given 2 antibiotics for what the vet said looked like pneumonia. I hadn’t noticed any GI issues in the first 2 days. From what I recall, he ate his food, but left some of it in the bowl. What I gave him those first 2 days was a mix of wet canned food and dry kibble, both Wellness brand. When I started him on the antibiotics, he started vomiting and wouldn’t hold down the pills or any food or water for days. He also lost his appetite completely, ignoring freshly cooked chicken even. The vet switched one of his antibiotics for a different one, and gave Cerenia for the vomiting. Neither of these changes helped the vomiting. After a few more days I was left with no other option but to stop the antibiotics abruptly. He seemed to improve quickly: more energy, big appetite, and no vomiting. After about 4 days though, he started regurgitating food and water. Sometimes it was right away and sometimes it was as much as 8 hours later. Frank has had blood tests, fecal and urinalysis, X-rays and barium swallow X-rays. Everything came back normal except that from the X-rays it looked like his stomach looked large and a portion of the food was passing slower than expected. He’s been on a variety of drugs, including Pepcid, metoclopramide, sucralfate, cisipride. I’ve been told to feed him only Hills I/D in small portions, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference. The fact that drinking just water can trigger regurgitation makes me wonder if it’s food related at all.

[Madelon H]

Is there a list anywhere of good low fiber dry dog food?

[Terry P]

I don’t know the name, but are you familiar with a family own Holistic product from Navasota, Texas please?
Many Thank
Terry Palczer

[Brad C]

You aren’t supposed to feed a dog with kidney disease a dry food. You need a food with a high moisture content, and low phosphorus. I use Primal raw food. It’s got very low phosphorus, and really high moisture content. Look up Dr. Becker on YouTube, she does free videos on these topics. She’s an holistic vet. who does the videos free. She’s been a wealth of info., myself, and my dog who also has kidney disease. Hope this helps.

[alberta H]

Hi Sharon… we have a 14 year old moxie who was having the same problems …. and a lot more. We had our regular vet do an allergy blood test and that did show what she is allergic to food wise. Found out we have been feeding her food she was horribly allergic to and have since changed. But, we still have to give our gal 1/2 a benedryl during certain times of the year when she starts sneezing and reverse sneezing. This helps. The problem with possible food allergies is huge though. Many homemade dog foods have rice or corn and in our pups case she was extremely extremely allergic to both those things. Because of this the vet tried 3 different dog foods (one was this dyrolized dog food and it almost killed her ..literally). So for right now, she is actually on a dog food with rice AND corn and doing fine. We were told that sometimes even with allergies a dog can handle certain foods. So it is very confusing. In our case though we wound up going to a holistic veterinarian. Because our doxie has a history of pancreatitis many of the things she is NOT allergic to (test showed she is not allergic to pork) she can’t have because of the fat content. But she is getting a holistic concoction that has been keeping her pancreas soothed and working well now and she is oddly on a food she should be allergic to but is not. If she can’t handle this dog food she is on now our holistic vet has some other recommendations we will try but for now she is doing fantastic. We believe this is because of this holistic vet (she is a “real” vet who has been to school for other things and believes in more than the standard veterinarian ways. She actually saved her life after the hydrolized dog food almost killed her (from the other vet).. So perhaps getting with your vet about 1/2 a benedryl? then a allergy test? Great luck though… our doxies are special !!!

[zcRiley]

Zignature Zssentials is a budget friendly food that worked for all of my AmStaffs’ ailments for a year now. Nothing else was working due to their allergies, diarrhea, dandruff etc. It’s their main entre but I rotate their side dishes of dry & canned for nutrient variety. Read the ingredients on Chewy.com. They offer free fast delivery. Also, Aroma Paws Honeysuckle Jasmine all natural shampoo is specifically for dry skin & dandruff. I bathe once every 2 weeks.

