[Patricia A]

Hi Aimee,
On bottom of bag states Vital Essentials Turkey dinner patties Formula is formulated meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO dog food nutrient profiles for all life stages.
After getting no call back I called the Carnivore Meat Companyr. (Carnivore Meat Company is an award-winning manufacturer of premium frozen and freeze-dried raw pet food and treats. Located in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the company’s rapidly growing brands include: Vital Essentials®, VE RAW BAR™, Vital Cat®, and Nature’s Advantage) Just was the same recording with different number.
Well I HOPE dog food companies have software letting them know their brand was mentioned on social media forums for dog nutrition. Just so they know that there is pet owners like yourself and many others who are now VERY savvy to the tricks of the trade and forcing them to live up to their own hype .
Thank’s Aimee. For now I’ll give it a rest.

[aimee]

Four years after filing a Freedom of Information Act request, it arrived. FDA tested three products: Earth Animal No Hide, Dreambone(non-rawhide control), and Busy Rollhide (rawhide control). Multiple scientists examined the products.

Jennifer Jones DVM reported, “”No Hide”-wide bands of eosinophilic hyaline material” “”Dreambone” : loose eosinophilic flocculant material..” ,””Busy Rollhide”: ” Rawhide: hyaline fibers similar to those present in Sub 1 [No Hide] ” It seems she is saying she found No Hide and rawhide to look similar to each other and both were very different from the non-rawhide control, Dreambone.

Daniel F.Gross FDA sample 1020256 Rawhide vs No Hide scanning electron microscopy test results: “Cross sections of both products appear indistinguishable from each other. Very fibrous”

David Rotstein DVM MPVM Dipl ACVP reported “The non-rawhide treat[Dreambone] consists of amorphous substance… There were no similarities to Sub 1 [Earth Animal No Hide] and 6[rawhide].. .Collagen bundles in Sub 1 [No Hide] were similar to Sub 6[Rawhide]…The statement that this is a “no-hide” product may not be accurate”

And from the Case Summary attributed to Jennifer Jones ,David Rotstein and Andriy Tkachenko ” The Earth Animal No Hide has characteristics of both the Dreambone (non-rawhide) and the Busy Rollhide (rawhide) products”
IMO this conclusion could make sense because No Hide is a chew roll coated in a flavor slurry, the coating could have the characteristics of the Dreambone, while the roll itself could have the characteristics of rawhide.

I think the FDA investigation was compromised by sampling error. Apparently, the microscopy sample tested was taken from a 1 cm slice off the very end of the chew roll. It appears they primarily tested the flavor coating and little of the actual chew material. I think if they had separated out the coating from the chew roll and tested them separately as Dr. Adam Stern did, they could have reached a conclusion other than “inconclusive”(test 1020257)

Interesting, to me is that nowhere in the ~250 pages did I find that the governmental investigation came to an “undisputable conclusion that Earth Animal No Hide Chews do not contain rawhide” as Earth Animal apparently claims they did in the Truth About Pet Food Website comment’s section of the article” New Study Finds some Rawhide-Free Treats are actually Rawhide”. Instead, the report says “The statement that this is a “no-hide” product may not be accurate” David Rotstein DVM MPVM Dipl. AVVP

Going forward, I think consumers need to do their own tests. Buy the new plant based Earth Animal No Hide (claims the only animal-based ingredient used is egg), a labeled rawhide and a non-rawhide chew with an ingredient list similar to the No HIde. Soak the products in warm water to rehydrate them. Do the products soften or stay intact? Dissect them and examine them under magnification, I used a microscope. Using iodine, test the products for the presence of starch. (This is a very sensitive test wash your hands well before testing each sample.) Test any coating separately from the interior of the chew. If, based on your testing, you think like Dr Rotstein did that “The statement that the product contains “no-hide” may not be accurate” file a report with the FDA. IF they get enough reports there is a chance they may investigate.

[Colter C]

Hi Dog Food Advisor,

Is there a comprehensive list of the flagged controversial ingredients in consumable dog products?
It would be helpful for me to be able to assess other products that aren’t already reviewed on the website like dental treats.

I already found and appreciate the guide on how Dog Food Advisor assesses the different foods. Still, a list of those ingredients would help streamline my own assessments.
/frequently-asked-questions/about-our-best-dog-foods/
/frequently-asked-questions/rate-dog-food/
/dog-food-industry-exposed/ingredient-splitting/

Thank you!

[Winston D]

Ann, were these purchased from Costco? We have had both of our dogs intermittently sick from these, I am convinced. We rarely give these to them as we have had the same bag for over a year but just recently we started to realize that every time they have these treats they have diarrhea or worse. My english cream goldendoodle was in ICU in September and was septic, we almost lost him. Fast forward a few months and just a day ago after I gave him a bath I gave him about half of one strip as a good boy treat. He is so sick today, same symptoms as before. Diarrhea, bloody stool, lethargic, drooling, panting. If he has not improved by tomorrow I am taking him back to the ER and will open up a lawsuit with Farmland Traditions. I am SO sorry to hear of your loss. Pets are irreplaceable and companies like this need to be held accountable.

[Jane P]

Anyone know of a treat that excludes all of these these ingredients?

[Patricia A]

I follow Susan Thixton. Her mission: Susan Thixton and others like her are determined to empower pet food consumers. By fighting for industry transparency and putting an end to negligence and deception, more companion animals will stay healthier longer.
The reason she started her campaign:
I couldn’t believe what my veterinarian, Dr. Bruce Catlett, was telling me. This dog food was the number one pet food in the U.S.; it was a ‘trusted’ company. What I did next, changed me forever.

Dr. Catlett told me that these chemical preservatives were (and still are) added to pet foods to extend their ‘shelf life’; to keep them fresh for longer periods of time for retail purposes. In 1991 I made my first phone call to a pet food company; I asked them what the shelf life was on this food. I’ll never forget it – they proudly told me the dog food would “stay fresh for 25 years”. That’s more than three times as long as my dog lived.

