[Melissaandcrew]

I feed several feral/stray cats. Quite honestly I feed them whatever is reasonable that I find on sale. I figure they are not mine and damn lucky to get fed (and yes we trapped them and did full medical and apply frontline monthly lol) Usually they get a combo of various dry foods..the last two months it was cat chow, proplan and some top quality grain free that was short dated and reduced to clear. I still have two large bins full of the grain free and being added to that is two large bags of Iams I found on sale today. I figure 50 percent good 50 percent lower quality is better than nothing. For cans they get what ever is on sale.

[Akari_32]

Dehydrated food is less processes than most canned foods, and obviously much less than dry food. As far as feeding goes, it’s fed about the same as any canned diet, in a higher volume than dry.

It’s a good choice for dogs that need a less processed and/or more limited diet (you can buy pre-mixes where you add your own protein source).

And both canned and dehydrated are better for adding water to the diet. They are more species appropriate, due to the water content.

About the only down side is cost, but small dogs aren’t very expensive to feed.

[Liz S]

I am interested in dehydrated food.

What are the pros and cons of it? Compared to dry? To canned?

[Bobby dog]

Hi Erin:
I have a bag of Natures Recipe chic, sp, & pumpkin in my pantry. The fat is 12% minimum and protein is 27% minimum so you would have to contact the company to see what the maximums are.

Below are links to lists of low fat dog foods. These brands/recipes are not necessarily for dogs with pancreatitis. One list pertains to low fat & low sodium foods. I know you are not looking for low sodium foods, but they might be a starting place to find brands to look into further.

/best-dog-foods/suggested-low-fat-dog-food/

/forums/topic/dry-dog-food-with-low-salt-and-low-fat/

[Jim D]

Has anyone had any experience – good or bad – with buying dry dog food by “subscription” from Amazon.Com?

[Sandra R]

I have a two months old french bulldog and I’m feeding her for now Acana for puppies. For now she is doing Ok, but I would like to know about your opinion about rotation diet and how to do it
And if i can give her a raw diet or should I wait until she is an adult? What is the best dry food for French bulldog puppies?
Thank you so much for your help.

[James P]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. She still picks at the dry kibble she is used to but I’ll augment that with a good can food.
Thanks again

[jakes mom]

Does anyone have any experience/knowledge of a fairly new company called Petbrosia? Interesting website, made to order dry food for dogs and cats. You fill out a questionnaire about your pet and they customize food for you. All quality ingredients sourced in USA.

[Lois W]

Have an elderly rescue chihuahua that survived starvation, heart worms, and HGE. Now feed Lamb and Rice small bread cans/dry Natural Balance but looking for grain free easy to digest lamb or chicken dry as well as can food that is five star. Have four special needs rescues including him.

[Jenny]

Hi friends,

Has anyone tried Okinawan Happy Dogs Brain and Memory Support Food Mix or any products from Okinawan Happy Dogs?

Here’s the link to the product: http://www.okinawanhappydogs.com/products/brain-memory-support (it looks very promising and is all-natural, gluten-free, GMO-Free, and no artificial preservatives or coloring added! Too good to be true?)

The company seems fairly new so I haven’t found any consumer reviews online… from the company’s website Okinawan Happy Dogs is “a division of Everyday Wellness Corporation, a US manufacturer of dietary supplements specializing in natural herbal nutrition for humans and pets.” But other than that, zero info.

To give you some background details: My dog is a 16-year-old toy poodle who is battling CDS (Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome) as well a reappearing mammary gland tumor and also developing a slight heart murmur (she’s a fighter!). She eats Earthborn Hollistic dry food, but has been losing her appetite recently and only wags her tail for her favorite treats, Dr. Becker’s Bites Grain Free Liver Treats.

If your dog is also fighting CDS, can you please share/recommend any products that have worked effectively for your dog?

Thank you so much!
J

P.S. After reading this old post from “banditsmom,” I’m thinking of trying Novifit if I can’t find a natural alternative for my dog: /forums/topic/cognitive-dysfunction

[Debra B]

Just to name a few on the August Editor’s Choice List: Summit Original Large Breed Dry Food receives 4 stars and has rice as the THIRD ingredient. Also, Dr. Tim’s Pursuit with a 5 star rating has rice as well as Castor & Pollux Natural Ultramix Adult with a 4 star rating.

[Jeffrey]

Does anyone have any experience with Annamaet Ultra 32 Dry Dog Food or Annamaet Grain-Free Salcha Poulet?

My dog is a 40 pound 5yr old mix and generally active. She walks 3 miles a day and plays fetch 2-3 times a day. Hence the desire for a high protein diet.

She has been dealing with a mix of normal to semi-formed to liquid stools. After a few expensive visits to the Vetrinatian it seems to now come down to diet and a bit of IBD.

