[DogFoodie]

Hi Peggy,

I can’t recall if I mentioned this before or not, but a few of my favorite dry “weight loss” foods that don’t compromise protein or quality, healthy fats are Wellness Core Reduced Fat (dry and canned), Orijen Senior and Go! Senior.

I recall talking about canned foods also so forgive me if you had said you were only looking for canned foods. I didn’t go back and read this thread from the beginning.

[Amy G]

Thanks for the help! He has started eating the Blue mixed in with his puppy chow but we are down to 1/4 of that. I’m also adding some natures recipe wet puppy food to it as he seems to really like that. He’s eating about 3/4 cups of dry food with maybe 2 tablespoons if the way mixed in 3 times a day. He always eats most of his food. I have noticed that his stools are still really soft, not diarrhea, but not completely formed either. He’s going like 4/6 times a day, sometimes more. Since he’s already transitioning into the blue, once he’s fully on it, when is a good time to try and switch him again or should I just leave it for a while? He doesn’t have a vet appointment until after Xmas and they are huge science diet vets…. Thanks so much and happy holidays!!

[Peggy]

Dog_Obsessed, I looked for Pure Balance wet food at my Walmart and they don’t have it, so I will have to go to the next town to get it. Dog Food Advisor gives it 4.5 stars. I’m impressed.

If Pure Balance had a weight loss formula I would buy it too, as the dry food has 4 stars.
They have a grain free formula, but not weight loss. 🙁

• This reply was modified 10 years, 12 months ago by Peggy.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 12 months ago by Peggy.

[Lou B]

Getting back to the question – anyone else have any great expeerince with “Inexpensive good quality dry food?”, especially for small breeds? Thx in advance!

[T]

Oh, it makes me sad to hear stories like this… I know it seems expensive to upgrade food, but it’s going to be hard to get your dog in better health eating a sub-optimal diet. I think of it like a person spending lots of money on “fat burning belts” and jiggling machines to lose weight while still eating a box of Twinkies a week and drinking a liter of Coke daily. You can’t pour enough stuff on from the outside to make up for what’s going on inside.

Any money you put toward a diet upgrade will pay off in better health and less money spent trying to “Band-Aid” problems. I do salute you for caring and trying to come up with solutions. I don’t mean to criticize your efforts! Just saying I hope you’ll reconsider how you think about the value of diet. I can think of a couple of dog foods I really like that cost about $60-70/month to feed a 50 lb. dog. Would that be do-able?

One last thing– buying a lot of dry dog food at one time means it’s not going to be at all fresh when you feed it. The fats in it do not stay fresh for that long and can really add to health problems. Dogs need fresh fats! It’s a problem with all foods, especially stale kibble.

I have a few articles about foods on my blog if you’re interested: http://naturalalternativesvet.com

Tabitha

[BRENDA B]

I hope someone can give me good advise here. I lost 2 dogs to Renal failure this year. Both were only 4 years old. It has been devastating for us. When the first one got sick we changed the food for fear it could have had something to do with it but didn’t know. We were using Southern States Advanced dry food. We live in a tiny town and it was recommended to us. Now I know it is bad food. Just last week i lost another dog to renal failure and there is no blood line to the other one so we immediately wondered if it was caused by the same food. The Vet said she probably got sick back when the other dog did. I called FDA in Atlanta to report this and he just blew me off. I don’t have the empty bag from the food buy I feel the dog food should be investigated if is could be killing dogs. Someone need to do something and I feel helpless

[Kathy J]

My 13 Boston Terrier was diagnosed with pancreatitis which caused her to now be a diabetic.
My vet has her on science diet prescription ID which is very expensive. My other dog 7 yr old bull terrier is healthy and is on blue buffalo lamb and brown rice.
I have seen comments where blue buffalo is too rich and it’s fruit
Ingredients adds to a higher sugar intake for dogs.
I’m concerned my bull terrier will end up like my Boston terrier.
My questions is, any suggestions of a dry food that can help both dogs?

Thank you,
Kathy

[karren w]

Hi I live in the UK and am having a nightmare getting food for my dog she is an american bull dog she is 9 months old she carnt have chicken /wheat /potato’s/sweet potato’s /rice / or she get yeast ears .and her whole body is itchy. She is on orijen six fish at the moment as its got the lowest carbs in dry food you can bye in the UK .we are giving that for 2 meals and 1 meal of just meat .we are also giving her coconut oil and fish oil to try and help her . at the moment we are doing a bit better her ears are all good but she is dead itchy. Dos anyone no any other foods in the UK we can try .

