[InkedMarie]

The best food would be a higher protein grainfree food. Grains are inflammatory. Is she on supplements for her joints? There are many out there. Ones I use are Liquid Health K9 glucosamine, organic tumeric (the Whole Dog Journal just had an article on this), Dog Gone Pain and Traumeel.

[Bobby dog]

Cheryl H:
KBPF is one of the dinner mixes I suggested you look into on the review side. Aimee was kind enough to look at the company and found some very interesting info in regards to what they have posted on their website and the pre-mix formulations. Read her January 4, 2015 at 11:54 pm post.

I want to start making some home cooked food for both my dog and cats, but have not had time to research it. The info that Aimee posted is the type of research that I feel is necessary before I buy a supplement. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time right now. KBPF is no longer on my list of pre-mixes to research, one less company to look at. lol

If you are interested in speaking with a Veterinary Nutritionist, you can find one here:
http://www.acvn.org/

You can also contact a University that has a Veterinary School to see if they offer nutritional consultations with their Vet Nutritionist. Most that offer these services will do phone consultations with you and your Vet. Tufts, Cornell, U of Minnesota, U of Tennessee, UC Davis, and Penn Vet are some schools that offer this type of service; I am sure there are many more.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Susan
Thank’s for the info. Will look into further, just briefly looked at it this am.
Weekends are a better time lately to do in-depth research.
Also am looking into “Balance It”-soo much out there it can get overwhelming and very confusing. Kristen, I agree with you on the supplements.
Kristen, have you checked out “the justfordogs”site?
What does KBPF stand for??
thanks again everyone

[Kristin C]

Hi Aimee – so you make all your dog’s food and use Balance It? That’s it? I checked out the website and the supplement doesn’t give use instructions. It looks like downloading or purchasing recipes, or going through a vet is the only way to get that information. The ingredient list looks like all chemical based supplements to me, as opposed to whole food ingredients which I prefer not only for myself but for my dogs as well.

Have you ever reviewed the See Spot Live Longer product?

[aimee]

Hi Hater and Molly’s Mom and Dog Obsessed,

To answer your question, “how can they distribute their product saying it meets standards if it doesn’t?” all I can say is “Who is there to check and hold them accountable??” No one really… so companies are on the honor system and can do as they like.

Some companies are simply marketing machines. Because the companies don’t study or understand nutrition they themselves can’t even see that the information they post doesn’t make any nutritional sense. Marketing companies, like THK, have as their primary concern getting people to open their wallets.

I reported Grandma Lucy’s to my state feed control official for the same type of nonsensical nutritional information that I see with THK. The state feed control official issued an immediate stop sale order, but I’m sure I’ll see it back on the shelf. The inspector can’t be there 24/7 and “marketing” companies, as opposed to nutritional companies don’t seem to be concerned if a product doesn’t properly nourish an animal.

For THK, base mixes don’t have to meet AAFCO as they are labeled for intermittent/ supplemental feeding. In regards to their complete mixes… well the company won’t answer that question. THK just sticks to their story that they meet AAFCO despite that their self reported nutritional information says otherwise. Apparently they don’t understand enough about nutrition to see how foolish it all sounds The reality though is that it is anyone’s guess what is actually in the food. Who knows if the nutrient information they post is correct or if the stuff they post is incorrect and the diets do meet AAFCO. For me though it doesn’t matter… if a company posts nutritional information and it doesn’t “add up”, I won’t use their products.

[Elizabeth A]

I’ve been ordering strictly pastured, organic meat and poultry deliverd to my home through http://www.uswellnessmeats.com for my family’s consumption. They also sell “pet burgers” which is mixed raw organ meats/ muscle meat that comes from solely pastured, organic animals. It is raw, delivered frozen in 1 lb bags, costing about $5 a pound. I give it to my older dachshund as a treat to supplement his canned Wellness diet. He loves it! I think it releases his “inner wolf.” haha Just wondering if anyone else has come across this product. They also sell pastured beef bones of varying sizes with the marrow. Some of their beef comes from Tasmania/New Zealand where the air/pasture/water purity is high. Just passing it on. My doxie is a rescue dog I’ve had since he was 4 and now turning 16–still full of life!

[Jon h]

Hi Kristin, that might be the topic of another thread. We have high confidence that it is environmental allergens as it appears to be seasonal and no variation/elimination of food has changed the irritation.

However in this thread I was hoping to address solely the theory that honey supplementation helps build immunity to environmental allergens which seems to be spreading like wildfire in the canine natural remedy world yet no scientific basis as far as I’ve been able to find has ever been presented in favor of this idea. I’ve only found scientific resources that discredit this idea.

[Caitlin H]

Hello (:

I have an almost 7m old rough collie pup. I want to start feeding him RMBs, but I’m worried about keeping the calc/phos in check. If I gave him, say, 1 chicken neck every 2 days or so and fed him a bit less kibble on those days would that be ok?