The chemical that killed Sam – was ethoxyquin; it is still commonly used in many dog foods, cat foods, and pet treats. The pet food company that killed her, is still one of the top pet food companies; although they no longer use ethoxyquin in their foods, they use many disease causing ingredients including dangerous chemicals.

Sam’s death changed me forever. From that day forward, I have studied pet foods, pet food ingredients, and the regulations that govern them. In 2006 I started TruthaboutPetFood.com hoping to share information I learn about pet food with others.

And how did the ‘Caped Crusader for Safe Pet Food’ get started? A few years into advocating for safe pet food, a dear friend gave me that name and it stuck. My youngest daughter drew the Caped Crusader image.

But TruthaboutPetFood.com isn’t just one person – it’s thousands of people who work together helping to make pet food safe. The brightest veterinarians and scientists, along side of thousands of determined petsumers – we are all part of the TruthaboutPetFood.com team.
Aimee you can read about “her List”. She does hard work for us pet owners . https://truthaboutpetfood.com/the-list/

[Patricia A]

Hi Aimee. Just confusing to me that all these studies led pet owners to believe grain free was primary causation of DCM in pets. Possibly legumes in grain free causing enzyme inhibitions and interfering with digestion causing taurine and other amino acid deficiencies .
I personally don’t trust how much protein comes from meat and how much is from pea protein on grain free. However, I also don’t trust grain inclusive. Due to below.

A recall on pet food has been expanded after 70 dogs have died and another 80 or more were sickened due to mold in a popular pet and cat food brand.
Midwestern Pet Foods is expanding an earlier recall of some of its Sportmix products to other dry dog and cat foods with an expiration date on or before July 9, 2022 that were manufactured in its Oklahoma kitchen. The recall includes all dog and cat pet food products made with corn products because they might contain elevated levels of aflatoxin, which is produce from a mold that can grow on corn and other ingredients used in pet food.

So below is the food that Science Diet grain free. Why if it’s so bad?
Ingredients in Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Grain Free Chicken & Potato Recipe dog food are peas second ingredient.

I like Stella n Chewys however they use synthetic vitamin pack. Freeze dried should be getting all necessary minerals and vitamins from natural sources. Synthetic vitamin packs are always added to highly processed dog food because nutrients are cooked out due to the high heat. My dogs do well with most of their proteins but if mistakes are made with amount in pack the results are lethal . As in below.

The FDA has become aware of reports of vitamin D toxicity in dogs that ate certain canned dog foods manufactured by Hill’s Pet Nutrition and marketed under the Hill’s Science Diet and Hill’s Prescription Diet brands. This is a developing situation, and the FDA will update this page with additional information as it becomes available.

I can only HOPE I’m making an educated choice in feeding my dogs a diet of good nutrition and food that is not slowly poisoning them. I have inherited my mom’s dog now that she is living with me after my dad passed. So I have three now. My Tia always gains weight easily even with exercise and string beans as treats. Loli gets growling stomach if given too much fat. If I have lean steak as treat one day I only give for that day. Two days in row and loose stools. Then there is my mom’s . Can’t eat the Primal Turkey n Salmon but the others do fine with it. UHHH I recently tried Small Batch turkey freeze dried. Trust company and love all the ingredients but ONE. They have garlic. Now way down on list of ingredients. Some say natural flea repellent. Great stools and none had stomach trouble. Been on the bag of the small sliders for a week. But I can’t continue not trusting that the garlic could build up to cause red blood cell destruction. They are all Chihuahuas’. Just would like to make it easy for me and get a brand I trust to be healthy and all three do well with. Guess for now I’ll stick to primal freeze dried. However, I do like to rotate between at least two brands just in case. Sorry for this being so long, Just hard to trust what’s in your dog food when I have to keep up with all the human food recalls making people sick. lol

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by Patricia A.

[Ann C]

I just lost my 7 year old Standard Poodle who suffered a horrible death after getting into and eating a large amount of these treats. She threw up about 2 cups but xray at the emergency vet hospital showed her stomach to be quite full without volvulus. Her symptoms were consistent with Nitrate/nitrite poisoning in retrospect. She was not treated with methylene blue.Unable to find info re these treats online. Does anyone have info/similar experience? I would never have bought had I known of potential toxicity in large amounts.

[Jessica G]

My miniature schnauzer is 2 years and 4 months old. She has been having seizures and face/body tremors throughout the weekend. The only thing new to her diet is milk bones multi colored peanut butter flavored and bark’n bac’n lean by ol roy. I have been researching and see that both of them contain BHA and red dye 40. The only treats she has ever had before this was the American vetdogs peanut butter training treats. I now know that those treats, too, contain BHA but not red dye 40! The two days that she had multiple seizures and crazy body movements (that looked like paroxysmal dyskinesia) she was given both the milk bones and the bark’n bac’n lean treats. The following days she was given only the bark’n bac’n lean treats only bc they fit into the treat jar and the milk bone box was so big so I put it away for layer. She has gotten increasingly better but is still not 100%. I plan to not give her any of that and see how it goes. I’m not sure if it’s food related or if she has some neurological condition that I am still unaware of. We have an appt with her vet this Friday when I am off of work.

[YorkiLover4]

I have a rescue dog that was overweight when we got him and pooped a lot too. We switched him to Small Batch Raw and also give him Vital Essentials treats. The problem is he is always hungry so to help him lose weight we add in lots of vegetables and divide the food into 3 meals a day. We buy frozen vegetables and cook them. The vegetables give him lots to eat, fill him up and are well digested. The raw food by itself, especially the raw freeze dried as treats is constipating and really firms up stool. His poops are normal and formed and 2x a day. We have to always watch his weight but he is a senior now and has down great on this diet.

