[simmy]

Free range is a small part of it.

I don’t think it is humane to force animals to eat something they are not suppose eat to gain more body weight fastest possible to get ready for slaughter.

for me, humanely raised means:
– proper animal husbandry
– have access to grass and open pastures
– not given antibiotics or hormones
– must travel less than an hour to the slaughterhouse not in a crowded truck
– slaughterhouses must be committed to humane slaughter practices.

I believe the pet food industry is one of the biggest contributor of animal abuse since they are all trying to source their meat cheapest possible. We all count ourselves animal lover and most of us are participating this practice too even when we buy premium brands without even knowing it. I am not criticizing anyone though, it’s just what it is.

I was wondering if any raw food brand are paying attention any of these or they are just new members of the industry using touchy marketing words…

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by simmy.

[Margaret D]

I just recently started feeding my Chihuahua wellness dry dog food and she has been pooping all over the place and it is soft.
Does anyone have any suggestion.

[Barbara C]

Susan is the chicken & pumkin actual dry food, can or the real food.

[Dori]

Thanks RescueDaneMom. I’m always on the lookout for foods to add into rotation but have never known anyone that fed Tucker’s. If I can find it locally I might give it a try but it does seem high on carbs. No??? I feed a high protein, probably pretty high fat (higher than I would like) but really low carb rotational diets. I was concerned with the high carb % on the DFA’s dry matter review. Any thoughts? Thanks again.

[l h]

What an excellent read on this! I too am leery of this food had e-mailed back and forth and kept getting scripted vague answers, such as bone content is not important we use the whole carcass, fermented veggies and fruits are more digestible. Anyway, finally got no response when I said I found it very odd that there was no nutrient panel, and no bone, muscle, organ ratio something disclosed by most every raw company I have dealt with.

As for the fish formula and peoples dogs getting ill, I for one would not feed raw fish, and there are varying opinion, but many who say fish, and pork are two meats to stay away from in raw, dehydrated or frozen for various reasons, bacterial level and other.

Yes their food calculator is way off, but then I have found the same thing with a number of brands… including darwins and vital essential freeze dried. A food with high protein and fat GA … yet food like Stella and Chewys, Primal with added veggies etc and lower fat I need LESS of, but with VE, a richer food, which you would assume you need less of, in fact you need MORE calorically.

Hard to trust so many foods, one of my dogs has major allergies, and GI sensitivities. I had hoped to add BDN into the mix, but am leery as to their lack of forthcoming info that is easily disclosed by other companies.

On their positive side, the whole bacteria and air drying process.. that is a catch 22… any food that is air dried( think people that used to make jerky long ago not in an oven) will risk that. Even frozen raw has bacteria once thawed… you cook the meat over a certain temperature, and BDN having supposedly bone in content, then you risk cooking the bone, and making your pup very ill. Plus a healthy dog, should be able to eat all these forms of raw… no issue and digest.

If BGN ever decides to disclose more info I may try, but I find their responses and secrecy very strange… sad as it does look like a good option, with the fermented veggies and all as a better way for the dog to process and digest, rather than pooping them out the other end. That being said, not fond of the potato in it although they insist only 3% as everyone knows starch and raw meat and bone digest at different rates.

Oh, and lastly for those that feed pre made raw, MOST companies Darwins, S&C, Primal with their added vitamins the vitamin E/tocopherol mix, and any Lecithin of course are most always soy based. So if you have a dog with soy among their allergies like mine, many of these foods are a no go, one of the reasons I had hoped to try BDN no synthesized vitamins, which again, unless a company claims are usa sourced are usually from China.

Yes I have researched and contacted many companies… sigh…

[Dori]

Freeze dried is typically more expensive than raw but it works well as a treat or for traveling, camping, long hikes, whatever. The freeze dried is typically exactly like the raw, just freeze dried. All the moisture is taken out but it is not cooked in any way so it’s like raw but not. Ingredients are the same. Dehydrated is a totally different process. There is heat involved therefore taking some of the nutritional value out of the food. Not that much but enough to no longer get the benefits of feeding raw. Dehydrated I also like because it’s great in a pinch for traveling for sure, but if you’ve forgotten to defrost their food. Sometimes I’m running home just to feed them and I don’t even have the time for the Primal Pronto or small size raw to defrost so I start to rehydrate their food, take them for a walk, feed them and run out the door again. Freeze dried is the most expensive, then typically raw, then dehydrated, then canned and last but not least is kibble. Typically that’s the way the pricing scale goes. Not always, but most of the time.

Also with this particularly freeze dried the bits are so small that you don’t have to add water to them if you don’t want to. If you squeeze them they’re sort of like dusty, dry like. You can add water to them if you want. Just depends on how you like to feed. If your dog doesn’t drink a lot of water then adding water is always a good way to get more moisture into them.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Dori.

[Patrick S]

I have a St Bernard. She is six years old. I’ve been told to only feed her food specified for large breeds, though I don’t know why. Anybody have information and recommendations for dry food.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Peggy,
I haven’t fed the dry, but do feed the stews & tubs; don’t feed the 95% canned anymore. Wal-Mart may have changed the labels, however on the stew cans I have “Premium dog food by Ol’ Roy” is written below the Pure Balance name. On the tubs & the one 95% canned I have left “The best ingredients pure & simple” is written under the PB name.

Wal-Mart CS would be the ones to ask about the Pure Balance brand, Ainsworth is only a co-packer. FYI, Simmons is the manufacturer of the canned foods.

[EDDIE d]

Is it ok to mix dry and canned dog food?

[LD L]

Newbie here, just joined this site. I’m currently researching some possible options to replace my Diamond Performance food. I searched (clicked) around on this site but didn’t really find anything that could quickly get me any ideas? with out clicking through a lot of links? For the moderators – I would like to suggest breaking down the Editors Choices even more if possible i.e. HiPro, Overweight, Adult, Allergies, Puppies, categories, etc… I’m not trying to be critical, just some thoughts.

Thanks, LD

[Dori]

Akari. I’m so glad Bentley is doing better with his skin issues. He’ll continue to get better. If his paws are still itchy I would suggest what BC has stated in other posts and that is that you keep some sort of container….rubbermaid rectangular type or any brand for that matter, right outside the door you taken him in and out of and rinse his paws in the water just before bringing him back in the house. Keep a towel inside the door to dry his feet. That should help if it’s due to environmental issues.

Just another thought. Don’t forget to remove carbs from his treats. We so often forget that most store bought treats are full of carbs and other inflammatory ingredients. Which is another thought….try to remove all inflammatory ingredients from anything he eats. Some are white potatoes, tomatoes (all night shade plants). Rice is another pro inflammatory ingredient. Every little bit that you can remove from his diet is going to help. Some commercial raw foods contain white potatoes which is an ingredient that, if your dog isn’t allergic to, you don’t think to remove. Just google inflammatory foods, fruits and veggies. I’ve had to do that because of Hannah’s arthritis so Katie benefited from the removal of inflammatory ingredients which wreak havoc on the allergy prone animal and human.

[Dori]

Cheryl, thanks for your kind words. I’m hardly an expert on raw feeding or animal nutrition I can only relate my experiences with my dogs.