Also, I’m getting some raw green tripe tonight but I’m not sure how much of it to feed. I’d like to give a little bit each day or maybe every other day. He’s getting about 4c/day of kibble, so should I give him a few tablespoons of tripe to supplement or cut out some kibble and give him a more significant portion? Basically, how much should I give him to where he’s reaping the full benefits of it?

Thank you so much to anyone who answers!

[DogFoodie]

Hi Ezra,

Glad you posted over here. I was just trying to reply to you on the review side, but was having trouble.

A couple of things…, it’s odd to me that the fish oil supplement your vet recommended used peppermint as a carrier. I can certainly sympathize with your fish woes. You mentioned that your pup also has environmental allergies, but that the fish oil might have made it much worse. While you have things pretty well controlled, I think would I’d try adding fish oil to his food and see what happens. If he reacts, stop and you’ll have your answer about the fish oil. I’ve been using Ovega-3 and Springtime Naturals Skin and Coat Oil. Both are vegeterian and I’d recommend both.

The change in bowel movements could be the result of the increase in peas. Is he gassy at all? I believe, the other varieties of NVI LID, have a bit less pea protein. I really would encourage you to try one of those. I would also recommend adding a digestive enzyme to his food – I had great luck with Swanson’s BioCore, which works great at digesting carbs. Canine Caviar Lamb and Pearl Millet is fish free as is Canidae Pure Sky, which is a duck based food. Canidae is also a Diamond product if that concerns you. Addiction Viva La Venison is also fish free and uses potato as a binder. As we talked about on the other side, Acana Duck and Bartlett Pear (not Singles) and Lamb and Apple (not Singles) would both be good fish free choices, also.

I know you said you feed other proteins for treats, but I really think it’s important to rotate proteins in kibble, too. Even though NVI LID Duck is far and away my dogs best food, I’m constantly looking for others to rotate it with. I rotate brands with varying proteins and binders. I’d encourage you to rotate varieties of ZiwiPeak that you use also.

I think you also said that transitioning him from one food to another food takes a long time. That’s OK, he’ll adjust, the important thing is to keep rotating. If he’s not used to switching, he doesn’t have optional gut health; keep rotating and he’ll improve.

[Jon h]

Hi everyone,

So I’ve lurked here for a while now collecting information regarding nutrition and have come across an interesting topic. I became interested in natural allergy remedies as it seems our Australian cattle dog has some itchy skin problems the vet believes is related to allergies from the environment.

Now before we get on to the topic of honey I would prefer that this be a FACT based discussion not a personal opinion, anecdotal evidence type discussion. Unfortunately as humans we are able to make extremely irrational and unfounded correlations especially when we don’t understand something or want something to be true (ie we desperately want a natural remedy to be as effective or more effective than a pharmaceutical remedy). This has no place in the canine nutritional world (or human) as toying with an animals nutrition based on weak non-scientific beliefs is in my opinion horribly ignorant and in some cases an unethical thing to do. So please keep responses scientific in nature and cite articles if you can (petmd, blog posts and natural canine health daily articles type sources with no references don’t count as scientific!)

The theory behind the honey supplementation seems to be this: Local honey supposedly contains local allergens and supplementing with it acts similar to a vaccine by exposing the animal to low levels of an allergen and helping to develop an immune response to the allergen.

Now this sounds all fine and dandy in theory and certainty a naive layman will take this as face value and argue this as being fact (i’m am trying to be an informed layman!). But does this actually have any scientific value? That is what I want to find out.

I have read several claims that in fact there is no scientific basis for this. The argument is that bees do not extract pollen from the common plant sources of airborne pollen which cause the allergic reactions in our dogs. They of course get pollen from flowers and a few other sources, they do not collect pollen from say pine trees or most grasses. Any contamination during transport or in the nest from the common local allergens is said to be negligible and will not help build an immunity.
example of a study on humans:
http://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206%2810%2961996-5/abstract

There is also a Finnish study on humans which took 3 groups, one group as a control, one supplemented with regular honey and one supplemented with a honey that had birch pollen added to it. The Ones taking the honey with birch pollen saw improvements and had to use less antihistamines to control their symptoms while the ones supplementing with regular honey saw no difference.
abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21196761

Now my problem is that I see honey toted continuously on natural canine remedy sites. However I do not see a signal study either in humans or canines showing any truth to the theory. Any evidence is extremely weak correlation evidence with no control or consideration for other variables. All actual scientific studies of this theory i’ve personally come across show that their so no truth to this theory. So is this just a myth?