[Dori]

A better way to know if your dog needs to lose or gain weight is by feel. You don’t need a scale for this. Feel your dogs body especially her rib cage both sides. Can you easily feel her ribs or do you really have to push in on her flesh to feel them. You should be easily able to feel her ribs but not to the point where you can actually feel too easily the space in between each rib. Also while she is standing still look straight down on her. You should be able to see a waist line. If you you don’t, then just keep adjusting her weight downward until you can. Same with the ribs. Also don’t forget that in feeding raw you feed much less than you would if you were feeding a dry or canned food. By regularly feeling her body you can then always adjust her meals by a little more or a little less once she gets to what feels right.

Also, as BC said. 5 – 10 lbs. overweight on a dog is a huge deal. Once she looses the weight you’ll be surprised as to how more active she’ll be. It’s best for all her internal organs and musculoskeletal system to be a little on the slim side. Much healthier all around.

[aimee]

Hi C4C,

Glad to hear that your cat is doing better. What a scary incident that you sure don’t want to repeat.

I’ve come to view urinary blockages as a multi factorial problem. Sometimes blockages are composed of mucoid matrix without any crystals, so be cautious on not having tunnel vision in regards to struvite. You can find good information on OSU indoor pet site which used to be indoor cat initiative.

The old adage “the solution to pollution is dilution” applies here. Crystal formation is a factor not only of pH but concentration of components that make up the crystal. Because pH can fluctuate throughout the day I think striving for a dilute urine is as important if not more important along with watching mineral content of the diet. I’d be willing to sacrifice a bit in the pH department to get a dilute urine. Moist foods can help along with extra water mixed into the food, flavored water “treats” providing multiple water sources and knowing what your cat likes. Some cat like “staler” water and others absolutely fresh!

pH varies with dietary factors, management factors and likely individual cat factors. Evaluating what goes in is important but I think close monitoring of what comes out is even more important. Veterinary diets are formulated to hit certain pH and concentration milestones. Some of the veterinary diets rely on salt to drive thirst. But I don’t think this “guarantees” that when fed to “your” cat the appropriate pH and concentration are achieved. Investing in a pH meter and refractometer to test urine at home is a good investment.

How often the cat eats also plays a role in urine pH. After eating the urine will become basic due to what is called the “alkaline tide”. This is noted in the cat more so than in the dog. The generation of HCL in the stomach releases bicarb in the blood which alkalizes the urine. Multiple 4-6 small meals a day are preferable to 1 or 2. I can see that there could be a bit of a trade off here. With a dry diet the cat is free to and often does eat multiple small meals a day with moist diet the food can’t be left out for hours and people usually don’t feed 4-6 times a day. If this results in the cat eating a larger amount less often the alkaline tide could result in a higher urine pH for many hours during the day despite a diet that would be otherwise be acidifying.

I personally don’t think the answer to struvite and urinary blockages can be found solely in added methionine to a diet without looking at the entire picture. Methionine is metabolized in the body and the sulfur excreted as sulfuric acid hence it is acidifying to the urine. But since minerals in the diet and feeding practices also influence pH I don’t think all the eggs should be put in one basket per say. Methionine can cause GI upset, and hemolytic anemia( large doses).

If you can achieve a dilute mildly acidic urine by adding methionine to a base diet that otherwise wasn’t reaching those parameters than great but be open to finding what works in your cat.

[Amy G]

Hi everyone–I need some help. We just brought home an 8 week old Boxer puppy 3 days ago (who is adorable btw) and he will not eat his food. The breeder was feeding him Purina Puppy Chow, wetted down until soft. She told us that he was a fast eater and to watch him. The first day we brought him home he ate very little. The second day he refused to eat it at all. I went and bought Blue Wilderness Puppy food to mix with the Purina to transition him over but he will not eat this at all. I wetted it down with low sodium chicken broth until soft, he sniffs the bowl and walks away. So for almost an entire day he refused to eat. I went to PetSmart and bought a few tubs of Nature’s Recipe puppy food and he lapped them up completely. We were excited that he finally started to eat. I was worried about just feeding him the wet food so I tried mixing it in with the Blue kibble and he wouldn’t eat it, but once I put down just the wet food he started eating. I saw on here that Nature’s recipe pure essentials got 5 stars for wet food but then I saw someone else said it wasn’t good? So now I’m completely confused as to what to go and buy him for tomorrow because I only have 2 tubs left. He’s about 9 pounds now and according to that weight, I’m guessing he should be eating 1 3/4-2 tubs per meal? 3 times a day? I have a black Lab that eats TOTW with pulled beef/chicken as a topper but she has never had a problem eating just dry kibble. Is eating just wet food going to be bad for him in the end? I’m just overwhelmed with the choices and want to make sure we are giving him the best nutrition possible. I do have a lawn and garden center near me that sells TOTW and some other high end canned dog food that I could check out but would Nature’s choice do for now? Thank you so much for all your help.