I don’t feed kibble and I don’t feed canned. The only canned I was somewhat ok with is Weruva but it contains caraggeean (can never spell that word) and it’s also made in Thailand. A very good trusted by most company that makes raw and dehydrated is Vital Essentials. Vital Essentials sells (as treats I believe or at least that’s how I’ve fed them) a bag of tripe. That’s a way you could go if you wanted to introduce some tripe into their diet. I don’t use commercial treats (too many carbs and ingredients that allergy girl, Katie, can’t have and I also just don’t trust them with all the recalls out there) so I’m always on the look out for something I can give them as a dry quick treat for training purposes. The dogs love them and they have not caused any gastro upset either.

A sardine every day is imo way too much! Only two or three times a week is more than sufficient. That’s probably why Pepper was no longer doing well with the sardines. You can go back to feeding her sardines if you want to but maybe a couple of times a week, not every day.

If Millie is already eating a freeze dried food and doing well with it then she should have no problem with raw at all. Freeze dried is raw. I would certainly switch her as soon as possible to the raw and get her off kibble. You can then feed both dogs the same foods.

Cheryl, you are not asking too many questions and you are certainly no bother. We all started where you’re at now. It takes a while to get the hang of it. Anyway, we are all still asking questions as we should be otherwise how else would we continue to learn.

I’m a Virgo. Perfectionist would be a kind description of me and, I too, suffer from migraines. I’ve had them since I was 10 years old. Hereditary I believe because my mother always had them. Anyway, ask all the questions you’d like. If I can’t answer any, I’m sure others will. Eventually you’ll be the one answering posters questions. That’s how it works around here. Learn and pay it forward.

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl. I started Hannah on raw when she was 12 years old. She was 15 last Sept. 9th so I certainly don’t think Pepper’s age is an issue. If she were my dog I would give her a taste (just a tiny taste) and see how she does and probably eventually have them both on raw. As to rotation, you need to do that slowly. When I first starting rotation with my girls I rotated with each bag, then I would have a couple of different raw foods in the freezer from the same brand at the same time and rotated weekly, once I realized that I could do that with no issues whatsoever I realized that I could introduce different brands. Then I realized I could switch and rotate daily and, of course, now I rotate with each meal or sometimes daily. Whatever happens to be in the fridge as far as fruits and veggies and whatever commercial raws are in the house. Twice a week I also give them sardines in water that you buy in any grocery store. I open the can and split it with the three of them. I also keep in the refrigerator a bottle of Nature’s Logic Sardine Oil. On days that I don’t give them sardines I add a tiny splash of the sardine oil, from the fridge, to one of their meals of the day just before I put their bowls down for them. Great source of omega 3’s.

Until you know how Millie (and Pepper) do on the different foods, I would feed the foods for different meals. It’s easier to keep track if they are having an issue with a particular protein or ingredient in a food.

I will say that there are many thoughts about feeding different foods together in the same meal or should they be fed separately at different meals. I’m one that feeds at different meals. I don’t ever mix different foods together. Even when I first started feeding raw, I had been feeding grain free kibble, I did not mix kibble and raw.

Also on THK it did take a while before their poops became normal size. Initially I questioned whether I would continue with it due to the size of the poops but as I had the box which is as you know very expensive and that was the only issue I had with the food I kept feeding it and then without my even really realizing it their poops were a normal size like when I fed grain free kibble. Now it’s a none issue. Of course raw poops will always be smaller, dryer, and no smell whatsoever. Another advantage of raw feeding.

[Peggy]

Update on the Pure Balance.

LadyBug and Tebow are both still lovers of Pure Balance Salmon & Peas grain-free dry and all varieties of PB canned and tub.

Thinking I’d see if they’d like the Bison/Veggies grain-free, when I was at Walmart a couple of days ago, I purchased a small bag of the Bison and Veggies dry food.

I fed that (PB Bison & veggies) to them that night (Thursday night), again with 1/2 tub each of wet PB. LadyBug does NOT like the Bison. She ate the little bit of tub food and walked away from the dry. I tried it again Friday morning and evening. Tebow ate it, but vomited it up in the middle of the night.

Did I give them something different too soon? Or is Bison just going to be out of the question? Thoughts?

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Weezerweeks,
I always put cotton in pepper’s ears before a bath, don’t know if that’s ok, but it helps-just remember to take it out & don’t push the cotton in too deep.
My puppy Millie shakes her head, I ordered some zymox w/enzymes to see if it helps.
i got the earth bath ear wipes & after their baths I use that, i would love to dig in,but wouldn’t dare.

IvanaR,
What do you mean gastro sensitive? Does she eat a grain free diet? Is she sensitive to certain proteins& or grains that you are aware of?
Did your vet culture the ear discharge to see what it was exactly(yeast, fungal, some other infection)?
Do you think the ear discharge is diet related? Have you changed foods recently and this happened? Have you been feeding the same food(s)? I know lots of questions
Does the food have to be dry? If so, have you ever tried soaking the kibble in warm water before feeding? softer foods might be easier on the stomach.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie.

[Ivchister]

Hey guys.
Has anyone had an problem with dark brown ear discharge. My vet told me that we have to find the cause of that problem but I still have no results. My dog also has some gastroint. problems so it is veeery hard for me to find an opimal diet solution..
That is one of the reasons I joined this site. 🙂 But I’m still a bit lost because there is just way too much info. I have to study.

Can you please suggest a dry food for a gastro sensitive dog that in your opinion doesn’t contain stuff which causes that specific ear problems?

btw I hope my english is understandable, it is not my mother tongue..

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Hi Kelly,
My 11 1/2 y.o. mini schnauzer has similar issues -bad bouts of gastritis IBD/IBS just suffered a bad bout in December.
I came to the conclusion that she can no longer process kibble any kind-she was on the Amicus Grain-free Senior,did very well on it. But as they say things change
But it seemed every so often the problems reappeared.
In December after every single test was given except an endoscopy -i changed her to lightly cooked ground turkey breast with canned organic pumpkin -then switched from the pumpkin to sweet potato, nothing else for 3-4 weeks ,now your kid may have an infection have you had her stool tested to rule out any infection?
Now I was told she should dry a vet diet-hydrolozed protein-she she was also vomiting and reguritating. I choose to try something else and if that didn’t work ,well to go ahead & try what the vet recommended.
She is on The honest Kitchen now a rehydrated food i buy her grain free, they have various types.
my thoughts are stop the rice-rice can cause inflammation, and she has an inflammatory process occurring with the colitis episode.
Dr. karen Becker has some excellent articles just on this subject-its on the Mercola.com website.
If you can buy some organic canned PLAIN PUMPKIN -stop the kibble completely. You might also offer her a cooked sweet potato, with the ground turkey. I know this may sound odd, but pepper does better on Ground turkey ,chicken & beef than she did on lightly boiled chicken breast. Maybe try a ground version of the turkey or chicken. She could have developed an allergy to egg or even the chicken. You might want to try her on a novel protein,a protein that she never ate, I bought a rabbit at Whole foods & boiled it for her. Her tummy needs about 3-4 weeks of rest, that’s why I say the soft low residue foods-no treats nothing that cause cause the inflammation to linger.
I just personally think, that as they get older the kibble is just too hard on them, and I soaked her kibble to make it easier. When they have this inflammatory disease, I think they need a softer diet.
There are some canned foods also that you may want to try, on that I really don’t know, i have never fed canned. I know people have good things to say about WERUVA & other people can guide you on that.
I hope some of this helps you, I will be glad to help further if you have any more questions.
Good Luck
Fondly,
Cheryl
I see you provided your email I will email you the site to Dr. becker and all you have to do is put in the search IBD/IBS