The second problem I see that REALLY concerns me is there are huge ranges of supplementation dosages. Some references say to feed your dog 1/4 teaspoon per week while other such as the lady in the non-scholarly article below say two tablespoons per day for larger dogs (in her case her lab and staffordshire terrier). Now that is extremely worrisome to me as there are 17 grams of sugar per table spoon of honey. if I am to assume her dogs weigh approximately 80 pounds (upper end of pure lab retrievers and beyond the upper limit of staffordshire terriers) then I estimate their daily requirement of calories (using online calculator) to be 1630. If there are 64 calories per tablespoon of honey (google) this would mean they are getting 7.9% of their daily intake of calories straight from simple sugars. Comparing this to my daily intake of ~2300 cals (because from my understanding canines metabolize simple sugars similar to the way humans do) this computes (if i’ve done my math right) to 48 grams of straight simple sugars a day for me. This is over my targets for the day even making the assumption that my other foods have zero sugars in them…. Now assuming that the dog is already getting sugars from their regular food source you are probably doubling their recommended sugar intake per day. This doesn’t seem right to me at all as a human consistently doubling their recommended sugar intake daily would be a good candidate for type 2 diabetes. So why are people recommending this to do to our dogs?

Michele Crouse interviewed about honey supplementation (under “honey for dogs” section)
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/10_9/features/Bee-Honey-Products-Help-Canines_15967-1.html

I’m hoping this sparks some interesting conversation. As you can probably tell I am somewhat against this theory. Mostly because I have yet to see a shred of scientific evidence for it and I don’t personally like adding or subtracting things from my dogs diet based on personal opinions and weak, unfounded theories. I’d be interested to see if there is actually research supporting this idea.

Is there any truth to this theory? or are people just pumping their dogs full of sugar and added calories?

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

I purchased a jar of “EverPup” on Amazon and wondered if anyone is familiar with it? It is a powered supplement.
I usually give my older gal human supplements tailored to her weight, but I thought when the time comes I might give this to my 6 month old.
It states it is 100% human grade.
Also, can anyone recommend a good probiotic & digestive enzyme? I have been using the Mercola D.E. & Probotics for quite some time and not happy with the results.
I got a sample size of the H.K. Perfect Form and so far are very pleased with the results, I was wondering if this can be used on a long term basis?
Has anyone used the H.K. Pro Bloom?
Thanks again for any input.
Cheryl

[Dog_Obsessed]

I found the ingredients on another website, here they are:

Beef, Wheat Flour, Beef Liver, Chicken, Pea Fiber, Molasses, Vegetable Glycerin, Sugar, Bacon, Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor, Calcium Sulfate, Lactic Acid (as a preservative), Pea Protein, Sodium Lactate, Sea Salt, Flaxseed Oil, Potassium Chloride, Carrageenan, Celery Extract, BotaniFits™ Botanical Blend (Green Tea, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Cranberries, Peppermint, Chamomile, Rosemary Extract, Dandelion Extract, Blueberries), Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, L-Carnitine, Glucosamine HCL, Taurine, Dextrose, Chicory Root Extract, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

They don’t look great, with wheat flour as the second ingredient, but it wouldn’t be horrible as a one time thing. 🙂

[John H]

We have always used Krill and Salmon oil, alternately to supplement our Golden’s diet. We recently tried the organic Coconut oil and after a few days we noticed improved mobility as well as decreased itching in the dry heated air inside the house. We strongly have urged friends to use both and we received positive feedback from them also.

[Dori]

Hi Barbara. Sorry I haven’t chimed in sooner, it’s been a very busy day. As I’ve mentioned to you before, it has been a very long road to achieving a quality to Katie’s life. My favorite and most trusted commercial raw foods are: Primal Raw Formulas (the formulas are the only one of their foods that are complete and balanced), Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Foods, Answer’s Detailed Raw Foods (a bit difficult to find but any pet store that carries their raw goats milk should be able to order in the food for you), OC Raw, Stella & Chewy’s (I go back and forth with my feelings about the taste of their food for my dogs but as a company they are top notch), Vital Essential Raw, Nature’s Logic Raw. With all of this said I continue to always be on the look out and continue to tweak Katie’s diet. The companies that I mentioned are the ones that I feel very confident and comfortable with feeding to my dogs; but you always have to be on the look out that if any of these foods you feed to your dog don’t agree with them, look for different ingredients in the foods that may be the culprit. Katie cannot have any fowl whatsoever. Sometimes a food may be labeled “bison”. Please make sure that there is no other animal protein in the food. Sometimes some companies will add chicken fat, turkey fat, or some poultry to up their protein requirements for their label. Also some companies may have an over abundance of peas or some other ingredient which may bother your dogs. I have not found that to be the case with any of the above mentioned companies and foods. I do have to be careful which foods from these different companies I feed my dogs because Katie cannot have poultry of any sort, duck, lamb, quail. I stay away from all those. The only kibble that is fed to my dogs on very rare occasions is Nature’s Logic Kibble. They are not strictly a grain free food because their formulas contain millet which is a pseudo grain. For some bizarre reason Katie, who cannot tolerate any grain whatsoever, doesn’t seem to have any reaction to millet. It started out as an error on my part. I thought Nature’s Logic was a grain free food. It wasn’t after some time that I found it contained millet which I didn’t realize it was grain free. I was looking for a kibble that she might be able to eat because my husband who, on the rare occasion has to feed my dogs, is very squeamish and hubby is a bit on the lazy side, and just wants to be able to scoop a food and pour into their bowls. It doesn’t happen often because I don’t like feeding them kibble. Anyway, if I can be of further help please ask away and I will do my best to answer any and all questions that I can.