We have been feeding her By Nature Organics and also tried Natural Planet Organics (Dry). Both have tomato pomace so I am thinking contributory.

Does anyone have an experience with either of these foods with a dog that has tummy troubles?

Thanks
First time poster,
Jeffrey

[pugmomsandy]

Actually, my freezer is behind the open door of the dog freezer! And I have another side-by-side in the laundry room mostly full of drinks and yogurt and upstairs in the media room I use this unit to thaw food out in.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by pugmomsandy.
• This reply was modified 10 years ago by pugmomsandy.

[Dori]

OMG! Your dog food room is practically as big as the pet food store I go to. How many dogs do you have? I’m like really speechless. Wow! I’m floored! How long does it take you to use all that food up? Won’t it go bad? That’s a heck of a lot of food. Your dogs are quite the lucky ones.

Thanks for the pics of the food dry and rehydrated. Makes it easier to know what to expect. I rotate foods on a daily basis, sometimes meal by meal so I’m never particularly concerned about whether a food is totally complete and balanced or AAFCO compliant. So long its close, that’s good enough for me. That’s another benefit of rotational feeding.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Dori.

[pugmomsandy]

I still have a case of BDN to use up. I use it as a topper in rotation with my other toppers. Dori, have you seen my dog supply room? I have lots of topper choices! BDN rehydrates well and looks like cooked ground beef when it’s ready to feed. If you send an email to them, the owner will reply quickly. There were questions about this food regarding it’s GA and it’s calcium level and Ca:Phos ratio. I just use it as an unbalanced topper.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/dogfoodcans_zps83871f36.jpg

This is dry:

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/bdndrybeef2_zps877bb1cb.jpg

and rehydrated:

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/bdnwetbeef1_zpsa0b84618.jpg

[Bobby dog]

Hey everybody! I have been really busy this past week so I have only been popping in here and there.

I have tried some new foods, canned and dry, and will stop back to give some reviews.

C4c: Love the story it brought tears to my eyes too. I get emotional reading or hearing about rescues. 😉

Sharon: I have never tried Go! so I will be interested in what the food is like.

Also, funny you just posted and reminded me of your sensitive kitty. I was just checking out a website I used to visit quite a bit last year. I don’t know if you ever visited it, but they have a good cat food list that I have used in the past. The list is not that long and I know you have fed some of them. Anyway, you might find the description of each food helpful if you are interested in trying something new for your sensitive kitty. Here’s a link to the food list:
http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/comment-page-2/

We have had a few weeks of fairly cool weather and only a few days mixed in with high humidity so Bobby was out and about a little more than usual. However, the heat and humidity is coming back which will turn him into a house dog again. lol

Bobby hasn’t marked anymore territory in the garden, but the sweet potatoes are doing really well. Maybe Bobby has the magic touch?

He was ornery the other night though; he managed to eat two dinners. He apparently was hanging around the kitchen while I was outside doing yard work looking very hungry and pitiful. I went inside to get a drink of water and was told “don’t worry about your poor dog, since you were so busy and forgot about him, I fed him.” lol

[Susan]

Hi Erin, Patch cant have wet tin food as he also gets sloppy poo but since I found the Kangaroo at 1.5% fat he’s Ok, so it must of been the highter fat in the other tin foods they were around 4-5% in fat that must of made his poos sloppy..
When I soak Patches kibble in his bowl I drain the water then put the kibble on a paper towel & touch dry & all the kibbles are just soft with a little crunch still & no its the same & doesnt give sloppy poos,
When I first got Patch he was always having sloppy poo then good poos & for about 9 months, we thought it was the fiber, it was flaxseed, then he had a Pancreas flare & it was the higher fat giving him the sloppy poos, so now I make sure I stick around 10% fat for kibbles & 1.5% fat for wet tin foods..
I’d try the Merrick G/F Healthy weight cause the max fat is 11% the protein is 32% min, fiber is 5% but if you have trouble with Merrick it will probably be the protein being to high at 32%
With Pancreatitis some dogs cant have a high protein diet either, thats why Ive never try the Wellness core in the begining cause the protein was 33% & the fiber is 8.5% too high, Patch cant have a high protein, nothing over 24% …also there’s the ‘Holistic Select’ senior at 10% fat & 26% protein, I did try this but I had to take Patch off chicken as vet thought he was allergic to chicken, that’s why he’s on the Wellness Simple Duck & Oatmeal with no chicken fat,
I think that’s why dogs do well on the Vet prescription diets as they are made for illnesses & lower in fat protein & fiber, needed for some dogs with Pancreatitis, you’ll just have to see how ur girl goes, when I joined the dogpancreatitis group on Yahoo I started to learn heaps then I understood why Patch was still having his flares, I was trying to keep his protein high, I’d add a boiled egg to his meal, then he wasnt his usual happy self playing, after eating, I didnt realise that the yoke was too high in fat & protein.. but ur girl will probably be OK, not as bad….