[Amber C]

So I’m reaching out for a little advice… my 8 years old mutt (German Shephard, Collie, Lab mix) was on, please don’t all hate me since I didn’t know better, purina for 7 years. After getting lymes disease amongst a lot of other health problems including diarrhea on a weekly basis, we hit the Internet for answers and a better dog food. He has a thyroid problem and is on pills now that have taken the diarrhea away (thank goodness!). We switched him about a year ago to Taste of the Wild. He’s tried about all different flavors and we mixed in canned and dry kibble. His coat looked amazing and his life long dandruff disappeared! Overall health was much healthier, like a whole different dog. The vet said TOTW would lead to kidney problems and it wasn’t good for him, they recommended science diet. I read about TOTW and heard so many bad reviews, so after 7 months on it, I switched over to Whole Earth Farms, again mixing wet with dry. I found the stews mixed better than the pate recipes, but he does get both cycled in with the chicken turkey dry kibble and the red meat mix kibble. He loves the food, he’s not picky at all though, he’d eat anything in front of him short of the kitchen sink, but his dandruff that he had his whole life is back. I wanted to keep him on rotation, maybe 3 different brands switching every 4 months or so, and even though everyone seems so anti TOTW, it made him look and act healthier, but im nerrors about a bad batch! There’s no other problems with whole earth farms besides the dandruff coming back. Im a little at a loss. He weighs over 90lbs, not an ounce overweight, so he requires food… lots of food and budget is a consideration. TOTW was pricey for me, but doable if it was good for him. Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts? Anything would be of help, we’re about halfway through 2 different bags of WEF, so I just need to figure it out before we run out.

[Shelly B]

Acana DRY dog food (watch for ingredients even they aren’t created equal). My Pom is on the lamb. It’s been the best for my dog with Colitis (aka a Virus). As now we are finding out the truth about this thanks to people like the Medical Medium. I follow Dr. Peter Osborne the leading doctor out there for True Gluten Free knowledge. All glutens, that includes rice, corn, and please NO SOY! Make sure to add nutrients to your animals diet. Mercola Dr. Becker is one to research on her stuff. Please avoid what more all vets recommend. Specially Science Diet that puts them through school. That food should be BURNED! Most animal food is junk. I just got one of the better of the worst.

[Karen D]

Update on Peanut, I bought a canister of The Honest Kitchen Perfect Form, it came yesterday & I gave her 1/2 teaspoon in her food as I didn’t see the part about mixing it with water to form a gel, she ate it all anyway. This morning the same & also “borrowed’ some Natural Balance Duck & Potato dry from my neighbor…..I mixed a little of the kibble into her canned Newmans Turkey & Chicken……Poops are OUTSTANDING, haha has been a long time since she has done such small firm ones. I don’t want to try giving her Keen again, why tempt fate, right? My question to the forum is this……what dry food do you recommend for a 13.8 yr. old 30 # dog… she isn’t itchy & ears are fine, the only thing wrong with her is she has gone deaf & she has those subcutaneous cysts pop up that I get removed when bothersome. Thanks
Karen

[InkedMarie]

Do a google search for Dr Karen Becker’s video on “best foods”. Generally, dry food is the “worst” but only if the wet food is high quality.

alot of us believe that owners sometimes create picky dogs. Choose a food, leave it down for 15min, pick it up if they don’t eat it. They get nothing else until the next meal.

[Allison C]

I noticed that some dog food nowadays infuse th kibble content with freeze-dried raw bits (e.g.Merrick Backcountry). Petco employee says that freeze dried bits are more nutrition packed therefore better than dry kibbles (please correct me if I’m wrong). I googled it to find more info, but those were just too broad and ambiguous.

My dogs are notoriously picky and slow eaters that if they sense that something is mixed within their food, they would spit them out or eat around the “foreign”. For instance, Blue Buffalos don’t work for us because my dogs don’t eat lifesource bits. Or sometimes when my dogs refuse to eat, I mix in blue buffalo wilderness biscuits (the ones with 30% protein) in their bowl but again, my dogs would only pick those out and leave the kibbles. So if I decide to buy this, I’m unsure whether my dogs would eat around the bits or eat those exclusively. But if the raw bits are better, I don’t mind feeding my dogs 100% freeze dried raw bits.

So my questions are

1. Are freeze-dried raw bits better than high quality dry kibble? Better how?
2. Are they easily digestible for older dogs?
3. In general, do they taste better? Will the dogs like them? (has anyone tasted it? I know I taste dog food all the time…)

[Madelon H]

Hi have a 1 1/2 year old GSD diagnosed with EPI in May. He has been having yeast and bacterial skin issues ever since. I’m looking for a recommendation for a dry dog food that is grain free with fiber of around 3% and LOW carbohydrate – does anyone have any suggestions?