Just a quick add on to my post is that I do rotate brands, proteins within brands, etc. etc. My very favorite of all commercial raw foods is Primal. Without a doubt I have no qualms about recommending Primal Formulas. Primals Pronto Formulas are also an easy way for you to transition into commercial raw feeding because they are small little bits that you can scoop out frozen and put in bowls and wait till they soften (approx. 15 minutes) and then feed. I have three dogs…..5 lb. Yorkipoo, 6 lb. Maltipoo and a 7.3 lb. 15 year old Maltese. They have been eating these high protein, moderate to high fat, low carb foods for approx. 3 years. None have developed any issues from eating high protein, moderate to high fat foods. Many will scare people into believing that some foods have too much fat to feed dogs. It’s not the quantity of the fat or the protein for that matter, it is the quality of the fats and proteins in the foods. Huge Huge difference. As I’ve said, I have spent years figuring all this out, researching ingredients, companies, supplements in the foods and I’m very confident that I feed my girls high quality foods with high quality ingredients from companies that I trust implicitly and companies that, to my knowledge and investigation, have never had recalls.

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

[Walt R]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I have been doing the antifungal shampoo every 2 days for the past week and I have not notice much difference. I also got a spray for the paws but that too has not helped. I did supplement his food with probiotic powder but again, no change. In fact, I want to say it’s worse.

I am thoroughly convinced his issue is INSIDE… that it’s in his saliva, in his mouth. He licks himself and then it gets on the bed linens and then they smell too.

The most convincing reason why I think it’s his mouth/insides… when he takes a deep breath and breathes out…. the fritos smell is huge. almost as bad as bad gas.

I’m very sensitive to this which is why it’s a problem.

Anyhow… I agree, that I need to start with food.

Unfortunately it’s challenging to spend $50 on a bag of dog food. Time is limited too with how much I work.

I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but for now, I want to remain with dry food.

There are 100’s of makes/formula’s out there. Something has to work.

As mentioned previously, when we got him we tried many of the regular brand foods and everything made his coat smell and he had bad gas. We stumbled upon the Purina Pro Plan Select Salmon formula and life was good for nearly 2 years. We had small bouts of this frito breath smell, but it would go away. This time… it’s not.

Can anyone recommend other dry dog foods to try?

I have read… no potatoes, sweet potatoes, grains, peas, sugars, yeasts, etc… but it seems no matter what I look at, one of these ingredentis in in the food. Sometimes it’s 7 or 8 ingredients down the list…

Which prompts the next question… if the potatos or peas are 7 ingredients down… do I need to be concerned?

I do not have a distributor near me for Victors. I was recommend Blue Wilderness but it has the Peas and Potatoes. I was also recommended Zignature Trout/Salmon but it too has peas further down the list.

Any other thoughts?

I don’t mind buy a 6lb bag here and there and start trying to find the right ones again. But it’s challenging with there being so many to choose from.

Thanks again for all your help. I will continue on with the shampoos, probiotics, etc…

[DogFoodie]

I really like Herbsmith products. They have one called Calm Shen for dogs with anxiety. Herbsmith products follow TCVM principals. Here’s a link: http://www.herbsmithinc.com/home/Canine/Herbs/CalmShen/default.asp

Here’s a link to the Mercola product: http://products.mercola.com/healthypets/bladder-health-for-pets/ Don’t buy it without calling them first to make sure they’re shipping you fresh product. It’s an excellent product.

A couple of excellent books on making homemade meals that are properly balanced are, “Real Food for Healthy Cats and Dogs” by Karen Becker and “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown. In a nutshell, I found Dr. Becker’s book great for recipes and Steve Brown’s book for the supplement information.

[stephw4]

I have not added any supplements yet. I have never heard of Mercola Bladder Support. But I will look it up. I think that I am going to switch back to making my own food, add water to their food and look into a supplement. I actually have 4 doxies but only 2 with this issue. These 2 dogs are also the most insecure and get stressed easily. So if that is an issue I am not quite sure what to do about that. If you read on Dog Food Advisor he says Royal Canin food is terrible and if my vet recommends it I should change vets.

Thanks everyone for the input. It helps to get different opinions.

[InkedMarie]

have you added any urinary supplements? What about adding some warm water to their raw?

