[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 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.

[Naturella]

So today I pitched the idea of the amazing deal of 20lbs for $16 (plus 4-5lbs free from NVI) of food to the hubs and of course I got the LOOK and the LECTURE that there is no shortage of dog food anytime soon, nor will all the sales and promotions cease indefinitely… SIGH, I KNOW that, BUT the deal… Anywho, I think I will have to pass on it… It is too good, but I just can’t keep stocking up for this little animal, which doesn’t even eat his full cup of dry/day anyway, so he is extra slow on consumption… At least he’s not one of those pups that you need to watch around food and control their intake. And I feel that he may eat even less over the summer because it is quite hot here in Georgia, SO, the bottom line is – I forfeit the deal to someone else, who will hopefully take advantage of it and can use the PetLand coupon or whatever to get a good deal on foods.

As for me and my dog, we will continue with the endless Earthborn – by fault of yours truly – lesson learned, unless we get another dog next year (or whenever we do really – until then) Bruno will only get a small bag of each food I want to feed him. I will just hope the deals do reoccur often! 🙂

P.S. I am determined to smuggle small “trial” bags of Orijen and Acana to spice up Bruno’s mixes whenever they are on sale at the pet boutique! Now those are small enough to hide easier! Mwahahah! 😀

[Susan]

I do it sort of the same way..I think you taught me Hound dog but I was so confused at first, then I understood….
I takeaway 100% – Moisture% say moisture on tin is 78% then I takeaway 100-78= 22 thats the dry matter =22% then look on can what’s the fat, say 5% I then get the calculater & devide, I put 5 that’s the fat on tin then devide by 22 then I press the % on the calculater & u’ll get 22.727272 so the fat is about 22%..even if u just put 5 devided by 22 I still get the 0.22.727272 there’s just a 0 in front does that make sense.. I cant find a tin food that’s low enough in fat only the vet prescription diets, so I boil chicken breast & I boil pumkin that way I know what he’s eating the only problem Im having my boy has lost weight & I dont know what to feed him that doesnt have much fat & doesnt have much carbs as he gets itchy, maybe I’ll add some rice, I added pasta but he started to itch….

[vicki a]

The last 2-3 bags of Costco’s brand of diamond dog food Kirkland lamb and rice which i have fed for years (had has in past had Dogfoodadvisor rating of 4) have all my 9 year old rat terriers with these recent changes: increased licking on front legs and chewing on paws, some not eating well, one has gone through a false pregancy, and my male with sensitive skin now has noticible course hair on his back near his tail and he itches!
Any thoughts on what would be a good choice to transition?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi jgr789 –

That bad news is that it is necessary to perform some mathematical calculations in order to compare the nutrient values of kibble and canned foods, the good news is that the math is fairly straight forward.

1. Determine the percent dry matter in the canned food by subtracting the % moisture (listed on the label) from 100%.

2. Divide as fed % value of the nutrient you’re interested in by the % dry matter that you calculated in the previous step.

3. You should get a decimal – multiply this decimal by 100% and you’ll have the % of the nutrient on a dry matter basis.

So, for example, let’s say a canned food claims to contain 80% moisture and 5% fat:

1. 100% – 80% = 20% dry matter

2. 5% fat as fed/20% dry matter = 0.25

3. 0.25 X 100% = 25% fat on a dry matter basis

Hope this helps!

[pugmomsandy]

If you have a Nature’s Select distributor, they have a grain free formula and their High-Pro/Puppy grain formula has 33% protein dry matter and they deliver and they may offer discounts. Mine offers a 10% discount for buying over $75 and they also have military, rescue, unemployed and other discounts up to 20%. It’s made at Mid-America Pet Food in Tx.

[sdb421]

We are picking up a 7 week old, black lab puppy, next week. I’m at a loss as to what dry dog food to feed him. He will be coming home on Iams Large Breed Puppy, which I’d like to wean him off of as soon as possible. Our previous lab ate Canidae ALS, which I’m open to using again, but I know that there is better available; however, I’d like to stay in this price range and get something that is easily available. I ordered our Canidae ALS bags from Amazon, which is easy since I have 3 young children, so delivered to our door step was great. We also have a Costco nearby, so I looked at Kirkland brand, but I wasn’t sure if this was a good option for a large breed puppy. Could someone give me some good options that are reasonably priced, easy to find and would be a very healthy option for a large breed puppy. Thank you!

[Charlotte M]

I would like to nominate Nature’s Logic (Chicken & Sweet Potato) dry dog food. All vitamins come from food ingredients rather than vitamin additives. Is there a reason this brand didn’t make the list? Also curious about Merrick and comments on this brand. Please advise.

[aquariangt]

for all you coupon types out there-right now if you buy one of the “natural” brands at petsmart, you get a 5$ off your next bag of food (dog or cat) bought before the end of May. Just found out today when i picked up a bag of Simply Nourish Source. unfortunately i won’t be using it because nothing else from my dry food rotation is carried there, so I’m bringing it to work to see if anyone wants it. Wish it worked on cans, because i buy a few of those there.