[Susan]

Hi Walt, I don’t know if I mentioned “MALASEB” medicated shampoo, bath his paws in the Malaseb as this kills the yeast & bacteria that’s living in his paws & stops the smell…also wash his whole body & give a massage for about 5-10mins while his paws are covered in the Malaseb shampoo & soaking…..Malaseb is for yeasty skin & wont strip their good oils like other products do making the dogs skin dry. Iodine does make their feet real dry… I only used Iodine when Patches paws were red & sore which he hasn’t had since washing in them in Malaseb…I have to wash Patches stinky paws every 5 days, its hard if you fill a bath then you cant soak the paws & my boy is soooo scared of baths, I don’t know what happened in his past… I’ve had him 2 years now, I can not wash or put water around his head, he starts to panic, so I use a wash cloth around his head… when you get a kibble make sure the Carbs are LOW & make sure you start writing down the first 7 ingredients that way u’ll notice what carb works & what carb make his smell worst eg: potatoes, peas, (starchy carbs) as soon as you find the right food his paw problem will go away, I have to keep my boy on his vet diet due to IBD, like vet said, she’d rather stinky paws then diarrhoea.. Ur boy has landed on his feet, one very lucky boy….

[crazy4cats]

Hi Walt-

I second Victor as a budget friendly brand if it is in your area. I feed it frequently. I’m giving Eagle Pack a try right now made by Well Pet, the same company that makes Wellness. So far so good! I prefer to use inexpensive dry and supplement with fresh, canned or frozen protein rich toppers.

I’ve never fed it, but Fromm Family Classics is another budget friendly food made by a reputable company.

Good luck to you and your buddy!

[Barbara P]

My 4 year old golden, Colby, has been allergy tested and has several food allergies. The two dry foods recommended were Blue Seal Natural 26 or Perscription Diet d/d potato and duck. I’ve been feeding him the BS Natural 26 since June but his face is turning white since starting this. Can anyone tell me if the Perscription Diet would be a better choice? There’s not a lot of info on limited ingredients dry dog foods. He is only 4 years old and he’s beginning to look like he’s 7. I’m open for suggestions.
[email protected]
<Golden allergy foods>

[Walt R]

Thank you all for your suggestions. Four questions. First, if the issue is possibly a yeast infection on his paws, is it spread then via his licking and that is why the bed linens smell so bad (in addition to his feet) or is it possible that the issue is the saliva and as he licks his feet he’s also licking the blankets because he DOES lick the blankets, floors and everything else?

Secondly, there have been some recommendation for food/changing diet. Can anyone recommend a specific brand/formula (or 4) that is a touch on the less expensive side? Simply put, we are not in a position to spend $70 or $80 for a 30lb bag of food. We are more in the $30 – $40 range for 30 pound bags of premium foods and then stock up when it goes on sale.

Third, i see a lot about foot baths with recommendations for for specific product lines as well as home made remedies such as peroxide, vinegar, iodine and water (various combinations, I’d have to go back and look for the exact recipes.) Can anyone recommend one over the other or have a specific product in mind? My only concern about iodine is whether it will stain his white paws and/or the bath tub.

Lastly, i actually enjoy bathing the dog, blow drying, grooming him. When we got him he was deathly afraid of adult males. The first thing we as a family did was bath him and then i took over from there. It took a bit but now we are absolute buds. Unfortunately if you put him in a room with my wife on one side and me on the other and we both call him, she wins. She likely always will, but that does not mean i’ll ever stop trying! 🙂 So, i enjoy the time with him, caring for him, bathing him, etc… because i can tell over the past 2 years that it’s made huge inroads with trust, amongst many other things.

Thanks again for allow in my questions and thank you too so very much for the idea’s and suggestions.