[crazy4cats]

Hi All-
There are a lot of recent posts regarding loose stools. Please check out this link: http://www.dogaware.com/health/digestive.html

I believe it contains a lot of great information regarding different types of diarrhea and loose stools. My favorite subject. LOL!!!

I learned about the following supplements on that site and have had pretty good success rotating them: Gastriplex by Thorne, Perfect Form by The Honest Kitchen, Vetri-Pro BD, by Vetri Science, Phytomucil by Animal Essentials and canned Fruitables Digestive Supplement.

Of course, make sure to have a thorough fecal test done to check for Giardia and Coccidia. They are both fairly common with puppies and sometimes hard to detect.

Good luck! It is a frustrating issue.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Sarah-
I’d definitely play it safe and feed your pup as if it is a large breed. There is a good chance she will be if she is 3/4 golden. She is going to be beautiful! Right now, I’d worry more about her joints than cancer. You can always supplement with fish oil or sardines/salmon if you can’t find an appropriate fish based food at this time. I have two three year-old 3/4 lab, 1/4 golden mixes and I give them each one tin of sardines per week and then a krill oil pill each on another day. I also feed them eggs, beef hearts a few times per week with their kibble as well. Good luck and have fun with your pup!

[Jeffrey]

Hi All,

I wanted to post a happy update. We’ve been using Annamaet Grain-Free Salcha Poulet Formula for 4 months now and have had excellent results. I really had no idea how poorly our pup was feeling until we changed foods.

She went from not wanting or walk or play to being happy again. We are back to walking 1.5 miles a day and she is anxious to play several times a day. Not just that, the play sessions have extended since she’s been on this food. When she was unwell, we’d toss the ball 3 times and she was done. Now she is like a machine and goes on and on, with a nice bounce in her step.

One word of advice, don’t supplement the dogs diet with human treats. It will defeat all of your efforts. I found this out the hard way. I thought she was all better so I started giving her various table scraps and we had a large setback. Lesson learned.

Thanks again for the helpful advice and recommendations.

Jeffrey

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

[DogFoodie]

If it’s your hope to use a fish based food for the Omega 3’s, you’re better off adding sardines, fish oil or another form of Omega 3 supplement to the food you’re feeding.

Here’s an article written by Steve Brown, who many consider to be one of the authorities of raw feeding: http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_12/features/Fats-Chance_20658-1.html

[Sarah]

Hello Dog Experts!

I would love to get your suggestions on what would be the best food to get for our new puppy Pearl who is 3/4 Golden Retriever and 1/4 Border Collie mix that the breeder refers to as a Coltriever. We have had her since she was 10 weeks old and is now 13 weeks and weighs 12 lbs and is a very active and happy pup. She is currently on Taste of the Wild Puppy which was what the breeder was feeding and we have switched between the Wild Prairie and Wild Pacific Salmon formulas and she has done well on both but seems to like the Wild Pacific Salmon formula more. She has a long and very fluffy puppy coat still and the Vet suggested having her on a fish based puppy food for both her longer coat and to help with the cancer that is so prevalent in Goldens. My understanding is TOTW is a good food for the price point however, I am looking to find what the best food would be for her. I joined the Editors Choice but the large breed Puppy foods listed were not fish based. I don’t mind paying more $$ as it is important to me to have her on the best food possible. Our vet is not pro Raw food and we currently are not looking to go that direction except for possibly supplementing. If anyone has suggestions on supplements we should be adding I would love to hear those as well! I am also scratching my head on whether I should be doing all dry or a wet/dry combo for her food.
These are some of the suggestions we got from Mud Bay for her dry food (a local high end pet store):
1. First Mate Puppy
2. Instinct Salmon (it’s not a puppy formula but they said that it has the same protein and fat ratios as a puppy formula would have)
3. Acana (they didn’t carry but said was great)
4. Orijen (they didn’t carry but said was great)
I appreciate the help, the more I research the more confused I get and would love to hear from people’s personal experiences!
~Sarah

[Sarah]

Hello Dog Experts!

I would love to get your suggestions on what would be the best food to get for our new puppy Pearl who is 3/4 Golden Retriever and 1/4 Border Collie mix that the breeder refers to as a Coltriever. We have had her since she was 10 weeks old and is now 13 weeks and weighs 12 lbs and is a very active and happy pup. She is currently on Taste of the Wild Puppy which was what the breeder was feeding and we have switched between the Wild Prairie and Wild Pacific Salmon formulas and she has done well on both but seems to like the Wild Pacific Salmon formula more. She has a long and very fluffy puppy coat still and the Vet suggested having her on a fish based puppy food for both her longer coat and to help with the cancer that is so prevalent in Goldens. My understanding is TOTW is a good food for the price point however, I am looking to find what the best food would be for her. I joined the Editors Choice but the large breed Puppy foods listed were not fish based. I don’t mind paying more $$ as it is important to me to have her on the best food possible. Our vet is not pro Raw food and we currently are not looking to go that direction except for possibly supplementing. If anyone has suggestions on supplements we should be adding I would love to hear those as well!