[Mikka O]

My baby girl, Misty, has had a rough bout of crap thrown at her… By far the most terrifying and, thankfully, the least difficult to remedy, thank any and everything out there… was when I got her the treats I once gave my former miniature Pinscher, Daisy, like… well over a decade ago.
Anyways, Misty had eaten //maybe// two of the steak carryout treats… and we spent the night driving all over town trying to find a vet that wasn’t “only VIP members get access to overnight, emergency or weekend veterinarian care”. She was vomiting blood and having very runny, dark bloody stools. All Night.
It had tapered off by morning, and I stuck with what I’d done when she was post-stroke and any movement meant rolling around uncontrollably… which included water, a medicine syringe she hadn’t forgotten how to drink from, and carrying her all day in a sling I’d made when she was post-stroke. Waited 12 hours to begin feeding her, and even then, only 7-10 pieces of her normal food every hour, if she’d handled the previous dose of food well. She could chew by then, but outside when I slept (which had her in her nicer bed, in her smaller crate’s bottom half right next to me in bed), I just carried her aound in the sling while I did housework.
We got her in to a Vet the next monday, the incident had been friday night… and thankfully, they said I’d made a good call on caring for her. Outside that, they just told me not to give her those EVER again, and recommended a different, better treat that she’s since obsessed over and enjoyed so much more (especially more than that night).

Looking back, I know Daisy was tossed aside (locked up and ignored) by the people using her to breed because she had cancer before she was rescued… But I wonder if those treats played any part in how sick she’d gotten… The vet back then had me stop feeding her anything mass-produced and gave me recipes to hand-make meals for her, and she’d stopped having seizures and respoding to her cancer meds better… Also wonder if they caused my grandma’s sheltie’s death… She just came out of her room one morning to brush her teeth, and found him on the floor next to a small puddle of bloody bile…

With Misty, we reported what happened to the local walmart we’d gotten them from, and one CS lady said she wished she could just throw them out whenever they came in, the other just said it was “nothing new”…

[Vinod Kumar P]

There is a new trend moving towards natural puppy treats. For example – https://snouters.com/product/snouters-goodmama-cheese-puffs/

Generally seems a good option.

[Jennifer W]

I have a 14 month old intact female Giant Schnauzer from a very ethical responsible breeder (spent 2 yrs on wait list for a pup). You may or may not know that Schnauzers can have a defect in their gut (the exact cause is unknown) that makes it very hard to digest fat and puts them at increased risk for pancreatitis or worse, a condition called Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE) which can often be fatal and when not fatal becomes a chronic life long health battle. Since my girl has had 3 bouts of bright red bloody stools that got her sent to after hours ER vet, I have put the fear of God in me about what she gets her mouth on. The breeder feeds Purina Pro Plan (which is one of your top 10 picks) and gave me a pretty thorough “feeding plan” to adulthood. Ordinarily the breeder would have her on 5-6 cups per day of the Large Breed Under 2 Years and that’s what she’s been on up til recently. I’ve switched her off the chicken/rice one to the Salmon/rice (still Pro Plan under 2) (it has a German Shepherd on the bag).

Anyway, I did this because she just never has firm poops – and I mean never. It isn’t diarrhea, but it’s mushy enough that it’s difficult to pick it up with a poop bag. It just kinda mushes everywhere. At least once every other month or so she’ll have a bout that requires several meals of white rice and pumpkin along with 2 doses of Imodium to quiet her gut down. She’s not a huge fan of food so I just leave her bowl full and she eats when she feels like it. Her poops smell far more than my Corgi’s poops (she’s on Nulo Weight Mgt), but I wouldn’t say they smell particularly foul. She’s perfectly healthy otherwise and her weight is good – very pronounced waist, but you can’t see or feel ribs when petting her sides. But, becuz of my fear of HGE and the chronic soft stools I’m wondering if I should consider something different. I fed my GSDs a raw-ish diet of small about of high quality kibble (for bulk), mackerel filets, Icelandic sardine oil, Sojos Mix a Meal, and a GSD specific vit/min supplement. My Corgi also gets the sardine oil and 2-3 mackerel filets per week. My last GSD was 19 generations OFA Good or Excellent so I know that diet works, but I’m worried about what all that fish oil might do. I’m just at a loss for what’s the best approach. I’ve even thought about taking her to a gastroenterologist at A&M, but my local vet said they don’t what causes this in Schnauzers so there’s not much they do but treat it symptomatically and watch what she ingests. Cheerios and cheese are the only training treats we use also. She prefers Munster over cheddar or Swiss. ;o) Any thoughts?

[Earth Genics]

Premium quality formula;
Contains glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, vitamin C;
Made with naturally occurring elements and safe ingredients;
Free of harsh chemicals;
Soft and pleasant texture;
Made in the USA in GMP manufacturing facilities;
Delicious treats for all dogs;
Can help contribute to healthy joints and support connective tissue

Visit our site to get more information: https://earthgenics.com/

[Patricia A]

I give Bixbi Rawbble freeze dried for treats. No reason a treat shouldn’t be nutritional. My Chihuahuas’ love them.

[MARCIA H]

Please do not feed your dog anything that comes from India, China, Thailand, etc., treats or food.

I get my Andi the only treats she’s allowed to eat from deedogdelectables.com — homemade, organic, limited ingredients, and you can get either jerky treats or cookies/biscuits or both. My dog likes the beef jerky best, but she doesn’t turn down a treat! You can break the jerky up into little pieces for things like potty training, which you know you’ll be handing out often during the day. Well, we hope you will, LOL!

If you’re shopping for chewy toys, Petsmart, Walmart, grocery store, discount store, big box store — Just say NO! And beware of deceptive packaging – the front will proudly say “MADE IN THE USA” but the back says “with ingredients from China.”

No food or treats you can buy at ANY discount store, big box store, chain pet store, or grocery store are fit for your dog to eat. I’ve seen too many dogs die or get very, very sick from eating mostly Purina, Hills, and Royal Canin, which are all nothing but garbage. This is my opinion, of course, based on my personal experiences, and I stand by it.