[Giles123]

Does anyone know of a good food for a senior dog with liver issues. We have our 14 year old Rottweiler mix and she already takes denamarin for her liver. She’s been on chicken and rice for a while since she gets some type of colitis intermittently. She literally has water coming out her back end at times. Currently she gets her chicken and rice and a bit of the brothers complete turkey and egg allergy food. Lately she has trouble with that food. Her vet recommended a senior food that is easily digestible. Thinks the other food is possibly too nutrient dense and hard for her to process. Anyone know a good dry food to put her on that hasn’t had recall problems?

Kelly james
Kellyjames@cox.net

[Akari_32]

Dori, Bentley doesn’t drink much water since we switched him to canned and then raw. He takes a few laps every couple days or so, maybe even once a week.

I’m gunna look into that ProDent stuff and see how the prices are. If it goes over the food, I can give it to all the furry creatures if it’s cost effective.

Cheryl, I wash the dogs and cat bowls after every meal. Bentley gets raw, Ginger gets wetted dry and the cat gets canned.

[Naturella]

I have noticed Bruno doing this in the summertime, when he was on Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural (chicken/poultry based) first, and then Back to Basics Open Range (red meat and organ based). They are both high-quality foods so I was not worried about him not getting good nutrients, and his stool output did not seem abnormally large for me to think that the food was not being absorbed. I just didn’t know what it was, but then I figured, maybe it is because we always did our walks/exercising right before eating, so he was getting hungry by then, and was just picking random grass stalks just cause? Not sure, but I didn’t do anything about it, and now that the grass is all yellow and dry, he doesn’t do it anymore. We don’t exercise like we used to either though, so I don’t know if that is a factor. Can’t wait for the weather to warm up just a bit… I really prefer working out outside rather than in a gym, plus, this way I can work out with my dog! 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Naturella.

[Anita W]

My 23-kb 3- yr old Lhasa Mix has tartar on his back teeth. Our vet said to switch to a large-kibble dry dog food. We have been using high-quality dry food, but I’d like to find one with large kibble. The labels aren’t clear except when specifying “Large Breed”. Can anyone make a recommendation?

[mike s]

We are fostering a bear-hound dog that has a tumor on the outside of his scrotum that bleeds a lot. The vet wants to castrate and do an ablation but his red blood cell level is too low to undergo surgery. We are feeding him high iron foods such as beef livers. Does anyone know of a superior dry dog food high in iron or a supplement that we could give him? Thanks. Mike

[mike s]

We are fostering a bear-hound dog that has a tumor on the outside of his scrotum that bleeds a lot. The vet wants to castrate and do an ablation but his red blood cell level is too low to undergo surgery. We are feeding him high iron foods such as beef livers. Does anyone know of a superior dry dog food high in iron or a supplement that we could give him.

[Shawna]

When tested at the time of diagnosis, Audrey’s BUN hovered around 57/58 and got as high as 77 when I was experimenting with her diet. Interestingly her creatinine went down when her BUN was up that high. She eats a high protein (45 to 54% dry matter) diet so not unusual for her BUN to be a bit high to begin with. Her phosphorus has never been high when checked so she’s not eating low phos or taking binders. Dogaware.com would be a good place to get some additional info on binders etc.

Your puppy is lucky to have found you!!! Some other things you can try is eliminating as many of the chemicals in your home that you can. When I first learned of Audrey’s illness I looked at the ingredient lists of all the items I used in my house and then check the CDC and/or Material Safety Data Sheets for the products. If they gave any warning about the kidneys — they were gone.

Supporting the liver can help too. I’ve had Audrey on Standard Process Canine Hepatic Support off and on as well as the Renal Support.

Interesting that they use lamb and spinach in the Just food for dogs kd food. I’ve read (and had discussions on DFA) about lamb being the hardest protein to digest. And Veterinary Nutritionist warns against feeding spinach to dogs with kidney disease (I believe because of the high amounts of oxalates). http://petnutritionbysmart.blogspot.com/2013/02/home-made-diets-and-renal-disese-in.html

My brain is shutting down so I best head off to bed.

Wishing you and your baby wonderful results and optimal health!!.. Please ask any more questions you might have and update me, if you think about it, on what you decided for her and how she does with it!!!

[aimee]

Dori,

I ‘ll be happy to discuss THK or anything I post about. I agree with you that their customer service is very responsive but CS hands are tied by the overall lack of nutritional knowledge of the company as a whole.

I think I covered the “kickback” thing. Marking up a product isn’t a kickback. Income stream from selling foods in a vet hospital EH… minor at best… It isn’t worth a vet’s time to sell pet food, his/her time is better spent in the surgery room! Considering the small volume of food sold and taking into account overhead and theft it is likely a bit of a wash. Someplace on Dr. Wynn’s vet blog she addressed this topic as her accountant said stop selling therapeutic diets, it is too much of an income drain!!

Sure vets get volume discounts on food as does anyplace buying the diets but again that isn’t a “kickback” and the volume they deal with in general is so small compared to a large retailer. If vet offices sell food I don’t see it as primarily income related I see it as providing a product they have had success with and trying to increase client contact. If they break even woo hoo!

Ok.. Why I wouldn’t currently recommend THK. On its most basic level I expect a diet when fed as directed to meet my dog’s nutritional needs. I first looked at THK when a poster posted about all the “sticks” in the product. I looked at the profile for the product she was posting about, Preference, and using the information they posted and their feeding directions I ran calculations. When fed to my dog Preference didn’t meet NRC rec or AAFCO min recommended amounts. This alarmed me!

In fact I immediately contacted THK, especially as Preference was being marketed on their website as being appropriate for feeding puppies!. To their credit after I contacted them they removed the information and feeding recommendations for puppies from their website within days. BUT why did it take someone with minimal nutritional training ( that would be me) to point out to them that their food is deficient? They acknowledged I was right by removing the puppy feeding recommendations but why still market it to adults? What about the adults eating the diet? Don’t they care about them as well?

I’ll run through a calculation with you. I’m going to feed my dog Brooke who weighs 68 lbs Preference. I’m to feed her 3/4 cup mix and 1 1/2 cups meat using their active dog recommendations.

The Vit E content of Preference is 70 IU/kg as received, Calories/kg 3510 and Cal/cup 333. From the caloric information 1 cup has .095 kgs of food and 3/4 cup is .071 kg Preference.

