[Eran L]

Hello,
I would like to recommend / nominate Perfoamatrin.
http://www.performatrin.com/products/performatrin-ultra-grain-free-recipe-dog-food/

I have a puppy Doberman (9.5m) and he is on his 6 or 7 27 pund bag.

We had a lot of issues in the beginning with diarrhea and loos stool. Brands we tried were Acana,Orijecn, GO, Fresh, Royal canine. Eventually we used the Digestive care from RC, until,

My dog just loves this food! whenever I getting ready to feed him he starts drooling and dripping 🙂
The food is easy on his tummy, no more loos poop and no more gassss!
Poop comes out always the same in density and shape lol, and there is less to pick up then other foods I tries.

Food had lots of protein (37) and is grain free.

Price is reasonable too.

Cheers
Eran

[HoundMusic]

“We spoke with our vet, who recommended against our current feeding regimen; saying it may be too small of a portion, causing him to go into starvation mode.”

Your Vet is 1000% correct. When the body is deprived of food, the thyroid gland will slow down the metabolism, causing the animal to not only gain weight, but to make weight loss very, very difficult. It’s why recovering anorexics often have hypothyroidism, and why people with hypothyroidism have problems with their weight stagnating even when they barely eat and get plenty of exercise. In fact, if the dog does have a thyroid problem, increasing exercise at this point might make weight loss impossible.

Consider this: when I was a teenager, I knew someone who fed a 40lb dog *one* 6oz can of Mighty Dog daily. The owner’s reasoning being that was the ration her last dog received, never mind he was a 20-ish lb lhasa mix. Needless to say, she wasn’t the brightest spark. However, despite both her dogs being underfed, they were actually overweight; the larger one at one point grossly so, despite the fact the she was being outright starved.

Offhand, I’d say for a 75lb inactive dog, no less than 2-2.5 cups per day should be fed. Just to give you a better idea of how low the amount you’re feeding is for a dog that weight, my 30lb Beagles get slightly less than 1.5 cups daily, and my 25-ish lb Beagle pup gets that or slightly more. When I had my 65lb Shepherd mix who hardly ate anything to keep a healthy weight would get no less than 2 cups. My purebred GSD was the same weight as the mutt, but had a higher nutrient requirement, and normally ate around 3.5-4 cups daily. Both were lean dogs, with not an ounce of spare fat.

For what my humble advice is worth, I would suggest taking this dog off Wellness altogether. Of all the feeds I’ve tried over the years, it was one of the absolute worst. Think I had somewhere around 13 adult dogs and a litter of pups on both the original grain inclusive formula, CORE, and Small Breed Puppy – and not a single one of them did well on it. Coats went to pot, problems with hypoglycemia and loose stools, etc.

Look for a feed that has a relatively low kcal content, so that you can feed this dog more food without giving an excess of calories. Aim for something around 340 kcals per cup or less, with moderate amounts of protein and fat. Be VERY careful with those grain free fad diets, because they often contain an unhealthy excess of protein and other nutrients. Or are made more with the owner’s sensibilities in mind than what the dog actually needs. And if it comes down to a prescription diet, that’s a far better alternative to the health problems being overweight will cause.

[wagarfamilydad]

Okay, after reading through all 44 pages of this topic, one would hope that everything is crystal clear, but alas instead it’s clear as mud.

Before I ask my questions, here’s the puppy information:
3 month old Newfypoo

Two questions:
1. What are the benefits of going completely grain free vs a small portion (10% of less) of grains.

2. I was initially looking at feeding either Victor Hi-Pro or Victor Select Nutra Pro and based upon the ratios that have been identified most recently within this thread (ideal 1.2:1), if I am understanding it correctly these two foods would fall in at:

Nutra Pro (1:1)
1.3% Calc
1.3% Phos

Hi-Pro (1.4:1)
1.4% Calc
1.0% Phos

Am I not understanding (which is possible)?

HELP!

[Shawn S]

In the past couple months, my dog has started having problems with his anal glands. Took him to the vet and had them released. Two days later, it starts up again. Vet told me to try giving him Benadryl. While on Benadryl the past couple days, he has been fine. No issues with anal glands. Does that mean it is his diet that is causing it? Right now I feed him eukanuba lamb and rice (stuck with this since a puppy due to sensitive stomach), 1 greenies each day during the week, and he chews on a Nyla bone occasionally. Not sure where to start, I know that greenies are not the best for him and I could do away with them and start brushing his teeth more often. My first thought was to change his food to a better product. As I started think more into it and trying to eliminate the small thing, I Was thinking of first starting by cutting out greenies. Maybe the nylabone too? Doesn’t seem like the small fragments that break off those bones are very healthy. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Feel bad for the guy when he is scooting his butt on the ground.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Monique-
It does seem like most of the foods acceptable for large breed puppies include grain. Is there a reason that you are looking for a grain free food? I feed my dogs both with and without grain kibble. I don’t think food that uses peas, potatoes or tapioca are necessarily better than food that uses oatmeal, rice, corn and/or millet for its carb. Unless, of course, the dog has an intolerance to one of those.

Keeping your pup lean and feeding a food with the right calcium level is of the utmost importance, however, for a large breed puppy.

Of the foods on the EC puppy list, I’ve fed Whole Earth Farms and Eagle Pack with great results. Dr. Tim’s and Fromm also get high marks from other posters on this site.

What kind of dog do you have and how old is it?

[M N]

Good Morning,

I have a 12 month old German Wirehaired Pointer that I am considering switching foods. He is doing well on the food he is on now, I am just exploring other options to see if I can reduce my food bill, without sacrificing quality/health. I want/need a food with around 30% protein and 20% fat, or else he loses weight. I had him on a 28/17 puppy food until about 4 months ago, when I noticed he was getting a little thin. I switched to a 32/18 within the same brand and his conditioning returned in a matter of weeks.

I have narrowed it down to 3 foods which I am considering. Any feedback/advise would be appreciated.

http://victorpetfood.com/products/dog/victor-select/nutra-pro/

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/dog-formulas/wetlands-canine-formula-with-roasted-fowl/

http://www.blackgolddogfood.com/natural_grain_free_salmon_dog_food.htm

[Kevin U]

Hello, thank you for taking your time to answering my concern. My puppy is 2 months old and we got him 4 days ago. They were feeding him the blue buffalo formula so we bought the same food, I already made an appointment to the vet next Thursday and I just wanted to get help in the mean time. I will collect a stool sample and bring it to the vet.

[LovelyBear]

I personally do not consume any animal products for my own health problems. But I feel in a way forced to feed my dog a vegan diet because other vegans will criticize. But I feed my dog Taste of The Wild Salmon and she is extremely healthy and I know she will do even better eating raw. Eating kibble (junk food) gives her terrible gas, bad breath and her teeth look terrible. I hate how vets always push getting dental cleaning and not letting your dog chew on what they are designed to chew on. To get money. I mean dogs who eat raw have amazing teeth. I don’t want to be a hypocrite, but there will always be dogs and they need meat to live. It would be more inhumane to give away my dog who I will do anything for. I feel awkward going into a butcher shop or meat department lol!

Would you think badly of a “vegan” who feeds their dog meat? I mean most of the animal i’d feed her are going to the trash anyways (besides the muscle meat). So technically I personally wouldn’t be supporting the industry 😉

Also when feeding raw do you think organic meat vs non organic matters? Because if it is best to feed organic i’ll have to wait to feed my girl raw, so I can afford it. If it doesn’t matter I can start soon.

And lastly my girl is a 7 year old Rottie. She still plays and runs around like a puppy. Everyone complements her on how young she looks. Will raw get her teeth back to being pearly white?

I know this is long. lol! I have many thought circling through my mind and needed a place to release some of them.

Edit: What do you do about feeding your dog raw and keeping them at a boarding kennel? About once or twice a year my family takes trips and my girl stays at a boarding kennel. I usually bring a huge ziplock back of kibble, but if I switch her to raw i’m not sure on what to do.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 9 months ago by LovelyBear.

[Joy W]

I am really perplexed as to why he doesn’t have Kirklands listed in the recommended budget foods. Maybe it is because you can only buy it at Costco therefore he can’t share a link? The puppy food is 4.5 starts—and is less than 1/2 the price of most of the foods I clicked on, even in his budget area. I just paid for membership, just so I could get a more in depth analysis on Kirklands (because I was so sure it would be included)….but it isn’t included. I have been feeding my dogs Kirklands brand for years, ever since I saw it on the site probably back around when it first started. Anyways, if you are on a budget–check out Kirklands. It is crazy cheap and highly rated.