If you have any trouble going to shop at deedogdelectables.com – please let me know. Thanks!
p.s. No, that’s not my business, but my dog has eaten treats from there for three years or more.

[McLovins P]

This is normal if you are a new pet parent. It is only sensible to take things slowly, and everything else will fall into place. Treats are technically necessary for the home, especially when training a puppy.

There are various online pet foods company that provides pets treats but McLovins pet is one of the best online shops for treats. You can select freeze-dried dog treats for your puppy.
You can visit here:- https://mclovinspet.com/

• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by McLovins P.

[Patricia A]

Treats for my dogs are freeze dried nuggets. Bixbi Rawbble is reviewed by DFA as 5* . My dogs love them and don’t know that their “treat” is packed with nutrition.

[Megan M]

I gave my 7 month old Bernese mountain dog the fruitables pumpkin and blueberry hard treats for the first time as well as some new duck flavored treats. That night she woke up every single half hour for ten hours to go outside. She had explosive stool which eventually had blood in it. Called the dr and they said it was due to a new food not agreeing with her so I assumed it was the duck treats! I fed her boiled chicken and rice and she was back to normal. Couple days later I fed her the fruitables treats again after she had fully recovered. I was thinking there’s no way she got sick from them the ingredients are amazing! Wrong. We are now going through the exact same thing as a couple days ago. It’s 4am and she’s already woken up 8 times to go outside. My poor puppy.

[YorkiLover4]

I usually buy from Chewy but recently found a really good deal for very high quality food. I buy directly from Vital Essentials. I give my dog their treats and their rabbit mini-nibs raw freeze-dried. This brand is very expensive normally but they send me promotions and I am kind of shocked because if you buy a certain number of bags, they give you a discount up to 30%. I thought it was a gimmic but then I compared the price on Chewy and saw it was the same. My dog had a mast cell tumor that was removed and I try to feed him the best food–raw frozen and raw freeze-dried. Also, my vet told me about this cancer multi-vitamin OncoPet https://www.askariel.com/OncoPet-Cancer-Vitamin-p/135.htm that seems to give him energy and he hasn’t had a recurrence. My dog has a sensitive tummy and I am so glad he can take this one without any problems. This website AskAriel has a lot of information about pet food and supplements.

[Pat C]

The recipe should have number of calories per batch or per ounce or cup. From there you’ll need one of the online calculators to put in your dogs current weight or ideal weight and it will tell you how many calories per day.

I also make homemade and my 6 year old, 15 lb Cavalier needs about 365 calories (plus treats)per day to maintain ideal weight. No matter what the calc says you’ll need to watch their weight to make sure it’s right for them as activity level makes a big difference.

If for some reason they did not include calorie info, I just found an invaluable site for homemade food wwww.nutritionvalue.org. It’s for humans but I put my ingredients and it tabulates calories per batch as well as shows how much of each nutrient…the pain is looking up minimum NRC or AAFCO requirements.
My Cavalier has just been diagnosed with MitralValveDisease so I’m watching sodium levels and making sure she has enough Vitamins, C,D,E and Omega3.

[Laura C]

Has anyone else had any issues with these treats. My dog and my sisters dog both experienced vomiting and diarrhea staring at the same time and lasting in excess of five days, requiring veterinary treatment. It was not determined if these treats were the problem but it was the only thing we could identify that they had both had together. I purchased them at TJMax and read the labels carefully and thought they would be ok.

[Mary J]

Have you tried vegetarian dog snacks? There are really healthy and have a lot of advantages for dogs. I use the https://teddys-treats.com/en/ ones and there are great. My little boy loves them!

[Kelsey R]

My 12 year old dog had a seizure and face tremors recently. We are linking it to the Milkbone – mini’s – please be aware!! These dog treats/dog food companies do not care about the health of the dog. My dad feeds our dog approx 5-10 milkbones every night. I’ve been noticing it’s having an effect on her attention and cognition. She almost seems dazed and stares in an area in the room for an extended period of time. I’m so glad I have found this thread as i searched for milk bone dog treats + seizures on google tonight. This only happens at night after she has digested the treats. Something does not seem right…..

[Kate L]

Hi! I know this topic has been covered endlessly, but I wanted to share my experiences with allergies and maybe gain some insight on different kinds of food for my 7 year old staffy, Gumbo.

We adopted Gumbo when he was 2. He was missing hair, his coat was dull and rough, belly and paws were red and irritated, and he was constantly scratching. The only allergy we were informed of was chicken. He was immediately started on a prescription diet of Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein. It helped slightly, but still itchy and red.

After not seeing much of a difference with the prescription diet, I tried a few store bought foods. Zignature Kangaroo, Taste of the Wild (with fish) and Instinct (can not remember which we tried.) Nothing really helped and we put him back on the prescription diet, this time Royal Canin Ultamino. We do not feed any treats-just carrots and cucumbers.

Monthly cytopoint shots started two years after we got him which I would say brought him the most relief. He also got groomed monthly and bathed with oatmeal bath. Still not 100% but the best he had been. His nails were still red, raw and yeasty. I almost feel he has more of an environmental allergy at this point-different times of the year he seems better or worse.

Over the past few months I have noticed the cytopoint injections are not helping at all. I know it is dry in December where we reside, but his itch became unbearable. His breath was rotten. Coat looked terrible. Vet put him on antibiotics for a “skin infection.” The stink and extreme itch went away, but he was still uncomfortable.

Out of desperation I found an article online that said dehydrated beets had helped their dog considerably.
I immediately ordered and I can not even begin to explain the difference I’ve noticed in Gumbo this month. His nails are growing in completely white (which I have never seen before-they are always brown/red/streaky) his coat is gleaming and his energy is great. He is barely scratching himself. If anything he is still licking his paws, but we are trying to be diligent about wiping them down when wet and using medicated wipes and cream. Then we wrap him like a burrito so he can’t lick the cream off.