[martha F]

Thank you for recognizing that we certainly have different perspectives on budget friendly. In the grand scheme of things, there is a range of prices on dry kibble, it would be helpful to know in what range recommendations fall. Food that is only available at pet stores, or online, do not fall into my “budget friendly” category, as I live in a rural area where we only have co-ops and livestock feed stores to choose from, shipping would not be affordable. The tons of feed being sold locally are marketed to hunters/working dog owners, feeding large numbers of dogs; they are looking for “budget friendly” products. (< $.60/lb).

[Harley R]

hello everyone who knows anything one this-
I am sure you have said this many times but I would just like to be sure
I have a Great Dane Weimaraner cross who is only 13 days old. I have been bottle feeding him since he was 4 days. He is now drinking between 1.5 to 2 oz every 3 to 4 hours.
I do not know if that is info you need or helps in anyway but I have done lots of research as to what to feed him when he gets to eating dry food and i keep ending up with two different views on if one thing is good for them and if it is not good for him.
From what i can tell you know your stuff on dogs and I am interested to know what feed would be best for him.
We would also give him fresh meat every week and and in can food.
So with that what dry and canned food do you suggest for him.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Harley R.

[C4D]

I feed a lot of different canned foods. I think wellness has a good dry food but I don’t use their canned often because they use meals in their canned food. While I understand it being used in dry food, I don’t want it in canned food.

[anonymously]

Call your local shelter, maybe they can mix it with the cheap stuff and the dogs will be able to tolerate it.
You may be able to consider it a donation.

PS: My senior likes Newman’s Organic beef and liver canned, mixed with watered down dry food. If I give him only canned, he gets runny stools.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by anonymously.

[Karen D]

Hi all, new here so here goes, Pnut is 13 yrs 8 months old, Cocker spaniel. She has eaten Newmans Own dry & canned most of her life. After a bout with bloody diarrhea & trips to vet for Sulfa pills & Flagyl I decided to try a better dry food & after many days of searching online I decided on Honest Kitchen Keen, this was in August. I went through (2) 4 # boxes, Pnut loved it mixed in gradually with her canned Newmans Own Turkey & Rice…..so I decided since all was well to order the 10# box of Keen, everything was fine. The end of October I ordered another 10# box but before I could open it Pnut developed diarrhea again, tho no blood, after 4 days I took her to Vet who questioned her food. A few days of Metronidazole & no Honest Kitchen & she was fine again. Well after 10 days of good poops I mixed 1/4 cup HK with water & added it to a can of Newmans, 2 days later the diarrhea started again. Anyone know why? I thought HK was one of the best, now I’m stuck with 12 #s of it. TIA

[C C]

Just like human health food that is just not as tasty as “junk food”, has anyone evaluated palatability of dog “health foods”. It seems like the higher the quality of the dry food, the less my dogs like to eat it.

[Susan]

Hi Jo, was Bandit on the Royal Canine S/O since 2012 after he had the first lot of Struvite Crystals removed???
Patches Struvite Crystals all dissolved when he ate the Royal Canine S/O Urinary wet & dry for just 6 weeks…….there must be something in the Royal Canine S/O Urinary kibble & wet tin food that breaks down the crystals & they wee the broken down crystals out…. I never kept Patch on the Royal Canine S/O Urinary after his crystals were dissolved…
I would feed the Royal Canine S/O wet tin food instead of the kibble for 6 weeks & that will dissolve the crystals he has then try & find a healthier diet for Bandit…..there are
healthier diets then the Royal Canine S/O vet diet….. Have you thought of contacting an Nutritionist to prepare a diet for Bandit? normally the Oncologist refers you to a Nutritionist….

[C4D]

Hi Ruth Anne G,

You could try a different protein source other than chicken, there are many. At this point, before the vet check, anything that he will eat and stop the diarrhea is fine. He might have a chicken intolerance, but until the parasite check comes out clean, you just won’t know. Make sure that the vet sends it out to a lab, vs an inhouse fecal float. That’s the best way (and it still has it’s flaws) to find possible parasite infection. I’ve been through those before and it’s not pretty.

