[Linda H]

I have an 8 year old Sheltie whose fasting triglycerides were almost off the charts. My vet put him on the Royal Canin Low-Fat GI dry kibble and that has brought down his triglycerides significantly. This food has 5% fat which is lower than almost anything else I’ve found. He is thriving well on this food.

[jane k]

I have a picky yorkie/shihtz mix. he just turned 1 year. Hes very active. I recently discovered he likes lamb. does anyone have a dry 5 star food that is lamb based?

[Bobby dog]

Bobby’s rotation is the same as BCn’s. I buy small bags of kibble so I can rotate foods often. He can switch cold turkey at any time for toppers, whole foods, freeze dried/dehydrated, or kibbles. I feed anything from 3 to 5 star wet/dry foods so protein/fiber/fat levels change with each food. Most of the time Bobby gets samples of other kibbles during a rotation with no issues. So far it doesn’t matter what the protein is and I feed grain inclusive and GF in hopes of avoiding any food intolerances. I am in the process of finding raw foods that Bobby enjoys as well; again no issues other than his taste buds. lol He has never had any issues with transitions since I began rotation feeding in Sept ’13.

[Anissa M]

I am trying to figure out which is the best meat protein in dry dog foods for a sensitive stomach…I hear that lamb is good, beef is harder to digest, chicken/turkey/duck is good as well. Or is a combo of meat proteins better such as chicken and lamb ? I am currently feeding Canidae Life Stages with good success. I am feeding Diamond Beef meal and Rice and have fed it for years until they changed their recipe and one of my bloodhound decided that it was horrible stuff and it completely unsettled her system where as she went off her food for over 2 days even when I tried to mix new with old slowly. The rest of my bloodhounds are fine on the new Diamond. Has anyone else had a problem with the ‘new’ Diamond ? So I started her on the Canidae and she immediately loved it with no problems. I was looking at Merrick Lamb and Apple but I am concerned with just the one meat protein instead of a combo…Comments ?

[Bobby dog]

I can’t compete with Akari, I just picked up one Wellness and one Holistice select canned food for my cats at $1.00 off/each.

FYI:
coupons.com has the following coupons posted:
$4.00 off any Nature’s Recipe (Petsmart) dry 4 lbs. or larger
$2.00 off any Nutro Ultra dry 4 lbs. or larger
B3G1 free Nutro Ultra Boost trays
$1.50 off 5 Iams Woof Delights

[Bobby dog]

C4c:
Too funny because I thought the same thing! :0 That’s partly why I posted it because we have been talking about making our kibbles a little more wholesome and this was posted on a dog food site so I just assumed it was a cookbook for dogs. When I saw the pictures I thought OMG do people really make their dog food look that appetizing? Then I re-read the intro and started laughing at myself. My meals are definately not that pretty either. But, I will be checking out the recipes, especially the desserts.

FYI:
coupons.com has $4.00 off Nature’s Recipe 4 lbs or larger any variety dry dog food (Petsmart), $2.00 off Nutro Ultra any variety 4 lbs or larger dry dog food, B3G1 free Nutro Ultra Boost trays, $1.50 off 5 Iams Woof Delights, Sheba $3.00 off 24 cans, a couple Fancy Feast, and $5.00 off Blue Natural Litter (any size) coupons. I know Akari already gave us a review (not so good) of the Blue litter, but just throwing it out there any way.

Cheers 😉

[Katherine S]

I have an American Bulldog who has many food allergies. Does anyone know of a good venison based dry dog food? Venison is one of the few meats he can eat that does not make him sick. Thank you.

[Janie]

My biggest issue with dog food (most dry & canned), is the vitamin premix. If the ingredient label contains a list of vitamins & minerals, it is EXTREMELY likely that those vitamins are sourced from China. China is contaminating products with melamine which is why dogs are becoming ill and dying. It is NOT salmonella. Dog food manufacturers are not required to disclose the sources of ingredients. ONLY where the product is manufactured. I stick with a raw food diet. i wrote extensitely about these issues on my website essentiallydogs.com. You can type keywords on the website search bar. Raw, salmonella, and FDA are good keywords to search.

[Rev Terry R]

We have a one-year-old female yellow Lab who is in training to be my support dog. She has had three episodes of bloody stools in the last four months. The vet has ruled out parasites. We are looking at food issues since she seems to pass blood anytime there is even the smallest attempt to change her diet. We’ve been feeding Pedigree dry. It doesn’t cause the stomach irritation, but she doesn’t eat it well either. We’d like to try a homemade food but need something that won’t cost an arm and a leg. Anyone have a suggestion or recipe to share?

[Susan]

Kibble is the worst food to feed a dog, its just easy for us the humans, no cooking, no mess, instant….best is raw, then cooked, then freeze dry….. My boy has Pancreatitis & vet said try not to feed kibble if I can & I notice after Patch has his kibble he seems uncomfortable & burps more & Ive got him on a low residue kibble that breaks up real easy & I add water to soften as well….some kibbles are real real hard, especially the kibbles with potatos, sweet potato & grounded rice.. I add hot water to a couple of the kibbles if they dont soften within 1 min, I dont use them….

[Bobby dog]

Jakes mom:
Jake must have the best floppy ears. I can’t even imagine two better breeds with nice floppy ears. 🙂

Today was Bobby’s egg day! He does love egg day.

Hey Akari:
I love the Bentley snuggle pic! Poor baby, we used a flea collar on my childhood dog. I never used one for my JRT because many years ago consumers were warned about the possible side effects of some flea collars. Some brands use questionable chemicals. The before and after pictures are pretty telling, you did the right thing by taking it off immediately. They do have herbal flea collars on the Only Natural Pet Website.

I have never heard of stud tail before.