[Melissaandcrew]

Jasmes- remember-any dry food can be softened by soaking it for 10mins or so in warm water 🙂

[DogFoodie]

Hi Liz,

I’m wondering if there’s an issue with the canned food you’re feeding. That’s why I asked when she was fed and what she was eating.

First, I wouldn’t allow the free feeding. Offer the morning meal and remove it after about 15 minutes and then don’t offer the next meal until it’s dinner time. I wouldn’t change that right now, but would in the near future.

As a test, the easiest thing to do would be to try offering the same dry food in the evening that you offer in the morning, as that food seems to work for her. It could be that she’s intolerant of an ingredient in the wet food that makes her not feel well and the anticipation of that makes her feel anxious.

Try that for a few days and see how she responds. I understand wanting to offer more fresh foods and more moisture, so it’s sort of a temporary test without introducing any other potential problems into the mix.

[milly w]

I’m always suggest the best way to help with pet dental problem is to feed them best dry cat food. You can sometimes do some recipe research and make healthy dry food for cats at home. It not only save money, but keep your cats healthy!

[Liz S]

4footedfoodie,

We did try the thundershirt as it was rec’d by our vet. We gave it a try two separate times. Didn’t do a thing for Reese. I too have heard it’s helpful to other dogs. Not my girl :/

Her and my other chi have dry food right now. Fresh kibble is put in their little bowls each day and they free feed throughout the day. They also get a small package of wet at around 5 every day. The kibble is Toy & Small Breed Science Diet. ( Crap, I know ) The wet is Nature’s Recipe Grain Free. We rotate the wet flavors of kitchen. Always have. You may or may not have seen a few of my other posts lately but I have been diligently researching much better dog foods. This site has been very helpful. But very overwhelming. The kibble is running out and tomorrow or Wednesday the latest I’m going to be making a final decision on a new food.

[James P]

I have a 8 year old female boxer with a pretty good under bite. As such her teeth don’t line up properly and since she is getting older it’s becoming harder for her to eat a hard dry kibble. I recently started putting ” Moist and Meaty” dog food down for her and she doesn’t seem to be having any problems with it. I would normally not feed it as the primary food but don’t want her to go hungry. Between that and can ( chunk) dog food I guess that is where we are for now. Any suggestions would be welcome. What about Frozen soft version of Bil-Jack?

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi Erin- I just googled the dry food you feed, and on line it says it is only 12% fat..which is very low and should be fine. When giving beef or chicken, if not feeding raw. be sure to BOIL it, then drain well./.use 95% lean beef. My crew has less problems with beef when it is fed raw, but that is them. Eggs should be hard boiled, and my schnauzers get 1/2 of large egg each. no more than 2 twice a week. Anything more, and stomach issues. I do give them low fat shredded cheese on occasion, but more often I give them a dash of low fat kefir, or low fat/fat free yogurt. If it were my dog, I would feed a bland diet for a week, and then start the dry back..slowly over a week. . No “additives/toppers” for a few weeks. I am betting the cheese just built up her triglycerides and it was a matter of time.

[Melissaandcrew]

While its generally recommended to keep the fat in the lower ranges(10-12 percent) each tolerance level is different for different dogs. Schanuzers, btw, are notorious for having pancreatitis problems. Do you know what caused it? Different food? Treat maybe? Pigs ear? Its hard to find a bland canned diet that does not contain rice-most of them do. If she can’t have it, then I guess boiled chicken is your option, perhaps with some sweet potato. My schnauzers typically stay in the 16 percent fat max for dry, and one used to only be able to tolerate about 14%.

[Oceans11]

I have posted under this topic before but haven’t found anything that works. My one year old Malagasy Coton De Tulear is a picky eater. I have tried Basic Instinct Raw, Fresh Pet, various 5 star canned foods including Tripett, Orijen dry puppy kibble., Fromm Gold kibble, Blue Wilderness. What he will eat on a consistent basis is rotisserie chicken which probably isn’t healthy. We have tried giving him raw ground round and raw steak. All he wants to do is bury it. I have supplements that I try to give him hidden in his food but one whiff and he walks away (supplements: Angel Eyes, Grizzly Salmon Oil, probiotic, and Vitamin supplement). I am concerned that he is not getting any of these supplements or more importantly a nutritious diet. Because he doesn’t eat much on a routine basis, we have all too often shared what we are eating. I don’t believe he is underweight. I would appreciate any suggestions and/or advice anyone could share. Thanks much!