[Susan W]

Hi Mommyof3pigs – Love the name! Technically there are 6 pigs at my house: 2 that walk upright, 2 with 4 lets & fur, and 2 that fly & look like cockatiels!
I STRONGLY recommend a gulper bowl and recently found a cool one on the Animal Rescue Site that has little rubbery things that stick out & help clean your dog’s teeth while it eats. It looks seriously cool & was only like $10. If I hadn’t just invested in other gobbler/gulper bowls, I’d have ordered a couple!
I catch a lot of goop on here because I’m always crowing about VeRUS dog food. I do this because I did a lot of research, had a lot of tries with other foods that didn’t work out at all, and because this is the food I feed my furry pigs. They have a large breed puppy food, and they have adult formulas that will be an easy transition for your dog as he hits adulthood. They are only a 4-star food here, but I have yet to figure out why. They’ve NEVER had a recall, they use EU certified facilities, they use American-sourced ingredients (except for a few that they identify up-front), and they stay current on doggy nutritional requirements. If you contact them, they’ll send you free samples. If you ask questions, they’ll give answers in a timely manner. They are an American small business company who even has a non-profit to help fund the training of rescue dogs as service dogs for veterans. They’re a really nice company with really nice people. If you like the food, their website has a way to find it in your local pet stores – but even better than that, you can order it from PetFlow and have it auto-shipped. This is what I do and it’s THE BOMB! And the food isn’t greasy or stinky. It won’t cost you anything to ask for a free sample & it’ll be worth it to check them out. The health of my dogs has VASTLY improved while on this food.

[pitlove]

Hi mommy0f3pigs-

If your pittie is already 30lbs at 14 weeks, he will most certainly need a large breed puppy food. Mind you, just because a food claims to be for “all life stages” does NOT always mean it is suitable for large breed puppies.

The two brands your vet recommend are actually the two best brands for large breed puppy foods on the market because both companies are the worlds leaders in research of large and giant breed puppy growth and development. If you truly do not want to use one of their LBP formulas, I would look at Dr.Tims Kinesis, Wellness, NutriSource or Fromm.

He is likely itchy from the environment change from one state to the next. When I brought my pit home from north of my state to south east he devloped a staph infection from the change in environment. It went away with antibiotics and never came back. He may need more time to adjust. Unfortunately feeding him exotic proteins and grain free etc now can’t prevent allergies. I did that too on the recommendation of well meaning but uneducated people I worked with and on here and my pittie developed food sensitivities to duck, beef, lamb and peas. Duck is considered exotic and peas are in almost every grain free food. Unfortunately he is just prone to allergies due to poor breeding. Sometimes these things can’t be helped, especially in pitbulls because of the over breeding problem.

[Susan]

Hi,
I have a rescue English Staffy & he’s a gulper with his food, I have to divide his kibble up & I give it to him slowly in his bowl, you can buy those slow feeder bowls but my boy big snout couldn’t get the kibbles out of bowl properly then he was gulping & licking up air, so if you do buy a slow feeder bowl make sure it’s for X large breed dog, or buy a 12 hole muffin tray & put a few kibbles in each hole in the muffin tray to slow him down while eating….
I feed TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb, it’s an all life stages kibble, Patch loves his TOTW & does really well on it, he has IBD & Skin Allergies, email TOTW & ask can you have their booklet with all their formulas & the booklet tells you what formulas are the life stages formulas & then you have the puppy formulas also ask do they have a any samples of the Puppy Formulas & the all life stages formulas….
I tried the Wellness kibbles their Complete & their Simple kibbles & Patch started doing real sloppy yellow poos & had bad gas……. I also feed Pro Pac Ultimates Bayside Select Whitefish & Meadow Prime Lamb these formulas are life stages formulas, Earthborn Holistic make the Pro Pac Ultimates formulas, they’re just a bit cheaper but same quality…..
When you cook start adding boiled sweet potato instead of the rice, sweet potato is more healthier & once he has settled & is a bit older start rotating between a few different brands of kibbles & changing the proteins, once you find a few brands that agree & work for him, so he’s having a variety in his diet & add some cooked foods with his kibble as well, tin sardines in spring water are excellent for the skin, coat, brain, joints, heart, add about 2-3 small sardines with meal 4 times a week…
With skin problems best to feed a kibble with salmon/whitefish etc… I feed the salmon/fish kibbles thru the Summer months so Patch is getting his omega 3 fatty acids in his diet.

[mommy0f3pigs]

I just rescued a 14 week Pitt/mix. He currently weighs 30# and I bought the Natures Domain puppy chicken & pea food as is stated it was a 4 star food on here. After reading all the reviews I am nervous. He seems to gulp the small pieces down (he will steal adult food from my other dog and actually chew the large pieces) can I give a Pitt mix large breed puppy food? Does anyone have a recommendation for a puppy food for a bully breed. I want the least chance for skin allergies etc. my vet always recommends science diet or purina so I have been researching my own brands on here. I give my adult dog Kirkland chicken because this site also gives that a 4 star but once again the reviews have me nervous! So, I’m willing to hear recommendations was thinking of switching to TOTW, Merrick, wellness, or something else large breed if it is okay to give Pitt mixes that.
Thanks for suggestions!
Also- I rescued him from A different state so the food they were feeding I cannot get here and they switched since he was in foster. So I have just been mixing rice and pumpkin with food. Have only had him 3 days so I want to switch now rather than later!

[just_dogs02]

I have two dogs, a year-old lab and a poodle puppy. Several months ago, my lab started eating her poop. I’ve used Forbid, pumpkin, pineapple, and even “Yuk” pills to no avail. She eats very good food (Fromm’s large breed currently, but she’s also eaten Blue Buffalo Large Breed). And the only snacks I feed her a carrots.

I’m not thrilled about feeding her a raw diet, but would if that was the best thing to stop the habit. Thus far, the only thing that works is picking up her poop immediately and giving her a carrot (treat).

I’m thinking about going grain free and high protein. Any suggestions? She’s a fifty-five pound lab in excellent shape. (She doesn’t need to loose weight.)

And what are the “digestive enzymes” I’m seeing listed in this thread. Do you mean something like probiotics?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

jazz

[crazy4cats]

Hi John L-
The Editor’s Choice is a list of bands. Any of the brand’s flavors or recipes would be included. That being said, make sure you choose one that is appropriate for large breed pups. The calcium amount is crucial for them while growing. There is a great article on this subject on the review side of this site. I frequently feed my two labs Whole Earth Farms. I think their puppy food is ok for large breeds. Please double check though.

The weather is probably a big factor with the dry skin. I give my adult dogs a can of sardines per week. Maybe split the can for your two if you want to try it out.

Good luck with your new bundles of joy. Got mine together too. They are littermates and there was certainly never a dull moment for a couple of years. Good and bad, they are literally inseparable now. They love each other, but at the same time, insanely jealous!

Again, check out the large breed puppy article and have fun with those pups!

[Martha O]

High protein is NOT a problem for a large breed puppy–in fact, puppies need at least 30% protein. Large breed puppies need controlled feeding to avoid becoming overweight and specific calcium levels. The advice about high protein and large breed puppies is outdated.
My puppy has soft stools, not diarrhea. This has been true for him even though he is now 7 months old and has slowly been tried on 3 different large breed puppy foods. Strangely his morning stools are fine, but during the day and during exercise his stools are soft. He has no medical problems.

[Susan W]

I had a seriously bad experience with 4Health – a BIG bad that was completely moldy. It was so disgusting that it stunk up my car for a week when I took it back to the store.
I went from feeding 4Health (couldn’t trust them anymore) to making my own food to feeding VeRUS. I found VeRUS on a BarkPost list of companies who’ve never had a recall. I contacted 6 companies on the list, 4 sent me coupons, 1 didn’t respond, 1 wrote back and asked if my dogs had any health issues that concerned me. THAT one was VeRUS. They answered questions for me and sent some really nice samples. I’ve been feeding VeRUs for more than 2 years now. No more homemade food. My dogs are healthy & energetic. My little picky eater doesn’t give me pained looks (Do I have to eat this?) and doesn’t eat grass after eating her VeRUS dinner.
They make puppy food. Do a search for them, and make contact. Free samples – no cost to you!

[pitlove]

Hi Amanda-

Two things. First, since your breeder feeds 4Health it is always recommended to continue with the same food for at least 3-4 weeks while your new pup is adjusting to his/her new environment. Sudden food changes while so young and under stress from the move can compound and result in GI upset.

Secondly, the main reason to be concerned about Diamond manufactured products is not so much the reason for the recall, but the amount of recalls, the fact that they spanned most if not all brands they make and/or co-pack, and that Diamond has a very poor way of handling them. Recalls are fine and I actually welcome them because it lets me know companies are keeping on top of testing, but when the FDA has to step in and threaten a company before they recall, I find that unnerving.

Now on the flip side, it has been some years since a recall has come out of the Diamond plant in South Carolina, so maybe they have upped their quality control protocols, but only time will tell.

My suggestion, talk with the breeder about her choice. Ask her why she picked 4Health, how long has she been using it, how does she feel about the numerous recalls, did she even know about them etc. If she doesn’t seem to have much of a good reason to use it other than it being cheap but not so cheap as Puppy Chow, maybe switch to something else after a few weeks.