My suggestion on the fur loss would be to look into a probiotic. I was going to wait to update you guys, but here’s my update on feeding my hyperthyroid kitty a probiotic. I started giving him about 2T/day of kefir beginning April 11. He has dry skin which can be a side effect of his daily meds. I have treated his dry skin both internally and externally with organic unrefined coco oil. During the winter it got a little out of hand because of the heat and him staying indoors most of the time. I took him to the Vet, we discussed treatment options. I opted for antibiotics and medicated creme; it helped.

I also started researching possible home remedies other than coco oil. This led me to probiotics. I found info stating when a cat’s gut is in a weakened state probiotics is needed. Antibiotics can contribute to a weakened gut because it kills beneficial bacteria living there. He was also treated prior to the fall with antibiotics for a cut that got infected; this also could have contributed to what he is experiencing with his skin and fur now. A few signs of a weak gut include skin and fur conditions. So I decided to try kefir since I could drink it and I could give it to Bobby and Archie too. Long story short (I know, too late), it’s been almost a month and his skin and fur has improved a great deal. He now has peach fuzz growing on the several bald spots he was licking. The skin is not red and irritated looking, it is healing. I even took pictures at the start of my kefir trial. It really made a difference although he is not eating it as willingly as he was before.

I have been slowly researching probiotics for cats; I just haven’t come up with any recommendations for a human grade one that I could mix in his food or how much to dose. Since Archie has shown such an improvement in his fur and skin, I want to start giving it to my other senior kitty whose fur is not as full as it used to be. He just had a check-up recently, including blood work, and everything came back excellent. The one thing that I think may have affected his fur is at the start of the fall he had a cold and he was prescribed a round of antibiotics. His gut may still be out of whack, IDK. This kitty wants nothing to do with kefir so that is also why I need to find a probiotic other than kefir for him.

Maybe the chemicals from the flea collar put a strain on Kitty’s system internally, IDK just a thought. That’s my kefir and kitty story so far.

Another option for treating pets with fleas is using food grade dematiaceous earth as a flea powder for your kitty; it is inexpensive. Many people use it on their animals both internally and externally for parasites. It does not kill fleas immediately; it damages their exoskeleton which causes their death. You can also use it on floors, bedding, or anything else your pet may use to kill fleas. I feed it to my horses and I also use it as a flea powder. You can find a lot of info about DE and using it on your pets on the Internet.

[Gloraidy R]

I’m also looking for a free of synthetic vitamins and minerals, grain free/good for sensitive dogs to allergies, and i can make it into a rotational dry kibble diet(cans are too expensive to feed to large dogs and i dont have the fridge space for a raw/home made diet). I recently heard of different studies (done with humans, not dogs so it might/not apply) where the researchers compared the health of people who took synthetic vitamins from pills and those that took their vitamins from their diet(vegetables, fruits, meats ect.). They found that those that took synthetic vitamins had higher occurrences of cancer than those who ate their naturally occurring vitamins in foods. Here are two sources where you can get this info from: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/selenium-vitamin-e-supplements-increase-decrease-prostate-cancer-risk-201402287059 , http://www.cancer.org/healthy/eathealthygetactive/acsguidelinesonnutritionphysicalactivityforcancerprevention/acs-guidelines-on-nutrition-and-physical-activity-for-cancer-prevention-diet-cancer-questions
“Can nutritional supplements lower cancer risk?
There is strong evidence that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods may reduce the risk of cancer. But there is no proof at this time that supplements can reduce cancer risk. Some high-dose supplements may actually increase cancer risk.”

so please help me find one >.< for my very special adopted senor furbabies.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Gloraidy R.

[Akari_32]

Went shopping yesterday! Didn’t plan or anything, and still came out really great!

I got:

1x 4lb bag of Hills Ideal Balance Small Breed Puppy food ($11.99 on sale)
4x 13.whatever oz cans of Hills Ideal Balance Dog food ($2.00 each on sale)
1x Shubunkin Goldfish (I have a goldfish problem….)

Coupons were:
-2 free cans when you buy any size bag (hanging on the shelf)
-BOGO Hills Ideal Balance Dog Food Cans
-$5 off any size Hills Ideal Balance Food Dog or Cat (jacked a pamphlet from a PetCo LOL)
-$6 off any Hills Dry Dog or Cat food purchase (prints on receipt of previous purchase)

I think that’s it… Ill have to check my receipt later lol

Anyways, got out of there for $4! I didn’t plan or bring any of those coupons with me except the $6 off one LOL We went in to find cat food for my friend, and left with all the goodies :p I should have just gotten the two free cans and not paid $1 a piece for the other two, but it’s not like they won’t get used. I figure I paid $1 a pound for the food and got the cans and fish free lol

[Akari_32]

Thanks guys! For the money we decided on Wellness Core Turkey and Duck (or whatever it is) for now. No fish, etc, and can use the $5 off any bag coupons along with store coupons and pet Supermarket does B10G1 through the store (not through the companies, so no hassle with that!). I think I’m gunna take they route too, and keep mixing dry food into the cats canned. He does well on that method, and doesn’t keep weight up as well on just canned. Lord knows I can’t afford to feed this can any more than I already do lol

[Susan]

My boy was just diagnosed 2 months ago, I boil chicken breast, boil butternut pumkin & a boiled egg..I shread the chicken breast & mash it all together, I get enough chicken breast & pumkin for 1 fortnight & cook it all then freeze little meals..I just give the cook meal for breakfast & his kibble at night, Ive read that kibble isnt good for dogs with Pancreatitis, ur better off with a real low fat wet food, its easier to digest, I cook cause Im in Australia & the wet food fat % isnt low enough in fat, the lowest I can get is 3% fat, thats the Wellness senior…it needs to be around 1% fat, U’ll have to learn how to convert wet fat % into dry matter its easy, My vet also said when on a kibble fat% has to be under 10% fat, he said, he likes it to be 8% fat, alot of senior foods are low in fat but. You say she has a slight meat allergy that makes her itch, you sure its not carbohydrates, Carbohyrates make dogs itch, my boy cant have potatos or sweet potatos, he goes nuts scratching & his ears start to itch as well….Im sure other people on here will have some really good low fat foods..