[Ly]

No 🙁 It was like 3 days! I took him to the vet this morning. He said initially his digestion issue could be from the transition, but it’s because he was eating his poop! Of-course I don’t let him eat it! It’s just that it’s pure liquid, so it’s impossible to pick it all up. Then the next time we go out, he sniffs it out and gets a lick in before I’m fast enough to pull him back.
Plus for vacation we were at a friends house for a week (3 weeks ago) and they have 3 small dogs and a fenced in back yard. He literally went around and ate all their poop! Then later puked it up on their living room carpet! I went around and tried to pick it all up outside and kept him on a leash and walked him around after that. So maybe it was still in his system from then, and changing his food on top of that didn’t help!? The vet gave me an antibiotic and a probiotic and I switched his food to Holistic Select Adult/Puppy dry food and he absolutely loves it! It smells sooooo good too! So I think I’m sticking with that. I just want a firm normal poop now! Vet said to stop the chicken and rice and just give him that. They advertise it’s like yogurt for dogs. He’s the pickiest when it comes to food (didn’t care for but would eat BB, hated Wellness Core, loved Orijen), but he’ll eat any animals poop! “They” say he’ll outgrow it. idk? I tried those pills stool-no! Didn’t work.

[Ly]

Holistic Select Grain-Free Adult/Puppy dry food?

[Jan T]

I would like to nominate Nature’s Logic Dry Chicken Meal Mix…it’s rated 5 stars, is grain and gluten free and our 3 Pups LOVE it and are thriving! It can be purchased at a local dog food shop within 10 miles of home, which is great too.

[“Blue”]

I have bought both Darwin’s and Natures Variety Instinct Raw frozen foods and am having difficulty reconciling their recommended feeding amounts. (Disclosure, sometime in the past 2 months I replied to a similar dry kibble post and suggested the OP use the feeding guides on the package as a starting point but to watch the dog’s body shape using the healthy dog image silhouettes available for that purpose. In other words, if your dog looks fat, feed less, if he looks thin, feed more.)

According to the Dog Food Calculator my 55 lb. dog needs 1230 Calories. For now, forget about differences in one dog’s metabolism, daily exercise, etc. “1230 Cal.” This request to help me understand is about the math, not the individual dog.

NV says my dog needs 1250 Cal. per day (close enough) and that I should feed him 19.5 oz. per day. Their nutrition info says their chicken patties have 49 Cal. per oz. which means 955 Cal. to be fed. Why tell me he needs 1250 and then tell me to only feed 955? That’s a Cal. shortage of about 25%.

Darwins says to feed my dog 9 lbs. per week. Their nutrition info says the chicken recipe is 36 Cal. per oz. That gives 5184 Cal. per week, /7 is 740 Cal. per day. That’s a Cal. shortage of about 60%.

Guess what I’ve been seeing in my dog for the past few weeks. Yep, he’s lost weight.

Can anybody explain why these (or any) companies are so conservative in their recommendations? Am I doing the math wrong? (even if I am, he’s lost considerable weight.) Is there some bit of knowledge I’m missing about feeding raw as relates to weight gain/loss?

Please don’t tell me to follow my own previous advice. Evidently I’ll surely go broke trying to feed him commercial raw.

Thanks,
Steve

[Tiyapup]

I add some pre-mix + raw on top of my dogs’ kibble. I love the idea of giving them some less processed food, but I don’t yet trust the pre-mixes enough to feed them exclusively. I’ve rotated through Sojo’s, The Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy’s Artisan, and Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance.

My main complaint is that the meat to mix ratios seem suspiciously unscientific. Sojo’s says 1 cup dry mix to 1/2 cup meat (seems like not nearly enough meat; I do 1:1). THK says 1 cup dry mix to 1 cup meat, and Grandma Lucy’s says 1 cup dry mix to 1 OR 2 cups meat. The whole reason I started adding the premix to the meat was that I was a little worried about messing up the calcium. These instructions don’t necessarily make me feel more confident, so I keep the kibble around.

Dogaware.com has a very informative write-up about premixes for anyone who needs more information (premixes aren’t reviewed on this site).

[Akari_32]

As some of you guys may know, my moms dog Bentley, a 7 pound jack russell/maltese mix, has a terrible time with yeast infections on his skin, mainly his back half, and all four paws. I finally decided it wasn’t a food allergy, but a seasonal allergy (and every season in FL is allergy season) after trying nearly every dry food on the shelf here, and put him on By Nature 95% canned, which we have to order online every three weeks. And even then, he needs a whole can (he is extremely active and has a high metabolism), but we manage to get by with 3/4 of a can one day, and then 1/4 of a can the next with 1/4 cup (dry measured) of a THK grain free complete mix, and that keeps his weight up well enough. If I didn’t happen to have a couple sample boxes of THK, I don’t know what I’d do! Anyway, his fur is growing back, he’s overall much better, but I still feel like he needs a bit more of a better diet to push his recovery into the right direction.

