[TheNaturalDog]

Evo kibble is marketed as the lowest carb kibble on the market. I know that there have been some recalls recently, but the company is claiming to have addressed the issues (per their website). It is also one of the highest protein kibbles on the market.

Side Note: I have no affiliation with Evo/Natura/P&G, just pointing out the GA of the food.

[theBCnut]

Kibbles are pretty much all high carb because they need the carbs to hold the kibble together. Think about using a low carb canned food instead. There is a topic on the review side for diabetic dog foods and there is someone(USA Dog Treats) that monitors that thread and is very knowlegable about diabetes.

[Susan]

Look for a low carb diet with moderate levels of fat & high levels of protein, recent studys have suggested help balance sugar levels in the bloodstream for the diabetes.. also carbs are harder to digest so a low carb diet mite help with the gastro problems awell…at the top of this page u see “reveiws” click on then put ‘low carb kibbles’ in search bar on the left..I just looked & Wysong Epigen 5 stars, Pinnacle peak protein formula 5 stars & Hills Science Diet Adults light 2 1/2 stars, the others were canned wet.. I dont know if they’re cheaper but someone on here may know a kibble that is similar to the 2 5 star ones & cheaper..

[Susan]

Yes, Im reading a book called ‘Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs’ By Lew Olson, PhD..She recommends a Low-Glycemic diet, high in protein & fat & low Carbohydrates…there are stories through out her book, one is about a dog called Jake a Doberman/Labrador mix, who started to have seizures when he was 3 years old, Jake was whats called a “Cluster” meaning he always had multiple seizures close together, Despite trying everything from conventional medications to acupuncture, his owner Jo was unable to get the seizures under control.. After exhausting all the usual medical avenues, Jo started to look elsewhere for alternative treatments, joining an online Epilepsy group, one of the things recommened by the group was a raw diet. With nothing else left to lose Jo started Jake on a new raw diet, Within five months Jake had gone from having seven seizures every two weeks to one a month, Her vet was astonised at the drastic improvement a raw, fresh food diet had made when all the other treatments failed..There’s more on how she explains how the sugar in carbohydrates can affect epilepsy, hypothyroidism, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, & yeast infections & how a low-glycemic diet is a good defense against all of these conditions.. Dogs dont have a nutritional need for carbohydrates..there’s more to read but too much to write..she has simple recipes in her book for illnesses, its an excellent read, its online for around $10..

[Janis J]

My Australian Shepherd has idiopathic epilepsy. I just read an article in ‘Veterinary Practice News’ which recommends a ketogenic diet for epileptic dogs – in other words, a diet low in carbohydrates, moderate in proteins, and high in fat. I have encountered similar recommendations elsewhere. I have been looking at grain free dog foods, but none seems quite to fit the description. (My dog is being medicated but still has occasional seizures.) Any suggestions? Janis

[T]

Coprophagia is normally a juvenile behavior that dogs outgrow. Some dogs may continue into adulthood. The behavior may have different origins, not the least of which is “stomach heat” and inadequate nutrition (i.e. non-species appropriate food, non-fresh food, etc.).

I sound like a broken record, but consider a gradual change to a real food, grain-free, low-carb. diet whether it be cooked or raw food. Add digestive enzymes to meals and use a probiotic for several months.

Damage control/breaking the habit in the short term: Only let the dogs out to eliminate when you are there to supervise. Pick up all feces immediately. If you see the dog start to think about eating a pile, give a “no” command and re-direct their attention so you can pick up the poop. Treat it as a training task much as you would teach “sit” or “stay.”

Hope that helps! By the way, I’m a holistic veterinarian in Phoenix and I have a blog at http://naturalalternativesvet.com/category/blog

[Shawna]

Okay, friend in California — let’s call her T.. T rotates (you know me and rotation) between the Preference and Steve’s and adds raw antelope, buffalo, beef etc. These are all no bone in commercial products she gets from a local puppy boutique in her area.

The premix she was using (that he dog was reacting to) is called NDF2. Just realized it has wheat brand and germ too. For some reason I was just remember the oats??? http://www.volharddognutrition.com/natural-diet-foundation-2/natural-diet-foundation-2.html She had heard about the diet on a Yahoo group and a premix was appealing to her so she could rotate the meat. But she wasn’t rotating the NDF at all.

She feeds raw green tripe once a week, fasts the dogs once a week and makes her own kefir using raw milk and kefir grains (it is legal to buy raw milk in California). She feeds a REALLY good diet. After reading a previous post about some of the other symptoms you are seeing in Hannah however, I highly doubt the elevated liver values are due to detoxing like was the case in T’s dog.

If it ends up being the liver you might want to look in to Dr. Dodds liver diet using white fish and potato. White fish creates less ammonia which in turn is less stressful for the liver as it is the liver that has to convert the ammonia to urea. There are also supplements that can be considered — such as Sam-e and milk thistle in therapeutic doses, Standard Process Hepatic Support and so on. I have a contact at SP that can help with product recommendations if wanting to go that route.

You might want to also consider a phone consult with a nutritionist or a holistic vet once you have an official diagnosis. Treating cushings will be somewhat different than treating liver cancer. Mary Straus, Dr. Becker, Dr. Dodds, Naturopathic Vets Dr. Jeannie Thomason or Kim Bloomer, Dr. Peter Dobias, Dr. Christina Chambreau, Dr. Martin Goldstein, Dr. Barbara Royal (Darwins) etc might be some to consider speaking with. Jacqueline at Answer’s might have suggestions for diet or vets to speak with too? I could contact her on your behalf. I’m guessing you’ve already determined the diet for cushings can be high protein, lower fat/purines and carb.

Dr. Becker has several video/articles on cushings if that is the diagnosis or if you want to get info early before a definitive diagnosis. She talks about typical and a-typical cushings as well as causes (she, and others, feel early spaying can cause a-typical as an example) and dietary prevention (which you were doing by feeding lower carb, moisture rich.

[Shasta220]

I’ve never owned a Dal, but generally foods don’t need to be breed specific. Sure, one breed will typically follow a basic path of health issues, but what works great for one Dal may be horrible for the next one. As long as it has a well balanced of fat/protein/carb ratio and mainly animal-sourced protein, it should be okay.

Honestly I’m not sure how to handle urinary problems. Does he chew only his paws, or is there redness all over his skin? Generally, itching indicates some sort of food allergy.

[Susan]

Look for kibbles that are low in Carbs, no potatoes or sweet potatoes, on top of page u’ll see reviews click on reviews then in the search bar on ur left put ‘Low Carb Kibbles’…My friend has a white Staffy when he was 6months old he got real bad yeasty itchy skin, vet put him on Vet Prescription kibble that didnt work, she tried the Wellness Complete Health White Fish & Sweet Potatoes recipe that also never help probably cause of the Sweet Potatoes, then she tried Holistic Select Adult Health Anchovy Sardines & Salmon meal dry food & the Holistic Health worked, I seen her the other day & her boy is looking beautiful, no more yeasty itchy skin..I think u’ll just need to try a few kibbles until u find a kibble that suits ur dog, also a good oatmeal based shampoo, its important to have weekly baths after bathing make a rinse half white vinegar & half water in a jug & rinse off with the vinegar + water, this kills the yeast & gets rid of any residue..Also Witch Hazel & Aloe Vera gel, Mix a 3 to 1 solution of the Witch Hazel & Aloe Vera Gel & apply to itchy areas as needed, Witch Hazel helps temporarily stop the itchiness & kill the bacteria while the Aloe Vera helps cool the skin & speed up the healing process.. Also A good Probiotic this helps fight yeast infections..