[banditsmom]

my dog has had recent behavior changes. he is a 12 yo shih tzu and physically his issues are hypothyroidism and he takes meds also dry eye and he gets drops.
He has been on Prozac 5mg daily for some aggressiveness and its worked ok. I am going to wean him off of it after talking to the vet again. Vet just saw him and agrees that he is cognitively impaired. he wanders around the house and the will sit down and just bark at nothing. His hearing is fine but when I call him he doesn’t respond at all which is not like him.
Vet said to add omega-3 and I’m going to try selegiline for a month to see if it helps him.

I need peoples input. Does he need something different or something added?
Has anyone had experience with this? I’m distraught over this and I need to do the best for him.
He eats canned food or Stella & Chewy’s thatI add meat to. His canned is rotated, Wellness, Merrick, Weruva or Ziwi.

[Suburban Gal]

I don’t know Canada well enough to know what can and can’t be gotten there.

That said, I’d try finding Earthbound Holistic. They have six grain-free dry and five grain-free moist dog food formulas and are a reasonably priced food.

[Akari_32]

Well I think when I said dry that would be what I meant :p

I told her she may have to suck it up and buy Inscinct LID Rabbit. I told her to try something with out chicken and fish, since the cat usually has chicken based foods (they tend to buy stuff at the grocery store….). We’re going out tonight after she gets off work and scooping out what we can find.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Akari_32.

[Shawna]

Hi Lorraine B.,

The stage of the disease, and complicating factors, is the determining factor as to what types of diet are appropriate and not. Vets are often quick to recommend a prescription kidney diet when it is not really the best option. Example, Royal Canin states that the RC MP Modified food is designed for “late stage” kd.
“Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Renal LP Modified Dry Dog Food is a palatable, high energy, and highly digestible diet that has been formulated to aid in the management of late stage chronic kidney disease in adult dogs.” http://www.chewy.com/dog/royal-canin-veterinary-diet-renal-lp/dp/33956?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=f&utm_content=179&utm_term=&gclid=CJyTl_PZl74CFbTm7AodKyIA1w

And, in my opinion, the ingredients in the kibbled diet are HORRIFIC for any dog but really bad for a dog with kd. The goal when feeding a kd dog is to feed “high quality protein”. The proteins used in this food (corn gluten meal and wheat gluten) are anything but “high quality”.

The canned food is a bit better but still may be too low in protein for the early stages of the disease. In the earlier stages it is often not necessary (OR ADVISABLE) to lower protein. But it is important to feed high quality proteins and to potentially limit the amount of phosphorus.

My pup has had kidney disease for eight years (as of next month) and this is a food I would NEVER feed her for any reason.

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

[meky6ra]

Hi, sorry to hear about Ginger! I hope that she feels better soon! I’ve been feeding my dog Wellness dry dogfood for a couple of months and she seems fine. The only problem we had was with the Core Reduced Fat formula. It gave her terrible gas, but apparently it’s because Dixie’s intolerant to chicken. She eats the Simple Salmon and Pea recipe now and she’s fine. What was your dog diagnosed with?

[Susan]

Hi, I’d called it a “sensitive tummy” make sure the fat % is low, I found when my boy had his gurling bowel (Colitis) the vet said lower his fat & said he had Colitis..Patch was getting me up around 4-5am about every 10 days wanting to go outside & eat grass, when I first got him over 1 year ago, I’d hear his bowels rumbling from the next room, since Ive cut out the chicken necks & kept him on his Vet prescription diet ‘Eukanuba Intestianal’ that has only 10% crude fat, we haven’t had any rumbling & gurling since December, Thank-God..Ive also found when his tummy bowel was rumbling, Id make him toast eat 2 pieces of dry toast with fish paste lightly spread no butter, you could use cottage cheese something that doesnt have fat in it, the toast seemed to stop his rumbling & we could go back to bed…but watch the Crude Fat % in his kibble, no treats or things that have too much fat, also I keep his food the same & if I give him anything new I do it of a morning not of a night. I give him his Eukanuba Intestinal for his dinner so I wont get woken up with his little gurgle motor running….lol oh with the scratching stay away from kibbles & foods that are high carbohydrate, no potatoes, sweet potatos etc…maybe ur better of doing an elimination diet, like Im doing at the moment..also my boy is on a good probiotic for his stomach I feel this has also helped him…

[Tina]

Ginger is my 5 year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi and at the moment she is on a Prescription Diet from the Vet. At the age of 2 Ginger was on Wellness Whitefish & Sweet Potato Dry Food Recipe along with Wellness Complete Health Whitefish & Sweet Potato Recipe Canned Food. First I changed the canned food, let her get used to it and eventually I bought a bag of dry food. On the first day of the gradually change over she seemed alright but something seemed different. She was the last dog to finish her dinner that night (she usually is the first) and she didn’t eat all of her dinner. Later on that night she began to vomit all over the place and her stool had some blood in it. I cleaned her up and gave her some Wellness Canned food to eat. About an half an hour later she began to vomit and her stool had even more blood in it. Throughout the entire night the blood got even worst and she became very weak and dehydrated (I stayed up all night with her). Early the next morning I called out of work and took her to the vet, $400.00 later she was sent home with Prescription Diet Canned food and lots of medicine. My vet said that it was caused by the food Wellness and to check to dry food when I got home. After looking in the bag of food I found little bits of fish bone throughout the food. Has anyone else had a problem with Wellness?