I’m wanting to do a pre-mix, and have it narrowed down to Urban Wolf and See Spot Live Longer. But I have issues with both. My only issue with UW is the price! I coupon for my dog food, and there is definitely some major sticker shock going on there. I need to know how much food the whole bag would make, and about how long it would last him before I can really pick this one or not. Then theres SSLL. The price is great, as just $17 a 1lb bag. Each bag claims to make 26lb of food, but there are no feeding guidelines or preparation instructions on the website! And the owner of the site doesn’t seem to have all his ducks in a row, either, from what I hear. But the priiiiiice! Its so affordable sounding! I’d love to hear your all’s thoughts on these mixes, and I’d also like to know of any other low carb, and no/minimal sweet potato and carrot mixes out there (Grandma Lucy’s and Sojo’s are out– not high enough calories).

I was also wondering, at his size, how often, and how much, should I offer eggs and sardines? And what brand of sardines do you guys use?

As for proteins, pork and chicken are very high up on the contenders list. Ground pork is just $2.49 a pound, and most pieces of chicken are $1.99 a pound and less. What are your guy’s thoughts on pork as a decent chunk of the dogs diet? I hear such mixed things about pork in general for dogs, but he sure does love a good country rib! And about the chicken, I hear many people like to use dark meat chicken because of the fat content. This sounds great to me because its *cheap*, thighs in particular being just $1.49 a pound. Is this correct? He can certainly use any extra fat he can get (him and cat are running around the house like lunatics right now, even!).

I also want you guys to ok my “staple” meat choices:
Chicken Thighs
Chicken Gizzards
Chicken Livers
Chicken Necks
Chicken Backs
Chicken Wings
Turkey Livers
Turkey Gizzards
Turkey Necks
Turkey Backs
Turkey Wings
Beef Heart
Beef Liver
Country Ribs
Ground Pork

There are more, but I can’t think of them. And then I will also throw in whatever’s on a good sale at the time. Beef is expensive, so it’ll be mostly turkey, chicken, pork (given what ever you guys say about the pork) and beef parts. He doesn’t like fish, so thats not going to be anything I’ll force on him, other than the occasional sardine for his skin and coat. And I know liver shouldn’t be a very large part of the diet. They aren’t sold in very big packages, anyways lol (and some pre-mixes call for them?)

My last question for now, when I want to offer a protein with bone in it (RMB), could I feed him the pre-mix prepared with no meat (separated out during prep before meat is added), and then give him the RMB? Or could I just give the RMB as the meal and forget the pre-mix (but how often can I do that?)? Or I could remove all the meat from the bone, and give him just the bone as a munchy treat. Given his mushy diet, I would really like to make sure he gets enough to chew on. My plan is to make his meals for one to two weeks ahead on a weekend, and then freeze them all in a planned out sort of manner, and mark out his meals by day. That way I can make sure he gets the right amount of sardines and egg, and gets a good rotation of meat.

That’ll do for now, i think. I’m just in the planning stages, so I’m open to any suggestions, change in plans, tips, whatever. Thanks! 🙂

[Victoria W]

Could you possibly review PetSana dehydrated dry dog food?

[Nancy C]

A couple of thoughts: My 10 yr old Golden R will eat about anything but not in a gobbling it up sort of way. HOWEVER, I have just lately been adding TO the bowl some sample packs of The Honest Kitchen flavors (which they sent for free in a box) and I have mixed that tog with Fromm’s Four Star Salmon, Dr Tim’s Kinesis GF, and Acana Grasslands, and she has LICKED every food molecule out of THE BOWL every time! Each pack has about 100 calories, so I reduced the calories in the dry kibble to make room for the HK food. THK food is wet such that it will coat all the kibble in a nice way if you stir it. also, I have added Coconut Oil to the food, putting little dollops on top of the food. Both my dogs LOVE coconut oil and it is SO GOOD for them. (The substitute mailman just commented yesterday how beautiful the Golden’s coat is — that it is noticeably thicker and prettier. I told him I’ve been giving her coconut oil. He said it has made a difference.) Dr Becker recommends 1 tsp per day for every 10 to 20 pounds of weight. It’s like CANDY to them and I think makes contents in the bowl more interesting and tasty. I sometimes snip large fish oil capsules and drop the drops on the kibble. Also just bought some very high quality Norwegian Salmon Oil. The woman at the pet boutique said several pumps of this on top of kibble really upgrades the flavor.