Walt

[crazy4cats]

Hi Rob-
Do you feed any canned or raw food at all? If not I’d definitely start. By increasing moisture, it helps to flush out the crystals. Try to find the lowest carb, highest protein canned food you can afford and mix it in and add water. Also, You may want to use the prescription dry food for a while to help dissolve the crystals. After that, I believe Wellness Core is a good food for maintaining pH levels. Good luck!

[Sadie’s Mom]

@ BC – I found something at my local feed store that has the same active ingredients as Corta-Flx (well, this one uses HA instead of MSM) but isn’t. They only had Corta-Flx in the gallon container, which is much more than I need. It is a quart bottle that actually had dosing on it for dogs! I mixed half in with my dogs food + some wet food to make it enticing and gave the other half via syringe. She seemed ok with both, so tomorrow I may try just pouring it over her food, which is much easier than mixing it with dry and wet food and some water.

[Rob S]

Hi,

My 5 year old Australian Shepherd mix has been told that she has high pH urine, currently around 8.5, and has struvite crystals. The vet said that she would probably need to go on the prescription diet food from Hill’s Science or Royal Canine but when looking at those ingredients they look terrible, first ingredient in the dry food is corn and in the wet it is mainly meat by-products. She is currently on Nature’s Recipe Grain Free kibble and since I switched her to grain-free a few months ago her mood dramatically increased and she has so much more energy so I want to keep grain free.

I have tried supplementing with cranberry tablets but she is picky and often eats all her food but leaves the tablets.

Can anyone recommend a good quality grain-free food to help with urinary issues that would do a similar job as the prescription food but much much better quality of ingredients?

Thanks

[Walt R]

Hi. We got a rescue dog about 3 years back. It took us nearly a year before we found food that he liked and we liked. His issue was that he was always stinky even though an indoor dog. He also had room clearing gas. It was truly awful. We tried many different varieties/blends of dog food and he was, at one point, being bathed weekly it was that bad. But, we finally found the Purina Pro Plan Select Sensitive with the Salmon. It took only a matter of days and the gas was gone. In addition, he no longer smelled bad all the time and his baths were now 8 – 10 weeks apart. The dog is a pointer mix and is now pushing 5 years old. He has always been a dog that likes to lick. You walk past him or he you and out comes that tongue. He’ll get ya. LOL. He also licks the sheets, and carpet and his feet, etc. It’s never been a problem for us.

Anyhow, over the past 6 months something has changed. His feet start to smell like Frito’s. But, so do the bed linens and other things, because of his licking. His breath is not bad. If he licks your hand, it’s not bad. But over time, it adds up and we’re having a hard time with it. In addition, because of this, what becomes, an over powering smell of Fritos… he’s back to being bathed every 2 weeks.

His overall coat smells fine. His head and neck are fine. His feet on the other hand… UGH. Same with the bed linens and where he likes to sleep throughout the day.

I can’t help but think it’s his food.

Again, his breath is fine. His coat (other than feet) are fine. Still no gas and he still likes the food.

I don’t know if there is a vitamin supplement we should give him, if there are breath drops that i see online that we can give him or if we should change food.

Unfortunately, i have 100lbs of his food in the basement as it recently went on sale at $10 off per bag. It was hard to pass up. Now… I may be regretting that decision.

So, i found this site. I read up on the Pro Plan Select and it didn’t get very good reviews. Out of the nearly 200 brands/formula’s posted as 4 stars and above, Purina wasn’t even on the list.

A friend has recommended Zsignature Trout/Salmon, but OMGoodness, that is seriously expensive food.

So i thought i would reach out here in this forum and ask if anyone else has experienced this kind of thing.

I do not think the dog has any yeast infections. He doesn’t have dry, red or cracked feet and there aren’t sores on his body. He had a vet check in October and everything is good. Even his teeth are good.

I did read though, that the Pro Plan Sensitive Salmon does contain yeast. So, could that be it? The yeast is in his saliva, he’s licking thinking things and then the Yeast is fermenting for lack of a better expression?

And if that is maybe the source of the issue, why now? Why after being on this food for over 2 years, would this happen now?

And again i ask, if it’s possible it’s the yeast from the food, which clearly isn’t harming him… would breath drops work, or a vitamin of some kind and if not… are there recommendations for FISH based foods that we can try? Fish based food so far is the only one, that resolves his coat and gas issues.

Sorry for being long winded and thank you for any help you can provide.