[Tina]

I called Blue Buffalo and spoke with a representative. They reassured me that all ingreadients found in Blue Buffalo are from the United States only. Only their lamb and venison are from New Zealand, thats all. They source nothing from China, in fact they stay away from China altogether. They reassured me that what they were saying was a 100% guarantee. Their life source bits are all explained on this page http://www.bluebuffalo.com/lifesource-bits Each bag is created with an equal amount of both types of kibble so that dogs will have a well balanced meal. If your dog is a picky eater then maybe Blue Buffalo isn’t the food for you or maybe you should think about adding canned food. Most dogs become picky eaters because their owners give them just dry kibble or they switch the type of kibble way to fast. Dogs won’t starve themselves, they eventually have to eat.

[Akari_32]

Hey guys! My friend is looking for a cheap grain and gluten free dry cat food on PetFlow. Any suggestions?

[Marilyn E]

YEAH, DARWINS. it’s a shame not to see it on the recommended list. We’ve fed it for 2 years–high quality ingredients that look as good as the ground meat we buy at Whole Foods. The packing dates are never more than a month old, sometimes only a week or two. Once a month the UPS truck rolls up to the garage and leaves our standing order of frozen, dry ice packed food. What could be more available than that?!

[LexiDog]

TJ – is “SD” Science Diet? Just want to clarify.

As crazy4cats said make sure to check with your vet to see if there are any parasites that are causing the problem first.

Personally, I think that it could have to do with the level of protein and fat in the Merrick GF especially if you are transitioning from Science Diet. The protein and fat amounts are dramatically different. Also, dogs have individual needs, so what may be good for one dog may not be good for another. Science Diet averages around 25% protein and Merrick GF has almost 43% (dry matter) protein with a few exceptions that go as slow as 33.7%. But either way Merrick is a much richer food than Science Diet that their system is not used to.

If the pumpkin is not helping than I suggest you try a moderate protein food between 32% to 35%. Such as Fromm Four Star Grain Free, ACANA Regional’s, Annamaet GF or Born Free. Merrick does have a Lamb & Sweet Potato GF formula that has a moderate protein amount but the other GF’s just go up from there. After feeding the moderate protein food for a while, try again switching to the higher protein levels.

[T]

Hey, everyone! Glad to see this discussion… One of my favorite topics.

As for proteins, different people classify them in different ways, but in general:
Hot: venison, lamb
Warm/hot: chicken
Neutral: Beef, rabbit, duck
Cool: turkey, fish, pork

Some people say beef and turkey are also warm. Since most animals are eating chicken, or lamb when I meet them, I end up recommending beef, turkey, duck, rabbit and fish a lot. I am in Phoenix, AZ, very dry and hot much of the year. Seems like animals can tolerate the warmer proteins in the winter, though. Seasonality should influence food choice as well as the constitution of the animal (hyper/”fire” animals may benefit from cooler foods).

It’s OK to feed a little bit of warming food with the cooling diet! Balance is the key word. Also, the cooking method has influence on food energetics. For example, raw lamb would be cooler than boiled lamb. Boiled lamb would be cooler than baked lamb, etc. Green veggies are cooling, in general. Dairy is cool and damp (now I know why I get sinusitis from eating a lot of ice cream!).

I am dreaming of putting together a seminar on the topic of pet foods, food energetics, etc. one day.

Tabitha Thompson, DVM CVM
http://naturalalternativesvet.com

[T]

Adding moisture to the diet would help soften the stool. If he is eating dry kibble, either change to canned or gradually work up to 50:50 dry and canned food. If you’re feeding canned food and the stool is still too hard, you could try adding a small amount of liver to the diet. That softens the stool and is extremely beneficial in other ways!

Dogs are not really built to eat a much plant fiber. However, if you wanted to add psyllium husk (Metamucil) this acts as fiber and is relatively innocuous. I agree with Naturella’s comments about adding probiotics and enzymes :).

Tabitha Thompson, DVM CVA
http://naturalalternativesvet.com

[Mom2Cavs]

Also, just an fyi…..sometimes the dog and cat recipes of certain foods, dry and can, are pretty much the same…ingredients and GA. For example, Mulligan Stew canned food is fine for dogs and cats (I asked the maker). Also, Fromm Gold dog food looks very, very similar to Fromm cat food. Instinct Healthy Weight canned foods are the same for the dog and cat formulas. So I save money and just buy the dog cans and give it to all of them. I also believe that some of the Instinct kibble (don’t remember which ones, though) are the same for both….and the dog food is cheaper. I’m not saying this is the case for all dog and cat foods, but I did discover this for some. It may take some research to really find out and also asking the maker (although they will tell you to feed the dog and cat foods to their prospective counterparts, but they do want you to spend more money lol).

Btw, what I did was check ingredients and mostly guaranteed analysis. If the GA is the exact same for both and the ingredients are in a little bit different order, it doesn’t matter to me. I especially check the obvious like protein, fat, fiber, etc. But, I also check taurine, and other minerals.

[Bobby dog]

Jakes mom:
Glad everything is okay, sulking is good! Jake is a chicken back eating machine!! 😉 Bobby didn’t want to go outside today for a walk because it is cold, rainy, and windy. He said he is much too delicate for this weather! lol

Akari:
I think you have a tall order to fill. I was just tooling around the Internet to check out GF, no fish, low carb dry cat food and I don’t think there are any; well there are a few. The few I found with the lowest carbs are California Nat’l, EVO, Solid Gold (forget which one), and some Vet formulas.

They aren’t the most budget friendly, but they might not break the bank either with a reduced feeding schedule.

What carb % are you looking for? You might have to change your criteria a little bit in regards to fish and carb %’s.

[Bobby dog]

Akari:
Yes, the DFA carb formula is the same as the carb calc, I just like double checking.

Contact Simply Nourish and get exact amounts though, because it really could make a difference; especially with how you intend to feed dry. And if it ends up meeting your criteria, it is one more budget friendly dry food to add to your list.