[Deby G]

About 2 weeks ago I started to fed my 7lb poodle mix the family style with veggies, etc. I researched and even called the company and was told they import nothing from China and neither do their suppliers. Now there are posts on the internet that the company was sold to a china based company and there are horror stories about the dry food. I rescued Marley this past Feb. and she is about 5-6 years old. My vet practically insisted on Hills WD prescription food. However, Marley had patella/cruciate surgery recently and in discussing her food the Dr. was shocked about using WD RX long term when she has no gastro or other problems. So, I figured he was pushing it because I need to buy it from him and decided to try Blue. Marley loves it but now I am frightened. Anyone out there have any answers for me? I will really appreciate your input. Bunny

[Naturella]

Liz S, I also think adding canned will do much, much good! When I use canned, I prefer the pate-style ones, and I add a bit of water with the canned and kibble (I mix dry and canned usually), and make it mushy/porridge-like/soupy, and this way I try to counter the dryness of the kibble.

My dog is small too (Jack Russell-mini Rat Terrier mix (we think, as he was found in the bushes), 13.5 lbs), but I never really fed him a small-breed specific food except for his very first one when we adopted him. Foods I have tried that he did good on (and could eat the kibble with no problems) are: Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Vets Choice Holistic Health Extension, Dr. Tim’s (slightly bigger kibble, but oh well, he managed it just fine), Nutrisca, Earthborn Holistic Grain Free, Victor Grain Free (lots of samples), Nature’s Variety Instinct (samples), Now! Fresh (sample), NutriSource Grain Free (samples), Annamaet (samples), Wysong (samples), and I have a lot lined up – Back to Basics, Canidae Pure, Dogswell LiveFree, Wysong, NVI, more Victor Grain Free (which, in my case (heads up to LabsRawesome), told me I could PURCHASE the samples at $0.33/baggie, but wouldn’t send me free ones, AND I had to pay the shipping… But I stocked up at 5 samples/food, lol).

All the kibbles aside from Dr. Tim’s were small enough and just fine to manage. For canned I have fed Wellness Core, Nutro Natural Source and Nutro Ultra, and now I feed The Honest Kitchen (THK) dehydrated with water instead of canned. I also add a raw egg once a week, coconut oil with some lukewarm water every other day, and yoghurt/kefir every other day, as well as a canned sardine and its fish juice from the can once a week too. So you can use some of these for variety and to cut the costs of canned.

[Akari_32]

I add canned to add variety, but also because my oldest dog, an 11 year old lab mix, has never stomached meal-sized amounts of dry food very well, so the extra moisture makes it a little more palatable. I mix it right in her dry food, and she loves it.

Canned also adds moisture to their diet, which can be important for certain medical conditions, such as dogs susceptible to UTIs.

I use all different brands and flavors of both canned and dry. There’s really no science to picking my canned, since I only split a single 13 oz can between a 60 lb and 130 lb dog every few days, but if you plan to feed it more often and have it be a larger part of their diet, pick 3-5 star rated brands (I tend to pick 2-3 star rated canned food because of cost).

I believe someone has already suggested to you Wellness Complete Health Small and Toy breed recipes? Pure Balance from Walmart also has small pieces, and now has a small breed formula. It’s a good price, and my guys did good on the salmon and pea grain free. Wellness would be my starting point, though. It’s my favorite for dry food. I’m actually getting ready to try out the toy breed ones for my big guys, the goal being to feed my lab mix as small a meal as possible.

[pugmomsandy]

The reasons for adding a quality canned food: add moisture to the diet, quality canned foods have a good amount of protein since they don’t need carbohydrate binders like kibble, it’s easier to digest since it’s not hard and dry like kibble, they don’t have preservatives in them, and it’s easy to mix in powdered supplements. Canned foods are more species-appropriate than dry pellets.

Drawbacks: softer stool sometimes and the canned foods usually don’t include probiotics. They might have prebiotics like inulin/chicory root.

You don’t have to stick with the same brand of wet as you are using dry. Use various brands and feed a rotaional diet.

[Liz S]

I have a 2 yr old female chihuahua and 5 yr old italian greyhound. I’m not happy with their current food although it is a good one. I’m in the process of choosing a new one. ( dry )

What is a reason(s) you might add a canned food to their diet? I give my chi a small can at night.

When I choose a dry food I think I would like to continue giving her a small can/packet at night. And also start giving our IG a can at night. ( coming close to making a final decision hopefully, on the dry ) My head is spinning and I am so overwhelmed.

Whatever dry we pick it will need to be small bites. And wouldn’t it make sense to buy the same brand canned? Or…?

Thanks you for any advice. Would love to hear anyone elses thoughts or experiences.