[Dori]

Definitely rotate within the same brand but you need to find at least two other brands and rotate brands as well as proteins with all brands. A lot of people seem to have some problems with their dogs on BB. Remember, not every food is for every dog. Once you’ve done the complete transition to Merrick and his stools are fully formed then you can experiment with different proteins within the same brand, then begin to experiment with a different brand that has ingredients that your dog does well on. Slowly transition. Once that’s done and you’ve fed all the proteins on that brand, you’ll be in search of a third brand. Switching up within the brand is good so that you dog isn’t always eating the same protein and can possibly develop an intolerance to that protein. It’s also important to switch brands because even though the ingredients may be similar to the Merrick or whatever else you find, the proportions of proteins, fats, carbs, minerals, vitamins, essentially everything will be a little or a lot different from brand to brand so this way you can insure that your dog is getting a good balance. Also rotating is really very good in case there is a sudden recall in a brand you can immediately switch your dog off that food onto one that he’s already accustomed to. The more you rotate your dogs meals the easier you can move from food to food. Much much healthier for your dog. Healthy dogs will tolerate illnesses and minor recalls much better than an unhealthy dog. Hope I’ve answered your question and not babbled too much. Gotta go. Today is dog grooming at my house. I’ve done two of the girls, I’ve just got one to go. I’ll check in later.

[Dori]

I feed my senior dog (14 1/2 years old) a high protein food. She’s doing fabulously well and definitely much much better than she was on a lower protein diet. Seniors actually need more protein than an adult dog so feed your senior dog an adult food with a high protein, moderate fat, low carb diet.

[Akari_32]

I live in the land of Ol’ Roy and Purina Dog Chow. There’s really not much available locally that my mom is going to deal with. Pet Supermarket and Walmart, that’s all we got (that mom will shop at). Pet Supermarket has the crappiest selection of food I’ve ever seen for dogs with allergies. Everything is either chicken, has chicken, is crazy low in protein, or is all carbs. Or it’s chocked full of potatoes, which irritates the crap out of me. And then Walmart is…. Well, Walmart. Pet Supermarket does have Instinct, which Bentley likes, but it’s not always an option given the price. It also didn’t seem to help him at all, but we tried the beef.

This is the first time he’s ever been on a food with peas until now, so I doubt that’s a problem.

• This reply was modified 12 years ago by Akari_32.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Akari:
FYI, Purina added a few new coupons to their website, one being a BOGO Pro Plan canned catfood coupon:

Here’s my Pro Plan catfood list:
1. Finesse – K3, artificial flavors, meat by-products:
Chic & Liver Entree Classic
2. Savor – K3, artificial flavors, fish, meat by-products:
Beef & Carrots Entrée Classic, Chic & Spinach Entrée Classic, Salmon & Wild Rice
Entrée Classic, and Turkey & Veg Entrée Classic
3. Focus – K3, added color, artificial flavor, fish, meat by-products:
Chic & Beef Entrée Classic (salmon) and Kitten Chic & Liver Entrée Classic

This list is just based on which recipe has the least amount of ingredients I don’t like to see in pet food. I did not check the carbs, but they are probably on the low side since these are pate styles.

[Bobby dog]

Hey Akari:
Here’s my Fancy Feast list if it’s any help to you. This is from the grocery store list of food I have been slowly working on. It’s my typical list, no glutens, wheat, corn, soy, and a named meat first etc, etc. Yes, there is fish in some or all (I forget), and some artificial color and flavors, but what are you gonna do. And I believe the carbs should be 5 and under according to the catinfo.org food spreadsheet.

 Fancy Feast:
• Fish & Shrimp Feast Flaked
• Kitten Tender Turkey Feast
• Kitten Tender Ocean Whitefish Feast
• Tender Liver & Chicken Feast Classic
• Turkey and Giblets Feast Classic
Gotta go make a snack for the Walking Dead finale 🙂

[Sharon Buchanan]

MastiffLove’s Questions transferred from /forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/page/66/

Hi Sharon! I will be looking into the facebook group after we get our puppy, Zeus is his name :), cause our teens don’t know about it yet and adding that group to our facebook will certainly give them a hint lolll
Someone wrote (i think it was you!?): “Last week I found a farm that grass feeds, no GMOs, but they do feed grains in the three weeks prior to slaughter (I’m still checking to see if that is standard practice and if not, why it’s done and whether it effects the quality of the meat (other than the tripe) – more questions for my conference list)”
What were you told?

We will buy in bulk, meaning half a cow, lots of chickens (loose fat removed), half a pig (less pig since it has more fat)(will add organs to those) for a start and later on i will add more types of meats as i find farmers or producers around my area. I will make this food for my 8weeks old English Mastiff puppy BUT my wife’s parents are getting a Colley puppy in July and later on during the summer a German Sheppard puppy, also a friend of ours is researching for a good breeder of Great Danes. That being said we would be 4 different dogs on the same recipe.
1- Can i get Green Tripe from a meat manufacture(not sure if thats how its called)?
2- Can i grind necks?
3- instead of using pureed vegetable can i use a Supergreen powder mixted with the meat then freeze?
4- Should fruits be pureed? or chopped in fine pieces is ok? (like apples for example)
5- wy use Sweet potatoes, isn’t it a source of carbs? Should it always be boiled or can it be oven baked?
6- Thinking of buying in bulk therefore i would have the company to grind the meat including bones…would using:
URBAN WOLF Balancer give a too high output on Calcium and an unbalanced Calc./Phos.?
or
Should i use Dr. Harvey’s Formative Years for Puppies?
NOT to forget my puppy is 8weeks old!
7- As for Greens should i use Mercola’s SpiruGreen Superfood and/OR Swanson’s Sprouted Flax Powder mixed with Wheat Grass Powder?
8- Kymythy Schultze a certified clinical nutritionist said:” Calcium can go out of solution when feeding too many vegetables. Keeping normal acidity (low alkaline) in the digestion by avoiding veggies in puppies keeps calcium in solution and won’t deposit excess on the bones.”
(p.s.: thank you Sharon Buchanan for the quote!)
Would adding the product from Question 8 result in unbalancing my pups acidity?
9- i would mix everything up in large batches (some batch will have some ingredients and some will have different ones to “balance” it out in day on day off type of feeding), and separate in individual portion size for an 8 weeks old large pup in air tight sealed bags and then into the freezer. Doing so would i loose any efficiency of certain foods like greens and fish oil?
*** End comment: I was happy and felt like applauding Mercola.com for funding 300,000$ for the Washington State GMO Labeling Initiative, they are one of the companies, amongst many others, that i buy products from as supplements for my puppy raw diet. http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/cornucopia.jpg ***

[MastiffLove]

We will buy in bulk, meaning half a cow, lots of chickens (loose fat removed), half a pig (less pig since it has more fat)(will add organs to those) for a start and later on i will add more types of meats as i find farmers or producers around my area. I will make this food for my 8weeks old English Mastiff puppy BUT my wife’s parents are getting a Colley puppy in July and later on during the summer a German Sheppard puppy, also a friend of ours is researching for a good Great Dane breeder. That being said we would be 4 different dogs on the same recipe.