.071 kg of food X 70 IU/kg = 5 IU of Vit E in 3/4 cup Preference. NRC rec amt for Vit E is 1 mg/kg body weight to the 3/4 power. Brooke is 68 lbs = ~31kg. To calculate bw to the 3/4 power multiple bw three times and square root twice. 31X 31X 31= 29,791, take the square root twice = 13. Brooke’s body weight in kg to the 3/4 power is 13 and NRC rec Vit E is 13 mg Vit E of the alpha tocopherol form.

Now we have to convert IU vit E to mg vit E (alpha tocopherol) which is what NRC uses. The accepted conversion factor I found is 1 IU vit E = .45 mg alpha tocopherol So 5 IU Vit E x .45 mg/IU = 2.25 mg alpha tocopherol supplied by Preference. The Vit E content of the added 1 and 1/2 cup 85% lean ground beef is .58 mg Vit E from the USDA nutrient database, I’m estimating 1.5 cups as 12 oz. 0.58 mg from meat plus 2.25 mg from the mix = total Vit E fed 2.84 mg. Preference provided about 20% the NRC recommended daily amount of Vit E. This is why I don’t recommend Preference, it doesn’t meet needs.

I’ll compare Preference to AAFCO on an energy basis. AAFCO rec Vit E is 50 IU/kg and a kg of food is defined as 3,500 kcals 50 IU/3,500kcals x 1000 = 14.2 IU/1000 kcals.

I was recommended to feed 3/4 cup Preference which gave me 5 IU Vit E and 250 kcals and 1 1/2 cup meat. 1.5 cups 85% ground beef from USDA database approx 731 kcals and .58 mg alpha tocopherol. I convert mgs Vit E from the beef to IU and I get~ 1.3 IU Total Vit E fed 6.3 IU and total calories 981 kcals 6.3IU/981 kcals x 1000 = 6 .4 IU/1000 kcals. AAFCO Min is 14.2 IU/1000kcals so Preference provides less than half the min AAFCO Vit E requirement according to their posted nutritional information.

Dori, I hope you can now see that using the information provided by THK and adding meat to the pre mix it does not meet either AAFCO or the NRC recommended min levels for Vit E.

Now let’s look at their complete diets, are they complete and balanced? Go to their site and pull up the nutritional information for Keen. The posted content of Vit E is 23.45 mg/kg DM and their posted arginine content is 0.06% DM. Compare that to AAFCO. AAFCO min Vit E content for maint is 50 IU/kg DM and arginine AAFCO min is .51% DM. It really is as simple as that…. 23.45 IU/kg is less than AAFCO requirement of 50 IU/kg and 0.06 % is far far less than .51%. But consider that KEEN caloric content is reported as 4524/kg and AAFCO requires any diet over 4000 kcals/kg to be corrected. The correction is simple 4524/3500 x 50 = 64.6 IU/kg. A diet with KEEN’s caloric density requires 64.6 IU Vit E/kg and THK says there is 23.45 IU/kg. The company reports that their diet has only 36% the amount that AAFCO requires. THK is saying that their diet is not “complete and balanced” b AACo nutrient profile.

Diet after diet, nutrient after nutrient the information that THK posts doesn’t meet AAFCO

Have I reported them? The company on one hand says it is complete and balanced and on the other says it is not. For a feed control official to take action I think a nutrient analysis would need to be done to settle the question and a full analysis can cost thousands. I don’t have that kind of money to donate to the cause. I asked THK if their nutritional analysis are accurate and they said they are. I asked how they can say their diet are complete and balanced. They say they are. Both statements can not be true. Either the nutritional information is wrong or some diets are not complete and balanced. I don’t know which is true. The company said it didn’t have time to investigate it, but would get back to me. It has been over 6 months…Is that good customer service?? I’ve been waiting over 6 months for the company to answer as to how it can say their diets are complete and balanced when the information they post does not meet AAFCO.

I found a similar situation with Grandma Lucy’s, they say the diet is complete and balanced but they report that the Phos max is .45% which is below AAFCO min. I did report Grandma Lucy’s to the feed control official. Grandma Lucy’s printed their nutritional information on the package in their guaranteed analysis so the feed control official didn’t need to run an analysis. The food is misbranded: the label can’t say that it meets AAFCO while guaranteeing that the food is below AAFCO. So the official in my state placed a stop sale order on Grandma Lucy’s. Does that mean it isn’t being sold? Of course not!! The feed control official can’t be there 24 /7 in every little boutique that chooses to violate the law. Does the company care? They gave me the same line as THK; Our diets are complete and balanced. I’ve been waiting over 9 months for them to tell me actual Phos level in their foods.They said they should have the information sometime in 2015

People tend to buy food on an emotional basis. THK is very good at appealing to emotions: “human grade”, “whole food”, “non GMO” etc. They excel in it… I’m analytical.. I like numbers and data. I like things to be consistent and this company is full of inconsistencies. They say the food is “never cooked”…. but they “heat” to high temps. How is that not cooked? I asked THK but they wouldn’t answer. It isn’t raw… yet their phone number is “4 dry raw” and Lucy Postins says right on the video that it is raw. If you use their as received nutrient data the DM protein content is 21.85% for Keen but if you use their as served data it is 40% protein DM basis. They say the diet is highly digestible but expect your dog to poop three to five times a day. That’s normal… Really?? Normal for your dog to poop 3-5 times a day with undigested whole hunks of celery and sweet potato and alfalfa in it? They haven’t ever done any type of digestibility trials, how do they know it is highly digestible… they told me they know it is because raw foods are highly digestible… but wait… they told me their food isn’t raw. Do they have a nutritionist Nope… have they ever had a nutritionist review their diets? Nope. Since the company doesn’t use any nutritionists does it surprise me that their diets wouldn’t be balanced and they can’t do simple nutritional calculations… Nope

I see this company as a marketing company. They appeal to people who evaluate foods on an emotional basis only which is pretty much everybody! They say it is not cooked to appeal to raw feeders and they say it is heat processed to appeal to those that don’t like raw. How can it be both?? According to the nutritional information the company posts and depending on the diet their diets may not meet the most basic thing that a food should, which is meet the nutritional needs of the pet. As long as you don’t feed it consistently it should be fine. But why pay a premium price a food that comes out as it goes in? And why support a company that promotes feeding unbalanced diets to pets ?

Dori I hope this explains to you why I can’t currently recommend this company.

[Daren S]

Hound Dog mom, thanks for all your info. I am quite confused after reading all this, vet info, breeder info etc. I am trying to choose a great puppy food and, once he’s full grown, a great adult food, preferably cooked frozen ……for my 5 month Bullmastiff puppy.

After all the reading and because I am not a big raw fan (will feed occasionally as a mix in) I think I prefer the cooked frozen diets as they are not as processed as dry kibble. Sounds like I should stick with the Wellness Large Breed dry puppy food (DFA 5 star) until he is full grown. Then maybe switch to a cooked Frozen food like Maverick’s Nature’s Kitchen (DFA 4.5 stars). I will always mix in healthy human foods, to have variety and excitement.