I know I shouldn’t mess with something that seems to be working-but I am also tempted to try another type of food with limited ingredients. At $100/month and our first baby on the way it would be great to find him a more cost-effective food and I just don’t love the idea of a kibble that is made in a lab. I’ve considered making his food-I just haven’t done enough research and want to make sure he’s getting the correct ratio of protein, vitamins and nutrients.

I just received a sample from Verus. I spoke with the operations manager and she recommended the menhaden fish formula. Gumbo loved it but it immediately gave him terrible gas..
“We truly believe that VeRUS could be the perfect fit for your furbaby. In addition to offering chelated and proteinated vitamins and minerals (where the body can absorb more efficiently than standard vitamins and minerals), we utilize wholesome ingredients without the use of synthetic chemical preservatives, fillers, or by products. Our cooking methods and standards of manufacturing are of the highest possible being that we are manufactured in an EU certified (European Union) facility. This mandates that each ingredient must be fit for human consumption with an increased level of testing to confirm only the best ingredients are trusted and safe to be used in our formulas. Reliability and transparency are the principles of VeRUS with dedication to nutrition being the guiding force.”

So I’m leaning towards trying a full bag of this food but wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions on what has worked for their pup. I always feel for anyone going through allergy troubles because it has been something we have been dealing with for years. We really do everything we can for our furbabies! Thank you for reading my novel and any insight you may have.

[Jane R]

UPDATE to my post from 3/3/21: My dog’s licking, gulping episodes. hacking, along with tummy noises have pretty much completely stopped. Over the last 5 months, she has had a couple of episodes that lasted a couple of minutes. At that point I would let her go outside as it’s better to let her eat grass than what she can find indoors. Otherwise she’s been doing great!

So along with trial and error, and results from GI/barium study…The KEY things that has helped her are: 1. feeding her 3 small meals a day (versus 2 larger ones before); 2. no more essential oils, scented candles, scented laundry detergent, etc. 3. strict diet of her dog food (Fromm’s dry Duck mixed with a spoon or two of Purina ONE SmartBlend Tender Cuts in Gravy Chicken & Brown Rice or Purina ONE SmartBlend Tender Cuts in Gravy Lamb & Brown Rice as they are low in fat content), plain cooked chicken breast, Old Mother Hubbard dog biscuits treats, or dry dog biscuit for treats.

I had a barium/GI study done on her at the vet’s and was able to rule out any issues with how her food traveled from mouth through her GI tract…everything was normal. So that’s when I tried the three things listed above and it has been key to stopping the licking, gulping, etc, episodes.

What I’ve learned that can trigger her episodes are numerous things: eating too much at once, eating too fast, any food with higher fat content including all oil related supplements (fish oil, coconut oil, etc), fragrances. I’m also leery of any supplements for her at this point.

Bland is BEST; LESS is more. It took alot of trial and error, online research, vet visits, trying acid reflux medications, and reading all the helpful posts here too. When she has to take antibiotics from the vet, they can upset her tummy so he puts her on a pre-biotic he has at his office along with the antibiotic and it works great!

[Patricia A]

I looked at the Glandex reviews. I always start with the negative ones. So some dogs had adverse reactions to the supplement. But doesn’t hurt to try.
I find there is sometimes no rhyme or reason to why some of my dogs over the years had the scooting and others never had to have the expression of the glands.
Had a Doxie when kids were little and probably not on the best diet with all the table scraps and not knowing back then about kibble quality etc. But he never had soft stool, or anal problems. Lived a long life of over 17 for our Pookie. Had Chloe our first Chihuahua and even though stool was never loose, had the scooting and always needed expression.
My mom came to live with us and hence we also have added to our already two Chihuahuas’. I know my mom was giving her table scraps and even found her dog bowl filled with Pepperidge Farm gold fish due to start of dementia.
So now living with us, she has lost a few needed pounds and on and loose stool has totally stopped with diet I give our other two. So living with my mom she was getting too much fat in diet which also causes my two to have Diarrhea.
I feed a combination of freeze dried in Primal and Stella Chewy’s. Their treat is one Bixbi Rawbble nugget. They get a little Stella Chewy’s Raw coated chicken kibble to stretch the freeze dried since now it’s getting expensive with having three.
I always go by the DFA reviews and only get the 5* proteins because I believe less fat.
Treats are high fiber raw baby carrots and string beans being canned low salt or raw.
I went REALLY, REALLY, REALLY slow when introducing these different brands and proteins. This way I can tell which doesn’t agree and also it takes a few days for digestion to get used to. Maybe stick switch SLOWLY with a few Stella’s kibble. See how she does. Then if want and all good add a little freeze dried in one brand and protein. Stella’s also comes with the freeze dried in the kibble.
Hope this helps her but sometimes it isn’t even the diet .

[dendad]

Thank you Patricia. Are Stella and Chewy’s treats or dog food? The pumpkin supplement I mentioned in my post are Glandex treats. For their weight, I’m supposed to only give a half treat. Maybe a whole one? They’re expensive, but if they’d work I wouldn’t mind. The expressions at the Vet are killing me. Anywhere from $35 to $40 each time. Dog groomers usually don’t charge for that, but we don’t take them to groomers.

[Benhur B]

Valens is better than Orijen and Acanna. It is under rated here. Orijen gave my giant loose stools always. Acanna huge ones. I never had to add treats to his food now. The packaging is lack luster and 90s looking which is why most don’t notice it on the shelves. Price wise you can’t beat it. You get 3 pounds more for the same price if Orijen. After trying almost every super premium kibble Valens tops them all by far actually.

[Elizabeth S]

My 8 yr old lab mix is going through exact same thing except not on pain meds. On antibiotics because his skin is a mess, just diagnosed 2+ weeks ago with hypothyroidism. Has energy now, losing weight(which he needed to)excessive drinking, panting. Acting weird. Now not eating his kibble, but will eat treats and loves his meds in pill pocket.
I know your article is dated, but I am really curious to know how your Husky is doing now. I hope & pray better!