1- Can i get Green Tripe from a meat manufacture(not sure if thats how its called)?

2- Can i grind necks?

3- instead of using pureed vegetable can i use a Supergreen powder mixted with the meat then freeze?

4- Should fruits be pureed? or chopped in fine pieces is ok? (like apples for example)

5- wy use Sweet potatoes, isn’t it a source of carbs? Should it always be boiled or can it be oven baked?

6- Thinking of buying in bulk therefore i would have the company to grind the meat including bones…would using:
URBAN WOLF Balancer give a too high output on Calcium and an unbalanced Calc./Phos.?
or
Should i use Dr. Harvey’s Formative Years for Puppies?
NOT to forget my puppy is 8weeks old!

7- As for Greens should i use Mercola’s SpiruGreen Superfood and/OR Swanson’s Sprouted Flax Powder mixed with Wheat Grass Powder?

8- Kymythy Schultze a certified clinical nutritionist said:” Calcium can go out of solution when feeding too many vegetables. Keeping normal acidity (low alkaline) in the digestion by avoiding veggies in puppies keeps calcium in solution and won’t deposit excess on the bones.”
(p.s.: thank you Sharon Buchanan for the quote!)
Would adding the product from Question 8 result in unbalancing my pups acidity?

9- i would mix everything up in large batches (some batch will have some ingredients and some will have different ones to “balance” it out in day on day off type of feeding), and separate in individual portion size for an 8 weeks old large pup in air tight sealed bags and then into the freezer. Doing so would i loose any efficiency of certain foods like greens and fish oil?

*** End comment: I was happy and felt like applauding Mercola.com for funding 300,000$ for the Washington State GMO Labeling Initiative, they are one of the companies, amongst many others, that i buy products from as supplements for my puppy raw diet. http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/cornucopia.jpg ***

[Jen P]

I have a chi mix who is in the midst of a full blown fungal/ yeast invasion, poor little guy. My vet, who I normally adore, has been useless in this case. Anti fungal pills, antibiotics, and $30 bottles of anti fungal shampoo. He just kept getting worse. Finally I did my own research. Sugar feeds yeast – so no more sugars or carbs….no dog foods with rice or potatoes, no treats with corn syrup as the second ingredient, as most of the commercial ones have…and no shampoos with oatmeal – yeast loves oatmeal! The first change had to be the dog food, so no more Freshpet Select. Thank goodness freshpet just came out with their Vital line, which has no grains or potatoes. Temporarily, I am giving yogurt daily, to try to get his good bacteria back in charge, and trying to feed other immune system boosting goodies – liver, garlic, etc, all in limited amounts, of course. I am also doing every other day vinegar rinses on him. Little by little, he is getting better….but it has been a loooong road.

[theBCnut]

Hi Anthony

Dog food is made up of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. If you lower protein, then fat and/or carbs must go up. Usually, fat level is tied to protein level, so if protein goes down, so does fat. It’s carbs that usually go up. Dogs don’t need carbs and you have to feed more of them to make up for the fact that fat has double the calories. That is a lose/lose for dogs that were made to feed off of fresh protein.

[MastiffLove]

We will buy in bulk, meaning half a cow, lots of chickens (loose fat removed), half a pig (less pig since it has more fat)(will add organs to those) for a start and later on i will add more types of meats as i find farmers or producers around my area. I will make this food for my 8weeks old English Mastiff puppy BUT my wife’s parents are getting a Colley puppy in July and later on during the summer a German Sheppard puppy, also a friend of ours is researching for a good breeder of Great Danes. That being said we would be 4 different dogs on the same recipe.

1- Can i get Green Tripe from a meat manufacture(not sure if thats how its called)?

2- Can i grind necks?

3- instead of using pureed vegetable can i use a Supergreen powder mixted with the meat then freeze?

4- Should fruits be pureed? or chopped in fine pieces is ok? (like apples for example)

5- wy use Sweet potatoes, isn’t it a source of carbs? Should it always be boiled or can it be oven baked?

6- Thinking of buying in bulk therefore i would have the company to grind the meat including bones…would using:
URBAN WOLF Balancer give a too high output on Calcium and an unbalanced Calc./Phos.?
or
Should i use Dr. Harvey’s Formative Years for Puppies?
NOT to forget my puppy is 8weeks old!

7- As for Greens should i use Mercola’s SpiruGreen Superfood and/OR Swanson’s Sprouted Flax Powder mixed with Wheat Grass Powder?

8- Kymythy Schultze a certified clinical nutritionist said:” Calcium can go out of solution when feeding too many vegetables. Keeping normal acidity (low alkaline) in the digestion by avoiding veggies in puppies keeps calcium in solution and won’t deposit excess on the bones.”
(p.s.: thank you Sharon Buchanan for the quote!)
Would adding the product from Question 8 result in unbalancing my pups acidity?

9- i would mix everything up in large batches (some batch will have some ingredients and some will have different ones to “balance” it out in day on day off type of feeding), and separate in individual portion size for an 8 weeks old large pup in air tight sealed bags and then into the freezer. Doing so would i loose any efficiency of certain foods like greens and fish oil?

*** End comment: I was happy and felt like applauding Mercola.com for funding 300,000$ for the Washington State GMO Labeling Initiative, they are one of the companies, amongst many others, that i buy products from as supplements for my puppy raw diet. http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/cornucopia.jpg ***

[Akari_32]

I have some coupons they sent me last year that are good for a long time to go along with Publix (local grocery store) coupons for the food, and the coupons I printed off the website. The only way to get around the print limit is tweaking some of the info you put in, and printing from another computer. They track you with your info AND your IP address. I hope the new flavor hits Publix soon (and that it goes on sale for the store coupons!).

I’m working on my cat food list! I’m just going down the brands that PetSmart has listed on the side, one brand at a time. Rather than picking and choosing only whats low in carbs, I’m going to just go through, make note of the percentage of carbs in each food, and if it has fish or not.

[Bobby dog]

Isn’t taking care of a litter box annoying? One of these days I am going to teach my cats to use the toilet, yeah right! lol

That’s perfect to squeeze in a Vet appointment for the other things he needs and at least the Vet will be able to give you a follow-up for the UTI.

I am getting ready to put some numbers into the carb calculator.

[USA]

Hi Michelle

There could be something wrong with that particular bag of food or your dog might not be feeling well.

When you use NPH or N type intermediate acting insulins they last about 12 to 16 hours per dose and they have a peak which is when you are supposed to feed your dog.