Remember, this is a list I started and never completed (as with so many things I start haha) so I don’t know the carbs & prices. So basically it is a list of dry GF cat food without fish and %’s of protein, fat & fiber. Here it is:

Dry Food:
Wellness Core GF Turkey & Duck 38, 18, 6
Merrick Purrfect Bistro GF Chicken 40, 14, 5
Merrick Purrfect Bistro Healthy GF Chic 38.5, 11, 7
Nature’s Variety Instinct GF LID Turkey 35, 18, 3.5
Precise Holistic Complete GF – Turkey & Chicken 38, 20, 3
Precise Holistic Naturals GF – Chicken 38, 20, 3
Simply Nourish (Petsmart) GF Chicken 36, 16, 5.5

Sold to Mars end of 2014:
California Natural GF Chicken Cat & Kitten 42, 16, 3
Innova Nat Table GF Chic & Turkey 42, 20, 3.5

[Akari_32]

Bobby, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d love that list! It seems like every dry food I find that has high protein and low carbs has fish in it. Is it too much to ask for a good food with no fish?? D:

And thanks for the link! That does the same thing as this:

http://www.scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html

Only you have to actually do the math, right?

I looked at the Wellness CORE foods again, and they all have fish, or seem too carby. I’m pretty limited to whatever company puts out coupons, but I’m open to ideas. Earthborn is like gold, here, so I’m good on that LOL I’ll look at Merick and around on websites and see what I find.

[Bobby dog]

Hey Akari:
I have Wellness Core, Merrick GF chicken, and Innova Nature’s Table in my rotation. As I wrote earlier I am going to look into something to replace Innova since Mar’s will be buying them out, I think at the end of the year. I know recalls will happen and no company is immediately out of consideration because of them, but how they handle them is important.

Merrick and Innova go on sale here and there (nothing spectacular) and of course I use coupons for Wellness. If I fed a large amount of kibble to my cats I could not feed these brands due to the prices. For budget purposes maybe you need to tweek your criteria regarding kibble for now (as long as Kitty does well) and if a food is in your price range that has some fish in the recipe and meets all of your other criterias, consider it for your rotation. Then, keep looking for other options without fish.

Wellness Turkey & Duck does not have fish meal and I believe (not positive) that the indoor chicken formula does not, the kitten has it and I am not sure about the regular chicken.

I do have a list of several dry foods that don’t have fish meal but I have not looked into them as far as carbs, price etc. If you would like me to share them with you I will post them; it’s a starting point if nothing else.

Here’s the DFA link to the carb formula. It is just a subtraction formula, pretty simple. To be accurate you would have to call a company and ask for “as fed” % and also the true ash %. You might want to try contacting Simply Nourish and ask for as fed %’s & ash %’s for their recipes before you rule them out.

/choosing-dog-food/dog-food-carbohydrate-content/

C4c:
Now I know how it feels, walk a mile in someone’s shoes isn’t that how the saying goes? I guess I’ll be jealous of your TJ’s and you can be jealous of my TSC and we can call it even. lol 😉

[Susan]

How do you know its food allergies?? You sure they dont have Enviornment allergies, My boy gets itchy red paws & itchy skin & he has enviornment allergies, only 1-5% of dogs will have true food allergies, Im reading a book at the moment & its rare for dogs to have food allergies, Dr Rob Zammit writes, the number of dogs that really have a food allergy is fewer than the number of dogs diagnosed with the condition, far too often, if a dog has a non-seasonal propensity to scratch it is diagnosed as having a food allergy without proper testing..the only way you’ll know if its food is you must do an elimination diet, A reasonable elimination diet is cooked rice & lamb, no snacking inbetween meals,.In the case of true food allergy improvement will be seen after 7 days with the dogs skin looking normal by the end of 3 weeks. If ur dogs improve on an elimination diet it could be useful to include additives such as polyunsaturated oil, omega oils & other natural oils found in various herbs, the critical thing is to add only 1 additive at a time. The best starting point is omega oils add this a the recommended dose for aleast 6 weeks , if there’s no deterioration in symtoms then add another additive can be given if the lamb & rice is working then the next additive should be in the form of raw bone, these must be sheep origin, so use mutton flaps, lamb necks or brisketbones from sheep again no other additives must be given for another 6 weeks. You may want to pick another meat, but only use the raw meaty bones from that animal….also bathing should be done weekly with a good oatmeal base shampoo too keep the oils in the skin, if ur using all those product they are not working maybe its a time for a change with products, I use Malaseb medicated shampoo & I saw an improvement within 3 weeks, skin started growing back also Blackmores has a excellent dog range called Paw (Pure Animal wellbeing) I also uses the Paw Nutriderm replenishing conditioner this can be left on the skin moisturising the skin weekly… The basis of the diet could become a good quality super premium dry food as long as the ingredients are similar to those used during the elimnation diet…

[Akari_32]

I’m currently using the Rabbit and Chicken Simply Nourish Source. It has some fish in it, too, but its way far down. http://www.petsmart.com/food-health/dry-food/simply-nourish-source-adult-cat-food-zid36-20985/cat-36-catid-200028?var_id=36-20985&_t=pfm%3Dsearch

I remember why I shied away from EVO. Do you think that the fish that “high” would pose any problems? Especially considering that he only gets half the recommended amount because I mix dry and canned. 24% is a bit high for me, even though he only gets half! I didn’t realize that Source was that high in carbs o.o’

I heard him being bad in the kitchen, and was looking on the counter for him. He wasn’t I looked further up, since mom said she saw him on the fridge yesterday, and there he was, just sittin’ up there, checkin’ me out. I had to laugh, and go get my phone for a picture. Then I squirted him right in the face >=D He didn’t like that much lol

[Bobby dog]