[Amanda D]

I was looking at the comments on the DFA FB post about the best puppy food and seen someon say that 4health is bad because its made by diamond. I asked why but nobody answered so I figured I would ask here. What is bad about 4health being made by Diamond? I’m getting a Miniture Australian Shepherd puppy this summer, my breeder feeds 4Health. I’m trying to decide between Fromm Gold but I would have to order online. 4Health would be the easiest transition, but I would have to drive 20 minutes out of my way. Or Castor and Pollux Organix, I can get Puppy formula at Petsmart about a 10 minute drive away, but adult formula is at a store in my town. I’m leaning more towards 4Health because it’s more affordable than C&P and would have no food transition.

[Danielle B]

Hello, I am new to this forum and am hoping to find answers. We recently brought home our new puppy. The breeder was feeding Blue Buffalo fish and oatmeal “adult breed” with royal can in puppy mousse. After coming home we stuck with the exact same regimen and changed nothing. Our puppy developed horrible diarrhea for about 3 weeks. After putting him on a prescription diet, vet recommended along with a digestive supplement, cooking for him and adding pumpkin, it seems that his gut has normalized. It is now time to slowly get him off of the prescription diet however I am still overwhelmed by the choices here. I am looking for a dry kibble in the medium price range. I went into this thinking Blue Buffalo was a decent brand but after reading this website it doesn’t seem to be the best choice. Any suggestions on where to start my bulldog. Being a breed prone to health issues, skin irritations, joint issues, etc,, I would like to get a jump on feeding him properly now before things get out of control. I am looking for any and all suggestions on food, suggested supplements, additives, routines, etc… I also am not clear as to why the breeder feeds his puppies adult food instead of puppy food, any thoughts on this. Also, are english bulldogs considered large breed or medium breed on this website? Thank you for any and all help.

[Blake P]

Hey everyone! We are hoping to bringing home a new member to our family soon. A Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy. I have been doing a ton of research as far as feeding raw foods once we get her home. I have a 4, almost 5 year old and a few months after the puppy is brought home will have a newborn in the house.

My concern is having raw food all over the place or the fact that the puppy may be licking us/household items and obviously her toys. Of course keeping everything clean in the kitchen and feeding the puppy outside are obvious ways to help but the saliva, etc. on things gives worries me.

Is this a misguided worry? What do you guys do to keep your minds at easy with the little ones in the house.

I have considered simply cooking the food but of course that eliminates the option of serving some raw bone and of course loss of nutrients once cooked.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Jeannine M]

I would have no idea which is why I have been reading everything I can. I copied this information from an article on dog food advisor not in the forums. So if you hit home and down the left hand column where it has latest article it’s under the heading
“How to Choose the Best Large Breed Puppy Food and Lower Your Dog’s Risk”

So that article is wrong? This is why I am having such a hard time deciding what food to feed my dogs. There is so much conflicting information!😟
Thanks for the information I appreciate all the help I can get!

[Cannoli]

Hi Amanda,

It is hard to advise whether thighs with bones or chicken feet or turkey necks are safe to feed your pup. In my opinion you need to analyze and train your pup first on how to eat these bones.

With my pup I stay away from small bones as he tends to be a gulper and when I was hand feeding him these type of bones he still had a tendency of gulping his food so I stayed away from any whole bones. No need to create a choking hazard.

Otherwise since the base of your diet is a puppy food there is nothing wrong with introducing your pup to these foods. Once your pup has stopped growing than it is safe from a nutritional perspective to experiment with more raw or home cooked foods.

But I must stress that you really need to pay attention to what type of an eater your pup is. If he is a gulper like mine than whole bones, regardless of whether they are soft or not, can create a choking hazard

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Cannoli.

[Susan]

Hi, my boy has a IBD, has food sensitivities, in the beginning vet said he had Colitis, Patch starts farting, sloppy poos & itchy skin, depends on what ingredient he’s sensitive too, carrots make his ears itch & he starts shaking head & scratches his ears, with chicken he gets red paws, sloppy poos, itchy skin & vomited his raw chicken, there’s a list of foods that I finally know he cant eat…
Your best to feed a Elimination Diet, start with just 1 novel protein & 1 carb feed for 6 weeks, if she is OK you have found 2 ingredients that she isn’t sensitive too, then you add another new ingredient & feed for 6 weeks….
Food sensitivities can take from 1 day to 6 weeks to show any symptoms or look at a very limited ingredient kibble or wet tin food “California Natural” has their Lamb & Brown rice has just 3 ingredients or they have a Puppy formula with 4 ingredients but its chicken choose a different protein to the one she’s eating at the moment..
or try a Vet Diet like “Royal Canin” Potato & Venison or Potato & Salmon or the Potato & Rabbit wet tin is better to feed then a kibble, then when you find she is doing best on the say the potato & Venison after 6 weeks cause the vet diet is balanced you can start adding 1 new ingredient say boiled rice 2 table spoons is she OK with the boiled rice my boy cant have boiled rice it irritates his bowel but he can have the ground rice in a kibble…
In the end the best kibble for Patch was “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roast Lamb it’s grain free, the Protein-25% fat-15% & fiber-4% it has purified water as well.
Try & find a kibble with the same percentages don’t go too high with fat & protein….

There’s also “Canidae” Pure Formulas but the protein & fat is higher in some formulas so read them…
California Natural- http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products
Canidae- http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
Taste Of The Wild (TOTW)- http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/

[Cherisse G]

Diet could be definitely the cause i would try that, before following the vet. Because most puppy food, is made with chicken. Which is the most common sensitivity. And you don’t have to feed puppy food because its for puppy’s, the only thing you should avoid is the ones that say adult food. So a good food to go for, is grain free, high quality meat, no mysterious meat, no colouring, no starch. Most of the time vet tests come up negative or inconclusive. Also, sometimes it is the way the food is processed in dry food that your dog can react to. In which case, try raw, it is more expensive, but it is fantastic. Vets go against it because they get a day training of nutrition provided from the big company brands at the vet. And they have to meet a quota each month as well.. Id say try raw and if you are worried that it is not nutrionally balance (because all vets will tell you different), get nupro gold, it has all the vitamins a dog needs.

[Susan]

HI Jan,
since being on the TOTW are his poos the best they have been since they were good when eating the raw?? I would keep him on the TOTW for a bit longer 2-3months, if you don’t want to try a vet diet, let his bowel heal & adjust to eating a kibble, remember his stomach & bowel was use to eating a raw diet & they do less poos & nice small poos…..he’s only been on the TOTW kibble 1 week also have you tried stopping the enzyme just for 2 days & see are the poos smaller & better, does it make a difference?…..
My Patch was put on a vet diet for 9-12 months, I didn’t want him on a vet diet, also Patches vet is into feeding more natural diets not kibbles, she explained we need the stomach & bowel to rest & heal & not work hard digesting his food, I said OK how long do I feed this vet diet look it has corn grits, she said just for 1 yr to let the stomach & bowel heal….I nillly had a heart attack, 1 yr but she was right in the end, 9 months later I started looking at other kibbles but I still knew I had the vet diet to fall back on just in case the new kibble wasn’t working out….
We tried Royal Canin Gastrointestinal but Patch started to itch, scratch & smell real yeasty, he has food sensitivities & in the end the vet Diet “Eukanuba Intestinal” a low residue kibble worked & there’s also “Intestinal Plus” it has more fiber, he was doing just 2 small poos a day at the same time everyday but sometimes his poos were very soft to pick up & yellow but vet said as long as when the poo is coming out it’s formed, its OK, I look back & I think the Eukanuba Intestinal may have been too low in fiber for Patch, it was 1.7% crude fiber…

Iams also has their Intestinal Plus Low Residue Puppy, Iams KO Oats & Kangaroo & beet pulp, its for Skin & Coat has better ingredients, there’s no corn, no gluten corn meal in the Iams KO & it does have the Beet pulp, Beet pulp makes poos smaller & firmer, a lot of cheap kibbles & vet diets use beet pulp cause people judge a dog food by the way a dog poos & when poos are small & firm they think the food is good but its just the added beet pulp…

Also look at the Hills Vet Diet, Hills I/d Digestive Care, remember all the vet diets are guaranteed money back so until you find one that works you don’t pay for all this kibble that doesn’t work for the dog…
http://www.hillspet.com/en/us/products/pd-canine-id-dry,
the Hills I/d kibble has the digestive enzymes, electrolytes, vitamin B what is needed to gain weight, omega 3-6 fatty acids, prebiotic fiber (Beet Pulp) everything needed to heal the stomach & bowel, I know vet diets have awful ingredients for dogs with intestinal problems like corn, maize, gluten corn meal but they seem to help their stomach & gut heal, I don’t know why but when you find the right vet diet they do work…
Just remember in the back of your head this is temporary it’s just for 6-9 months …

In Australia we have better ingredients in our vet diets or they are not allowed in Australia, I don’t know why Hills & Royal Canin don’t make the ingredient list the same for the American pets as well….probably where they make more money….

Here’s the Iams site to compare ingredients with the Hills & Royal Canin vet diets, Iams KO has just Oat Flour & Kangaroo & has the Beet pulp…. the “Eukanuba Intestinal” also has a puppy formula made for puppies, puppies need more fat in their diet….
http://www.iams.com/dog-food/veterinary-formula
It’s just a thought if nothing is working after a couple of months..
I really hope he starts to improve then when he’s older & better he can go back to a raw diet & a nice raw meaty bone..