There are long acting insulins like levemir and lantus which have no peak (or very little peak) and are taken once a day. They are for the sugar (glucose) that your body (or your dog’s) makes. Then there are fast acting insulins like Novolog and Humalog which last around 5 hours and are taken before (or right after) meals. They are for covering the glucose (carbs) from meals.

The graph in the link shows the different types of insulin and their onsets and durations.

http://community.diabetes.org/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/1281i92D09A0934C03334/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&px=-1

In a two insulin regimen you would give your dog a long acting insulin once a day for the sugar (glucose) that your body (or your dog’s) makes. And you would give a rapid acting insulin before meals. You could also give the rapid acting insulin right after a meal. This way you could base the dose on the actual amount of food your dog did or did not eat.

This is the gold standard of insulin regimens (in humans) and this is the one I personally use (I have diabetes) and recommend for people AND dogs. It is a more intense regimen and requires more effort on your part. It also requires you find a vet that will support you in this kind of insulin regimen.

The food you are feeding is 47% carbs and I have a problem with treating a person or dog with diabetes a diet this high in carbs. I think the reason it is used for dogs is that bottom line, carbs are cheaper than meat. So they use a lot of fiber (9.7%) to slow down the absorption of carbs into your dog’s bloodstream!

I would look for a canned food that is below 10% carbs. If your dog does NOT have a problem with high fat diets then low carb canned food is a much more appropriate diet for a dog with diabetes. It would require a lowering of your dogs insulin dose and you need to have a vet support you in a change like this!

I wish you and your husky the beat!!!

[Akari_32]

Hey, suggest away! I’ve been adding water to his food for a while now, anyways. Mainly to make the dry/canned mix more the same texture as just canned. That’s probably what kept his UTI from getting out of hand before we realized what was going on.

He did say to make sure he’s drinking enough water, and to try a fountain waterer, and to switch from plastic bowls to glass or stainless (I bought stainless ones– and a brush lol), because the plastic can hold in bacteria and whatever. He also said to change his water out a few times a day.

He doesn’t have a name yet. I sort of want to name him Logan or Eric (from X-Men), but I don’t want to give him too much of a human name. I’m weird like that lol Pets have to have pet names. But then again I have a goldfish named Bruce (Batman :p), so who knows LOL Really i just can’t find a name that suits him. He’s quite most of the time, but he know how to cause trouble, and I’m pretty sure he’s plotting Bentleys doom LOL I may scoot around the Humane Society’s adoptable cat page and see if there are any names I can steel lol Anyone have any suggestions?

As for the food I’ve settled on, based on cost and how much is fed, it’s mainly going to be Friskies, as much as I hate to do it, based on the company alone. But many people use it, and it’s the most recommended of what I see online. I guess many “premium” brands use a lot of fat to keep costs down, and their cheaper lines are pretty carby. Friskies is grain free, low fat, and high protein. So, despite the Purina thing, and the by products, i guess that’ll be most of his diet, as well at Grreat Choice’s version of Friskies, and Authority. (And of course anything I find on sale/that has coupons).

[Bobby dog]

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! What great news for your furry guy and you!!! I missed it, but what is his name? At least you caught the infection before it escalated to the point of what my poor cat endured.

I would like to suggest (I know, I know, you didn’t ask for any suggestions and I am sure your Vet already covered this with you anyway) to help his body clear out the infection to closely monitor his H2O intake by adding it to his food or at least making sure he is drinking the proper amount for his size and finding the best low carb foods that fit your budget for after you finish the C/D. What a lucky kitty to have you taking care of him now!

[aimee]

Hi Sue,

My current dog possibly had/has pancreatitis as a part of his GI complex. The only definitive way to diagnose pancreatitis is biopsy, otherwise the diagnosis is based on a constellation of symptoms, ultrasound and supportive laboratory testing. Amylase and lipase levels in the blood can be low in the face of pancreatitis and high when pancreatitis is not present. Currently it is thought the best test is the Spec Cpl run by Idexx or Texas A and M or the Idexx Snap test. But even this test isn’t perfect. If the test results are in the normal range it is unlikely that active pancreatitis is present, but you an never completely rule it out. If the test is high the higher it is the more likely it is pancreatitis.

With my own dog he was having intermittent vomiting bloody stool and abd pain. At least that is when I assumed was the reason he’d spend the whole day in his crate looking miserable. His pancreas tests cpl amylase/lipase were always normal yet his ultrasound of the pancreas was supportive of previous inflammation-fibrosis.

I was at the point of full exploratory with surgical biopsies as all other tests had been exhausted. since he was stable I did food trials with low fat one protein one carb diets. I tracked symptoms daily. With the first two diets combo home cooked and OTC there was no appreciable change. The third diet RC select protein Venison/Potato from the vet was the charm.

Best of luck to you and Patch

[losul]

Sorry about the delayed responses.

InkedMarie, Thanks for posting. I did find the link you provided helpful. Helped me to realize more, that while it is a really scary and serious thing, but that there is a difference between being HW positive and lower levels of worms and having significant HW disease. It also got me to thinking more about using some supportive supplements.

Shawna, again, very helpful links, not just about timing for seasonal HW preventatives, but also other things. Thank you. I’ve never posted a pic of Turbo yet, but it’s on my to do list as soon as I get caught up on things. Because of the cumulative effects, I guess the advantage multi could be started a little earlier than the others and stopped earlier for using seasonal HWP. But it’s also because of those cumulative effects and the added and unwanted flea killer, that I doubt I will use for HWP, beyond using for treatment. I also noted in your second link that advantage multi is not often even used during treatment.

I’m also thinking now that it is still senseless for me to give Turbo HWP’s year round. (once he is HW free). Even if I up the dosage months to 9 or 10 months, a break of 2 or 3 months from it, is better than no break, and shouldn’t be any risk of infection anyway during the coldest months.

Aimee, I agree 100% with your critical thinking in the the case of Mr. Piggy/Dr. Falconer.
Not so sure either about his “homeopathic” remedies, i.e. sulphur, calcarea carbonica, graphites (is that actually given internally?)

I also got to reading some other alternative treatments elsewhere such as black walnut extract, wormwood, etc. Some of those seem would be as/or more so, toxic as conventional drug treatments. But I think I will start using some garlic.

Update: Turbo had his X-rays Wednesday. The vet went over them with me, and in general thought they looked pretty good. He didn’t see anything at that time that would cause him to downgrade him from class 1 to class 2. Although he did have some things he wanted the visiting radiologist to look at and review (the heart) when he comes in again, I think on April 8. The lungs looked mostly pretty clear and pulmonary arteries he thought looked pretty good. I’m definitely leaning towards a slower kill protocol (rather than the harsh immiticide, steroids, and painkillers, and the vet seems fine with that, although he is still adamant about continuing with the Advantage multi, rather than ivermectin, me I’m not entirely sure Advantage multi will be as effective as ivermectin on fully mature worms, according to what I have read. Also if not going with immiticide, he wants to get going on the doxycycline sooner. He is saying just 2 weeks of doxy. Most of what i read says 4 weeks, or pulsing it. I also told him I had a 2nd HW test done that indicated low antigen, and that that vet thought it indicated lower worm load.