I looked at the chicken & turkey Simply Nourish Source and EVO Turkey & Chicken Formula. Before I realized EVO lists carbs on their website I did my own calculations and came up with 10% carbs, they list max carbs of 12%; I wasn’t too far off. lol If I did my calculations right, Nourish has approximately 24% carbs. I believe your main concern is carbs and EVO wins for lower carbs. EVO has 10% more protein, 2% more fat, and 3% less fiber (good or bad depending on Kitty). EVO contains some fish, Herring is the 6th ingredient and Salmon meal is the 8th ingredient. EVO also contains a prebiotic (chicory root) and probiotics and Nourish just chicory root.
First five ingredients:
~ EVO – turkey, chicken, chicken meal, tapioca starch & chicken fat
50% protein, 22% fat, 2.5% fiber
~ Nourish – chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, dried potatoes & dried peas
40% protein, 18% fat, 5.5% fiber
I would say EVO is a better recipe, but Simply Nourish is nothing to sneeze at! Not sure, other than carbs, what you look for in dry cat food, but this is pretty much what I take into consideration for kibble. That’s my critique of the two! 😉

[jakes mom]

Welcome Sharon! My cats were not thrilled with the dry Wellness either. Glad to hear your input on the cat foods, we’re all always looking for new things to try.
Bobby dog, Jake’s getting better with his chicken backs, he’s used to them now and really enjoys them. Gave everybody, dog and cats, hearts and gizzard again, very popular. C4C you really need to try some with your guys!
My poor guy Benjamin is at the vet tonite. Hate to leave him overnite but have to be at work at 7am so can’t drop him off in the morning. Somehow he broke a tooth so tomorrow he will have it extracted and while they’re at it will do a cleaning on his other teeth.

[Maureen P]

I am looking for a 5 star (or as close to) quality Grain Free and Potato Free dog food in both kibble and wet dog food for my 12 year old JRT @ 13 lbs, 11 year old CHI @ 6 lbs. and 9 year old Yorkie @ 7 lbs. – They all have terrible itchy and dry skin, licking paws and pink irritated belly skin – Where my pups are concerned no price is to high for their well being. I know I am over the top and love them like my children ( crazy dog lady here!)

They currently eat Artemis Small Breed Adult Dog food. Two of the 3 are on benedryl with every meal – Will not give them the predisone, only helps when they are on it.

I give them the Coco Therapy coconut chips, fruit and veggie crunch treats. At dinner in their food they get cosequin plus MSM, as well as brewers yeast and garlic tablets, Dr. Mercola krill oil. In their Poland Springs water (have never had tap water, as I live in NYC) I put 1 tsp.of Bragg Organic/unfiltered apple cider vinegar.

I bathe them monthlywith Dr. Mercola Peppermint Shampooand also use the same conditioner, both are recommeded by Dr. Mercola for skin problems. I have even tried no conditioner at all and only using 1/2 water and 1/2 Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar with no rinsing. This all started about 18 months ago.

Please. . . . any help or information would be greatly appreciated !!!! Thank you all . . .

[arwyru24]

Good to know about Diamond only manufacturing dry!! I learn something new on here everyday. It also makes me feel better about feeding TOTW rocky mountain canned because my cats really love it.

I use this chart as my go-to reference: http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
And I mostly use the wellness grain free cans, tky/sal, tky, ckn, ckn/hrg, (my cats seem to like them in that order) They LOVE HALO pate chicken sooo much, I feed that A LOT and I can always get coupons online. I feed the evo adult chkn/trky sparingly like maybe a can every other week, and I know its crazy high in fat (no wonder they love it) but Im ok with it. Oh, I also use the CORE chicken,chickenliver, Newmans own turkey 95%, chicken and liver 95%, california natural salmon and sweet potato, TOTW rocky mountain, NV rabbit, chicken, duck, venison, NB LID chk, salm, venison. What I rotate in depends a lot on what I have coupons for, what is on sale, what they have been turning their noses up at recently etc and its just easier for me to refer you to that site. Im sure I forgot some.

I feel like when I was feeding fancy feast, the ones I used didn’t have fish in them because I was more focused then on avoiding fish….I used the liver and chicken, chicken and beef, turkey and giblets, chop grill, and I had a hard time getting them off the crack. lol. they also LOVE the friskies shreds like the chicken and salmon, chicken, turkey, they love love loved them. I hated myself for it because of alllll the carbs and gluten but made myself feel better because I am poor and at least they were getting well hydrated. But I got them off of all of that and they are happy with their food, and if they prefer the turkey and salmon wellness then so be it, I am not going to get too upset that whitefish is the third ingredient. lol

[Bobby dog]

Akari:
You are correct, Diamond only manufactures dry food.

[Akari_32]

I think I only looked at a couple of the dry CORE varieties, the kitten being one of them. I was surprised at how carby it was. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge advancement over grocery store brands, but it’s not something I’d be looking into feeding a cat that I got having a UTI. I dropped $100 on that crap, and I’m not about to do it again! LOL I will check out the Original, though. I didn’t look at that one, assuming it’d be the least fancy. Best of all, I can get killer deals on Wellness if I watch for sales! >=D

I have some of the turkey/salmon (it’s salmon, right?? Or is it tuna? I dunno…) ones, and just a few plain tuna ones, as well as tons of the pain chicken ones ( purple can with orange strip on the label). He’s ok with them, but really wellness doesn’t seem to be his favorite. He likes Sheba, but I’ve not got a lot of that. Can’t get good deals on it, really. One thing I like about it, though, the pate ones are super high calorie. One 3 oz can per 4 pounds of cat, and it’s all meat (from what I can tell. Didn’t check them all).

Just curious, what are some of the percentages of fat on the foods you feed?

I’ve heard that, too. He doesn’t seem to favor the Friskies over anything else I feed him, thankfully, but he doesn’t get it every day. He just likes to eat LOL He really likes to steal pasta off the counter… He had pesto chicken over pasta the other night and lasagna today XD Oh, and butter. He has a thing for butter. Anyways, I think people are saying that in part because of the fact that most of their foods have fish in them, even the beef and chicken ones. I’m sure some of the other stuff doesn’t help, though!