Caesar’s puppy is really not a great deal, there are many others that are priced the same or better with far better ingredients. Susan is absolutely right about the ingredients. Here are the ingredients I found on Caesar’s website. It actually contains an unidentified meat by product, chicken, and unidentified animal liver before the lamb, so it might be more stress diarrhea than chicken issue:

Ingredients: MEAT BY-PRODUCT, SUFFICIENT WATER FOR PROCESSING, CHICKEN, ANIMAL LIVER, LAMB, RICE, CHICKEN BY-PRODUCTS, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSHPHATE, FISH OIL, CARRAGEENAN, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, DRIED YAM, ADDED COLOR, XANTHAN GUM, MAGNESIUM PROTEINATE, NATURAL FLAVOR, SALT, ERYTHORBIC ACID, DL-METHIONINE, GUAR GUM, SUGAR, ZINC SULFATE, VITAMIN E SUPPLEMENT, BIOTIN, POTASSIUM IODIDE, COPPER SULFATE, YELLOW #6, SODIUM NITRITE (FOR COLOR RETENTION), D-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, YELLOW #5, MANGANESE SULFATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENT, VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT

Let us know how he does at the vet and we will be more than happy to help. I agree with Anonymously on possibly holding off on the vaccines until the diarrhea is contolled, but your vet can decide. I would personally give it a few days, but that’s IMO! 🙂

Red, kibble soaked in water is just kibble soaked in water. The only thing that’s similar with wet food is there is more water in it than dry kibble. It is still a highly processed product, even more processed than canned. The water is better than dry, but canned or fresh is still less processed and better than kibble.

[anonymously]

Regarding food intolerances:
excerpt below from: http://www.2ndchance.info/Apoquel.htm
Food Allergies are probably over-diagnosed in dogs (they account for, perhaps 5-10%). Hypoallergenic diets are occasionally, but not frequently, helpful in canine atopy cases but you should always give them a try. Food intolerances are more common – but considerably more likely to result in digestive disturbances and diarrhea than in itching problems.

Check the search engine here /forums/search/allergies/

Also, if the dog is still sick tomorrow, you may want to ask the vet about postponing vaccinations until he is medically stable.

Down the road if the allergy symptoms continue, the best choice would be to see a board-certified veterinary dermatologist, if one is available near you (here is a list: http://www.acvd.org/).
Don’t be fooled by mail-in saliva and hair tests, I have heard they are unreliable.

PS: Any kibble soaked in water overnight is like wet food, especially if you mix something tasty in it. Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea dry and canned has no grains, no potato, no chicken or egg. See Chewy. com for price comparison.

[Ruth Anne G]

Hi have a lab and collie mix who is 3 months. We just got him on Friday. We tried dry kibble but he wouldn’t eat it. He’s had diarrhea (on meds now). We did a parvo test and it was negative. At the moment he’s been eating chicken and rice. I want to make homemade food for him. I’ve heard too many commercial dog foods getting recalled. Does anyone have any advice on what to feed my puppy?

Thanks in advance

Ruth Anne

[anonymously]

My small breed dogs do well on Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea (canned and dry), I soak my senior’s kibble in water overnight, plus add a splash of water. I use Newman Organics canned also, I have tried their kibble, one dog does well on it.
What foods did your vet recommend? Do your dogs have any specific problems?

[Christa P]

My vet gave me a list of recommended foods. But none of these foods show up on the best foods list! I need something with a high water content. I want to give both wet and dry food. I am so confused after reading everything. I have 3 small breed dogs. Help! Thanks!

[Susan]

Hi Saurav, when I rescued my boy, he was weeing blood, he was desexed then had an Ultra Scan & the vet saw crystals, he was put on Antibiotic & the Royal Canine Vet diet S/O Urinary wet tin & dry food for 6 weeks, he ate the S/O Dry Kibble for breakfast & the S/O wet tin for dinner…. he wasn’t allowed to eat anything except the Royal Canine S/O Urinary diet, then after 6 weeks, he had another ultra scan & all the crystals had dissolved so vet said I can stop feeding the Royal Canine S/O Urinary food & feed a normal diet….. see a vet….

[crazy4cats]

Hi Pamela-
That website has been brought up on this website previously. It’s nice to hear that someone in the field recommends it as well! I do have a hyper-t Kitty and have her blood checked every six to nine months. I’ve also switched my dry food addict to mostly canned as well. Thanks for the tips!

[JB P]

Has anyone fed this non-GMO dry dog food?
A friend and stable owner uses Equine Renew Gold and recommends it.