My bully is now 5 months and 80 lbs should grow to about 140 lbs.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. 🙂

[Cait Y]

Ok so I have lurked here for a little over a year, and recently started making my own raw cat food via Lisa A. Pierson, DVM because one of my boys almost died after getting into the Dry food AGAIN and his whole GI system blocked up because he cannot handle the lack of fluids in dry food. He is such a picky eater that I had put off the raw diet dreading that he would turn his nose up at it like he did the other high quality raw/semi cooked food I tried buying him. He LOVED the home made food, he even batted off his BFF to eat his food too!
HoundDogMom, other raw feeders please bear with me I know that the whole shebang I know as of now it is 6 pages long. I am trying to paint the whole picture with the dogs, their special needs and what is causing me confusion with the Raw feeding books I have read. There is so much going on right now in my personal life that I am having a very hard time understanding this and if anyone could help point me in the right direction or even a book or website or from experience I would be so very very grateful.
The biggest reservation I have about feeding Raw to the dogs (who LOVED the scoop of homemade cat food I gave them as a test) are the bones and sadly the limited ingredients I can use for my Special Needs Hound.
I have a 14 yr old Walker hound (Forest) who has like no teeth left and was just diagnosed with cushing’s disease but has some pretty abnormal liver tests because of the damage that was done while he went undiagnosed. His liver is so enlarged it displaces his stomach sideways and upwards which makes EASILY digestible food a must. He cannot have food high in phosphorus, copper or ammonia which means little to no red meat and lots of poultry, eggs and pork. He also has problems with chronic Constipation so I would have to be VERY careful about the amount of bone I add to his diet but I also want enough in there to give him the nutrients he needs. Since he is older he also burns a LOT of calories, He is on Vital Fresh pet Turkey or Chicken and gets 1.5 lbs a day. I don’t know what is causing him to burn so many calories except for old age or maybe his body is trying to repair itself – all he does is lounge in the lawn and do his hound dance for food – people or animal whichever he can mac on at the moment lol
My 3 yr old yellow lab (Nova) is also a high calorie burner but she is super active, we do scent tracking, retrieving, and lots of walking/running on the grass. She will go until she drops which I have never seen before, so now I watch her very closely for signs she is over heated. She eats up to 2 lbs of the above dog food a day but is still losing weight on occasion when her activity jumps up again. She has always had double the amount of Eosinophils in her blood that she should at a “normal” rate. She has been checked for parasites so the best I can come up with is that she might have GI issues going on intermittently – she doesn’t transition food gracefully and really doesn’t tolerate even high quality kibble (after research it’s not such a mystery anymore) which is in part what turned me onto Freshpets Vital.
To top it all off I have a Four month old female lab puppy (Ellie) that is still growing. I have her on 2 lbs of Freshpets vital but I am worried that she is not getting something in her diet as well. She has three white lines running across her nails – each nail on every paw. In my experience when the horses have white lines or even indents it means either they were very very sick or have a mineral/vitamin deficiency of some sort. I know when Ellie came to us she had a severe infection of hook and round worms. Her infection was so severe at 8 weeks old that the vet said she would have died untreated – thank you OCD and taking her to the Vet the same day she was brought home lol. They were resistant to the normal worming meds and for 2 months we battled with getting them under control and gone. If Dogs are like horses that would cause the lines because of how sick she was during this (Great going Lemon law Florida) yet I also worry because I know parasites in small animals or even large can cause a huge system imbalance with nutrients which hinders growth.
OK Limited ingredients – because of Forest I have to stick to Chicken, Turkey, and Eggs as a main protein source due to his liver problems and because Rabbit in completely unviable to me unless I want to raise them myself. I have no local butcher – the closest one is three hours away so Chicken and Turkey liver will have to do for organ meat – sometimes I can get chicken hearts once in a blue moon. For Fats I have to choose VERY easily digestible fats from an animal protein because with Forests Liver problems his biliary system can be overloaded very easily and that would be disastrous. Maybe I can add some duck occasionally to his diet?

Copper Issues:
If ammonia restriction is required, feed less red meats and organs since they produce the most ammonia. You may not want to eliminate them entirely though, as they have important nutrients that help with liver function.
Instead, cut back. Feed more poultry, fish, eggs, and pork. If feeding red meat, even in small quantities, buy the absolute best quality you can afford. Preferably grass fed, antibiotic, and hormone free.

Meats generally low in copper are:
• Beef (muscle meat, not organs)
• Eggs
• Turkey (white meat)
• Chicken (white meat)
• Rabbit
• Fish
Meats generally high in copper are:
• Lamb
• Pork
• Pheasant or Quail
• Duck
• Goose
• Salmon
• Organ Meats
When feeding organs for copper issues, some animal livers contain more copper than others. Beef liver is higher in copper than chicken or pork livers. Regardless, the zinc and b vitamins in liver help to reduce the risk of copper toxicity. Though if your dog has an issue with copper, opt for chicken or pork liver. (http://primalpooch.com/raw-feeding-guidelines-dogs-liver-disease/)

I have read Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet and Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Health of Dogs and Cats. I have some major issues with either of the books, UtCaD is so absolute – if you feed this protein then you need this oil. First of all Canola Oil? Corn Oil? Soybean Oil? Walnut oil? Flax and hemp seed oil? I own horses and I would NEVER give them Corn oil with the GMO crap going around I don’t trust Corn or Canola at all. If I am not comfortable feeding to my strict Herbivores I am definitely not OK feeding it to the other animals. By the way the 2,000 lbs animals have had major GI upset from Canola, Corn, Soybean and Flax seed oil. I’ve given it to them in small amounts – 3 tablespoons a day and I have seen a massive systemic effect that made me take them off of it immediately. It was supposed to give them the right ratio of Omega’s 3 and 6 plus help my older guys move and keep weight on since it was winter. The recommended Ratio of 6 to 3 fats are 10:1 to 5:1 for dogs – I have read that small fish or Krill are the best to supplement dogs with because of the low contamination rate and it should not carry Salmon Sickness. Soybean oil is also something I would never give my dogs or humans or anything because of the way it can mimic hormones and interrupt the function of the Thyroid. Also Kelp is recommended a lot, but there are so many negatives that came out during the feeding kelp to horse’s fad that I will not touch the stuff. If it can affect the horses with the amount of iodine to the point horses became toxic I don’t trust the manufactures. It was not that kelp was being fed in large amounts there was absolutely no regulation on what type they harvested or what it contained. Missing link for dogs is a product I am familiar with and they do make it for dogs with trace minerals but it is flax based. Won’t this completely mess up the balancing? Does anyone here feed this instead of kelp?
The Missing Link Ultimate Skin & Coat:
Active Ingredients (per tbsp)
Flaxseed Dried Kelp
Glucosamine Hydrochloride (Vegetarian) Zinc Monomethionine
Freeze Dried Beef Liver Lecithin
Blackstrap Molasses Chromium Yeast
Rice Bran Selenium Yeast
Primary Dried Yeast Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6)
Sunflower Seed Niacin (Vitamin B3)
Dehydrated Alfalfa Garlic Powder
Dried Carrot Yucca Schidigera Extract
Shark Cartilage Powder* Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
Freeze Dried Fish Protein Powder Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1)
Freeze Dried Oyster Powder Folic Acid
Barley Grass Leaves Powder Cobalamin (Vitamin B12)
Guaranteed Analysis Amount
Crude Protein (not less than) 18%
Crude Fat (not less than) 28%
Crude Fiber (not more than) 15%
Moisture (not more than) 10%
Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) 450 mg
**Linolenic Acid (Omega 3) 1000 mg
**Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat/Dog food nutrient profiles.