These are some of the suggestions we got from Mud Bay (a local high end pet store):
1. First Mate Puppy
2. Instinct Salmon (it’s not a puppy formula but they said that it has the same protein and fat ratios as a puppy formula would have)
3. Acana (they didn’t carry but said was great)
4. Orijen

I appreciate the help, the more I research the more confused I get and would love to hear from people’s personal experiences!

~Sarah

[DogFoodie]

I’ve never tried Glandex as my dog’s anal gland issues usually are simply food related. When his anal gland start smelling strongly, I know it’s time to switch food; but occasionally, that’s when I’ll also add some Firm Up, a dehydrated pumpkin and apple supplement during the switch to speed the transition up.

Maybe some others who have experience with Glandex will weigh in. I know I’ve heard several others mention having used it.

[Charlotte P]

What foods have you all switched to/had success with? My dogs have always been on grain-free, supplemented with pumpkin and goat yoghurt. Right now I have two, both are rescues… Phoebe is about six years old, she came to me four years ago, and her health is fine except for a reaction to yeast supplements which I tried as a flea treatment alternative (They are both on Comfortis now). Leo, also about six, came to me four months ago and has the anal abscess issues, was underweight, and ended up having TWELVE teeth removed – he was already missing five! Over the years, dry and canned foods I have tried include Natural Balance, Spring Naturals, I and Love and You, Wishbone Lake, and of course, home-cooked meals. Has anyone had success with any of these? How about Orijen, Acana, Blue Buffalo, or Taste of the Wild? Do I need to go raw? For the dry, I had the best outcome with Wishbone Lake.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Thank you Susan,
I WOULD LOVE to have an endoscopy done, but the internist fears putting her under,
She has pulmonary hypertension along with a mild heart murmur.
I truly feel her GI problems stem from an inflammatory condition in her entire body, mainly caused by neglect of her teeth & gums, the bad bacteria hides in her GI tract, she is being treated with everything except the antibiotic, the Reglan seems to be helping with her motility issue.
I MUST FIND a diet for her. Like you, the premium kibble which I have been giving her (soaked) no longer works. If only I could balance the cooked turkey, chicken, bison, with something I could stay away from the hydrolyzed vet diet. I know Rabbit was too rich for her, she vomited that up. I, too, could never rotate foods. Have you every tried the Honest Kitchen grain-free Base Mix topped with a cooked protein? I tried it, she loved it, but threw it up, I was also giving her the kibble, which may have caused the problem. I am thinking of trying the HK again about a TBSP. no kibble of course. I just don’t know what would be the best way to go for her wellbeing. I have been fighting this since I got her 3 years ago.If the vet diet will keep her with me, then I must do it.
I had to stop all her supplements, which worries me greatly.
Thank you very very much for your reply.

[Dog_Obsessed]

You could try adding some of The Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form supplement to improve his stools. Here is the link to it on the THK website: http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/treats-supplements/supplements/perfect-form

[Dog_Obsessed]

The Medicam was basically until further notice. They want to do x-rays on her though they said if she gets better with rest and meds then we might not need them. She is on a Glucosamine/MSM supplement, but it is hard to tell if it helps or not.

[Dori]

How long are they suggesting that Lily stay on Medicam or is it for life? Even on Medicam I still think you should look into a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement for her. Medicam is good for pain and as an anti-inflammatory but it’s not without it’s potential side effects but I guess what isn’t.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Jessica –

If you’re an Editor’s Choice member check out theEditor’s Choice Puppy Foods – there’s a list of foods appropriate for large breed puppies.

If you’re not an Editor’s Choice member, there’s a large breed puppy thread in the general forum area that can be found here.

There a few different routes you could take to try and get to the bottom of the loose stool issue. First and foremost (if you haven’t done this already) be sure to get a stool sample to the vet. Coccidia is very common in puppies and will cause loose stool. If you can rule out parasites, you can then look into switching foods and/or supplementation. You can try simply switching to a different brand, if this doesn’t work you may need to consider a food intolerance and start trying foods without ingredients that are common culprits (e.g. chicken, grains, etc.). You may also wish to try supplementing with a good quality probiotic and/or adding some additional fiber (a spoonful or two of plain canned pumpkin usually works well).

Good luck!

[Dori]

Some Mercola products are available on Amazon but typically they’re the same price or close enough that I’d rather buy straight from Mercola then trust whatever seller is selling on Mercola. I worry about whether it’s actually the Mercola supplement (not just using a Mercola bottle) and how old is the product. Some products purchased on Amazon can be difficult to deal with if there’s an issue. They’ll refer you to the seller to get satisfaction. Don’t get me wrong, Amazon Prime is my home away from home. I love them. Just saying that I’m more careful with anything like food and supplements that my dogs are going to ingest. Same goes for me and hubby.