[Aide B]

Normally Purina is one of the most controlled and backed up brands on the market. The worst for me it is a brand owned by Nestlé.

You can ask your vet about royal Canin or hills.

For treats you can use vegetables and fruits or just kibble.

We use half the kibble for training.

/best-dog-foods/ friday night funkin weight-loss-dog-foods/

[Shameka H]

My rotty had a bad pancreantitis bout a year ago. I adopted him 3 years ago and since I had him he always made soft stool. I tried changing ti better foods, calling the vet. Until one day he vomited 14 times. Took him in and yup pancreantitis. So he is on a prescription low fat food and no more regular treats. He loves chewing on things that last a bit. I want him to be healthy but I want him to have something that he likes and that’s safe. What’s a alternative for my baby?

[Patricia J]

Hi Nina,

Thanks for joining in:) Without having researched the specifics of what you said, I’ll say that it sounds sensible to me. However, what prompted my original questions was the fact that Sammy’s vet has prescribed a diet of ONLY Purina Pro Plan NF food; no additions, not even treats marketed as kidney-issue friendly. She maintains that dogs with kidney problems who are fed this diet exclusively live 2-3 years longer than those fed otherwise. Since I have been quite satisfied seeing this vet for over 20 years, through 2 dogs, I am following her advice. I simply came here seeking more understanding of the value of this diet to a dog’s overall nutrition. If you haven’t already, see comments by Aimee, above, which go some way towards that goal.

[MashaT22]

Hi all! Hoping someone out there can help me out.

My service dog has had extreme food and environmental allergies since 2017. Back then, the vet felt he could eat a non-prescription diet as long as we avoided the proteins that he was allergic to. For anyone that has done allergy tests at the vet, they’ll know a 300 for each allergen is severe. My boys tested anywhere from 300 to 2000+, mostly on the upper end of that scale. However, there were still enough types of food that he was not allergic to thankfully which meant I could just avoid what we knew he was allergic to and feed what we knew he wasn’t allergic to. I just had to carefully read labels if I gave him new treats and we kept to the same food formula.

I recently noticed changes in his symptoms to the environmental allergies during/after he was going outside, so we redid his allergy tests again since it’s been a long time. To my surprise (because I don’t see any obvious symptoms after I feed him any food/treats), we learned that he’s now allergic to so many types of food and environmental allergens that he’s practically allergic to himself! Some allergens go as high as 2800 — it’s dairy, some plant based foods/oils, and all proteins they can test for (they can’t test every type of food out there obviously), Amazingly, there are no issues with wheat, corn, etc.

Anyway, the vet initially suggested Ultamino from Royal Canin. Problem number one is that I’m bothered by the main protein is chicken by-product (aka junk) rather than chicken or chicken meal. This is a service dog that needs the best possible nutrition, and the service dog organization told us to stay away from anything listing byproducts on the label. It’s a bit shocking that a prescription diet could theoretically contain who knows what in it. I am also concerned why corn starch is listed as the first ingredient — and I see a similar trend of some weird ingredients being listed as the first ingredient when I looked at some other hydrolyzed brands like Science Diet. Doesn’t seem very nutritious to have weird things like corn starch as the first ingredient.

The second problem is the price. There’s no way I can afford these prescription options. My boy has been eating Science Diet Chicken and Barley formula for a very long time now. A 35 lbs bag is usually $55-$60 and lasts and 6-8 weeks. Ultamino, as an example, is only sold in 19 lbs for $99 each. That means I’d have to spend WAY more on Ultamino for the equivalent amount of pounds (ie, two 19 lbs bags for $200) than what I’m spending now on SD. I don’t mean to put a price on my priceless boy, but I sadly just don’t have that kind of money given my financial circumstances.

That being said, I’m looking for alternatives that may cost less and have the maximum nutrition value possible. The vet told me that any brand/formula I feel is suitable (he knows I’m knowledgeable about canine nutrition and labels) so long as it’s a hydrolyzed formula. I’d prefer a non-prescription option because I have more of a chance of being able to catch sales, apply coupon codes, and not have to constantly request refills — however, I am also open to less costly prescription options that are healthier without byproducts and weird ingredients than Ultamino. It also must be kibble to abide by rules set by the service dog school due to the way they are trained. He cannot eat wet food.

I would also like to understand why the diets I’ve looked at have weird ingredients as the first ingredient. I’m guess it has something to do with the hydrolyzing process, but why would the amount exceed the amount of protein and most of the actual food in the ingredients? It’s concerning to me, and I’d love more information about this if anyone has it.

There is an old topic that is closed to posts where a someone there recommended a specific formula from WholeHearted that is hydrolyzed and sold without a prescription. /forums/topic/nonprescription-hydrolyzed-protein-dog-food/

I am hoping there might be more options being that the above post is from 2018. This WholeHearted formula is a pea-based, grain-free formula that can lead to DCM in dogs. Being that my boy isn’t allergic to grains, I’d prefer a food option “with” grains that so I won’t have to start supplementing taurine and monitoring him for potential DCM issues.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and respond! I’m very passionate about my boy’s health and well-being. He’s perfectly healthy thankfully other than the allergies he developed shortly after I brought him home from service dog school at age 2.5. Any input would be deeply appreciated.

[Anna B]

We’ve been feeding our lab TOTW’s Pacific Stream Canine Recipe for just over a year now. He’s done well with it and never had any issues until now. We just bought a new bag yesterday (Sunday) and fed him dinner. Today (Monday) he ate breakfast and threw up mid/late afternoon. He ate dinner and has thrown up twice since.

I’m convinced it’s the food. He’s not had any treats since starting this new bag of TOTW, and he’s not been boarded or anywhere unsupervised where he could’ve gotten into something. And he’s not been around other dogs to have caught something.