Just a heads up

[aquariangt]

I also top with canned, instead of feeding it as the bulk of their food. Honestly, I rotate around a lot with canned (dry as well, but less so) whenever I’m at PetSmart, PetCo, or Four Paws (my usual specialty store i stop at) I get whatever high quality is on sale.

I also keep a bag of Sojos (i rotate flavors, haven’t tried the new lamb yet, as it’s hot out and one of mine gets real warm on lamb) for when I don’t have any canned on hand. As long as it’s all good quality, your dog shouldn’t have much problem switching canned flavors often. If something is giving him the runs, take a look at what’s in it, and it could be an intolerance to one of those ingredients

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi katj813 –

It’s great that you’re adding wet food to your dog’s dry food. Wet food is actually much healthier than dry food – especially if you go with a good quality product. The reasons for this is that wet food more closely resembles a dog’s natural diet – high in moisture, higher in protein and less processed. Providing high quality (unprocessed) protein is especially important for seniors (such as your boy) because as dogs age they become less efficient at breaking down dietary protein yet their body’s need for the amino acids that protein requires doesn’t diminish.

Some reasonably priced and highly rated canned options you may want to consider are 4Health (sold at Tractor Supply), Kirkland Cuts in Gravy (sold at Costco), Pure Balance (sold at Walmart), Natural Life (sold at Walmart and some grocery stores), Whole Earth Farms (sold at Petco, specialty retailers and many online retailers) and By Nature 95% Meat (sold at specialty retailers and online retailers). All of these options are, to the best of my knowledge, around the same price or cheaper than Nutro’s canned food.

Some other options would be using a dehydrated food as a topper. Dehydrated foods, when re-hydrated, are similar in consistency to canned food and when re-hydrated tend to be cheaper on a cup per cup basis.

You could also consider adding healthy human food toppers such as leftover lean meats, tinned sardines or salmon (great source of omega 3’s), cage free eggs (raw or cooked – also a great source of omega 3’s), plan yogurt (probiotics) or kefit (probiotics). Just be sure that if you use unbalanced extras like these that they account for less than a quarter of the meal or else you could risk throwing off the nutritional balance of his food.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[katj813]

My dog loves the Nutro Max ground beef and rice food mixed with his dry and he’s old so we indulge his obsession with wet food. The only issue is any of the other flavors give him the runs and I haven’t a clue why. Does anyone else know of some reasonably priced ground wet foods that are soft, even after refrigerating? Soft foods mix well and if a piece of kibble isn’t covered in wet food, he won’t eat it. The Nutro Max is about $1.60 and being on a college budget I can’t afford more than that. If you know of any good brands that are of equal or lesser value, I’d love to hear it. Nutrition isn’t an issue because the wet food is merely a topper to his dry which is much healthier.

[Rhonda C]

Does anyone know of any Best Dry Grain Free Dog Foods that come in 50 or 60 pounds bags? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Shasta220]

I would think as an occasional treat, it should be fine. My dogs regularly consume canned and dry leftovers without problem. Our cats are so pathetic! (Sorry, gonna go out on a limb for ya) We buy them Chicken Soup dry. Out of all three cats, only one and a half eat it (Panda likes dry, and Maddy is dry/canned. Millie refuses anything with the name “cat food” on it), and Panda only eats a tiny portion of what goes in his mouth – he chews up the food, then spits crumbs back out in the bowl, never to eat them again. We have an entire bowl filled with nothing but crumbs!

And then since they’re so picky, we’ve been buying the small bags. I thought “well, he’s been eating it regularly now…..the bigger bag is SO much cheaper, so I’ll get it!” Of course! Now he decided that he hates it -_- darn cats!

I really have no clue about giving it as a regular meal though…..I’ll let some of the pros answer that one 😉

[Randi M]

Hey! I am looking for a little help. I recently had my 4 year old Boston Terrier allergy tested. I just got the results back and am having a very difficult time finding an appropriate food for her so I’m hoping others can help!

Her list of food allergies include
-chicken
-turkey
-peas
-carrots
-eggs
-barley
-tomato
-rice
-soybean
-corn
-white potato

Does anyone here know of any foods that don’t include these ingredients? I am having no luck with any of our local pet stores. It has been suggested I try a raw diet for her but I am hoping to avoid this! I work 12 hour shift work and have to take her to a “sitter” while I work so a dry food would be best.

My vet suggested “Iams Veterinary Diet Skin and Coat Plus KO”. I haven’t heard many positive reviews on Iams or this food so I am unsure.

I have just transitioned her to Nature’s Variety Instinct Lamb Meal. This one is free of all her allergens with the exception of peas. Peas are the third ingredient on the list. I had no idea she was allergic to peas and I had never noticed a reaction to them before. I would really like to keep her on a 4-5 star food.
Thank you in advance for any help!!