[Jan D]

Hello everyone. My puppy had Giardia at 9 weeks old, and I think it has really messed up his gut. He was treated with 10 days of Metronidazole and Panacur. He’s had several fecals run since, and they have all come back negative for it. He is 6 months old now and we are still dealing with loose stools off and on.

We have been to the vet several times to try and resolve this, and it usually results in them just doing another round of Panacur. I can’t imagine he has any parasites at this point with all the dewormer he has gotten. My new vet currently has him on 2 weeks of Metronidazole at the recommendation of an internist, who thinks there may be some type of bacterial infection. He is also taking a pancreatic type enzyme to help him digest his food along with FortiFlora probiotics.

He used to eat raw food (first NW Naturals, and then Vital Essentials Freeze Dried), but the two vets I have seen didn’t want him on raw, and said it might be too rich for his system at this point. My current vet wanted to put him on Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Kibble. I refuse to feed this food because I think the ingredients are junk. I thought there must be another food with better ingredients that I could try. I decided to try him on TOTW Sierra Mountain Kibble. He has only been on it for a week now (still transitioning over). His stools are now huge in size, very frequent (6 times yesterday!), and are formed, but very soft. He would usually only go 3 times a day on the raw and they were very small and firm.

I am so confused at this point. I am not sure if I should stick with the TOTW, or switch to another food? After doing some reading, I have read several posts from people stating that TOTW made their dogs have large frequent stools as well. Do you think I should just give him a few months on it hoping that his stools will get better? I am just worried that 6 bowel movements a day is a sign that it isn’t agreeing with him and that he isn’t absorbing nutrients. The fiber content is only 4%, so I am not sure why his stools are so large. He is underweight, so one of my main concerns is getting some weight on him.

Has anyone had a dog with Giardia and found a food that is easy to digest and produces good stools?

[Susan]

Hi Allie,
The stomach/bowel is the hardest to diagnose, bloods normally all come back good nothing wrong, X rays are a waste of money, I’ve done Ultra Scan same every thing looked great, I recommend having an Endoscope & Biopsies done, you will get some answers, make sure vet does about 2 small biopsies, cause when they looked down Patches esophagus into stomach everything looked great, I’m so glad we had the biopsies as well, 3 days later results said he has Helicobacter-Pylori & IBD, the Helicobacter makes you feel very sick & vomiting… I’ve had it 3 times when I was younger…
Is your boy on any ant-acid medications?? My boy was put on Losec-(Prolosec) & this has helped heaps & rotating between 2-3 kibbles this way he doesn’t start getting use to the same ingredients in his kibble, I rotate between a Fish kibble & a Lamb kibble both grain free then I feed a lower fat-8% grain kibble “Canidae” Platinum is also very easy to digest Patch eats the Canidae when I start to see he’s becoming unwell with his stomach pain, Kcals are 342Kcals Per cup.. fat-8% protein-20% carbs-49% carbs are a bit high but fat & protein is nice & low, so stomach, pancreas & liver doesn’t have to work hard…. you may find a low Kcal kibble with less carbs. the Platinum is like a vet diet but has better ingredients, Canidae use human grade ingredients.. http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
Have look at “Taste Of The Wild”, Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb the Kcals are 338 Kcals per cup, Protein-25%, fat-15%max, Carbs-38%, this was the only food Patch got better on & didn’t start vomiting, eating grass & do sloppy poos after eating it for 3-4 weeks, we tried a few of the Wellness formulas, he did well for the first 3-4 weeks then he was vomiting & doing yellow sloppy poos, the “Wellness Simple” Salmon & Potato the Kcals are too high at 446Kcals per cup, I have to stay under 370 Kcals per cup for Patch….Higher Kcal kibble are more dense, so more work on the stomach & pancreas..
To find the Kcals per cup look on the kibbles web page find the kibble you want & look under “Feeding Guidelines” it should be there, sometimes they don’t put the Kcals per CUP they put Kcals per kilo…
also are you feeding 3-4 smaller meals a day? this helps…

Wellpet make Wellness, Holistic Select & Eagle Pack, brands.
have a look the “Holistic Select” Adult/puppy Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines Grain Free, Kcals are 341 Kcals per cup.. Carbs 32%. or they have single novel protein formulas, Duck Meal & rice or Lamb Meal & rice….but I found the Salmon & Potato grain free to be the better one http://www.holisticselect.com/
After 4 years of trying most kibbles I now feed the “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb the “Holistic Select” Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines & the “Canidae Platinum” all in my cupboard in air tight containers, then the kibble bags are properly sealed & put in another plastic bag & big air tight container so they all stay fresh in a cool room… I also ask Patch some mornings which one (kibble) do you want to eat & let him smell the 2 different brand kibbles, he always picks his TOTW Roasted Lamb kibble, so that kibble mustn’t make his feel sick or give him his pain….
Maybe take back the bag of Wellness Simple bag, its a money back kibble, I always just say to the lady he won’t eat it, its easier that way then going into it’s making him vomit & do sloppy poos, when I did email Wellness the lady said it can take anywhere from 1 day to 6 week for food sensitivities to show symptoms but I think its something more with the Wellness cause Patch did the same on the Wellness Whitefish & Sweet Potato & the Wellness Senior….Yet he can eat the Holistic Select Salmon & Potatoes & is doing real well See if they have the TOTW Roasted Lamb or Holistic Select, Adult/Puppy, Salmon grain free there & swap over, the TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb has limited ingredients & once you introduce 2 different kibbles you can feed 1 kibble for a few days then just go straight onto the other kibble once they have been introduced, rotating also makes his stomach stronger….4 years ago I could never just give a new kibble, it took me 3 weeks to introduce it, now I introduce the new kibble when I’m 1/2 way introducing & poos are firm then I just feed the new kibble but that has taken 3-4 yrs also a good dog probiotic Purina Fortiifloria is suppose to be very good, they tested 10 dog probiotics only 3 probiotics were good & had live cultures, the Purina’s Fortifloria was one of the good ones..

[Jeannine M]

He asked what the meat source was. Also suggested I might want to try a grain free. I realize the osteosarcoma was probably from the neutering too young. Back in those days they said to neuter by 6 mos. for a male, I had him done at 7 mos. I will wait till this one is three if I do decide to neuter. The TPLO surgery I believe was a combo neuter/food issue. Once I learned about cal/phos. ratio in food for LBP I figured out the ratio I feed my other dog when he was a puppy and it was really high. If I remember around 4-5? At the time they recommended low protein/fat and something to do with moisture but I don’t remember. I had him on innovo LBP to begin with then around 5 months when the vet told me they were discovering LBP shouldn’t be having puppy food I switched him to California Natural rice and lamb.
Anyway, for this new pup I’m more concerned over his loose stools and have read many people say the same as you stated about loose stools on Fromm. I feel like for the price of these foods they should have more meat source proteins without all the potato/rice fillers. Hence the Nulo, then realized it was $55/$60 for a 24 pound bag!!😳😬

[Mary N]

What is your opinion on this subject? I heard many of my pet owners friends are not pleased with the ingredients found in what they call “So-called Veterinarian approved dog food”, while on another hand I know many of them who swear in their Vets recommended dog food.

A friend of mine went far with me today on this subject that it got me thinking and I started researching this. Many sources claim that it is just another dog food myth and that these recommended dog food brands are not so healthy for our four legged companions.
http://mysweetpuppy.net/dog-food-myths/
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/holistic-healthcare-library/food-diet—general/147/top-10-myths-about-pet-food-and-nutrition.aspx
They, for example, claim that veterinarians are recommending dog food which is filled with bad ingredients.
OnlyNaturalPet states in their article:
“While large brands sold in veterinarian’s offices may be marketed as premium, top of the line foods, one look at the ingredients tells a different story.”

But lets not just look at dog related websites. Here is a really heartbreaking story I read today while researching this problem and it is featured on dailymail a media news website who is powerful enough not to have any reason to publish this but they did. I am pretty sure they got nothing for writing a piece about how the vets recommended food killed a beloved cat named Jaggers 🙁

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244595/Is-food-youre-feeding-pet-killing–making-vet-rich.html

The article dailymail wrote is really long but I advise you to read it, they went with some stone hard facts as to why this problem persist. And they weren’t just talking about that one cat, that’s just the intro of the article.

Still, I can’t map my mind about all of this. I am writing this topic to fill you in on what I know so that you could give me your opinion. How do you go about this? Do you or do you not trust your vets recommended food brand?

After all of this, I don’t know who or what to trust anymore. I have two dogs, I love them both. I feed them home made and dry kibble dog food, most of the time it is the one my veterinarian recommends. Please give me your opinion on this.