Also if everything is so precise that does not leave room for error such as what if the chickens were raised on Florida soil which is heavy in limestone and deficient in other areas – rather than let’s say somewhere in the bread bowl what about if they were fed a corn based feed and another batch was fed free range? If the meat analysis is different it throws everything off and we all know that meat from south Fl is very different than meat from MI or IN – same principle goes with growing vegetables even organic. How much of a God Factor is there for the abundance of some micronutrients and lack of others? UTCAD also has an abundance of some nutrients way over the NRC guidelines – are dogs different in the fact that they can rid themselves of excess things very easily? I know in humans and horses Vit E and Selenium can be deadly because it builds up in fat and the body doesn’t flush it out like the water-soluble vitamins?
Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Health has a lot of oat meal, rice, beans?! Half and Half milk, whole milk, whole wheat bread corn? That sounds not so great for dogs and especially not for cats like it says it can be. What about kidney beans? With feeding my dogs I have learned they do OK on rice occasionally when they have an upset GI but if they are on a diet with rice too long they get backed up. Also the beans – the dogs seem to have issues with digesting them like people sometimes do – why are there so many carbohydrates? Why cannot I do sprouted microgreens or carrots or even baked potatoes because I know the dogs tolerate those vegetables very well. Also Brewer’s Yeast? Isn’t yeast as a whole bad? It’s in everything and I know Nova already is prone to yeast infections in her ears and when she gets a UTI – Also can Brewer’s yeast cause or attribute to bloat? Milk – isn’t milk products bad if they are in large amounts such as 2 cups milk plus 2 cups rolled oats and 2 eggs and calcium powder? Everything to me seems so skewed.
Also RMB are out of the question – Forest cannot eat them and Nova and Ellie are gulpers – they came from a large litter and it would be just my luck to end up in emergency surgery with one of them. I have a grinder to which I can grind the bone up with the meat and I know the purpose of the bone was for dental health but if I make Meat Jerky and other goodies can I replicate that without worrying about emergency surgery or broken teeth?
Since I own a grinder already for cat food why cannot I grind bones to supplement their food with? So far in my research the basic recipe and consensus I have come across is as follows:
16% Organ meat
10% – 25% Bone
The rest of the food would be muscle meat and muscle meat
Meat is very high in phos and the bone is high in Cal which means the Cal to Phos ratio should be 1.2 to 1.5:1 although 1:1 to 2.5:1 is ok as well. I just need to make sure the dogs consume more Cal than Phos but the question is do I need to add bone meal or can I grind my own bones to supplement?
Here is what the Article analysis the bone content to be in prey animals:
Bone Content In Raw Foods
When sourcing bones for your dog’s diet, it’s a good idea to know the approximate amount of bone in commonly sourced foods. Here is a quick guide to help you keep your dog’s bone content in the right range; between 10% and 25%.
Chicken Whole chicken (not including the head and feet): 25% bone/Leg quarter: 30%/Split breast: 20%/Thigh: 15%/Drumstick: 30%/Wing: 45%/Neck: 36%/Back: 45%/Turkey/Whole turkey: 21%/Thigh: 21%/Drumstick: 20%/Wing: 37%/Neck: 42%/Back: 41%
Pork Feet: 30%/Tails: 30%/Ribs: 30%
Beef Ribs: 52%
Rabbit Whole rabbit (fur and all): 10% Whole (dressed): 25-30%

From this can I remove the proper amount of bones or add more bones in to balance or would you suggest a bone meal powder? Also I have yet to factor in the percentage of vegetable/fruit/microgreens in the recipe – I am just so lost so if HoundDogMom could help or someone else could chime in I would be so grateful. I am trying very hard to learn as much as I can but between the animals and two sick family members and special needs animals by the time I have a moment to sit down I am out like a light for the night or my brain is so frazzled everything looks like it was written in French. Am I over thinking this? I just don’t want to screw Ellie up – she has already had such a bad start with the worm infection – and Forest needs nutrients to rebuild his liver correctly and I wanted to see if this change in diet would help Nova’s Eosinophils come to a normal level. Also has anyone ever seen white lines on every toenail that grows parallel with the skin? Any help would be so appreciated there is just not a lot of room for error with Forest right now with his liver Alt levels 4 times what they are supposed to be. They cannot stay on the Freshpet much longer because to feed the dogs its 19 dollars a day and that’s not a very good long term solution.
Thanks so much everyone~!~ I Hope everyone had a great New Year and wonderful Holiday
`RedMare

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl. I will definitely report back once I’ve received and tried the KBPF. How long have your dogs been on grain free and now on freeze dried raw foods. All three of my dogs suffered from wax, yucky ears. Never smelled or anything like that but they were yeasty brownish and gunky. Sometimes they would shake their heads but mostly they were always scratching their ears. None of them had ear infections because I had them all checked out. I had to clean all of their ears every day to try to keep up with it. Once I removed all grains, soy, corn, rice and all poultry (fowl) from their diets their ears cleared up within a matter of weeks on their own. Now that they are on raw foods none of those issues have ever returned. Another thing I did was switch shampoos. I had always been told that if you had a talk with allergies you should use an oat meal shampoo. Well, that is really very wrong. Oatmeal may be soothing to humans but if you are allergic to grains, oatmeal being one of them, you cannot bath your dogs with oatmeal shampoos. I didn’t know any better at the time. Poor Katie. I was constantly bathing her with oatmeal based shampoos because of all of her allergies. Along with her food intolerances and sensitivities she also has environmental allergies. I couldn’t figure out why nothing was working until a light bulb went on over my head and I thought….DUH????? So I switched and she’s all good. It’s been a while since I had to use any particular ear cleaner now I just make sure to put cotton balls in their ears for bathing and then dry them out after bathing. The one ear cleaner called Clean Ear by 21st Century for Pet Health cleans & dissolves was build up. That one worked pretty well actually. You just squirt a little in their ears, massage it in, then they’ll shake their heads and then I would dry out their ears. You have to do it on a regular basis until their new diets kick in and it stops happening. I haven’t had to use it in years but I’m sure it must still be around. There are other over the counter products like that also of course that would work the same way.

[adam s]

We just acquired two large breed puppies (golden retriever mix) for our five kids. FANTASTIC. However, my two sons have severe food allergies. No, they are not eating the dog food, but the allergies are also contact allergies. So, in order to keep the puppies, our dogs have to submit to the same food allergy awareness list as my sons. The big issues are gluten, egg, & nuts. I can easily find adult dry food without those three ingredients but puppy food like this is not so easy to find.

We’ve been using California Natural: Herring and Sweet Potato, which I thought would work since it is egg free and wheat free. But it is not gluten free because of the Barley in it….My son had an allergic reaction to the dog because the dog licked his face. This now precludes my boys from caring for the dogs (feeding and grooming and playing) because of the possible reaction.