Walt

[anne a]

A retail bargain store here in NE “ocean state job lots” is selling label removed premium canned dog food -Salmon & Mackerel. It is 12 cans for $5.99 & is packaged in a cardboard CANIDAE tray – not to expire until 5/15, grain free, same ingredients as the “pure sea “canidae I use sometimes w/dry food Orijen. That being said ,it is manufactured by Performance Pet Products from Mitchell,So.Dakota. We bought & donated this food to our local rescue without problems. I contacted the store to find out why the labels are removed & they just said it was an “odd lot”. I know Canidae in the past has had a couple of recalls r/t manufactured w/Diamond foods. Does anyone have any info about this? Thank you for your time.Anne

[Nancy M]

Thanks for your opinion BCnut, I tend to agree with you. I wonder why they make this puppy formula with such a high fiber; seems like all pups would have this same problem. Although I have noticed a little slow down in water consumption since yesterday afternoon.,Maybe this is a form of adjustment, or maybe it’s not really a good thing. I’ll have to watch him closely today before I decide to do something different. I have cut back on the amount of each feeding though, so maybe that’s helping. Fortunately, I am readily available to him, and make it a regular routine in going outside to relieve himself, we just have to do it more often. Although I have wondered how this affects his urinary system as well. He’s been really doing great on potty training since I got him and my particular set up is much easier than most situations. He just goes to the door and I’m right there to let him out and he’s right there in the spot he needs to go.

I hate to change him back to the Victor; just another change for him right now, plus the holidays are not a good time to have an upset puppy. I might try to locate a small bag of it though and reduce the amount of this new food for awhile longer though. Or maybe replacing some of the dry, with the same formula in the canned, might help too. One or the other should help, without tummy upset, I hope.,

Thanks again for responding……..
Nancy

[Dog_Obsessed]

Blue has good ingredients but bad quality control and possible mislabeling of ingredients. Wellness, for the most part, has good ingredients and is reliable. At one point they had a few products being manufactured by Diamond, but they moved away as fast as possible after the last recall. I feed there canned food as toppers and would feel totally comfortable feeding their dry. I have Wellness CORE on my list of foods to try.

[Peggy]

Hi Susan, thanks for your reply.
I’ve googled canine pancreatitis today and called my own vet.
Most of the symptoms I found, and our vet gave me, Tebow does not have.

Fever – no
Vomiting – no
Diarrhea – no
Loss of appetite (anorexia) – definitely Not!
Weight loss – no.
Dehydration – no
Fatigue and sluggishness – probably as much as any overweight dog, or human for that matter.
Mild to severe abdominal pain – I was brushing him today and while he was on his back I pushed on his tummy and felt around. He made no sounds at all that would lead one to believe he’s in pain. In fact, his legs got going because he was being tickled, haha.
Depression – not at all.
Increased heart rate – none that I can tell.
Difficulty breathing – again, as much as you would expect from an overweight dog or human. Plus he’s been snoring.

I ordered Wellness Core Grain-Free Reduced Fat Dry food today from Amazon.com – $6 less than PetSmart, and free shipping. Should be here Monday. I took him for a walk in the snow today – walking has not been a regular activity for us. It will be from now on.

Thank you to everyone for your help!

[Elizabeth G]

How can I quickly find the best quality of dry lamb food on your website? I feed raw and have for 20 some odd years but my new rescue dog has frequent ear infections so my vet wants her on a limited lamb food for about two months to see which protein might be causing it. I will be feeding fresh lamb meat for one meal but need a dry for the other feeding. Any tips on how to find the best lamb dry on your website? Thanks for doing this website by the way. I recommended it to all my puppy buyers when I was showing and breeding.

[Peggy]

Thank you everyone for your input.
Dog_Obsessed, I will go look at that canned food tomorrow, thank you.

Before the BBB, they were on Purina Dog Chow and Pedigree can. Tebow was fit and very active, no problems at ALL. Once I changed to BBB – I was told it was healthier, ha – and started feeding only once per day – is when he started gaining weight. He acts like he was hungry all the time. I guess he is. 🙁

I’ll be looking at weight loss food tomorrow as well. 2 vets contacted me tonight from here and told me to drop BBB and go to Wellness Core, and to only put enough wet food in it to “tasty it up”. Other options they gave me were to brown up some fresh ground turkey, or scramble 1 egg each and mix with their dry food.

theBCnut – yes his belly actually feels TIGHT. It doesn’t extend noticeably after eating. It’s like that all the time.
I should not have said his breathing is really labored. It’s heavier than it used to be, and he snores, whereas he did not used to. Lady has always snored.