[Susan]

Hi, stop feeding the Pedigree, it sounds like its up setting his stomach & he’s reacting badly to ingredients, having bad skin & his stomach problems, he cant eat it.. He probably has food sensitivities they have stomach/bowel problems & their skin itches, smells yeasty, red paws, itchy ears, some will rub bum on carpet, floor & grass… My boy has IBD (stomach) & food sensitivities & skin Allergies, look at foods that have limited ingredients & NO LENTILS OR CHICKPEAS these are harder to digest… Can you cook a lean meal boiled potatoes & a lean white meat or afford wet tin food or a raw diet?? When I rescued my boy I think he wasn’t feed kibble & was feed either a cooked diet, wet tin food or a raw diet, cause he would just look at the bowl of kibble & wouldn’t eat it, he preferred the wet & cooked food, then my nightmare began with his IBD (food sensitivities), vomiting, acid reflux, sloppy poos, up early hours of the morning with his bowel making loud noises, itchy skin, rubbing bum on my carpet, red paws that he licked & licked…all this just cause he was sensitive to something he was eating, I couldn’t believe it, I have never owned a dog like this all my pets could eat anything & were feed Pedigree & Purina until I learnt they’re are awful foods with bad ingredients….The Vet put him on Royal Canine Hypoallergenic HP till I worked out what I was going to do, the Royal Canine helped his skin stop itching but not his sloppy poo & vet gave me “Malaseb” medicated shampoo said to bath daily if needed or do the weekly baths…..you might need something stronger then the oatmeal shampoo your using & do weekly baths. Look for shampoos that are Anti Fungal shampoos like the Malaseb medicated shampoo, I’m pretty sure I read that Walmart sells a Anti-Fungal shampoo that’s like Malaseb…. Can you afford to feed a lean raw balanced diet or feed raw for breakfast & a kibble with limited ingredients for dinner? A Balanced Raw Diet is the best to feed a dog with food & skin sensitivities..
Finally I found *”Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb, 30lb bag for $49 thru Chewy, it worked the best for my boy, it’s Lamb, sweet potatoes & peas & it has limited ingredients..
* “Sportmix Wholesome” Grain free or grain a 40lb bag $$29-$34
*”California Natural” Lamb Meal & Rice it has just 3 ingredients.
*”Pro Pac Ultimates” there’s their grain free or grain a 28lb bag is around $29-$35
*”Holistic Select” Adult/Puppy Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines Grain Free it’s Fish & Potato $54 & its for Digestive health & their skin as well, Holistic Select is high in Omega 3 fatty acids what’s needed for the skin..
Look for kibbles with Lamb & Rice or Fish & rice, or Lamb & Sweet Potatoes or Fish & Sweet Potato NO chicken for now till you work out what he can eat, theres also
*”Canidae” Pure Formulas that’s are limited ingredient the Pure Sea or Pure Wild or look at the Canidae Life Stages formulas the All Life Stages has their 44lb bag for $54….
make sure you read ingredient list, most kibbles are money back guaranteed that’s why I like going to Pet Shops so I can take back the kibble & I say he wont eat it, when I say he scratches or vomits it becomes too complicated. Holistic Select covers every health problem & refunds money but it depends on the Pet Shop, so I always send the kibble company an email telling them what’s happening with my boy & is your kibble refundable then when I go to the Pet Shop or online Pet Shop & I show them the email or say they said it’s money back, I’ve tried nilly every kibble in Australia & taken back so many kibbles…
Look at the Fat% look for around 10-15% max in fat & 24% to 29% Protein he probably wont do well on a high fat over 15% & a high protein diets over 30%….. then later after he’s doing good look for another kibble & rotate between them..

[Jeannine M]

I was looking to change from Fromm LBP gold as my dog has light rashy ears and the vet said possible allergy and sometimes his stools have mucous. Had his stools checked several times and no worms, parasites or anything else. Can’t say I care for the ingredients in a lot of the dog foods put I did like the Nulo. A little high on the protein side but thought I’d give it a try. I wrote them and asked about LBP and the requirements-calcium, phos. and ratios and was wondering what others think, is this too much for my puppy? He just turned five months old this week and he is half mastiff half Rottweiler. This was her reply-
Hi Jeannine,

Thanks for reaching out, and for your interest in our products for your Mastiff/Rottweiler puppy!

We don’t offer a formula that’s exclusively for Large Breed puppies, however our FreeStyle and MedalSeries recipes for puppies are formulated to contain nutrient levels that are intended for puppies of ALL breed sizes. This means that the calcium and phosphorus levels within the range for the development of large breed bones and joints. For your review, I’ve listed the calories, calcium and phosphorus levels for our recipes for puppies:

FreeStyle Salmon & Peas Recipe for Puppies:
Calories: 3,627 kcals/kg; 428 kcal/cup
Calcium: 1.48%
Phosphorus: 1.04%
Ca:P Ratio: 1.4:1

FreeStyle Turkey & Sweet Potato Recipe for Puppies:
Calories: 3.742 kcals/kg; 441 kcals/cup
Calcium: 1.49%
Phosphorus: 1.06%
Ca:P Ratio: 1.4:1

MedalSeries Chicken & Sweet Potato Recipe for Puppies:
Calories: 3,652 kcals/kg; 431 kcals/cup
Calcium: 1.43%
Phosphorus: 0.93%
Ca:P Ratio: 1.54:1

Both our FreeStyle and MedalSeries lines are designed to meet the same nutritional standard for healthy pets, are grain-free, and contain our patented probiotics. The key difference between the FreeStyle and MedalSeries puppy formulas is the variety of recipes within each line, and where you can purchase them. All FreeStyle dry food recipes are exclusively sold through independent retailers and are formulated without chicken, which may be a benefit for your puppy’s allergy symptoms. These include our FreeStyle Salmon & Peas and our FreeStyle Turkey & Sweet Potato Recipes for puppies. Our MedalSeries recipes are exclusively sold through PetSmart, and do feature chicken as a primary protein source; this includes our MedalSeries Chicken & Sweet Potato recipe for puppies.

If you have any additional questions as you consider our products, please reach out to me and I’d be glad to help. Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Heather Acuff, M.S.
Nulo Customer Care Manager
512.476.6856 Ext. 111
Description: Macintosh HD:Users:heather.acuff:Desktop:Customer Care:Nulo Logos:nulo_logo_healthier_rbg.jpg

On 1/5/17, 2:19 PM, “Jeannine Moore” <[email protected]> wrote:

I am trying to find a food for my mastiff/Rottweiler puppy. He is on Fromms LBP gold right now but inside his ears are light pink and the vet said he might have some allergy issues. I’m super paranoid about food as my 8 year old love of my love mastiff/Rottweiler recently passed from osteosarcoma. I got him back in 2008 when they just started recommending not to feed large breed dogs puppy food and to feed them low protein adult food. At 2 he had tplo surgery and like I said he later developed osteosarcoma when he was 7 1/2 years old and was dead 7 months later. I need a dog food that has the right calcium/phos. ratio along with the calcium ratio to calorie. I don’t know how to factor in the ash and everything else as it’s all too overwhelming! I read you have a vet nutritional specialist develop your food and on staff so I am asking you. Please give me your recommendations on all your dry food that is within the requirements that I have listed so I can start tracking down the food.
Thanks so much,
Jeannine Moore
McMinnville, Oregon

Sent from my iPad

[projectleda]

I own, likely one of the pickiest GSDs I have ever known in my entire life, having known a great many of them throughout my childhood. Leda (2 as of Dec 2016) has never particularly been a great eater, with her interest in a certain line of food waning even as quickly as a month. So we’ve adopted the habit of switching out her flavors and even rotating through a variety of brands. However, she’s also pretty allergy prone, and cannot tolerate any fish.

I’ve always had her on grain free – since I picked her up at 8 weeks we started on Wellness puppy. However, her pickiness and allergies (even for fish oils which are mega common and sadly one of her favorites) have always made trying new foods (especially the really nice quality ones) difficult because I can’t afford to constantly sample different brands, and a 4 lb sample bag doesn’t even feed the dogs for one day. (2 others in the house)

Recently however after a move I took her to a new local vet who suggested some of the dreaded 2 star foods because in her words ‘ grain free diets are too high protein ‘ sometimes. At the end of my sad little rope, I got her a bag of Purina One SmartBlend, which is 2 stars and still 40+ dollars for a month which makes me cringe-y and sad.

And Leda is SO much better. Her coat is better, her stool is better, she’s SO much less itchy and generally a lot happier now that her skin issues are clear for an extended period of time.

But MY main stumbling block is that I’m feeding her something that I’d rather not support the production of, for the same cost as some really really dog foods.

So, I seek your help here; Can anyone recommend me some approximately four star, (40-55$ for approx. 33-40lbs) foods that have flavors completely free of fish products, but also wouldn’t be too high in protein to upset her? They don’t necessarily have to be grain exclusive, or grain inclusive, really the protein content is what appears to be important.