[Dori]

Marie. Even them Gemma keeps her jaw shut tight is it possible to slip the syringe in by pulling her upper lip open toward the side and gently squeeze it in. Any liquid meds and supplements that I’ve ever given I did that way then just held their mouth shut for the second it took for them to swallow. Worked every time with every dog that I had to do this with. Marie how many cc’s or how much liquid supplement do you give Gemma?

[crazy4cats]

Hi Walt-

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

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

Good luck to you and your buddy!

[crazy4cats]

Recently I read a great interview by Dr. Becker with Dr. Lisa Pierson, feline guru. The topic was feline nutrition. She stresses three important factors for a healthy diet:
1.) moisture
2.) protein from animal sources
3.) no or very low carbs
While I thought I was following these guidelines pretty well, one of my male cats ended up with a urinary tract blockage due to Struvite crystals that caused bladder spasms. Very scarey! After a 2 1/2 day stay at an emergency clinic and a huge bill. He’s doing really well.
I’ve been feeding him prescription food and his crystals and blood in the urine are gone so far. He was also on a muscle relaxer for the bladder spasms and an anti anxiety med. He’s off the muscle relaxer, but might keep him on anti-anxiety long term.

When reading the interview, I learned that Dr. Pierson recommends using DL-Methionine as a separate supplement rather than prescription food. She states that it is better to acidify the pH with this pill and feed a higher quality diet that is healthier for the cat.

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this medicine? I think I’d like to ask my vet about it, but fear I’ll be met with resistance. Any thoughts, anyone?

Btw, I’d like to note that this condition is much, much more common in male cats than females or dogs of either sex due to their internal plumbing. Don’t want to scare anyone!

[Nancy M]

Checker

Thanks for your input. Well, I think I’m in line with all you’ve pointed out…….feeding at certain times of the day, feeding within the guidelines of the food, and vitamin supplementation (I give both my dogs the proper amount of Nu-Vet Plus vitamins, daily). Like I mentioned, this little guy might do better with self-feeding, as he use to be able to do, but it’s not really possible with another dog around here.

I’ll give it another day and see how it goes……things could always be worse. Last puppy I had, 4 years ago, was very sick and suffering with almost constant diarrhea for about 3 months. Thought I was going to lose him from dehydration. FINALLY…..by the time the vets (3) decided what it was, the breeder had already sent me the meds to clear it up. Started out with Coccidia and then came the Giardia. The vets were all too afraid to give the meds he needed (Albon and Metronitizole) because of his size, but the breeder knew what was needed and so within 2 – 3 days of following her instructions, he was almost normal again! So what I have going on right now, is nothing in comparison.

I truly believe there’s nothing “wrong” with him, except the “wrong” food. We’ll see though! I hope its that simple!

Thanks again!
Nancy

[Dog_Obsessed]

@Dori Thanks! Are you saying we should double the supplement or give half twice a day? I took Lily to the vet today, and we talked about things that have relevance on about three different threads. I will post about it either on the Clicker thread or start a new one.

[pacer1978]

Hello All,

I haven’t been on in a while, but I recently switched one of my dogs to a 100% raw diet (over time of course). However, I’m just not sure how much I should be feeding. I started it 3 weeks ago, supplementing with Dinovite, because of severe paw licking (to the point she has bad sores). We are guessing she is over 10-13 years old since we took her in about 4 years ago. She is a little “porky” to begin with, but I’m wondering if she just has a wide chest. I’m not really sure if she is overweight or just “girthy” for her size. I’ve noticed her waist tapering a little, but I want to ensure that I’m also not underfeeding her. She was last weighted in about 40 lbs. when I took her to the vet and I’ve been told by vets she was a little overweight. She is considered a medium size dog. The best guess I can give is either part Corgi and terrier. I don’t see any place to submit a photo otherwise I would do so. I’m not really sure how much she should weigh, but I’m thinking if I’ve been told she was overweight, then she can afford to lose 5-10 lbs. If that is the case, how much raw should I be feeding for a 30-40 lb medium dog per day (preferably in oz)? Anyway, I feed my dogs twice a day so they are eating smaller meals (my other two are Weimaraners and they suggest this for bloat). Thank you!

[theBCnut]

The company that makes Corta-Flex makes a dog supplement as well, so maybe that’s what you found.