I do have an appointment for him for a checkup and vaccinations in early January. I’m hoping that these changes and increasing our walking a bit every day will help him. We could both lose some weight.

Thanks everyone.

[Peggy]

And I will say it again – HELP!

My little 4 yr old Jack Russell Terrier, Tebow, is getting fat on Blue Buffalo Basics dry dog food! He’s always been a slim little guy, and very active as only a JRT can be.

However, my lab/shepherd, LadyBug, developed food sensitivites about 4 months ago, and my vet suggested that I switch them to Blue Buffalo Basics. So, ok, I did. Within a week, no more vomiting for Lady, yay! But Tebow is blowing up like a balloon! I’m ready to change his name to Chunky Munky, I swear. His abdomen literally is beginning to look like a balloon, but he is solid. Also, his breathing has become a bit labored, I’m assuming due to the weight gain.

Does anyone have ANY idea what could be causing this? Do I need to change foods again? I can’t afford to have them on 2 different foods.

(BTW, they eat once per day – a cup of BB in each bowl, plus 1 can of Pedigree split between them. Someone told me I should feed them smaller portions twice per day. Is this true?)

• This topic was modified 11 years ago by Peggy.

[Nancy M]

Could someone give me some pointers on using coconut oil for dogs? During this colder, drier weather, and to soothe the itchies that are also part allergy related, I wanted to start adding some to my dogs dry food. I do know it’s something that has to be used sparingly, so please give me your experiences. I have a brand new jar of USDA organic, refined, pressed, that I had bought for my Sheltie before he died a couple months ago, so maybe this will be a good time to use it up.

Looking forward to some feedback.

Thanks,
Nancy

[R-K]

Hi all, I was asked by a friend to research Welcome Home dog food, which is made by Centinela Feed on the west coast. I’m sure it’s a newer brand but after 30 minutes of looking online I am unable to find ANYTHING about it, other than mentioning it on their own website but with no link to any information. No official website, no dog food advisor, nothing. It’s not their other brand Lotus but rather Welcome Home which only used to make treats but I guess they’ve expanded into dry foods too. Can anyone provide me with any information?

[crazy4cats]

Oh, poor baby! How is she doing? Have you checked out the review side of this website? There are several 4 and 5 star foods, both dry and canned listed.

Where do you shop? What is your budget? Have you considered feeding a home made diet with a premix? What does the vet recommend? Sorry, so many questions. It would be great to hear back from you. Good luck!

[Laura M]

I find that a canned food can put weight on fast and there are many grain free, good products to choose from. I mix canned and my dry which is Orijen adult and have a skinny boy that is hard to keep weight on and that does the trick. I also supplement with chicken or hamburger, etc. and that gets him interested in his bowl of food! Not sure if you have an issue with your dogs not wanting to eat or just hard to keep weight on. Be careful when transitioning, you can upset everything if you go too fast. Good luck!

[Lynn R]

WhAt would be the best foods dry & canned, for her?

[Nancy M]

I need input on a topic that I’ve NEVER had experience with…..an UNDERWEIGHT dog.

I aquired my daughter’s mini Aussie female puppy when she was about 11 months old. She was raised on Diamond Natural’s dry puppy food. Although she has grown into a somewhat thin lanky adult, she looked alright on the Diamond. However, when it came time to switch her to an adult food, I ended up going with the Victor Hi-Pro Plus (puppy and adult formula), only because a Sheltie puppy I just got, was already on it. So I thought I would finally get away from the Diamond products and for the last few weeks, they were both eating the Victor. I was a bit concerned with the variety of meats in this formula though.

Within the first 2 weeks, I noticed a growing shed and itchiness with the Aussie; actually had to take her into the vet for an allergy shot, which has helped. He suggested a food change, which I have done over the last week; back to another Diamond product though which I don’t like, but for now I’m trying it until I find something better. I am currently switching her over to the TOTW Pacific Stream grain-free formula). The puppy is switching to the puppy formula of that as well.

The shedding and itchiness has improved some, but it’s too soon to know if it’s the food change or the allergy med, but my daughter finally agrees with me that she is getting too thin. So I’m getting a bit concerned about this. While this is normally a pretty active breed, she seems pretty content with my subdued life style (I’m a moderately active 63 year old), and she does enjoy the activity involved with the new puppy. So an excessive activity level is not the issue. I am feeding her about 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups/day. I could up that of course, but if I’m NOT feeding the proper food, that will only serve to over-indulge her digestive system, wouldn’t it?