Liz

[Liz S]

Sue66b

I am new to this site and I didn’t know anyone responded to my post. To be honest, I don’t even know how I stumbled upon it, and saw the replies! I looked around and found all I had to do was click on my profile, lol. Also, I am not sure I am replying correctly…like directly to your reply or this just goes as another reply. I think I did it right but I am not sure. 🙂

I LOVE Wellness. I give it to my cats & my ferrets. I tried the dog version ( same thing…chicken one.. ( chihuahua and IG several months ago). but they turned their noses up to it. I also think my chihuahua doesn’t do well with chicken. I am not sure what Wellness has…I’m gonna head over to the Petco and PetSmart site right now and see what kinds they have. I’d like to do lamb, venison etc ( anything besides chicken ) and I would love to go grain free. Chihuahua is getting Whole Earth grain free now. And Natures Variety Grain Free wet food at night. The IG eats it as well but my chi is having a hard time eating the large pieces. Ah. Poor girl. Last year it took a longggg time finding the right food for our cat as well. Once we found the Wellness Chicken- it was a miracle. Life saver! Phew.

I love that Petco allows you to return a bag as long as its about half eaten. Not sure what PetSmarts policy is.

Might be silly to even ask, since you aren’t here and we’re confused ourselves lol…but do you think I could try one of the Wellness ( grain free ) first? I know grain free is best.

When I think about it though, if I go grain free dry food, I’d need to go grain free for her nightly wet food because what’s the point? Right? I’m just not sure if it’s chicken or the grains that my chi has the real problem with. Not worried about the IG, he does pretty well with everything.

As for the bugg pup I will also look into the Wellness online right now, too.

My 4th ferret that passed in June had insulinoma, adrenal disease etc etc. It’s horrible seeing any of them in ANY type of discomfort.

Geesh I’m sorry I’m so all over the place! My head is spinning!
Thanks for your reply!!!!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Liz S.

[Tulip]

Just had to chime in here. I LOVE this product and this company. Do a bit of digging folks. Read the label. Just about everything in this product is available at your health food store in whole food supplements. In fact, many of these things are part of my personal regime. You won’t’ get the same results with just a diet change.

Think about it. Take good ingredients and HEAT extrude them. Make them into a slurry and put them through extreme heat and pressure. What comes out the other end is highly process,heat extruded food. Of course, AAFCO labels it complete based on what? Is Beneful complete? Yes, according to AAFCO.

Think for yourself. Do your own research.

I feed the homemade dog food recipe on Dinovite’s site. It includes a couple of dinovite products. And I use their wonderful shampoo. My poor Tulip was so miserable for YEARS. Allergists, dermatologists, medications. The people at dinvoite helped me to detox her which took about 5months. Then we continued and to this day, you would not recognize this dog! She’s perky, beautiful, and completely healthy. Yes, healthy.

You eat highly processed food for 7 years…in a dry kibble….and see how you look and feel.

And for those who have not even used this product, you have no basis for opinion, in my opinion.

[Laurie E]

I have a bichon poodle mix that should weigh less than 10 lbs. She’s over weight so I want to start by changing her food. I was feeding her Eukanuba but recently transitioned her to Excellence reduced fat dry which I’m feeding my lab (she’s lost weight since I switched). Any suggestions for a small breed dry food to help her lose weight?

[Susan]

Hi Mar, does the Grain free kibble have potatos or sweet potato..& does the Authority have a money back guarantee, I would take back the food if this has happened & get the one she was eating before the rash, bold spots & dry skin, also grass can give them a rash on their tummys, if they lay on the grass, what are you bathing them in.. I use Malaseb medicated shampoo, it doesnt strip their skin of oils & kills any bacteria in the skin, its excellent.. I have to bath Patch every 5-7 days or as soon as I see him scratching..try to feed foods high in omega 3’s & 6 & get kibbles with a high omega-3 & 6…..no potatos, no sweet potato,no lentils or other high carb foods or high carb fruits as the carbs convert to sugar & yeast loves sugars..I love Pit Bulls they have a hard time in life, the most beautiful dogs & the Staffy..

[Mar E]

I have two female Pitbulls and Lucy is about 6 yrs old and the other just barely a year old. I have fed the puppy Authority dog food since I had her and she was 4 months old. The last bag of puppy food I bought was Authority but I got “grain free” puppy food. I thought grain free was better for the dogs? My point being it seems like since I made the change, the puppy has a rash on her chest and arms and I’m noticing little dry flaky bald spots here and there, could the food be doing this to her? Heres the kicker, Lucy also has a rash but Lucy has had it longer and I think hers is more severe than the puppys. Lucy has white fur so I know her skin is alot more sensitive as opposed to the puppys brindle fur however, I feed Lucy Iams Healthy Naturals. Im wondering if this isnt a skin condition Lucy somehow got and infected the puppy as well? They are not excessively scratching or anything but I noticed the puppy has what almost looks like dandruff on her fur. Please help I cannot afford another vet bill and any and all suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated 😉 Thanks so much have a wonderful evening!