[Bellalab]

Hi all. I am curious to know if anyone has ever come across a dog that cannot tolerate ANY digestive enzyme. I have a Lab/Bulldog mix. She is almost 2 years old and she has been quite a challenge since I adopted her. She came to me on Pedigree kibble. I wanted to get her off that ASAP and slowly introduced TOTW. She did okay for 5 months or so and then had a horrible bout of colitis. During this time, (after a vet visit and meds) I fed boiled chicken/rice and things improved until I starting adding the kibble back into the diet. With each increase of kibble, the stools became worse. I experimented with several brands of kibble – slowly introducing which ever one I was trying but after about the 1/2 cup mark, runny stools. I finally gave up and started cooking for her. I rotate chicken, beef, turkey. Vegetables include peas, carrots, green beans. I use a limited amount of carbs – pasta, barley, sweet potatoes and not much of this is given. So far I have tried Dr. Mercola’s products, Enzyme Miracle (and probiotic miracle), Animal Essential enzymes, and Digestive Enzyme/Probiotic by Pet Health and Nutrition Center. While on the any of these there have been stool issues especially the Enzyme Miracle. That led to another vet visit with bloody stools. She has been on the last item I listed for about a month and problems are starting again. If I keep her off the digestive enzymes she is fine. Right now as far as other supplements all she is getting is fish oil and calcium. And the last few weeks all she has done is itch and chew. Since stopping the enzymes she is finally getting better with that too. Why aren’t enzymes helping her? I just don’t get it. She also had nasty diarrhea when taking heartworm meds so I stopped those. She cannot tolerate flea medication – makes her extremely loopy. I love her to pieces – she is the sweetest dog and so smart. I just feel so bad that she is so sensitive to things. But digestive enzymes???????

[Rob S]

Hi,

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

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

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

Thanks

[Sadie’s Mom]

I will! Thanks so much for all the helpful advice 🙂 I am so glad to have found this site and all the helpful people that are one it! I am planning on getting the GNC joint supplement today and starting it tonight.

[Dori]

Being in less pain will definitely make her more active and help her to lose weight. I think between giving her the supplements and feeding her separately so that she’s not eating the other dogs food will be of great help. Keep us posted as to her progress.

[Sadie’s Mom]

The majority of the time the dogs finish their food right away. I wouldn’t call it free feeding. The food put down is the exact amount the dogs need. They could feed Sadie separately but they may forget she is there and leave her in my room all day without water, which has happened before. For the next month I can feed her separately and make sure she doesn’t eat everyone else’s food. I can’t control what happens when I’m gone though. I can ask my parents to do something, and hope that it happens. She probably will be fed separately from now on since she will be getting a supplement and some wet food. I am hoping the supplement will help with both her back and her weight. Maybe not being in pain will give her more energy and she will be more active.

[Dori]

Hi Labs. How long have you been giving this supplement and how long before you saw results? Have you tried other supplements with less success, if so, which ones? I’m thinking of adding the one you mentioned above in rotation for Hannah. I rotate everything including supplements. I’d just never heard of this one. Does it say on the bottle that it should be given with food or without? Sorry for so many questions, I just like hearing about things I’ve never heard of before. 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by Dori.

[Sadie’s Mom]

@ Dori – She is slightly overweight at 15 pounds. She needs to lose 2-3 pounds according to the vet, and she slowly is. She’s more of a “tweenie” dachshund, larger than a mini but much smaller than a standard. The problem is she will scare everyone else away from their food and then eat it all lol. My parents have to leave for work at 7 so the dogs don’t always finish their breakfast right away. I am home for the next month on winter break, so I’ll be mixing up her food with the supplement and a little wet food and then feed her separately so she doesn’t eat everyone elses food. It isn’t too cold yet so I’m hoping that starting the supplements now will prevent problems in a few weeks.

[Walt R]

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

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

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

I can’t help but think it’s his food.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Walt

[Dori]

I’m sure BC will get back to you to on dosing if you choose to purchase the supplement she uses. She’s a great person for you to take advice from.

The reason for my hopping onto your thread is to ask you how much your dog weighs. You didn’t mention that in your initial post. It’s very important to keep a dog with any time of musculoskeletal issues on the thin side. You probably know that already but I thought I’d mention it. By the way, there is no food on the market that will help with the issue you are dealing with. Supplements will help.

[Dori]

Dog Obsessed. I’ve been giving Hannah glucosamine/chondroitin for a number of years twice a day two hours after both her meals. I give her her Denamarin (both for her liver and as an anti-inflammatory) one to one and a half hours BEFORE her p.m. meal. A number of months back I started adding a glucosamine/chondroitin at bedtime since I knew she hadn’t had anything to eat in a number of hours. I don’t give any treats of any sort after 9:00 pm (I feel their guts need a little resting time instead of constantly having to digest food). She’s been doing very well with three times a day. If you’re only giving once a day then you can start on the twice a day and see how your dog does. If you’re going to add the bed time one then I would wait on that one for a while to make sure your dog isn’t getting loose stools or diarrhea. I introduce supplements very slowly and once I realize they’re doing well, then I up the supplements. And so on and so on.

[theBCnut]

As far as a joint supplement goes, it is definitely trial and error to see what works with what dog. Try that one and see if you can tell a difference. One hint on cost savings, horse joint supplements are cheaper. I really like one called Joint Armor and I get it from Jefferspet.com.