Please, any advise would be appreciated. I need large breed dry puppy food without egg, wheat, barley, rye (gluten containing grains). I can easily find the gluten free, but almost ALL puppy food has the egg for the needed fats. AND, GO!

[atc5011]

A quick rundown of my dog first– Diesel is about a year and half and has only been on puppy food (Chicken Soup for the Soul Large Breed Puppy Dry Dog Food). He is a German Shepard-Rotty (prob some lab too) mix, but only about 50lbs. He seems to be getting bored of his current food so I was going to switch him to the Adult Chicken Soup, however, I came across some posts that were very negative about Diamond products, so I figured I would get an entirely new brand. On that same thread, the user mentioned Earthborn Holistics (Primitive Natural Grain-Free Natural Dry Dog Food), and after some research it seemed promising.

Is this a good switch? and should I continue with puppy or switch to Adult?

Thanks a ton for the help!
AC

[crazy4cats]

Thanks, guys. I really like a couple of the Innova and Evo recipes, but they are so high in calories. I know you should just feed less. But my husband isn’t very good at that. The dogs have already gained a little weight since he took over feeding them their morning meal. I’m leaning towards the California Natural Grain Free Pork dry recipe. Don’t really need any food right now, but have a hard time passing up 30% off. I do only have one big bag of kibble that we just opened right now. Somehow, I don’t think I really need to justify myself with this crew. LOL! 😀

[crazy4cats]

Yes, that is true that it does not survive in dry heat. We had a pretty good stretch of very warm weather this past summer. I hope that it killed it at our house. However, I live in the Pacific NW and giardia loves our mild wet climate.

I highly recommend adding pre and probiotics along with the fiber. I also think that the garlic was very beneficial to getting rid of it also, but I know not all are comfortable feeding it. Another thing that I did that isn’t controversial, is I gave the dogs digestive enzymes on an empty stomach. I think I actually learned about that on: http://www.littlebigcat.com/?s=giardia. I did not use their whole protocol, but did give the enzmes.

My fingers are crossed for you and remember that it can go in cycles so the stools might be fine one day and not the next. Also it is recommended to get the stool checked a couple of times after it has cleared up as it is sometimes hard to detect in every sample. I’m sure glad you caught it early. I struggled with changing foods because I thought that was the cause. I had never heard of giardia before.

Like I said before, lets hope this works and do not have to resort to some of the witch’s brew I used to rid of it. Good luck!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by crazy4cats.

[debra r]

I have a 4 year old Miniature poodle who has never had any issues with allegries. But the past 6-8 months hes had outs of skin rashes and now he constantly naws at his groin area to the point of making it raw. At first i thought it was seasonal outdoor allergies, but now it’s winter and he is still so itchy and rashy. The vet gave me a steroid which does help, but i only give it to him when he gets really bad because i don’t like giving him steroids. I want to figure out the root cause. I have been adding omega 3 capsules to his food and Use Canine Life home made muffins (i make them with the mix and my own ingredients) which is his wet food once a day. I have had him on Wellness Complete Health for years and never had any issues with it, but i think this may be the cause. I want to change his dry food but am having a hard time deciding which brand to change it to. The vet is pushing the Ultra Low Allergen Hills Z/D prescription diet, but i feel its lacking nutrients and is super expensive. Any ideas or brands someone could recommend. I just want my pup to stop itching and want to give him a nutrient dense diet… Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[InkedMarie]

20-21% protein for adults? Dry good for their teeth? I think I’ll pass on your advice. I assume you’re not in the US? I dont hear biscuits used for dry dog food.

[Karla C]

Hi everyone! I am new to this forum and have come here for advice. I have read through many threads/replies but I want to ask specifically for the puppy I am rescuing. Her mom is a lab/hound mix and they think dad is a heeler. I will be getting her this Friday at 8 weeks old! Back in April I had to say goodbye to my 15 year old lab/golden mix. But I am now excited to be getting another dog! I didn’t pay much attention as far as researching best foods for my previous dog and unfortunately she became diabetic and had to give her insulin twice a day. She ended up losing a lot if weight (in a healthy way) and her last years were the best!

I want to start out right with my new dog. The foster mom who has the litter is feeding them whole earth farms puppy food by Merrick (dry mixed in with a little wet)…so here I am looking for advise to see if anyone has a lab/hound/heeler mix and what has worked best for them. Thank you in advance! Thankful that I stumbled across this forum 🙂

[Naturella]

Fade, hi.

I will second Marie on her comments:

1. Rotation is great, just make sure you do it over a few days. You can also add some canned/dehydrated/freeze-dried/air-dried/raw as toppers every once in a while, as well as maybe some coconut oil or fish oil (for Omega 3s), raw or lightly cooked eggs, and canned sardines, salmon, or jack mackerel (not tuna). Those are really good for dogs. For my 15lb terrier mix I feed one raw egg/week, 1/2 small can of sardines, and coconut oil every other day. I also use dehydrated/air-dried/freeze-dried as toppers on every dinner meal. I used to feed yoghurt too, but Bruno decided he’s had enough of it apparently, lol. But if your dog likes it, it is good stuff too. Kefir also.
2. Many dogs self-regulate, and many don’t. As Marie said, the bag directions are just guidelines, and many dogs require less than the recommended amounts. You should gage by body condition: https://dogchow.com/articles/1871/body-condition and adjust food amounts accordingly. My dog is at the caloric intake of 3/4 cups of food total, 1/2 cup dry and 1/4 cup (or so, calorie-wise) additives (“toppers”). This is within the recommended amounts, but when we used to exercise a lot, twice a day in the hot summer Georgia days, he would eat 3/4 cup of dry with similar amounts of additives. He was lean and mean even though he ate more.
3. As I have a small dog, I can’t tell you about good brands for large dogs, but this thread can: /forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/ Page 15 should have a link to a google doc with all brands written out, how they score, etc. It is an overall great resource for large breed owners.

Good luck, seems like Nala is in good hands! 🙂

[peter d]

My opinion and practice has always been as follows-
Puppy biscuits (29-30%protein) to 10-12 weeks of age -then continue with a working dog biscuit of around 25%up to 6 months or so. From then on a protein level of 20-21% is ample.
Always dry biscuits(good for their teeth-never wet food)-and add lib because no one knows how much to feed except nature and the dog.