• This reply was modified 12 years ago by losul.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Akari 32:
I don’t have any food recommendations for you other than to make sure he’s getting moisture in his food and drinking H2O regularly. I do recommend you check out catinfo.org for Dr. Pierson’s info on urinary tract health. “Generally speaking, the basic diet recommendation for the average cat with urinary tract issues is a high protein/low carbohydrate canned food with added water.” – Dr. Pierson catinfo.org. Here’s the link for the page: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth
If you feed your kitty dry food, the other site I visit is naturalcatcareblog.com, for what it’s worth has a list of dry foods with pH levels noted that are supposedly ideal for urinary tract health. As with catinfo.org, this blog does not recommend dry food for cats. They write “in a pinch, picking a low-carb, grain-free dry food to use on occasion or in rotation with wet meals is a decent compromise.” Wellness Core Original GF is one of the foods that are listed. If this food is an option for you to feed you can always download the $5.00 coupon from their website to make it a little more affordable. Here’s the link for the dry food list: http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/08/best-dry-cat-foods-so-far/
Sending positive thoughts your way, keep us up to date when possible.

[andrew b]

So I have a Staffy who is almost 18 months. She has already been allergy tested, and on a scale of 0-4 scored a 2 on numerous things, different types of grasses/weeds, dust and so on, with yeast also registering. We have also done a food trial prior to intradermal testing with Royal Canin HP and her itching really never got better on it. The main issue is she scratches herself bloody. Her neck, under her arms, her face. It’s a sin. We use Temaril-P when needed and it does help, have tried Atopica which didn’t work at all, have tried a new medication called Apoquel that didn’t work at all. Usually when she’s extremely bad(she was at the vet Tuesday, she sees a dermatologist at UPenn), she comes back positive for a yeast infection on her skin. She also started immunotherapy 5 months ago.

The worst of foods(on a relative scale) she has eaten would be Taste of the Wild as a puppy, and when the itching started around 4 months, we have tried, all for nearly 2 month periods, Earthborn, Acana, Nature’s Variety LID and now back to Earthborn since it doesn’t seem to matter.

Where am I going with all of this? Before I fully delve into trying a raw or cooked diet and seeing if it helps, should I just try the lowest carbohydrate food I can find to try and cut down on the yeast issues? If this doesn’t work, I am going either raw, freeze dried or cooked at the end of May. I was going to try Brothers Complete Allergy Formula but I’ve read it’s fairly high in carbs. Would I be better going with something that is 25% or so carbohydrates based on this site’s calorie weighted analysis, perhaps Orijen or Nature’s Variety Raw Boost, or something else?

We’ve tried so much…supplements, oils, she gets Phytovet CK baths 2-3x a week, and it doesn’t improve unless she’s on Temaril and we obviously don’t want that, but when she’s bleeding and will scratch herself for minutes straight unless you stop her, you have no choice.

Any ideas welcome, especially food related. Thanks all, love the site, been lurkin forever.

[sambrolaw]

How is it possible to determine the calories in dog food? I am working on trying to get my Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler) to lose some weight. We are measuring her food and limiting her intake, but I would like to get her on a lower calorie, high protein, and low carb food. It is easy to see the fat and protein content, but I do not see calories listed on the dog food labels. Any suggestions?

[Hamlin38]

Hi Dr. Mike,

I haven’t seen a rating on Sojourner Farms, or Sojo’s.

That’s been my dog’s diet for over a year. I like it. Well, and they do to.

I prefer it over the other freeze dried raw foods because the protein/fat content is lower than say Stella & Chewey’s or Primal. Not that I haven’t heard or seen great things with dogs who’s diets consists of the latter, the price/volume ratio is greater than what I can afford.

There is a downside to Sojo’s I have to admit. After rehydration, the Guaranteed Analysis for Protein/Fat is greatly reduced. So much so I have to add my own because I have big! active and young dogs.

And it’s reported to me that the stool is greater -which I’d expect from Dry Dog Food -which I refuse to serve. Bad for the teeth, bad for the digestive tract, bad for the adrenal system -the biological filter intended to remove undigestible material like ash -which any dry dog food is chocked full of.

Quick aside: I don’t know how many people come to me and say, but what about their teeth? The crunchy’s clean their teeth. Dr. Mike, you know in your profession, Captain Crunch doesn’t do well for dental health. Nor does any carb -and that’s what it takes to bind the ingredients to make a kibble.

NO DRY FOOD! EVER!

[aimee]

Hi losul,

First I’m so sorry for what you and your dog are going through. I myself have nightmares that I get that dreaded call in which I’m told my dog has heartworms. I know that giving less of the pill and less frequently than recommended is likely playing heavily on your mind. In actuality we don’t know what role that played as sometimes dogs on full prevention protocols come up positive too.

I’m sure this is scarey. I’ll try an answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Do you need a second opinion? If you want to look further, have a different type of test done vs a different vet who may be using the same brand test. There can be false positives on a heartworm test, but they are rare.

The fact that they saw microfilaria kinda clinches the diagnosis. There are other microfilaria that can be seen in blood, Dipetalonema comes to mind and a parasitologist can likely identify them for you. The sample may need to be sent to a university vet school. But really the chance you have both a false positive and a different type of microfilaria seems unlikely …I think you would be grasping at straws …

Should you consider slow kill? I’ll give you my opinion for what it is worth, I wouldn’t. I can’t put my hand on it at this moment. Will look for it if you want but as I remember in dogs treated with slow kill considerable ongoing lung damage occurred UNLESS the dogs were on complete exercise restriction for the entire duration. Your dog is young, I’m guessing active, and would be difficult to keep continually crated for nearly a year plus(?) of his life. There also is some speculation that slow kill may be contributing to resistance. Unless your dog is clear of microfilaria during a slow kill treatment ( meaning your dog has microfilaria because of your dosing and not strain) your dog will be infecting others with a resistant strain and spreading resistance.

Should you use moxidectin? So far as I know of only one study that compared efficacy head to head and moxidectin was more effective when given as a single dose. Time will tell if that holds: one study one strain. The moxidectin treated dogs didn’t develop heartworm with only one dose post exposure whereas dogs given 1 dose ivermectin or milbemycin did develop worms. Dogs given 3 monthly doses of milbemycin post exposure were also clear. As I recall this test was done with a strain thought to have resistance.

Moxidectin is also the drug in Pro Heart injections. Is a continuous yet decreasing amount of moxidectin as effective as monthly peak doses? I don’t have any answers for you, I think though it has failed whereas the monthly topical has not due to higher blood concentrations with monthly pulse doses.

I’ve noted on Trifexis (milbemycin) commercials it states to give for 3 months post exposure whereas Sentinal Spectum (milbemycin) has upped that to 6 monthly doses post exposure. For now my dogs get milbemycin, same day each month year round. If I lived in heartworm land… southern states where resistance is being seen I’d choose moxidectin. Likely if my vet was saying moxidectin topical I’d go with it trusting that he/she understands the local strains. I don’t mess around with heartworm prevention.