We’ve been told recently by our vet that TOTW is one of the worst foods you can feed your pet, but we just brushed it off and thought “there’s always going to be something wrong with whatever you decide on”. I’ve done some reading about the whole grain-free thing and how TOTW was included in the list of 16 dog foods that were the worst “offenders” of myocarditis. Maybe it’s God’s timing that the vet mentioned what they did and our poor dog is responding the way he is with this new bag of food. Now I’m on the hunt for new dog food that’s made by a trustworthy company…

[Nadia K]

Thank you for your suggestions ladies. Treats are definitely an issue and I need to monitor that closely for sure. And hubby feeding her from the table has definitely made the problem worse. Patricia I am sorry to hear of your dad’s passing. Taking in your mom and her dog must be a big job and I commend you for it.

I tried something different today just to see what would happen. My vet is not a fan of raw and recommended that I at least sear her patties before feeding her. So that is what I did this morning. I also mixed in some left over veggies from last nights dinner. Well the little stinker ate the entire bowl.

So now I really am not sure how to proceed forward. She may eat it like this for a while and then look her nose up at it. I am also considering trying something like the base mix by Honest Kitchen and adding fresh meat to it.

[jeanne e]

Honestly as hard as it is to do, try keeping the treats away from her completely. Those bully sticks, rawhide chews, ( < they swell up in tummy ) any goodies, are filling. If her health is fine, then when she gets hungry, she will eat. Being tiny the treats are yummier and might be why she is not eating completely.
I’ve had rescue dogs for 50 years and have learned quite a bit and still learning. I had to cut out dog treats because my dog was putting on weight and tore her cruciate. $4,000 for ACL surgery. Her weight was causing damage and she went from 60# to 42#s and felt a lot healthier.
Just a thought, but try filling a KONG up with low fat yogurt, oatmeal, some organic honey, organic peanut butter and mix in some kibble. Freeze overnight, put a towel on doggie bed and let her go at it. My dogs loved them. Having 3 dogs at once I used to make up about 5 days worth and freeze them. You can slowly add more and more kibble and less yogurt. Just work out the consistancy so the food stays in.

[Nadia K]

Hello everyone. I have a 15 pound bichon that will be 3 in September. From the time we got her at 11 weeks of age, she has been a picky eater. I used to feed her kibble but she never seemed all that interested in it. I tried many brands. She would eat them for a few days and then turn her nose up at them.

When she turned a year old I decided to try raw with her. Initially I gave her the Stella and Chewy freeze dried patties and she loved them. I then switched her over to the raw frozen patties as it was less expensive than the freeze dried. I also bought her patties made by other companies and rotated brands. For the most part she seemed to enjoy eating them.

Then in March we went to Florida for two months and my dog pretty much refused to eat. The only thing we could get her to eat was roast beef from the deli. I took her to the vet who told me she was perfectly healthy and if anything could stand to lose a pound. (I thank my hubby for that as he is always giving her bits of his dinner which she loves and too many treats.) The vet offered to give her something to induce her appetite but I was not crazy about that idea.

Well we have now been back home for 2 weeks and the problem continues. On some days she may eat a little of the beef patty but will not touch the turkey patty. My hubby keeps adding pieces of human food just to get her to eat and even then she might eat the human food and leave the raw.

Otherwise she seems totally healthy. Full of energy running around the house and barking at every person that goes by. She sleeps through the night with no issues as well. She loves her treats and bully sticks but getting her to eat her dog food is so frustrating. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks so much.

[aimee]

Hi J B,

This is an interesting question and I’ll give you my thoughts. When two complete and balanced foods are mixed the resulting mixture is complete and balanced. However, feeding for weight loss is a special situation, a complete and balanced food, when fed to achieve weight loss, may not meet nutrient needs.

This is because nutrient levels in foods are tied to an assumed average intake. Because a caloric deficit is needed to achieve weight loss, weight loss foods need to be fortified with nutrients so that when feeding fewer calories a dogs nutrient needs are met.

In this situation you are asking if feeding a presumed fortified with a non fortified food will meet the dogs needs. To answer that you’d need to know the nutrient levels of each food to calculate the levels in the resulting mix, factor in the amount being fed and then compare to needs.

To add to the puzzle is that the nutrients in the vitality formula to support senior health will be being fed at a lower level which may or may not affect outcome.

You said your dog weighs 83 lbs. How much of the vitality formula is she eating a day? What other calorie sources are consumed? Treats, Supplements, dental chews etc. In my experience, Hill’s feeding guidelines are well calculated and so if currently she is consuming an amount at the higher end of the feeding recommendations I’d simply cut back to the lower range and trim other sources. If however she is already consuming at the lower end of the Vitality feeding range, and you would need to feed less than the recommended amount of that diet to achieve weight loss I’d consider switching completely over to a weight loss formula

Finally, Hill’s has a vet support service and you can ask your vet to contact Hill’s, discuss your particular dog, and get customized feeding advice.

[Yvonne H]

Here is an update on Wanda and her NO-HIDE chew.
Having a sick dog while away from home (and our family vet), in itself, is very stressful.

Our $5 NO-CHEW has now gone over $300 with vet bills.
The vet did a test for Giardia. None found.
The vet put Wanda on a second round of metronidazole and added Purina’s probiotics.
Things are better but not resolved.

Because of this experience, I bought a food processor and a dehydrator.
From here on out, my dogs are getting nothing that I would not eat myself.
I have decided to cook (not raw) for my dogs. I will be making their dog food and treats using human grade products.

As a matter of fact, the slices of dehydrated chicken breast is so good, I have to make extra for the dogs (smile) because I eat it too.

As a side note: Earth Animal representatives, in their emails, appeared to be very concerned about the welfare of my dog UNTIL I let them know I was aware of the class action lawsuit. Since then I have not heard another word from them.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Yvonne H.