I’ve dealt with “overweight” problems at times, but NEVER an underweight issue. Suggestions, please. ASAP.

Thanks,
Nancy

[theBCnut]

Definitely compare using dry matter. That way you are comparing apple to apples. You can compare a canned food to a kibble to a raw to a dehydrated to a freeze dried if they are all in dry matter.

[pugmomsandy]

All the foods I listed are in “dry matter” (after calculation) so they can be compared together. Plug in the “crude” numbers into the calculation to convert all forms (dry, wet, etc) to dry matter.

[bill c]

Thanks Crazy.

Okay, that kinda cleared it up.
Still wondering, though, whether to
use the fat content for dry or valued…hmmm.

I’m looking for a fat content–based on what ‘others’ advise–that’s between 8-14% or 10-20% with protein between 20-30% or 22-26% dog food brand-wise (kibble and/or dehydrated). Perhaps I should hire a mathematician 🙂

[DogFoodie]

Hi Bill!

Great to see you again! I always love your positive energy!

Here’s the best dry matter converter I’ve found: http://fnae.org/dmb.html

I started to make a couple of suggestions, when I realized you were looking for foods with lower protein than what I was going to recommend. Any particular reason you’re looking for the lower protein? I don’t recall you saying anything about Billy having had pancreatitis previously, so are the protein and fat levels just your preference for him?

Sorry if I’m asking questions you’ve already answered or for which you’ve offered explanations!

[Hue Z]

This organic, all-natural dry food contains brown rice, oatmeal, green peas and potatoes– a combination of ingredients designed http://www.testking.net/testking-640-864.htm
to provide the perfect balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The Natural Balance formula is vegan and has added nutrients to meet a dog’s specific nutritional needs

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by Hue Z.

[Naturella]

Not a Boston Terrier owner, but a small terrier mix owner nonetheless here! 🙂

I think that what you should do is try several different brands and proteins and find out what your furry friend does well on, and then rotate between brands and protein types.

I feed a rotational diet and I am constantly trying new things with my Jack-Rat mix Bruno. Brands that have small-breed (smaller kibble) sizes include Wellness (small/toy breed formulas), Victor, Annamaet GF, Earthborn Holistic GF has been small enough for my boy, Nutrisca too, Castor & Pollux, Holistic Health Extension, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and many more. I have fed most of the above as well as other brands with great success (except for NVI, my boy got sick on the rabbit formula, BUT I would try this food again).

You could also add canned, dehydrated, or freeze-dried to kibble as a topper to spice things up, or as a regular thing. Wet food is better than dry for dogs anyway, so if you can feed just canned, dehydrated, or freeze-dried, go for it! I usually feed Bruno “soups” of kibble, warm water, and canned, dehydrated, or freeze-dried as a topper, or coconut oil, yoghurt/kefir, raw egg, canned sardines, etc.

Good luck and keep us poster or let us know if you have any more questions.

[Amy C]

Hi Everyone,
This is my first time here and I’m hoping someone can help. I got Sadie, a Treeing Walker Coonhound last year at 3 months old. She kept getting yeast infections in her ears and no medication would clear it up, so we changed her diet to grain free. A few weeks ago I decided to try Rachel Ray’s grain free wet to add to her dry, Canidae land and sea. She was just on Avangers wet buffalo, beef and some chicken, mostly buffalo for wet food. She is such a picky eater though, so that’s why I tried the RR wet, in comes gookie ears!!
I immediately pull her off of the RR and home make food for her. I made chicken thighs, string bean, sweet potato, peas and carrots. This way I know what is in her wet food. Well now she is pooping more and they are soft and squishy, and more often… She went this am at 5:30 and again at 10:00…. So could this be due to the change, maybe the chicken thighs are too rich for her, or the veggies?
She’s been having the mixture for almost two weeks now. This past time, I did save the broth, which is like a jelly, to add also, to much fat?
Also, her ears aren’t completely cleared… Could the ears be seasonal, it is about the same time of year. She is 1 year and 5 months.
Sorry this is so long! thank you

[pugmomsandy]