Thanks in advance from Leda, Frodo, Samwise and Athena <3

[Jodi L]

I’m really glad I found this topic. My 7 mo old Rotti has been chewing and kicking his rear for what seems like forever! Fleas? Nope, not a one and he’s treated monthly for them. His anal sacs are full? Nope, they seem to be as empty as empty can get. Dry skin, somewhat but not really. Allergies, doesn’t seem to be an issue since it’s the only place on his body that he licks and chew excessively. Yvan became very sick over the Thanksgiving holiday. We were nearly on our way out the door to Michigan state ( A large Veteinary School University) when he made a complete turnaround. He had violent diarrhea, some vomiting and had become lethargic. He went or side and expelled from both ends….came inside and viola! Different dog. Unfortunately about a week later it happened again so we visited the vet this time. Everything checked out fine and since he’d been turning his nose up at his food for a few weeks….but had been trying to eat my others dog food (they are on a different food) we came to the conclusion that the food was not agreeing with him. He was eating at the time Wellness Large Breed Puppy Chicken and whitefish. Immediately took that food away and put him on Royal Canin Gastrointesial food for just about a month with a round of probiotics and not problems with the violent diarrhea or vomiting or lethargy since. I had also noticed that he had stopped the chewing of his rear the week or so that he had the probiotics. So he is now on VertiScience Mega Probiotic. I’ve also began feeding two candy of sardines packed in water and no salt added every week to help with his coat. I’m feeding Fiamond Naturals, No grain Salmon and sweet potato. He’s only been eating it for about 4 days and unless I’m delusional I believe the chewing is diminishing. He’s always had softer stool so I’m hoping that between the food and probiotics that it begins to get better. I couldnt figure out what was going on. Between the metallic breath, lose stool, chewing and biting..I was going insane trying to figure out what was going on with Yvan. I’m firmly convinced that all these symptoms are an anal gland issue caused hopefully by diet. Now that he’s on a Slamon and Sweet potato diet and the probiotics I’m crossing my fingers that when I go out to scoop poop that I’m scooping frozen poopcicles (frozen poop during a Michigan winter) versus frozen cow patties!

[amy r]

My girl is now just over a year old she came to us on proplan which we immediately switched off of to fromm large breed puppy. We did the slow wean ect. Runny to total liquid stools were the result several vet runs medications and different foods later I pulled her off any food with any poultry what’s so ever and put her on totw coastal het8stools were perfect in no time however she wasn’t eating it with gusts she was picking at it and eating very slowly (I was also adding salmon or sardines or Markel ) at about 9 months old I adding in a small amount of chicken soup large breed puppy to see how she did and see if I could get her to eat better which she did and I completely weaned her over to chicken soup no problem. Now skip ahead she is 13 months old and I am noticing some small skin stuff and itching my guess is the food chicken protein just isn’t working for her. I have looked at lots of foods and the only 2 I can seem to find that are totally chicken and egg free are totw ans arcana and suggestions or feedback on arcana are greatly appreciated totw is an option only she wasn’t crazy about it the first time around.

[Susan W]

While you’re looking around, look at the VeRUS Pet Food website. There is a lot of information there and if you have specific questions, you can contact them & they’ll actually answer you. Actually, the VP will likely be the one who answers & she’s really smart.
I got started feeding VeRUS because I needed a good dog food that had never had a recall. VeRUS has been making/selling food for almost 30 years & they’ve never had a recall. NO RECALLS! They have several formulas/flavors for both puppy and adult dogs.
I have 2 dogs – one is a healthy, happy, sensitive tummy mutt. I started feeding VeRUS a little over a year ago & neither of my dogs eat grass anymore (unless they eat something gross that isn’t dog food). Little miss sensitive tummy has no trouble with this food. It has also helped her to stop being so itchy.
I could (and have, on other posts) go on & on about all the things I love about this dog food but I won’t. I WILL tell you that VeRUS will send you free samples of their food – whichever they think will work best for your dog – instead of sending coupons. I really appreciated that they went to that effort.

[Susan]

Hi Nancy, you need to try a food with the same fat, protein & fiber % & similar ingredients to the vet diet, minus the crappy ingredients also has the food she doing well on have Beet pulp?? what vet food were you feeding her that she does great on?? Was the Merrick a wet tin food??
Food sensitivities take anywhere from 1 day to 6 weeks to show any symptoms, I rescued my boy & this happened with him, 4 yrs later finally over the years I worked out what he can eat & can’t eat, also you need to strengthen her gut, order some Purina Forti Flora probiotic & start her on 1/2 the recommend dose for 1 week then slowly go to proper dose by 2 weeks….you need to start an elimination diet, so you start with a vet diet that agrees with her for 2 months, no treats, no other foods to make sure she is still doing firm poos, maybe try the vet formula in a kibble, kibble works out cheaper then the vet diet wet tin foods but the ingredients very, wet diets have better ingredient to their kibbles, I had Patch on the Hills I/d Digestive kibble for 1 week everything was great 2nd week he was doing sloppy yellow poos that stunk, so I took back the Hills vet diet & got a refund, she needs to be on the vet diet for around 4 months to make sure everything is going great, then you add 1 new cooked ingredient, say boil chicken for 1 month no reaction then add boiled sweet potatoes for 1 month & still the chicken, every month add 1 new ingredient while still feeding the vet diet minus some of the vet diet replaced with ur cooked food, it takes time but in the end you will know what foods she is sensitive to….
Keep a diary, what foods wet & kibble you have tried, so you can look back if needed..
“Holistic Select” formulas kibbles they are for digestive health, & have single proteins formulas with rice & beet pulp like vet diets, Patch is eating the Holistic Select Adult/puppy, Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines Grain Free kibble it just has potatoes & peas, there’s no lentils, no chick peas at the moment poos are great & only 2 poos a day but back in the beginning he ate the Holistic Select Adult Duck meal & Rice formula kibble it has beet pulp & rice like the vet diets have, the Holistic Select wet tin foods are too high in fat around 6% when converted to dry matter (Kibble) 6%-fat is about 30% fat if it was a kibble, vet diets fat % is lower in wet tin formulas then some of the normal brand wet diet formulas sold in pet shops, if your feeding a wet tin vet diet then you need to try wet tin foods, not kibbles or try the vet diet in a kibble & see does she have the same problems??
Have you tried the vet diet in the kibble formula??
It’s stressful & it takes time, like I said 4yrs, I’ve had Patch & I needed to find a brand food (kibble) he did well on & keep him on that food for 6 months then so slowly add 1 new food to his diet…also vet diets have higher or lower soluble & insoluble fibers, where pet shop foods are all made the same for dogs with a normal bowel with no health problems also most vet diets aren’t grain free, so you need to look at foods like “Canidae” Life Stages “Platinum” it has brown & white rice & turkey, similar to the ingredients to the Hills I/d formulas also Canidae make a wet tin food called life stages Platinum, the fat is low, the protein is low like the vet diet tin food, so is the fiber. another thing normally rescue dogs are feed supermarket crappy diets, then when feed a good quality higher fat & high protein foods they have diarrhea cause they are not use to eating so much fat & protein, that’s why they do well on the vet diets cause they have the gluten corn meal & crappy ingredients as well.. look at the kibbles with rice not the grain free formulas for now..
Holistic select site http://holisticselect.com.au/recipes.aspx?pet=dog
Canidae site http://www.canidae.com.au/dog-food/ scroll down for the Life Stages formulas
It takes time & slow & steady when adding new foods, add 1 thing at a time over 1 week so you know what caused the problem if you have a problem like diarrhea or sloppy poos..

[Krista B]

Hi,

Does anyone here free feed? I’m interested in trying this with my cavalier but I’m afraid she will just gain weight. When she was a puppy she would just pick at her meals but then as she grew up she became a chow hound and will now eat anything. I’m wondering if she became this way because I didn’t leave her food out so she ate a lot because she didn’t know when food would be left out. Just a thought.

The only problem with this is she can only have 2/3 cup per day. (besides treats) she eats her ration in a slow feeder bowl within five minutes so I’m concerned she would just keep eating until there would be no more food. Is there a way to train her to just eat when she’s hungry? Perhaps if she saw a lot of food in her dish she would only eat a little bit
at a time.

Has anyone had any luck with this style of feeding?

[Jason C]

Hoping for a little help…..I’m the proud owner of a 10 month old Bernese Mountain Dog that lives up to his nickname of Meathead. He is currently about 105lbs, but based off vet recommendation and finances he has been fed with Hills Science Diet Large Breed Puppy formula. He hasn’t had any problems with the food, but I’ve heard a lot of people questioning Hills. I feed my other dog (60lb mix) a homemade diet (for wt control and because she’s picky) and think I may start transitioning Rufus to the same. The current recipe has pork, beef, chicken, oats, rice, veggies, and egg shells. Does anyone out there have a good recipe for a larger breed? Preferably something that isn’t going to result in me being homeless. Thanks for the help!