I didn’t think I Diamond canned their own food, do they? I though someone else did. Could be wrong, though. I try not to pay much attention to them either, other than knowing what they make. Lol

Hope your baby feels better! Nothing is worse than a trip to the vet 🙁 maybe he just got into something?

[arwyru24]

Akari32- I have heard really really good things about the Simply Nourish food in terms of quality for the money. The Core Indoor is definitely higher in carbs than the regular Core, I was trying to cut down on calories, I think the indoor has 390/cup vs over 500 for the regular Core. I have heard too, that fish can be addicting to cats, but I have never personally experienced that with my cats. (not to say there isn’t truth to it) Actually only one of the cats I have had will eat really fishy food, poultry has always been the preferred protein source for my cats. There are sooooo many cat foods from high end to low that contain nothing but fish, whereas the turkey/salmon(this has chicken and herring in it) and chicken/herring wellness aren’t really fish based foods but, contain fish, and I know salmon isn’t as much of a concern as a lot of other fish is. I also regularly feed fish free varieties, so I am not too worried about the fish part. I don’t feed beef one of my cats doesn’t tolerate it well. I am also not overly worried about fat content, as cats process animal fat pretty well, it isn’t high up there on my list of concerns. The friskies and fancy feast and ONE can be very addicting though in my experience. My cats LOVE friskies and fancy feast and ONE, I am sure they would be happy to eat nothing but them(and then throw up all over my apartment) all the added artificial flavors make them super palatable and then more natural food just doesn’t look so good. Also, the coloring is a real problem for me, because it gets barfed up and stains the carpet, in addition to the obvious health related concerns with it. I think the Friskies Special Diet Ocean fish doesn’t have coloring in it, and the Friskies Indoor Chicken didn’t look like it did either if I am remembering correctly, I think that was one of the better ones. Wheat gluten has a HUGE link to hyper thyroid in cats, as I am SURE you already are aware to avoid it.

Bobby dog- I soooooo hear you about getting sick of throwing away expensive food, sometimes it can be aggravating, and my cats too get bored. I (or should I say my cats) really like the Merrick Before Grain but they don’t make that anymore, and I haven’t tried the bistro ones. the cat shelter I used to volunteer at used to feed their diabetic cats fancy feast classic wet food only, as all of the fancy feast classics are grain free, but I just hate the dyes. And the thing with friskies is that there is so much added water, and the actual pate is smaller that I have found that 1 5.5oz can of a high quality pate like wellness feeds like at least 1.5 cans of friskies if not more. Have you guys ever tried Trader Joes canned cat food? If your cats can tolerate rice and you dont mind fish inclusive (I cant remember if the turkey and giblets one has fish in it too, but the chicken turkey and rice dies) it is a really great deal and worth it to include in your rotation. I can’t feed it because of the sensitive one, but I used to rotate it in, because its only 69 cents a 5.5oz can here. My cats definitely didn’t love it though. Cats are really funny and fickle though and you really have to feed what works. My cats did really like Chicken Soup For the Soul and it used to be in my rotation because it is very reasonably priced, even though I would really like to stay away from Diamond.
Crazy4cats- I do refrigerate, but I have to microwave it for 10-15 seconds to bring it up to room temp before I serve it, and also, if its been in the fridge for more than 24 hours they don’t eat it. If it is cool and dry in my apartment and its only a few hours between feedings then sometimes I just use a plastic can cover and leave it out on my counter so that it is a non issue.
My older, sensitive system cat Aaron all of the sudden has not been able to keep his food down today, I am not sure what is going on. The other one isn’t sick in the least, no sign of diahrrea or even gas, they both have appetities, and I am using cans from the same cases I have been feeding from since the beginning of the month, so I don’t think its the food. This guy can be really immuno-suppressed, he has pretty severe stomatitis and as soon as I can get the money together I am going to have to get a full mouth extraction for him but that is sooo pricey. I adopted him at 10 years old, and he came to me with this problem, which the shelter vet/medical team didn’t catch (no one did until I took him to my vet). So I dont know whats going on but I am going to have to bring him into the vet if this continues tomorrow.

So great to hear from all of you, and very nice to chat! What a friendly, welcoming community! Its a real pleasure. 🙂

[crazy4cats]

I can’t wait! But in the mean time, check out catinfo.org. There are a few charts of canned food on this site. On this site, dry is not recommended, only canned, dehydrated, raw or homemade. Fish is high in iodine which can lead to hyperthyroidism if fed in excess. You can easily read ingredient labels to avoid fish in wet food.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Sharon:
That is so funny your cats did not like the Wellness indoor, mine didn’t either! That has been the only dry food they wouldn’t eat since I changed how I fed them back in September. I gave it a try because it didn’t have fish meal and indoor formulas typically have a little more fiber which my kitties needed at the time, oh well. For dry I feed Wellness GF Turkey & Duck, Merrick GF chicken, and Innova Nature’s Table GF. I probably will not feed Innova after Mars completes the buyout. So I am going to try another dry cat food soon to add to their rotation.

I use Wellness canned also, but I have to continually rotate because they get bored with food. I use Friskees poultry platter, Wellness, Merrick, Evo, 4Health, Blue, Tiki Cat, Against the Grain, and Soulistic regularily. I just added a few flavors of Pro Plan, One, Fancy Feast and Sheba. I got tired of them snubbing their noses at expensive cat food so I am giving in to some grocery store foods that don’t have fish (or contain a little), wheat, corn, or soy and are low in carbs. Innova sent me some coupons for canned food and my cats liked it so I will add that to my rotation as well.

Jump over to the coupon thread Akari started for coupons and sales info! It’s under the “off topic forums.”