The preventatives I can think of are ivermectin ( heartgard and others), selamectin( Revolution) milbemycin( sentinal, trifexis,) moxidectin( advantage multi, proheart) diethylcarbamazine (daily still available???)

Should you vaccinate? This is beyond my ability to answer. I think your vet is the best person to answer this one.

Trembling/ fearful…. two things come to mind: pain and fear unrelated to pain. Fears can be to unusual scents, sounds (electrical equipment, ultrasonic, rodents etc ) Pain… any lip licking swallowing drooling that might help you pinpoint it?
.
Again I’m so sorry you are going through this…your vet is the best one to help you through this. The American Heartworm Society guidelines are written as they are for a reason…. If it was me I’d make use of them: 3 injections and doxy. Best of luck

[RescueDaneMom]

Hi Newfs,

Where are you located? I believe no one has responded yet because these dog foods aren’t available in the US where most of us are. The Farmina brand has been reviewed on this site but only the grain-free varieties. They received 5 stars. /dog-food-reviews/farmina-nd-grain-free-dog-food/

As Patty said, your dog is old enough now that you don’t have to worry about feeding a food appropriate for large breed puppy growth. This is what I look for in a good dog food: 30% or more protein with named meat or meat meals (ie chicken and chicken meal) and grain-free (some grains are ok if your dog does well with them, I still wouldn’t feed grains all the time).

The Enova food that you posted the analysis for looks good. The two Farmina links you posted look like good foods too. All 3 of those foods have 30% protein or higher. I prefer higher protein foods. I don’t like the Sam’s Field foods because they are lower protein. I would not feed the Fitmin foods. The Salmon & Potato has WAY too much potato (40%) and low protein. The first and major ingredient should be protein not carbohydrate. The Fitmin Rabbit & Rice has the same problem but to a lesser extent. It has 28% rice and 25% meat. Still to much carbohydrate and low protein. I would avoid foods with that much carbohydrate.

Bottomline: The Enova and Farmina foods look good. If you want to feed more variety, look for foods similar to those. Stay away from foods that have more carbohydrates than protein.

I hope that answered your questions and was helpful.

[theBCnut]

Hi Newfs
At your dogs age, he doesn’t need special puppy food anymore so work on finding the foods that he does best on. Find a few different brands with different protein and starch sources and rotate between them. Rotating foods helps to keep the gut healthy and strong. Try to stick with foods that have higher protein and lower carbohydrates. You can also add higher protein healthy foods like eggs and sardines.

[slvet2]

Try a home made diet using a carbohydrate source like rice or brown rice. This will slow down the GI tract and firm your dog up. Or use a commercial diet that has rice instead of grains or potatoes as a second choice. Great basic recipes can be found in How To Cook For Your Pet, c. 2009.
I don’t agree that Royal Canin or Hills are bad foods.

[slvet2]

You are right, grains aren’t what dogs need in their diets. Grains are put into kibble dog and cat food as a filler, and the grain is used as part of the protein and carbohydrate analysis noted on every bag. Unfortunately, grains are difficult for dogs to digest (they don’t have four stomachs like a cow; multiple stomachs use bacterial fermentation to break down the rough grains). Dogs need easy to digest carbohydrates like potatoes and rice in a ratio of about 2 parts carbohydrate to one part protein in the food. This is easily accomplished by following simple recipes for homemade dog food-recommend a cookbook called HOW TO COOK FOR YOUR PET, c. 2009.

Raw food for dogs-not recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association, and veterinarians. Possible food poisoning with Salmonella, E.Coli bacteria, and is poorly digested by dogs. Cooked foods are more digestible, and healthier.

[MarieLovesChis]

Neither is better nor worse than the other. It depends on the individual dog. Grains aren’t better for a dog that can’t handle them, same goes for potatoes and peas.

In my opinion, going by just ingredients, the “best” kibbles are ones that are high in meat content. Regardless if it has peas, potatoes, barley or oatmeal, I want a food that has a majority of its protein coming from meat. I also choose foods with lower ash. To me, these details show a foods quality a lot more than the companies choice of carbs.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 1 month ago by MarieLovesChis.

[Jazz Lover]

Sounds like a busy wknd for sure!

I was feeling so good about my choice. I p/u Orijen adult. Now it sounds as if I should have p/u their LBP. I did not notice a significant difference in the 2 guaranteed analysis. Other than LBP note carbs & adult did not. I thought the overall consensus was the adult at 10 mos.

Susan responded to my email & her site is back up? She says any links that have the “2,” you’ll need to remove that “2” to find the article. I plan to follow & did like on FB, as well.

Lmk what you all think & if I should exchange Orijen Adult food for Orijen’s LBP?

PS How can I add a picture to my profile?

[Dori]

Have you gone on the search section of this site (upper left hand corner) and entered low fat low protein low carb foods? I just did it and it comes up with a list of foods. Just a thought. I’m hoping that Patty Vaughn, HDM and/or Shawna sees your post and chimes in or you can start another forum requesting help with food for a dog with bid. They are really really good on all nutrition, supplements, etc. They are my go to gals. Fabulous wealth of information.

[Susan]

Yes, the Metronidazole {Flagyl} stopped my boys acid on the second day, no more waking up 1am 4am swollowing & licking..I went to the librabry & borrowed a book called The Complete IDIOTS Guide to Digestive Health its for humans but Ive learnt more about SIBO the stomach bacteria goes wild if untreated & moves to their small intestine causing gas bloating vomiting & sloppy poos. Us humans have a hydrogen breath test to diagnose stomach bacteria {H-Pylori virus}but with dogs they cant have the Hydrogen breath test.. I think they test their poos & blood but must be done when dog is ill when the bacteria has gone wild…with Colitis my dog doesnt get acid & the flagyl does help their bowel if its inflamed..For 7momths my vet has been saying to me its IBD & Colitis now Ive read up on this SIBO Im pretty sure he has it, he has just finished his Antibiotics but next time as soon as I see him ill again Im getting the poo & blood test to be 100%..I read you need a low carb diet as the bacteria loves carbs & my boy got ill after trying another kibble with Potatos & fish Im giving him kangaroo tin food now as its high protein & low fat but Im still giving him his kibble, the kibble has made his poos excellent but I think this all started when he was put on this Intestinal kibble, he was a rescue dog & I dont know his past…

[Susan]

Yes, I think we have BARF at ur Pet Stock & Pet Barn, I dont know if Barf is good we also have the dehydrated & freeze dry Ziwi Peak & K9 Natural from New Zealand thats suppost to be very good, The Guaranteed Analysis doesnt tell how much carbohydrates in alot of the dog foods.. I thought my boy couldnt have boiled chicken but I was adding it with boil rice, so it must of been the rice he has problems with even to home cook, I dont know where to start every time Ive boiled pumkin, sweet potatos, chicken & rice he has very very soft poos, so I’d just do the rice & chicken then he wakes up early hours of morning with his colitis, his bowel was rumbling…The only thing thats stops everything is the Eukanuba Intestinal but its corn based, corn is a carbohydrate.. I think thats why he’s having the Bacteria overgrowth from being on the Intestinal also about 1 hour after eating his kibble he starts with the licking his mouth & swollowing, it gets worse when he drinks water maybe the kibbles start to blow up in his tummy.. Ive told my vet but she says as long as his poos are good its OK but Im sick of watching him every morning for the last 4 months feeling crap not playing, sometimes he walks around the house whinging. I know something is wrong.. I suppose I’ll have to have the carmera put down his throat but the vet said it could come back all good as they can only go so far & if its his small intestine I dont think they can see the small intestine, the vets said, the only way to find out whats wrong is to cut him open & I dont want to do that to him, poor thing.. so I thought change his diet, he seems hungry all the time like he’s not getting all the nutrition…I thought of changing vets, but I cant see how another vet can hep him..