[Susan]

Hi Kerrin, your best to make a balance raw diet or buy the pre-made raw diets or cook.
I feed my dog a cooked meal (Dinner) & rotate between “Taste Of The Wild” “Holistic Select Adult/Puppy” Fish grain free & Canidae Life Stages the Canidae Pure grain free gave Patch his pain, it may have been the Chickpeas & higher protein % but Canidae Pure formulas would be excellent for healthy dogs, the Canidae Life Stages has the big 44lb (20kg) bags at a very good price…Canidae uses human grade ingredients, kibble size is nice & small for dogs that gulp & don’t chew, easier to digest…

My Patch just turned 8 yrs old, he has no joint pain that I can see, body & coat looks excellent, the only problem is he has IBD mainly his stomach, to look at him you wouldn’t know he has IBD & is ill some days…..I put Patch down to being so healthy & getting better from cooked meals, fresh foods, peeled apple pieces as treats, Almonds as treats, broccoli, kale, egg, spinach parsley all cut up & mixed with lean pork mince or extra lean beef mince & made into 1 cup size rissoles & baked in the oven, sweet potato boiled & added to rissoles as well after cooked, I cant think what else I feed him, I feed what ever I’m eating & I rotate between kibbles, changing the proteins mainly feed Fish & Lamb kibbles, I stay away from chicken if I can, chicken is very high in omega 6 & low in Omega 3…
Omega 6 is pro anti-inflammatory & Omega 3 is anti-inflammatory & as we know chickens are pumped with hormones to grow quickly.

A balanced raw or cooked diet is the best to feed a cat or dog, kibble is just easy for us… have a look at Ziwi Peak Air Dried, Canidae Pure or Life Stages, Victor Super Premium or Sport Dog Elite, the Sport Dog Elite is similar to the Victor but cheaper, the Sport Dog Elite link I have isn’t working but it shows the Sport Dog Elite formulas & compares them to the Victors formulas….
http://victorpetfood.com/

[Robert B]

Hi guys,

this is going to be long, and drawn out, but is a build up of events over a few months, so i totally understand if you get bord of me real quick, but here goes

My name is Rob, I live in west London, Im 31 years old..

when i was 13, My dad let me get a puppy, wich was a beagle and jack russell cross, (he was my best friend) fearless, clever, loving etc etc,

his name was kane, and he was fed scraps from the table, potato, spagatti, sunday roast, smoked haddok, etc etc (he even got the odd cup of tea) all cooked stuff!!!!, he sadly died at the age of 12, as we had to put him down due to suffering from throat cancer!!!! ( he stopped barking in the end, and he loved to bark)

well, now, i have a 10 month old pure breed, short legged jack russell, who has been fed a raw food diet since the age of 11 weeks, until he was 10 months, but he devoleped gastro interitus, and the vets blamed the raw food!!!

but he was ok on the raw food for many months, so surely he just ate something bad on his walks (he chews everything)

the vet told me to feed him kibble, now his toilet is twice as much, bigger, and it stinks!!!!

I tried to introduce him back to raw, but he turns his nose up at it!!!!!

Is there any tips that i can apply to get him to eat raw food again?????

the problem with raw, is it is odorless, so theres no interest,, but is there a product avalible, that i can coat the raw food with, to make it more appealing to him?????!!!

any help greatly appreciated

rob

[Jeff L]

Just started my close to one year old (Xmas day) puppy, Nick, on the Answers Beef. He was previously on Orijen Puppy for 8 months. I have brushed his teeth daily since I got him at 3 months old. Even with that he has some yellowing of a few teeth. I have to believe that is partially from eating kibble. I am hoping that the Answers will help in this regard. Nick loves their Goat’s milk and so far after two meals he loves the Answers Beef. I will be doing a slow transition over the next 7-10 days. He eats the Answers before touching his kibble which he has always seemed happy with.

I don’t mind the expense of the Goat’s milk and Raw food if it will help have a better, longer life. My last dog had horrible teeth and I know it contributed to his declining health and eventual cancer. I have started Nick on the recreational frozen bones from Primal since all he has had is Antlers. Not a heavy chewer. This is the easiest way for me to feed raw I think. Love to hear opinions.

[Susan]

Hi I don’t know why your vet only put your poor dog on the Metronidazole antibiotic for 7 days?? they need to be on the Metronidazole for a good 21-28 days especially for S.I.B.O Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth.
My boy Patch is also a rescue he just turned 8yrs old, he has IBD, Helicobacter pylori, nausea, vomiting sometimes, acid reflux, seasonal environment skin allergies, red itchy paws, itchy ears, food sensitivities, eating grass, yellow sloppy poos that smell bad, pain in stomach/pancreas area….. the best thing I did was have an Endoscope + biopsies done (camera down throat to stomach) sometimes they can go into the small bowel as well & do a biopsies but only if their pyloric sphincter is open, Patches wasn’t open but the 2 Biopsies told us what was wrong finally Helicobacter Pylori & IBD, when the vet looked into Patches stomach everything looked excellent, so you need to do the biopsies…
Patch starts reacting after eating the same kibble for 2-3 months, sloppy yellow poos, gets his pain, it can take from 1 day to 6 weeks to show food sensitivities, after trying so many kibbles, the only kibble that he hasn’t reacted too after being on it for 8 months is “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb. I don’t know if is cause TOTW uses Purified Water, or all the ingredients he isn’t sensitive to any of them & TOTW don’t change their suppliers?? some kibble companies buy their potatoes from whoever, that’s been a problem in the past for Patch, he was eating Earthborn Holistic, Ocean Fusion he was doing really well while on the small 2.5kg bags, so I bought the 13kg bag it’s cheaper, it was a new batch number & different use by date then Patch was farting doing sloppy smelly poos again, so I emailed earthborn told them what has happened & the lady said we use, rustic, white, red, brown potatoes whatever we can get & I think when the potatoes are green & rotten batches Patch gets his sloppy poos & bad gas problems …
Taste of the Wild has been the only kibble a few dogs with IBD, EPI, S.B.I.O & IBS don’t react too after eating it for a while…
Your best to feed a cooked balanced diet, instead of any processed kibbles, you know what they’re eating, join groups on Face Book like “Rodney Habib” “Canine Nutrition & Natural Health” run by Cat Lane, “K-9 Kitchen” run by Monica Segal, you can also book an appointment with Monica or Cat Lane or another dog nutritionist, they may be cheaper there’s also Judy Morgan DV, she also has the supplements to balance the meals & Judy has cooking videos on You Tube that are so easy to follow & she adds the Honest Kitchen Base meals & you just cooked & add the meat & veggies but I think the Honest Kitchen is dehydrated & Patch can’t seem to handle dehydrated kibbles foods…
I live Australia & I contacted Jacqueline Rudan to put Patch on a raw diet about 2 yrs ago, Jacqueline said I need to heal his stomach & bowel & balance his gut flora his pH is probably tooo high…so I give him some of my Yakult, it’s a pink probiotic drink sold in supermarkets, there’s also Kefir but start real slow when introducing any probiotics, some probiotics made Patch very nausea, Jacqueline wanted me to keep giving Patch the probiotic capsules but they made Patch ill so I stopped & now I give the Yakult drink & he does good I don’t give him much maybe 3 spoons in a bowl..
Cause they are rescue dogs we don’t know what has happen when they were pups & growing up, did they drink dirty contaminated water? were they starved & not feed proper diets, what 1 vet thinks has happened with Patch & when he came to me & I started to feed him a healthy cooked diet he couldn’t handle eating good healthy foods, I’ve had him 4 yrs now & finally in small amounts, I can give him anything to eat as long as I’ve introduced that food to him & it’s not high in fat, where before he’d wake up 2am 3am or 4am with his bowel making loud rumbling noises, it was gas/wind going thru his bowel, 1 vet said Colitis, Food Sensitivities, so I started an elimination cooked diet & worked out what he cant eat, also feed foods that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, the omega 3 helps their skin, coat, stomach, bowel, heart, joints & brain, Patch doesn’t do well eating a kibble with fish or salmon oils, he gets acid reflux, so I feed other foods high in Omega 3 like raw almonds, 3 raw almonds a day given as a treat & I have a few almonds myself, you should see his coat it’s so shinny, just feeding foods high in omega 3, tin sardines in spring water are excellent but you must start real slow, feed 1 spoon mashed sardines for 1-2 weeks watch poos if still firm then then increase to 2 spoons of sardines a day, I feed salmon or tuna instead it’s not as greasy…
My recipe I make for Patch, Rissoles + Sweet Potato, it’s so easy & you do not have to cook every day, I cook every 8 days but if I made more it would be every 16 days..
I buy Lean Pork mince or the Lean beef mince, it say 5% fat on the packet, I think in America you call it grounded meat, make sure the mince is lean, some minces have a lot of fat, Patch can’t eat turkey, he gets diarrhea also boiled rice irritates his bowel, something that took me 2 months to realise it’s the boiled rice…
I get 2 x 500gram packets lean pork that’s 1 kilo, I think just over 2 pounds, I whisk 1 egg in the bowl, I buy a small broccoli head, Patches Nutritionist said feed green veggies when it’s their skin, stomach & bowel, food sensitivities, I cut up say 1/3 cup chopped broccoli, then I grow parsley & kale & spinach, it grows forever in the veggies Patch, I finally cut up about 1 teaspoon parsley add too bowl, then I add some cut up spinach & cut up kale but only 1 small leaf, then I add the pork mince & mix all thru, I was adding 1 small grated carrot but Patch has food sensitivities & gets red paws, itchy skin & ears, then he starts to smell real yeasty, “Malaseb Medicated Shampoo” bathed weekly is the best when they have itchy paws & skin, so I’ve stopped adding the carrot to his rissoles…
I had too slowly add all these ingredients, at first it was just 1 kg pork mince with a little bit of cut up broccoli, then when I made a new batch of rissoles, I added 1 whisked egg saw how he went, if all was good I added 1 new green cut up veggie & the veggies seem to heal his stomach & bowel, you have to be careful, certain veggies ferment in the stomach so stay away from foods that ferment cause they sit in the stomach & cause gasses…. just Google “what veggies ferment in the stomach” & what veggies, grains don’t digest easy” lentils, chick peas don’t digest easy… you mix all the finally cut up greens with mince & make 1 cup size rissoles, I have scales & weight at 130-136 grams & I make the rissoles the length of my middle finger & flatten them a bit they look like a small sausage then I put on baking tray that has foil on the baking tray, I get around 8 rissoles from 1 kg mince, I bake in oven then about 15-20mins I take out baking tray drain any water/fat & turn over the rissoles & bake till cooked they don’t take long maybe 30mins don’t over cook or you’ll have a leathery rissole, I also boil sweet potatoes & I cool & freeze, same with the rissoles cool & wrap in cling wrap individually, I take out a cut piece of sweet potato & 1 rissole put on a small plate cover with cling wrap & thaw then put in fridge then for dinner I cut up the rissole & mash the sweet potato, for breakfast & lunch Patch has his “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb Kibble, I’m slowly introducing the “Holistic Select” Adult/Puppy Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines grain free kibble so I have another kibble just in case + I rotate his kibble now we just finished trying “Canidae” Life Stages Platinum kibble, too many ingredients & the carbs are too high at 50% in the Canidae Platinum & his poos started to go sloppy & smell again, so now introducing the “Holistic Select so far all is good poos are still firm they don’t smell but its mixed with his TOTW kibble but he’s not farting like he does when I’ve introduced a new kibble that doesn’t agree with him, so hopefully the Holistic Select will be fed in the Summer months, I like to fed a fish kibble in the Summer months for his skin allergies & in the Winter months I feed a lamb kibble “Taste Of The Wild” + his rissoles & raw almonds & I forgot I also feed peeled apple pieces as treat, K-9 Natural Green Lipped Mussels, tuna or salmon with boiled potato rissoles….
You need to make his gut strong again, if he has a set back give the Metronidazole, I have scripts the vet gives me & I just go & get from the chemist, Patch goes back on the Metronidazole for 10days 1 x tablet 200mg at night with a meal, but your dog may need a 21 day course Metro to start with to rest & heal his bowel & a diet that’s very easy to digest & the omega 3…
Good luck, I hope something in this small book, helps