[Bobby dog]

C4c:
I just dug up this article, couldn’t find where I saved it earlier. Just a little more info on K3:

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-only-approved-vitamin-k-supplement-in-pet-food/

Off the top of my head Rachael Ray includes K3 in alot of her recipes but not Zero Grain, the tubs, or the two chicken wet foods. Purina adds it to most dog & cat food (wet & dry); I have found a few of their canned dog foods w/o it. Nature’s Recipe includes it in most of their recipes for cats & dogs and some of the Soulistic cat food contains it. Basically, pet foods considered lower to mid-tier quality might include K3 in their recipes.

Just another ingredient to add to the list of undesireables and another reason a rotation diet makes sense.

[Akari_32]

I haven’t tried it yet, no. I printed out the B2G1 coupon a while ago, and I haven’t even seen it available locally yet! I thought about taking it PetSmart and trying to get some Simply Nourish with it LOL But I won’t. They hate me enough as it is :p I do have a sample of the dry cat food coming though. I’ll likely just toss it in the dog food. Whats a 1/2 cup of cat food gunna hurt when they eat like 7 cups between the two of them? lol The dry cat food is in no way anything I’d feed to a cat. Its all corn gluten (how can they advertise no corn when its got corn gluten???) and grainy. Yuck! It appears to have very little animal protein.

Publix has all their 6 pound bags of RR dog food on sale for $7.99, btw, guys! Bust out them $4 coupons!

[Anne R]

I have two rescue dogs – Millie (8years old, spayed female terrier mix) and Fonzie (3years old, neutered male cock-a-tzu (cocker/shih tzu mix)
I have issues with both, but the main one at present is with Millie who has a bout of mild/moderate pancreatitis. This is the second time she has had it, with a more serious incident two years ago. Her CPL reading is 360, which is way above the reference range of 0-200 ug/l and her Red Blood Cell count, hemoglobin, cholestrol and lipase readings are way up as well.
For the past 6 – 8 weeks I have been feeding them Natures Variety Raw Bites in the honest belief that I was doing the very best for them. They both seemed to like it and have shiny coats etc but the end result with Millie (who is the pickiest eater on the planet!) is pancreatitis and the end result with Fonzie is excessive weight gain – 2kg+ since I began this diet!! I am devastated as Millie was actually enjoying her food for the first time ever (she has always refused dry kibble) but what good is that if she is suffering illness as a result?! To make things worse I was over-feeding them up to a few days ago, which may have caused the pancreatitis to flare up – or maybe the food would have caused it anyway.
I desperately want to feed them a good, nourishing and wholesome food but I am completely frustrated by the choice available and the vastly differing opinions I get in the pet stores. To make matters worse I am leaving them in kennels for 12 days in just under three weeks time when I go to Ireland and I have to have them settled on a suitable food before I go. Please help!

[Bobby dog]

FYI: For anyone interested, Rachael Ray has the $4.00 off Zero Grain coupon posted again along with a free dry cat food sample offer, and various other coupons. If I remember correctly, they are good for a month after you print them. 🙂

http://nutrish.rachaelray.com/switchto

[crazy4cats]

I found this to be an interesting site an article regarding cats’ and dogs’ diets: http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/ Enjoy!

[Jackie B]

My mini poodle suffers from UTI’s after periods of stress. You can help stave them off by making sure your dog gets plenty of water AND has plenty of bathroom breaks. The extra water flushing through the bladder keeps bacteria levels lower. I feed all moist food (no kibble) to my boy and I also have a pet water fountain (Cat Mate brand). My pup is 19 lbs and the size is fine for him. He has been UTI-free for several years using this fountain and moist food combo; prior to that I fed him kibble and bowl water and he had 3 UTIs in about 8 months. The UTIs occurred 2 out of 3 times during times of stress.

I was not feeding any Nature’s Variety products during the times he got his UTIs. So I do not know if there is a correlation between UTIs and brand or simply UTIs and stress and dry kibble.

[Jackie B]

Check out the website Cuckoo For Coupon Deals. She does a pet food matchup and links to printable coupons. Also, PetSmart’s facebook page has fan-only coupons that are pretty good. When I lived by a PetSmart and Target I would use all the coupons I could to get free food or very cheap food, and donate it to the local animal rescue. Every little bit helps.

I found that Nature’s Recipe had a lot of good coupons. And the PetSmart marked down food in the middle of the week, so you could get a slightly older bag of dry food on 25% or 50% off AND use the dollars off coupon and not pay much at all.

[John B]

Thank you for the replys. Is there some ratio of raw diet (chicken, deer, etc) to dry kibble? Is kibble the main diet and some raw mixed in? Or is one total meal raw then other meals are kibble. She is 11 weeks old now, and only been on dry kibble. I want to slowly introduce raw meat. We give her fruit (strawberries, apples, bananas with veggies carrots, sweet potatoes,) as treats and training food.