[Susan]

Can’t get Natures Variety medallions here in Australia also having trouble finding the Tylan powder here too, Amazon has it but in big quanititys, Ive been slowly adding Kangaroo Fillet can food with his Eukanuba Kibble, I slowly want him off the kibble Since being on kibble all these problems started, I think he was a can tin food dog before I rescued him…Less carbs too in can dog foods,

[RescueDaneMom]

There are 3 reasons why the grain-inclusive Great Life didn’t make the list:
1- the calcium was too high.
2- the food is not 4 stars or above.
3- they didn’t respond to HDM’s inquiry about their actual calcium levels.

I’m not sure which one it was, but HDM said that if I food wasn’t on the list then it was because of one of the above reasons.

What are you still searching for? I would not be afraid to use the Wellness Core or NVI Turkey. I have to concur with Patty. The issue with growing large breed puppies is not protein. They need to grow slow and not have too much calcium. HDM has figured out the calcium for us with her list. As for slow growth, they can grow slow on high protein/high calorie foods but you can NOT overfeed them. If they get too many calories and grow too fast then you will run into problems. Regarding how much to feed- yes, you would feed less of a high protein/grain-free food because it has more calories. Those foods tend to be more calorically dense because they have more meat which means more fat and fat contains double the amount of calories as protein. If you fed a grain-inclusive the calories would probably be lower because there are more carbs (from the grains) and less fat. So you could feed more of a grain-inclusive. It depends on the dog. I had a rottie (passed last month from cancer) that acted hungry all the time no matter what food he was eating, grain-free or grain-inclusive. I suspect labs can be the same way. If I were you, I would start feeding the Wellness or NVI Turkey and see how he does on them. If he does well then great! Add those to a rotation list. Then you can try a grain-inclusive like Dr. Tim’s Kinesis and see how he does. If he does well on both types of food then I see no real reason to why he can’t eat grain-inclusive. You can alternate between grain-free and grain-inclusive foods.

That’s my 2 cents. I hope it helps alleviate some of the confusion. Here is a great article about large breed puppy growth by Dr. Karen Becker: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/04/09/slow-growth-diets-for-giant-breed-puppy.aspx I feel like this is a great summary of what this whole thread is about and it explains it much better than I can.

[Susan]

Does anyone know any cooked low carb recipes for dogs with Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth….Im too scared to try raw just yet….

[Susan]

Do u mean Tylosin {Tylan} thats tablets isnt it, I asked the vet about Tylan she said that they probably cant get it in as its used more for pigs, so he was put on Metronidazone another stomach & bowel antibiotic..the Metronidazole seems to fix things up but in about 3 months time it all happens again vomiting, bad wind, soft poos about 3 a day, he is also getting stomach acid with it too, I thought Stomach bacteria that gives you bad acid.. Ive google S.I.B.O it doesnt tell me much, what foods to feed him or how to stop him getting the bacteria overgrowth, thats why Im wondering has anyone else been thru this S.I.B.O & what has help stop the bacteria Overgrowth he’s on a very good probiotic for dogs {Protexin} it cost me $65 for 2 months worth, I changed from the Protexin & got a cheaper one on the net in December then about 2 weeks later he started to be unwell again, Patty said a low card diet, he’s on the Eukanuba Intestinal only cause the fiber is low only 1.75% he cant have too much fiber either, the intestinal is corn based, I looked up is corn a carb & it said yes, I dont know what other kibble to feed him as I cant find another low fiber one here in Australia…I tried the Holistic Select Duck as it was a single protein & a hydrolized kibble but the flaxseed gave him bad wind & he was getting up early to poo & I has only given him quarter to his cup of Intestinal, so imagine a full cup of the Holistic Select..hes getting better cause he’s been on the Metronidazole for over 1 week now, everythings back to normal the vet wants to keep him on the Metronidzole but a lower dose, I said no, we’ll wait & see if he gets sick again & i’ll have a blood test to check if his folate is high, I think thats what they look for with S.I.B.O..

[Tucker]

Hi Patty,

Yes I did. I’m all on board with the no impact and rugs etc. We have all of that in place. And I have my bed surrounded in puppy fence so that will never happen again!! It’s a little crazy to change the sheets, but makes one hell of a five star crate 🙂

It’s the food. I’m still not sure of which. We have gone over the list.

I just wasn’t sure about grain free or not? There is a vet that we linked to from here that said cut out the carbs and grains. Both types of food are on the list here.

And do I shoot for the lowest calcium which I think was Dr Tim’s at .9 something. I know Wellness is readily available around me. Core Puppy is an option.

Considering he has problem and we are not trying to just avoid one I was wondering if that made a difference?

I realize there is no one answer though I would love that. 🙂

[Tucker]

Hi All,

First post. Great site! Can’t believe I have had labs my entire life and never found it. I replied under large breed nutrition and wasn’t sure if I should have started another topic so I put it in both. Not sure of the protocol here yet 🙂

Apologies for the length… I wanted to get it all in 🙂

We just lost both of our labs last year in a one two punch within 2 months. Killed me 🙁 Floyd (my 11 1/2) Chocolate to prostrate cancer and KC (my girl 15 1/2) yellow to lack of mobility. That girl was bolted together more times and just kept on trucking. Pretty amazing… I was blessed. She may have cost me a fortune, but she was worth every penny and more. As close to a human as a dog can be 🙂 For anyone who has an older dog that is having trouble getting around I HIGHLY recommend trying acupuncture. I got two extra years of love out of her. 🙂 Now to the new…

A few months ago we started a new chapter in life and brought Tucker home. (I would put up a pic but I can’t figure out how to do it.. lol. Gorgeous White Male Lab. Great breeder, all of her dogs looked so healthy, great referrals. Then the unthinkable happened. We brought him home a few days before 8 weeks and on day two we were all on the bed ( I know… don’t even say it. There is a crate on there for when we sleep… Still want him on Daddy’s bed) I was at the top and my fiancé was at the bottom.. Tucker in the middle and he did a scoot and rolled of the bed… and began limping 🙁 I almost died. You all can only imagine! He favored his should for a few minutes and he was fine. Then two weeks later my finance was holding him, put him down and he favored for a minute and was fine. I was thinking maybe a bone bruise. Two weeks later it happened again!!! That was it… x-ray time. Our regular vet said there was a slight deformity in the round of the shoulder bone where it goes in the socket but it would it probably just go away and to keep him calm for a month or so. That doesn’t work for me. I’ve paid the price for listening to first opinions in the past and not investigating issues. I brought him to my Ortho who bolted my girl back together so many times and he gave me the real scoop…

OCD… I knew when he said come in my office it wasn’t a bone bruise. I’ve taken that walk before. 🙁 He’s old school and said monitor and if it gets bad we will fix it. He wasn’t showing signs of distress on manipulation. He said if it’s bad they yelp. I’ve researched everywhere and my brain feels like it is full of Bingo Balls right now.