Akari:
Let us know how Kitty does on the yeast! 🙂

[Akari_32]

We love to hear about what others do well with! I’ve heard the biggest problem with most of the expensive brands is that they are high in fat, which is why I don’t have much if a beef with the three flavors of Friskies I picked out.

My guy doesn’t seem to like the Wellness Grain Free (purple cans) very much, but he eats them anyways lol It’s a good thing he likes to eat! I personally try and stay away from fish because it’s said to be addictive and can also cause hyperthyroidism in cats. He gets it maybe once a week because some of the Wellness has it in it. For how good of a deal I got on those, I figured it wouldn’t hurt if I spaced it out with other flavors and brands.

I managed to get Simply Nourish Source dry food for $5 for the 3 pound bag, and I mix it straight into his canned. He gets just a little more than a 1/3 cup Source, and then half the recommended feeding of whatever canned I’m giving him. For canned I have the grain free Wellness, Friskies Special Diet (Beef, and Chicken and something….), and Sheba. I also have a few stray cans of etc here and there that I snagged a good deal on. I’m pretty opportunist on what I buy, provided it’s low carb (I like to stay under 2%, but less than 5-10% is fine), and low-ish in fat. If I’m just buying a few cans I don’t really care, but if I’m stocking up, it has to meet my standards.

I do want to try the Wellness Core dry, but I’m concerned at how much carbs I has. Even the Source is a bit high for me, at an estimated 10%, but since it’s only half his diet, and I add water to his food at each feeding, and monitor his litter box habits, I’m ok with it lol My friend has fed it to her cat, and she did great on it. Then again, that cat pushes their 60 pound pit bull out of the way for water, and I can’t hardly even get mine to consider his fancy $30 fountain. I also want to try dry EVO again, but I guess it’s high in fat? Idk lol

Canned really does break the bank! $5 in just canned (with or with coupons, depending on what you can find on sale to match) can only last me a few days to a week! I have to feed all my animals (god, that’s a long list LOL) on $10 a week, and I don’t feed anything I’m not fully comfortable with. Thankfully I’m always on top of sales and coupons, and can usually stock on months worth of dog and cat food for my monthly $40. I did allow my self to slip up and buy a 40lb bag of NutriSource Super Performance for $40. Only because I had been doing so good on other food deals and had been wanting to try it forever lol

[arwyru24]

Hey all, I am new here, have been lurking around this site for a little while for dog food because my parents just added a new puppy, but feeding cats on a budget happens to be my specialty. I have 2 pretty big guys (12 and almost 14lbs) The 12lb guy has a really sensitive system, but his body condition is ideal, and the 14lber tends towards the tubby side and so I have to really pay attention to his weight (they are both indoor only). I have tried most of the higher end foods on the market at one time or another. I subscribe to the idea that cats need the moisture in their diet and ideally should be on all wet food, however I supplement with dry to help meet my budget.
I primarily feed wellness grain free canned food, the 12.5oz cans are really cost effective, I primarily feed the turkey and salmon (purple can) it seems to be their favorite and the one they eat the most consistently without turning their noses up to it. I also rotate in the chicken (orange can), turkey (green), and chicken and herring (royal blue) and the minced turkey, chicken, and turkey salmon. I like wellness for a number of reasons and they have done really well on it. I rotate in a number of other brands: Evo (again those big cans save money), california’s natural salmon and sweet pea, (I am a little wary of Natura but I havent had any bad experiences) natural balance LID can’s, HALO pate, Instinct all work and are tolerated well.
The cat that loves crunchies isn’t picky at all really. He never met a kibble he didn’t like….. that is until I bought a 6lb bag of what I am feeding now: Wellness Core Indoor formula. I just bought a trial size bag of Orijen yesterday for $3.99 and am mixing it in with the Wellness. Its the first I have tried Orijen, because it is so expensive, but with the Orijen mixed in I am feeding less than 1/2 a cup of kibble a day total so it is affordable. Dry food lasts me forever it is the canned that really breaks the bank.
Sorry to chime in uninvited to this forum but am glad to have a place to share my experience 🙂

[Valeria B]

My shepherd is a working dog, search and rescue, and has been steadily losing weight. My vet has ruled out any pancreatic disorder/insufficiency. I need to find a high calorie dry food to get her weight back up to par, however, I don’t want to get anything that will be detrimental to her. I have done several different foods and I’m at a loss. I need some help.

[caffeine65]

Good Afternoon,
Two weeks ago my dog was diagnosed with diabetes (he is also losing his vision). I have been giving him insulin but his blood sugar levels are not really going down (they were in the high 500s now at 540). I have been searching for “good” dog food for him and was wondering if I should just make it myself. He started to eat the Iams chicken/rice dog food and I mixed a no grain dry food but he has been snubbing it for the past couple of days.

Any suggestions pro/con?

Thanks.

• This topic was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Fix Duplicate Topic Title

[Gayle M]

Just Food For Dogs, there was a person on Your Facebook page that says she only feeds her dog this food. It is cooked fresh, frozen and then delivered to your home. I have not tried it but it looks like it might be wonderful. I am so tired of these companies changing our dog food constantly. I am getting a new labradoodle puppy the first week in June. Until I found this website for fresh food I was going to go with Wellness Core Puppy Dry Food. I also believe my Labrador that we lost in October 2013 at 10 years old had a much shortened life because of the various recalls back in 2011 having to do with Diamond, she had liver damage done and since she had gotten sick she never did eat the same.

[Ryan K]

Thanks for the replies! I have just started to mix in the canned with her dry food. I can’t get her to eat dry alone as is anymore. She just lets it sit. So, I am now feeding her twice a day with both dry and canned mixed together. She loves it. I just bought a bag of Canidae Pure Grain Free Duck and I will be mixing that into her food soon once her Acana Duck & Pear is gone. I wanted to find something a little less pricey since I now have to buy both dry and canned. Hopefully, she doesn’t have any adverse reactions to the Canidae. Never been on it before for either dogs.