[InkedMarie]

1) changing food is good! Some people feed a variety of dry, canned, raw , dehydrated and freeze dried. Some change their kibble with every bag, some go a few bags.
2) feeding guidelines are just a guide and IMO, mine eat less.
3) brands I like are Farmina, Dr Tim’s, Annamaet, Brothers Complete

[Holly C]

I own an adult small breed and recently adopted a large/giant breed puppy. What is the best food to buy them. I would love to do raw but can not afford it nor do I have the time to prepare it. I would like to be able to buy them a dry kibble with the occasional wet food, but having a lot of issues finding an appropriate brand. There is a local feed service store which supplies Diamond Naturals grain-free, Loyall, Holistic Blend(currently switching to this brand from Loyall), Summit, and Nutram along with very crappy brands like pedigree and purina. I would love to feed them a 4 star minimum. The small breed is a 16 pound Pomeranian/Shih-Tzu/Poodle male, neutered and the large/giant breed is a 12 Week Shepherd/Mastiff. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Carmen R]

she was abused and mistreated.
I decided to rescue an 11 year old maltese with mammory tumors.
I am trying to increase wait before taking to Vet.
She was weighing 4 lbs, now weighing 5 lbs she has been with me for about 1 month.
I will not give up on her, I want to be her voice and give her the love she deserves.
I just need to help as to how to properly feed her. She needs dental work, she is missing teeth. He breath smells bad. I am a newbie is helping this dog and I want to do the right thing by her. Please can some one advise me.
She is on dry dog food crown royal. I hear bad things about commercial dog food I don’t know which is the proper food to give her a fighting chance.

Thank you.

[David G]

Sorry, not sure what I’m messing up here.

It has this at the top:

“Large Breed Puppy Food List
Criteria:
-Dry food (kibble or dehydrated).
-Rated at least 4 stars on DFA.
-Grain-free.
-Meets AAFCO nutrient requirements for growth or all life stages.
-3.5 g. calcium per 1,000 kcal. or less.”

[David G]

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFY183Q0NVRXlidWc/edit

That’s the one I think. I posted the wrong link.

I am looking at the Fromm Gold Holistic Large Breed Puppy Dry Dog Food.

Seems very affordable and high quality. Might pull the trigger!

[Peggy]

LOL yes it does.

This morning I ventured to the Walmart in the next town where I found the tub variety of Pure Balance. Much to my surprise (I have NO idea why I didn’t look before) they also carry several different varieties (5) of the Pure Balance dry food, and 2 of them are grain free!
I purchased a small bag of the Salmon & Peas grain free. The other grain free is Bison & Veggies. I will rotate them with that one when the time comes. I just purchased the small bag to see if they’re going to like it, because I’m so disappointed that LadyBug does not like the Wellness Core which was $57!

Well! Got home, gave them a 1/2 cup each of the PB kibble and 1/2 tub of the PB wet, mixed it up and LO & BEHOLD my LadyBug, the picky dry food eater, ate every little morsel! 😀

I am a happy pet mama.

[Kris J]

Please help. I’m so frustrated and confused and I just want to help my sweet boy.

Eli is a 2-year-old shih tzu, and his allergy testing showed high reactivity to food storage mites, fusarium mold, bayberry and one or two other environmental things. We’ve done what we can about those, and he’s on prescription allergy drops formulated from his test results (Heska).

All along, though, my vet has been certain he has a food allergy. We fed him Dick an Patten’s LID dry, then, when the scratching didn’t subside, a diet of sweet potatoes and white beans, both at the vet’s direction, with no relief, but she had us do that BEFORE the allergen blood testing. She says that there’s no point in testing for food allergies, as there is no accurate test (though others have sworn by VARL Liquid Gold serum testing).

He’s been on the drops a month now, and I think he’s scratching less.

But now — what do I feed him? I don’t KNOW if he has a food allergy. Can anybody guide me through this fog?

Many many thanks,

Kris

• This topic was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by Kris J.

[Ezra H]

Had been feeding Ezra Nature’s Variety Instinct Limited-Ingredient Lamb for several years (chosen after we discovered he is allergic to chicken). The recent formula change has resulted in way fewer (and larger) poops, and he doesn’t seem to like it as much. We add ZiwiPeak lamb to each meal, but we want a dry kibble option as his main food.

Need suggestions, please, for a highly rated limited-ingredient lamb kibble.

Thank you!

[Akari_32]

Got all kinds of goodies today off of PetFlow today!

2x Nature’s Own USA Beef Filet Healthy Cow Chew $0.99 each
2x Redbarn Grain Free Chicken Cat Treats $0.49 each
2x Halo Spots Chew Natural Edible Yummy Pumpkin Dental Dog Treat $0.99 each
2x Halo Spots Chew Natural Edible Minty Fresh Dental Dog Treat $0.99 each
3x Heartland Premium Dry Roasted Beef Trachea Dog Treats $0.99 each!
3x Pet Botanics Whole Grain Beef with Bacon Recipe Food Roll $0.19 each!!
2x Omega Paw Meow Merlot Cat Treats $0.49 each
2x Pet N Shape Beef Shin Bone $0.99 each
2x Pet N Shape Super Big Foot $0.99 each

Cost me a whopping $15.40 LOL Considering those bags of trachea’s cost like $16 a piece normally, and I bought three, I’d say I did pretty good! If you all hurry, there may be some good stuff left. They are having a crazy clearance event going on.

I also got two bags of DentaSticks and two cans of Fancy Feast for $0.96. The DentaSticks were on sale for BOGO, and I had a BOGO coupon, and the Fancy Feast was $0.60 a can, and I had a BOGO coupon. All in all, even though the Fancy Feast wasn’t on sale, I did pretty good today! Can’t wait to get my PetFlow goodies!

[Bryana A]

I’ve been reading and am learning I have a lot to learn!! Here’s our pups story. He was started on Iams after being weaned from his mother. The breaded gave us a free bag of this when we brought Rusty home. It was a puppy and large bread formula. He did fine until 1 month ago. We had him vaccinated for Lyme’s due to where we live and he immediately starting having 2+ diarrhea accidents a night. We consulted with our vet. I was sure it was the Lyme’s vaccine…. The vet felt it was the food. We’ve spent the last month struggling. We used a wet food by ID and probiotics at our vets recommendation. We then transitioned to a dry ID gastrointestinal food at our vets recommendation. When I read the ingredients though I’m terrified. We’ve now tried going to 2 different limited ingredient dry foods and each time he has diarrhea and accidents at night. So the vet tells us to go back to the ID food. It’s ridiculously expensive and mostly corn….this just doesn’t seem right to me. I’d appreciate any help with this topic and where to try next for our pup!!

[Ryan Y]

I’m curious why wild calling dry food isn’t on here yet whole earth farms is?
Whole earth smells like rotten cardboard (I know that makes no sense, but that’s what it smells like!)
And even the ingredients aren’t amazing. The only good thing about WEF is that it’s made by merrick.

Sorry if this subject has been brought up!

[Peggy]

Thanks crazy4cats. I may try that a few times per week.
I sometimes broil up some fresh ground turkey and scramble 1 egg each, and mix that with their dry food. They’ll eat the dry food to get to the fresh turkey, they love it so much, lol.
Occasionally, I boil fresh broccoli, cauliflower and carrots to mix in.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s not cheaper to feed them like this rather than buying all this can food. Get’s expensive!

[crazy4cats]

Peggy-

You could still give them more wet food as long as you reduce the amount of dry you are feeding them and the wet food is a complete and balanced formula.

My kitties have a hard time liking reduced fat food as well. I guess it would be like eating plain popcorn after you are used to eating it with butter. LOL! I try to feed my dogs moderate to low fat dry foods because the toppers that I use tend to be a little higher in fat. Such as the canned and frozen raw that I add to their meals.

Sounds like you are making some great changes. It sure is a learning experience isn’t it? Who knew?