[Jason C]

Hello all,
I am new to the forum so hopefully I am posting in the right section. We have recently put a deposit down on a Yorkie who is going to be smaller than the average Yorkie. The breeder does not breed for teacups, he just happened to be a tiny guy. The breeder says she will feed him Royal Canin puppy food, which I am not a super big fan of. We are fairly new to being dog owners but I want to make sure Little Toby(our Yorkie) is eating good quality ingredients. I have been doing A LOT research on my own and there are so many dog foods, it is overwhelming. I want to get a good puppy food for him and then eventually transition to a small breed dog food. We will be getting our little guy in about 2 weeks, the breeder wanted to keep him longer because he was so small, to ensure his health.

I am looking at doing this for the puppy food: Here

Then I am looking to transition to this dog food when he is an “adult” Here

I am very open to any suggestions and I could definitely use help on what treats to get as well. I would like to get the little guy some treats(for potty training) and something to chew on to help his teething and teeth down the road. I don’t want bad quality items that can cause health issue. I also don’t know if I should get a higher content of protein or fat food for an undersized Yorkie. The breeder thinks he will only get about 3lbs, I am hoping he can get up to 4 or 5lbs. His health is good and I want to make sure he has a nice healthy, happy life.

Thanks,
Jason C

[Susan]

Hi, have a look at “Sport Dog, Elite Series” its similar to Victor & is cheaper… When you click on a formula scroll down & you’ll see when compared to Victor formulas…
I don’t know which Diamond formula your feeding but read the protein%, fiber% & fat% & make sure you look for a kibble that has limited ingredients & is around the same amount of protein fat & fiber & slowly introduce & get him use to a bit more protein etc if its higher then his regular kibble formula, I feed “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roast Lamb to my boy that has IBD & Skin Allergies, he does real well on Taste Of The Wild kibbles.
It’s Summer in Australia & I’ve just introduced Patch to “Holistic Select” Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines, Adult/Puppy grain free formula, I’ve read reviews & a lot of dogs with stomach bowel & skin problems are doing real well on the Holistic Select Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines Adult/Puppy Grain Free formula..
http://www.sportdogfood.com/dog-food/special-diet/grain-free/

[mary s]

Hi Olympia…..I miss HoundDog Mom’s input too 🙁 I thought her list was very helpful.
I am feeding my Irish Setter puppy Fromm Large Breed Puppy food…..the Heartland Gold. You might check the recall lists….I think Diamond has been on there several times. Just be sure to transition your puppy from one food to another in a slow manner over a week or so. Good luck

[Susan]

Hi, are you 100% sure its not Environment allergies as well??
My boy has both, he has seasonal allergies worse in the summer months, fine in the winter months as long as he doesn’t eat any foods he’s sensitive too, then he starts to smell real yeasty & itches… When they’re sensitive to certain food they start to itch & smell real yeasty…
Summer is about to start in Australia & I always rotate Patches kibbles Winter he eats limited ingredient kibble, Lamb as the protein & Summer a Fish kibble you, need too increase the Omega 3 in his diet & always read the Omega 3 & 6 on kibble packet or look on their internet page or email the kibble company & ask what is the omega 3 & 6 % Please.
There’s a lot of kibbles that are tooo high in omega 6 & too low in omega 3 causing skin problems, omega 3 should be around 1/2 of what the omega 6 says..
I’m starting to introduce “Holistic Select” Salmon, Anchovy & Sardine Adult/Puppy grain free formula, it’s only 32% carbs or look at “Earthborn Holistic” Coastal Catch it’s 29% carbs & the omega 3 & 6 is balanced properly in both these kibbles.
Raw is the best as it has no carbs, I feed Patch 1 meal cooked, lean pork mince made into rissoles & add sweet potato, this way he’s not eating heaps of dry kibble.
Baths, make sure your bathing weekly too wash off any allergens & pollens & yeast on the skin Malaseb relieves their itch making them heaps more comfortable…

Have you seen a Dermatologist ? & tested to see if ur dog isn’t allergic to dust mites or other allergens around the house.??

[Susan W]

I tried Victor because it’s made locally (well, 2 counties over). I actually called them and asked if they’d ever had a recall before trying it – they haven’t. With that being said, I wasn’t impressed. The food smelled like dog food – i.e. yuck. My dogs didn’t like it either. It was a VERY short break (i.e. I bought a 5 pound bag & didn’t use all of it) in feeding VeRUS dog food. VeRUS has never had a recall, either. When I contacted them, they sent me free samples! Nice samples! My dogs really, really like this food – think Happy Feet when I set it down for them! And IT DOESN’T SMELL LIKE DOG FOOD! The formulas that utilize fish smell like fresh (live) fish all the way to the bottom of the bag. I currently feed their LifeAdvantage formula & it has no discernible smell.
VeRUS has 2 puppy food formulas, one for puppies that will grow to be less than 60 lbs, and a large breed formula. Then, as your puppy becomes a grown-up, you can easily switch to another formula for adult dogs – they have several options. The pricing for this food is very good for a premium dog food, and the results are noticeable. My dogs poop more efficiently with VeRUS. I have been fostering my mom’s dog for 3 months & have switched her to VeRUS (the dog, not my mom – LOL). The dog went from 4 poops a day w/lot of little kernels to 2 poops a day w/no little pieces. This is significant progress.
Enjoy your puppy!!

[Jose Carlos M]

First post here.
I feed my 6 months German Shepherd Orijens Puppy Large.
I am very happy with it as the dog is healthy energetic and has a beautiful coat. The problem is the amount. I am already giving him above the recommended amount and he is generally stressed out in hunger. His vet also says he seems a little thin…
Should I feed him more or should I complement with some homemade food, and what would be the best feeding options?

Thanks.

[zcRiley]

My American Staffordshire Terriers are part Chinook, we did a DNA test, they have the black around the eyes & snout!

You’re doing fine, puppies eat a lot, withholding type or quantity in food is a myth. You wouldn’t control a human baby on how many times he/she should poop into their diaper, you know?

Caution is for large breed pups that are prone to hip dysplasia and cruciate tears (like my dogs). They had eating and growth spurts until after 3 yrs of age, stopping at 77 lbs each. I don’t free feed or force them to eat more or less. As long as the poops are healthy and there are no food intolerances, you can start rotating different kibble to introduce new protein. Follow the Bristol stool scale.

I fed Orijen puppy food and now they thrive on Zignature dog food.