Thanks, JB

[Pamela D]

In response to the many cat owners who are searching for a good website that discusses feline nutrition let me make the recommendation of catinfo.org that website is excellent. Having worked at an all cat hospital for nearly 8 years, I can tell you that is the website our feline vets as well as feline veterinarians from other feline exclusive hospitals recommended to clients. When searching for a good cat food it is important to pay attention to carbohydrates most dry foods are loaded with carbs which cats are not able to process like humans and dogs and other species. The website mentioned above has two great articles one on feline nutrition: The basics, and another one which is titled the carnivore connection. Anyone who is concerned about their cats diet should read both articles thoroughly. You will learn why it is so very important to put your cat on wet food and there is an article that will help you to transition your cat to wet food. I had three dry food junkies and managed to successfully transition all three of them over to wet food it took me a few monthsbut I finally did it. Again that website is Catinfo.org let me add that your not so best can food is more than likely much better than your most expensive premium dry food. One more thing, try to stay away from fish and beef and stick with anything that has feathers as in poultry. Some cats cannot tolerate fish and beef and will vomit. Also for those of you with hyper–T cats, Make sure your vet is closely monitoring your cats renal function. Sometimes hyperthyroidism will mask renal disease, and try to find a vet that will check your cats blood pressure as well.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Pamela D.

[dan g]

Hi & welcome. Its quite a difficult balance at times, trying to do the right thing for my best friend & feeling good about what i have done. Best to study & know what might be best for your dog. This is only one man’s opinion/experience.
With the insurgence of grain free (more protein) foods also comes an increase of kidney failure at vets. So far, they still debate the cause as high protein or phospherus. Our Vito is now on a low protien diet with regular blood tests to monitor. Prescription Hills Science Diet is far from cheap. This also led to the most studied yet still least understood phenomena in the canine world of him eating his own poop. He seems to be pretty picky but……jeeze. Speculation is that he is craving protein & doesnt know where else to get it.
Our Ginger has occassional bouts of bacterial imbalance in her colon. Gives a whole new meaning to “blow it out your ………” Worse when i was making her food so we have comitted to commercial brands. I use this site regularly & stick to 4+.
For dry we use Chicken Soup as she seems to like it & of course makes us feel good. They just came out with a smaller kibble we all like. We mix half a can with dry X2 daily for main feedings. Usually canned is Merrick Classic (which is getting way too pricey lately), Nutro products, Chicken Soup & some in between. Currently shopping for & trying different brands. Remember to slowly introduce new foods to avoid digestive issues with negative or unpleasant outcomes, pun intended. Mix the last of previous dry with some of the new.
Roughly once a week we give Vito & Ginger a can of grain free with a little dry & it seems to satisfy protein cravings somewhat.
Remember what goes in comes out & must be monitored. Crappy job but someones gotta do it. Good luck & wishing longevity to your baby.
Dan g & Laura.

[anonymously]

The best choice would be to see a board-certified veterinary dermatologist, if one is available near you (here is a list: http://www.acvd.org/).

Most dermatologists will not skin test for allergies until the dog has been exhibiting symptoms for 1 year/4 seasons without any significant periods of relief. There are also other treatment options that a specialist could offer.

A summary of treatments for canine atopy:

Evidence-Based Canine Allergy Treatment

And here is a recent update:

Evidence Update- Evidence-based Canine Allergy Treatment

More info here:
http://www.2ndchance.info/allergytesting.htm
Skin tests to determine what your pet might be allergic to are considerably more accurate, on the whole, than blood tests. However, they are not 100% accurate either. To have them performed, you will need to locate a board certified veterinary dermatologist

excerpt below from: http://www.2ndchance.info/Apoquel.htm
Food Allergies are probably over-diagnosed in dogs (they account for, perhaps 5-10%). Hypoallergenic diets are occasionally, but not frequently, helpful in canine atopy cases but you should always give them a try. Food intolerances are more common – but considerably more likely to result in digestive disturbances and diarrhea than in itching problems.

via search engine here: /forums/search/allergies/

Another site you may find helpful http://www.allergydogcentral.com/category/symptoms/

PS: Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea (dry and canned) is grain/potato free, check Chewy. com for price comparison.