[aimee]

Hi Dori and LabsRawsome,

Experimentally compounds that mimic the hormone CCK result in pancreatitis. In these studies high amounts are given. The most potent dietary stimulation of CCK is fat. Protein though also stimulates CCK release.

From the table in Applied Veterinary Clinical Nutrition 2012 on foods to avoid with chronic pancreatitis “Dry meat treats ( jerky)” The text also cautions against feeding diets very high in protein to patients with a history of pancreatitis.

Hope this helps explain why Patch doesn’t do well with jerky treats.

[Dori]

Wow Labs. You and I seem to be on the same page of late. Dried jerky meat absolutely cannot cause Pancreatitis. Seriously? As Judge Judy would say……RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!
.
On a completely different subject, the girls had their first meal of Victor’s Grain Free (Yukon–the only one that Katie can eat). Other than Katie having a gurgling stomach all seems well. I’m going to try feeding that in the a.m. and raw for their p.m. meals. It would be so great if they can actually eat a dry food. I haven’t gone anywhere since I put the dogs on raw food 2 1/2 years ago. I’ve become a slave to my girls. Not that I wasn’t before, but at least my husband or dog sitters or kennels would feed kibble, they won’t do raw. Truthfully, I wouldn’t trust them anyway. It would really be nice not to be a slave to their meal times. I’ll let you know how it goes on the Victor site.

[Cheryl]

Hi. I’m the mom of a very special boy–I inherited Timber, my brother’s rescue GSD mix from rural TN, when my brother died. Timber often has diarrhea and I’ve tried many foods. Problem is, because of Timber’s nature, he hunts and eats wild critters and also drinks water from many different sources, e.g., puddles, ponds, etc. I have fecal testing done regularly and it always comes back negative. I am looking for a superior quality kibble that will calm his GI track. I have made food for many of my previous dogs, but w/5 rescues, his size (>100 lbs) and limited time, that’s not an option. Thoughts, recommendations? Many thanks.

[jim b]

I have a Shih Tzu with allergies to chicken, potatoes and peas. The only dry food I have found is Primal Freeze Dried Duck Formula. Just started so not sure if will help. It’s a minor hassle to rehydrate and would prefer to find a dry kibble alternative if anyone has a suggestion.

[cajungurl]

We got our puppy at 4 weeks due to mom’s milk drying up. Layla was being fed Pedigree canned puppy food. I knew I didn’t want to keep her on that so started researching about better dog foods. Started her on 4- health Grain Free. But was told at her 9 week appt that she should be on a large breed puppy food because of calcium levels….. more research…. found this site and found Blue wilderness large breed puppy with a 5 star rating. After purchasing, I decided to scroll through a couple of the threads and noticed that this brand is also considered too high in calcium for my large breed puppy….. so in wanting to do what is best for my puppy I decided to research homemade dog foods(made my brain hurt!!!) I think it would be best for me to start with a pre-mix first!

My question, what would be the best pre-mix for a large breed puppy that would have the right amount of calcium?

[DogFoodie]

For your puppy, have you tried adding digestive enzymes to her food? That might help. That said, I’d also recommend changing her food. Poor puppy, can you imagine how miserable she must feel.

When my Golden has gas its because he’s eating something that he’s intolerant of, such as chickpeas or lentils. Look and see if your food includes those. If it does, you might want to look for something without a lot of legumes.

Free feeding isn’t a good idea for a variety of reasons. It contributes to weight gain and isn’t particularly safe as fats in dry dog food go rancid quickly once exposed to air. Everyone should have their place to eat and their own bowls. Give them 15 minutes to eat and then remove what’s left.

Some brands with tiny kibble are Nature’s Logic, Wellness and Amicus. Wellness Core Small Breed is a great product and the kibble are a small, thin, triangular diet of shape. My Cavalier does great on Wellness Core products.

[Susan]

Hi Liz, your dog shouldn’t have real bad gas… Have you looked at the Wellness Range?? They make “Wellness Toy breed” “Wellness Small Breed” complete health Puppy Turkey Oatmeal & Salmon meal recipe..Here’s a link to have a look, the whole Wellness range should come up, Complete Health, Core Grainfree, Toy Breed & Small Breed & their Simple limited ingredients, what I use, my boy was a walking fart, now I never smell any farts since he’s been on the Wellness Simple…
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/recipes.aspx?pet=dog&ft=1#Complete Health Dry Dog Recipes I hope this link works if it doesnt just google “Wellness dog food”… good-luck