Our breeder said she has never had a dog with OCD. I know nutrition and heredity are two factors, but in this case I have to believe that this is trauma related OCD and not from the others. With that in mind, I know slow growth, low calcium. Some say no carbs so grain free, others say not too much protein is bad which is what you get with grain free…

Bingo Balls :-/

Our breeder did not believe in puppy food and fed Kirkland Signature Salmon and Sweet Potato. I have a problem with Costco dog food. We got home and the vet said Iams puppy large breed was good. I think that is worse. Can’t believe I went there… I just wanted to do it all right. So here we are now.

I need the best dry food I can get considering his OCD condition in his left shoulder. I really don’t care what I spend on my bag of kibble. I just want to fix my puppy!!!

We got a harness instead of a collar so there is no unnecessary tugging, There are ramps everywhere so there is minimal impact on up a downs, and we try to control him as much as anyone could control a 4 month old lab. When the zoomies come you just have to go with the flow…lol.

Now I need to know the best dry kibble to feed him. Whatever will help as much as possible for this to heal and his bones to grow big and strong. 🙂

Side note … The vet did start him on a glucosamine pill that seems good. And then we talked to the lady at the holistic dog food store who says it may be bad because he is young and you don’t want it to take the place of his own body making it… seriously!!! like I didn’t have enough to worry about with the kibble….

Any help would be sooo greatly appreciated. I love my dogs more than people! I can’t change what happened and I have accepted that it was an accident, though preventable 🙁 Now I need to do everything I can to put things right!

Help me Doggie Food Forum… your my only hope! 🙂

Thank you everyone for all of your posts. They have been very helpful. This place is fabulous!

[Tucker]

Hi All,

First post. Great site! Can’t believe I have had labs my entire life and never found it.

Apologies for the length… I wanted to get it all in 🙂

We just lost both of our labs last year in a one two punch within 2 months. Killed me 🙁 Floyd (my 11 1/2) Chocolate to prostrate cancer and KC (my girl 15 1/2) yellow to lack of mobility. That girl was bolted together more times and just kept on trucking. Pretty amazing… I was blessed. She may have cost me a fortune, but she was worth every penny and more. As close to a human as a dog can be 🙂 For anyone who has an older dog that is having trouble getting around I HIGHLY recommend trying acupuncture. I got two extra years of love out of her. 🙂 Now to the new…

A few months ago we started a new chapter in life and brought Tucker home. (I would put up a pic but I can’t figure out how to do it.. lol. Gorgeous White Male Lab. Great breeder, all of her dogs looked so healthy, great referrals. Then the unthinkable happened. We brought him home a few days before 8 weeks and on day two we were all on the bed ( I know… don’t even say it. There is a crate on there for when we sleep… Still want him on Daddy’s bed) I was at the top and my fiancé was at the bottom.. Tucker in the middle and he did a scoot and rolled of the bed… and began limping 🙁 I almost died. You all can only imagine! He favored his should for a few minutes and he was fine. Then two weeks later my finance was holding him, put him down and he favored for a minute and was fine. I was thinking maybe a bone bruise. Two weeks later it happened again!!! That was it… x-ray time. Our regular vet said there was a slight deformity in the round of the shoulder bone where it goes in the socket but it would it probably just go away and to keep him calm for a month or so. That doesn’t work for me. I’ve paid the price for listening to first opinions in the past and not investigating issues. I brought him to my Ortho who bolted my girl back together so many times and he gave me the real scoop…

OCD… I knew when he said come in my office it wasn’t a bone bruise. I’ve taken that walk before. 🙁 He’s old school and said monitor and if it gets bad we will fix it. He wasn’t showing signs of distress on manipulation. He said if it’s bad they yelp. I’ve researched everywhere and my brain feels like it is full of Bingo Balls right now.

Our breeder said she has never had a dog with OCD. I know nutrition and heredity are two factors, but in this case I have to believe that this is trauma related OCD and not from the others. With that in mind, I know slow growth, low calcium. Some say no carbs so grain free, others say not too much protein is bad which is what you get with grain free…

Bingo Balls :-/

Our breeder did not believe in puppy food and fed Kirkland Signature Salmon and Sweet Potato. I have a problem with Costco dog food. We got home and the vet said Iams puppy large breed was good. I think that is worse. Can’t believe I went there… I just wanted to do it all right. So here we are now.

I need the best dry food I can get considering his OCD condition in his left shoulder. I really don’t care what I spend on my bag of kibble. I just want to fix my puppy!!!

We got a harness instead of a collar so there is no unnecessary tugging, There are ramps everywhere so there is minimal impact on up a downs, and we try to control him as much as anyone could control a 4 month old lab. When the zoomies come you just have to go with the flow…lol.

Now I need to know the best dry kibble to feed him. Whatever will help as much as possible for this to heal and his bones to grow big and strong. 🙂

Side note … The vet did start him on a glucosamine pill that seems good. And then we talked to the lady at the holistic dog food store who says it may be bad because he is young and you don’t want it to take the place of his own body making it… seriously!!! like I didn’t have enough to worry about with the kibble….

Any help would be sooo greatly appreciated. I love my dogs more than people! I can’t change what happened and I have accepted that it was an accident, though preventable 🙁 Now I need to do everything I can to put things right!

Help me Doggie Food Forum… your my only hope! 🙂

Thank you everyone for all of your posts. They have been very helpful. This place is fabulous!

[theBCnut]

I’m boosting this post because I know someone here has posted on this before. Maybe they will see this if it shows up top.

The only thing I know about it is my vet suggests low carb food, antioxidants, and good probiotics. I’ve read to also give freshly grated garlic and oregano capsules with meals.

[theBCnut]

If you look at the carb levels of 1 and 2 star foods you will see that the carb level in the 4 and 5 star foods is actually quite low…for kibble. Kibble has to have carbs as a binder, so it would be extremely rare and require special processing for a kibble to be truly low carb. The 5 star foods really are the top 20% as far as protein levels are concerned and usually fat goes up as protein goes up, so they should be the 20% of foods with the lowest carb level too.

A lot of us have asked for calorie info to be included in the future, so we are still hoping it will happen, but it isn’t required on the government regulated label and can change at any time, even bag to bag.

[“Blue”]

Hi, I found your site and have been reading reviews for about 1 month. Here an idea I’d like to see in all reviews, but maybe you’re saving it for Editors Choice.

Kcals. This relates to cost of keeping a dog.

And here’s a question I have. Why do you give high Carb foods 4-5 stars when a wolf’s natural diet would be very low carbs?

I haven’t seen these addressed, maybe I just haven’t found them yet as there’s a lot of info here. I really appreciate your site and look forward to the editors choice section.