[aimee]

Hi Dawn,

So sorry to hear that your dog recently needed surgery for stones. Were the stones really in the kidneys or were they in the bladder?

From what I’ve read preventing recurrence is difficult. The vet diets have some backing behind them regarding establishing parameters to prevent formation where as a lot of this type of information isn’t available for foods you’d purchase on your own.

If faced with this situation I’d be devoting a lot of my time on monitoring what is coming out of my dog in addition to what is going in. It seems all are in agreement that “dilution is the solution to pollution” in other words water water and more water. I’d want my dog consuming a lot of water which means moist food or if feeding dry I’d be adding a lot of water to it. But again what is most important is what is coming out. To that end I’d buy myself a refractometer so I could catch urine and monitor the concentration at home. I’d also invest in a pH meter to monitor that aspect as well. Having your vet spin down a fresh ie still “warm from the dog” sample and then looking for crystals is another piece of information.

Frequent rechecks and x ray screening can identify reformation when the stones are still small and then may be able to be recovered without surgery.

If you don’t want to use the vet food there are home cooking options through balance it dot com and you could ask your vet what to look for in a store bought food. I’d think you’d want to avoid high oxalate ingredients, and use a food whose calcium level is close to AAFCO minimum( 0.6% DM) That can be a bit tricky as companies may not monitor this closely hence the vet diets. Vit D levels should be controlled as well. Vit C is metabolized to oxalate so avoid that. Protein amount is tricky it may depend on the amino acid profile as I think certain amino acids are metabolized to oxalate. You will likely need to call the company of any food you are considering and ask what is the average urine pH the diet produces and get a nutrient profile. Larger companies are more likely to have the information and type of quality control you’d need over small companies.

Best of Luck

[Cathy F]

Hello

My son thinks nothing about spending £40-£50 on a 15kg-17kg sack top end dry food for is dogs. I have always feed my dogs pedigree chum. But since i was given one of my son’s dogs puppy’s it got me thinking about the nutrition and supplements more.

I’m feed up of reading reviews some saying the product is good only to read on another website the product is rubbish.

Budgeting between £15-£20 for a 15kg-17kg sack. What makes would fit into this area in regards getting the best quality ingredients for your buck?

Thanks

[Ken Y]

Hello Everyone,

As the title reads, I am currently having a diarrhea with bright colored blood, which has been on and off twice now for about 2weeks. This is my first post and I read a few other posts on here about my dog’s current condition, but didn’t find exactly what I was looking for.

I have a 5yo Male Boston Terrier named ‘Hammond’ who was brought up on Taste of The Wild (Fowl Mix) dry kibble. He is my dog, but my father has grown quite fond of him and takes him during the work week and I get him on the weekends. He has been allergy tested due to an ongoing itchy skin condition since he was 1yo and tested positive to an abundance of substances. The main allergens consist of beef, venison, milk, dust mites and certain grass. I recently read an article that seemed to indicate that his skin condition may be a result of a yeast infection and have since switched his diet to a carb free raw diet.

He has been on a raw organic, no additive, low sodium chicken drumstick and thigh diet for about 4-5months now. He was about 28lbs before the raw diet and has since slimmed down to about 25lbs. His calculated serving size totals to be about 1.25lbs a day. I have found a prefered brand I like at a local grocery store and my father has been feeding him an organic brand from Costco with similar listings. He was perfectly fine with the switch with only one or two incidents, which involved bile throw up since the switch until recently. He has had about 2 separate incidents this past 2 weeks involving diarrhea and bright red blood spots. I took the appropriate steps and fasted him for a full day and gave him some rice and boiled chicken to see if symptoms improved and then went back to the drumsticks and thighs. Everything seemed fine for a few days, with the exception of softer stool than usual, but just yesterday, my father told me the diarrhea and blood was back.

We are taking him to the vet this Sat, but I’m more than positive that the Dr. is going to tell us to switch back to a reg dry kibble dog food as most vets don’t approve of raw diets.

Both diarrhea incidents happened when my father had him, feeding him the Costco organic chicken. Is it possible that maybe he got a bad batch of chicken? I have ordered a supply of the ‘Premeasured service’, chicken necks and green tripe from Reel Raw as recommended from this site and it will be arriving today. I made sure to list his allergens in the ground mix.

Should I stop with the raw?..

Thank you for the long read and any advise is appreciated.