[Lyle G]

My dog Bandit is a mix part pointer/  Coon hound seven years old. He started having seizures about a month ago. He had one minor seizure and two big ones.  I took him to the vet  where they did blood work.  Everything tested good. The vet wanted to put him on seizure meds. I started thinking about any recent changes in his eating habits.  The one change was his treats. I changed to milk bones  multi color which has Red dye-40 as well as other dyes in it.  He was given 4 or 5 treats a day for approximately 2 months.  Before putting him on anti seizure meds, I decided to change his treats to a healthy treat. It’s been eleven days so far with no signs of seizure.  My sister owns a blond Labrador, who is eight years old. He is currently being treated for seizures for the past 4 years.  I just found out she has been giving her dog milk bones multi colered forever. I am no sure if there is a relation between my dogs seizure and the milk bones multi colored but time will tell. I will post a follow up message in a month.

[M]

Hello Aimee,

Thank you for your response, to an old post that you thought must have ended … I changed my profile name to what everyone calls me … M …

I think all the research you did was just amazing and I can’t tell you how appreciative I am as I was using the earth animal no rawhide chews for a long time! It was such an eye opener for me as will now double and triple check what I use as treats.

I’m not sure if there is a way to send you a private message on here? Or if one can share their email as I’d like to stay in-touch with you if possible.

Many thanks 🙏 Amina or M

[KathyA P]

Google Zukes recall. Purina bought out the company a few years ago and I won’t feed anything Purina. They just had a recall for mold in their treats. There’s a group on Facebook called Purina is Still Killing or Sickening Dogs and Cats.

[runi K]

You should never give your dog human vitamins, or even over-the-counter dog vitamins or supplements. Be sure to follow your vet’s directions on how much and how often to give the pills, treats or capsules prescribed to you.

[Viv R]

Medication and probiotics didn’t work for us and we tried that for about a month, but here’s what did work for our pit-husky mix:
1. Feed 3-4 small meals a day, and no fatty or rich foods or table foods. We started with 4 per day, and by day 4 we went to 3 a day.
2. Feed a lower fat lower protein dog food that is Not grain free. I have slowly stopped trusting dog food manufacturers who don’t publish the origin of their ingredients and feed Nature’s logic, Open Farm, and Honest kitchen, so I didn’t think I could improve here. But she is our picky dog, and we were adding chicken breasts or thighs with skin (ugh) to her food. Without the addition of chicken, she didn’t want to eat. The pet food store suggested Dr. Harvey’s canine health mix as an alternative to Honest kitchen’s mix. This is a mix that requires you to add muscle meat, organ meat (for taurine), and a healthy oil- I use olive oil or krill oil. For protein, I add skinless chicken breast (and a small portion of ground turkey liver, hearts and gizzards). I follow their recipe for low protein, which amounts to about 1.5 grams of protein for each pound that my dog weighs, which doesn’t sound low protein to me. She LOVES it, but most of all, her GERD, acid reflux, gulping, and burping up water is under control. I buy frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts at Costco ($1.77 per pound), and do a big meal prep once a week, freezing half. It’s expensive, but cheaper than the vet.
It’s been about 6 months, and we’ve been able to slowly go back to 2 meals a day, but 3 is probably better. She had an episode a few days ago after I fed her too many Ziwi peak treats, but other than that, she’s good!

[Karisa K]

I have a 18 week old Siberian, pure bred, from
Champion AKC lines & has had diarrhea since receiving him @ 9 weeks. Taking out stress, anxiety induced diarrhea from his travels,flight, separation from litter, the vet & a new home + tested for everything Vet placed him in RC High Energy Gastro Wet & worked. However, not sustainable & even tho Royal Canine is a vet brand & has been around there are so many more high quality, fewer ingredients + raw or other like Brands from Europe that have much higher food controls then US. Thought chicken, white meat allergy b/c of itching of ears/rears & tried Taste of Wild salmon puppy only fish, no chicken & that worked for 2 weeks then diarrhea again. No treats other than a split antler . which Breeder recommended. Yes, did boiled Turkey rice pumpkin & had added pumpkin supplement all along. Trying a new vet today. Only 2x has he become lethargic & did put weight on when on Taste of Wild but that now causes diarrhea. Also tried only filtered water. No difference. Have tried lamb too, nope.
Was Wondering if any of you have experienced a protein intolerance above 30% ? Which is the protein % of RC. All others are much higher protein/fat to vegetable/fruit (fiber) ratios.
Yes- did The prescription grade probiotics and prebiotic’s two rounds, raw goat milk, and also the traditional antibiotic anti-diarrhea protocol.

[crazy4cats]

Hi-
Are they jerky type treats? Are they made in China? Ever since the big jerky treat issue a few years back, I will not feed them to my dogs.
You should probably quit feeding them and see if your dog improves. If not, a vet visit is probably in order.
Good luck! I hope our pup gets better. It’s so hard when you don’t know what is wrong with them. 🙂

[Debbi S]

I make homemade dog treats and sell them at local festivals. I am looking for a natural preservative that will extend the freshness of my dog treats without having to refridgerator or freeze them. I want to sell them in some local stores in sealed bags but I am afraid they will mold too quickly. Any suggestions. Also I can not figure out how to post on this site. Thanks

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Debbi S.

[Closed Acct]

Dogs often take destructive action to relieve stress, and loneliness. To reduce the damage to the sofa, shoes, books, and other things, you can give them some toys. This treat-dispensing ball is made of Non-Toxic soft security plastic product, which is easy on developing teeth and gums. Side slots and a hollow center allow you to put their favorite snacks or other small treats. Dog Food Treat Dispensing Training Ball

[Closed Acct]

Dogs often take destructive action to relieve stress, and loneliness. To reduce the damage to the sofa, shoes, books, and other things, you can give them some toys. This treat-dispensing ball is made of Non-Toxic soft security plastic product, which is easy on developing teeth and gums. Side slots and a hollow center allow you to put their favorite snacks or other small treats. Dog Food Treat Dispensing Training Ball