Wellness Complete Health Senior canned 32/14
Freshpet Select Homestyle tubs 27/18
Wysong Anergen canned 28/12
Wysong Adult Maintenance canned 28/16
Canidae Life Stages Platinum canned 24/18
Avoderm Weight Control Chicken and Rice canned 23/14
Natural Balance LID Chicken and Sweet Potato canned 25/16
Addiction Summer Brushtail dehydrated 23/11
Addiction Kangaroo Feast dehydrated 24/11
Addiction New Zealand Forest Delicacies dehydrated 25/13
Addiction Beef and Zucchini dehydrated 22/11
Addiction Venison and Cranberry dehydrated 25/15
Addiction Fig’licious Venison dehydrated 22/11
Addiction Country Chicken and Apricot dehyrated 24/17
Back to Basics Grain Free dry 27/16
Fromm Gold Reduces Activity dry 26/12
Fromm Gold Large Breed Adult dry 26/13
Pro Pac Ultimates Lamb Meal and Brown Rice dry 24/13
Pro Pac Ultimates Mature Chicken Meal dry 23/13
Pro Pac Ultimates Grain Free Overland Red and Meadow Prime dry 26/13

This article has the explanation and formula to convert foods into dry matter:

/choosing-dog-food/dry-matter-basis/

[bill c]

Hiya,

I’m abroad (stationed in Singapore). I posted in the regular site but, thought I’d also do it here.

1. What’s the best dry food with 22-26% protein; 8-14% Fat; and 340-360 calories
2. Same question for dehydrated food
3. Same goes for canned food.
I currently feed Honest Kitchen and Acana Grassland but, am confused about the percentages on the packaging.

This is us:

[Kayla]

I am not sure if he has wheat sensitivities. I do know anything corn does not settle well with him. So far, He is doing really well with Chicken and Brown rice dry food by Pure balance and had no unwanted accidents or smelly gas or anything like that. I recently started to transition Pure Balance Grain Free Bison and Pea dry food mixed in with the other food and he is still doing really well! Personally, I think he likes the Bison better than the Chicken one. lol But, I wanted to try the Grain free/different flavor because I heard Rotation is a good thing. He also does well on the wet food but I switch it up with different flavors.

[Kayla]

He seems to love the Pure Balance treats, the dry food and also the wet food by Pure Balance also! I am just trying to find different brands besides sticking with the same one lol

[Michelle R]

We have a female Boston Terrier (2 years old) we adopted from a rescue recently. We were wondering if anyone else out there that has a BT has recommendations on the best dry food to feed her?

[Dena v]

Her dry food is fromm

It says
CALORIC CONTENT41681,894 kcal/lb404 kcal/cup

she eats 2 1/2 cups a day. Although a little less lately.

I can’t even figure our how much calories she eating now cause I don’t know which numbers to use to multiply and figure out.

[pugmomsandy]

How many calories is she eating currently of dry food? You could start by feeding her the equivalent in wet food.

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by pugmomsandy.

[Dena v]

Hi, I currently feed dry fromm to my lab/Shepard mix. She’s 11 years old. Very inactive. Lays/sleeps a lot. She use to be over weight but she’s been not wanting to eat her dry food as much. Which makes me think I need to switch her to wet food because it would be easier on her teeth. She has had merrick before so I want to switch to that. But I need help figuring out how much to feed my inactive senior.

Merrick senior wet says
Calorie Content

873 kcal /kg or 332 kcal per 13.2.oz. can ME (metabolizable energy) on an as fed basis (calculated).

^^^ I don’t quite get what it means. Or how to enter that into the dog food caculator.

Your dog food’s calories per serving

 kcal / cup or    kcal / kg

what number would I enter into the caculator?

I’m totally confused. Tia!

[Chase]

Hi Mike.

Only Natural Pet Canine PowerFood (Poultry Feast).

Only Natural Pet PowerFood Chicken and Poultry Feast Grain Free Dog Food

[Esther B]

I am having trouble finding a five star grain free dry kibble for my puppy without rosemary. I would advise you make sure the food and treats do not have rosemary in them. I don’t know a lot about it but there does seem to be a problem with diarrhea and even some yellow frothy vomit. I’ve taken my pup off treats with rosemary but am having trouble finding a dry puppy kibble without it. My vet says my pup is doing good and just having growth spurts although she weighed 20lb at 10 weeks and the same at 11 weeks. I would also like advise and recommendations of kibble. Thanks

[George D]

I’ve spoken to the owner of bdn in regards to feeding amounts and my pups hunger, he told me not to worry, dogs will get used to it, this food is digested much quicker than kibble and since all the nutrients are fully absorbed, not as much food is needed. I am now feeding 1.75 cups of dry per day, but according to the DFA calculator I should be feeing 2.8 cups/day! I’m not sure what to do, considering cutting bdn to only once per day and kibble ( farmina ) for the other feeding.