[Bag of Opals]

I’m calling her Opal, and will be bringing her home this weekend. She’s a toy breed mix and the cutest little thing. Opal is going to be fed raw during the day and some Ivory Coat (an Australian dry food) at night. I’ve read about rotation feeding and agree this is a good idea. However, there’s already going to be a lot of variety in the food, so should I leave everything as is or still try to find something new to swap in every now and then? This is what I am seeking suggestions on. I’ve lived with pups, but not actually raised one myself.

The raw food is possible thanks to my parents. They make it for their Sheltie and Irish Wolfhound (the latter managed to steal a chicken wing last night!) with some extra to give to me, so I’m not exactly in a position to dictate what ingredients go into the mix. It’s ground up and contains:

-Lamb mince, liver and heart
-Pork tongue
-Sardines
-Chicken wings
-Crushed eggshell
-Peas and carrots

Very nice, but is there still a risk of developing food sensitivities because these proteins are all being fed at once? I’ve considered purchasing something like the Ziwipeak beef and venison canned formulas, but they’re not cheap and I’d like to avoid that expense if it’s not necessary.

As for Ivory Coat, their puppy formula is chicken-based. I plan to rotate among the other formulas in the brand when Opal’s grown up. I know a lot of folks here advocate rotating between brands as well as flavours, but I want to support an Aussie company, plus this seems to be the only dry food here with a protein % in the 30s. That’s not to say we don’t have good imported choices, but they just don’t compare.

Reactions to chicken are probably as common as they are because so many puppy foods use it… The only non-chicken food specifically for puppies that I know of and is available over here is TOTW Pacific Stream. Diamond, gah. Opal should be fine with just Ivory Coat, but I’m a paranoid lady and want the best for her.

[Jo C]

Hi everyone,

I’m having trouble with my baby girl food, she is 7 months old and weights 3 pounds, all her life she ate ROYAL CANIN XSMALL BREED FOR PUPPY, she loves this, literally LOVE she gets cray over this food and finished in 2 minutes… BUT.. sadly this food makes her itch the vet told me it is probably the chicken in the RC, So I researched, read reviews and I look here in the community and I decided to give my baby ACANA SINGLES, Im making the transition of RC giving now 25% RC 75% ACANA lamb apple flavor, and now she is miserable 🙁 she won’t eat it she looks at her plate and choose the RC and leave the ACANA I left the food out there and thought she will get hangry, and no… She is hangry but she wants her RC food,is really sad for me, seeing this. When she used to enjoy her meals so much… Please girls I need your advice…

Please can you recommend me and brand that your yorkies like??? With no chicken on it.? And that’s recommended for puppy?

[Jenny C]

I’ve been Googling this and can’t find any research, but wondering if anyone here has any information on histamine intolerance in dogs? Not food allergies, but histamine intolerance. I, myself, have histamine intolerance and have to be very, very careful about the meat I eat. It has to be as fresh as possible, and quickly thawed (either in microwave or water), cooked and eaten immediately. No leftovers- the reason for which is that bacteria release histamine (and other amines) as the flesh decomposes. So the longer it’s been since meat was butchered, the higher the histamine content.

My 2 yr old shih tzu has been having very bad itching this entire summer. I’ve tried adding ACV to his food, fish oil, quercitin/bromelain, and switching to “cool” foods via TCM/Yin-Yang theories. So far, no success. I read somewhere that histamines in dogs are released mainly into their skin (whereas in humans, it can affect SO many different parts of the body). I’m wondering if he has seasonal allergies due to pollens, trees, grasses, etc and it’s been exacerbated by the raw food I feed him. I get my food from a local raw food processor, it’s mostly ground meat/bone/organ- and just the act of being ground at the butcher and sitting out in their deli case or freezer means that it’s not as fresh as a cut of meat would be, therefore the histamine content is already higher. Then I take it home, thaw it, portion it out, refreeze, then thaw again the day of feeding, adding more to the histamine content. So even though it’s fresh, local meat- it’s not actually “fresh” in the sense that it’s probably been at least a few weeks since it’s been butchered, and probably has higher histamine content by the time I feed it.

If you’re not familiar with histamine intolerance, they often talk about a “histamine bucket” whereby every little bit of histamine put into the body (food, stress, pollen, etc) builds, until it spills over into a reaction. So that is why I’m wondering if summer pollen plus the “not the most fresh” raw food I’m feeding could possibly be causing his severe itching. Start googling “histamine intolerance”- it’s really interesting and it was the answer to a lot of my own chronic illness issues.

Has anyone here experimented with feeding their dogs the absolutely freshest meat possible with the lowest histamine content and had any success with cutting down on allergy symptoms?

I’m wondering if there’s really a good way to feed raw and extremely fresh at the same time- I’m not really into the idea of buying huge parts of animals from local farmers and butchering them myself! I might try feeding my dog the fresh/cooked meat that I eat for a few days and see if I notice any difference in his itching.

In this sense, there’s probably no kibble or prepared raw food out there that would be considered “low histamine” then, right?

[Kristi G]

I am having a problem with my 12-year-old Yorkie, we have a weight problem.

She should be at 7-7.5 pounds but we are pushing 8.5-9 pounds. I was feeding her Wellness Core and that nipped the problem in the bud. Her weight was down, she loved the food, and felt healthier than ever. Then, the vet said her kidney levels were a little high and advised me to not feed her a high protein food and feed her a senior food instead. I then used the site again and started using Blue Wilderness Senior Grain Free, she was back up in weight in no time. We don’t do treats or bones so no culprit there. Pet Smart recommended Wellness Complete Health Senior, but she won’t eat the food so I can’t tell if it will work or not. We are still in the process of switching. She’s not typically a fickle eater and is usually quite the opposite-always ready to eat. But she turns her nose up to Wellness Complete Health Senior.

I want a dry (teeth are good), 5 Star Senior Food that won’t make her fat and will keep her at a Healthy Weight. Anyone have any recommendations? I’ve been trying to find something right for her for almost 2 years now and am desperate to find the right thing for my baby.

[Michael F]

Hi, Thanks for your reply, yes I agree with your thought on Vaccines, when my last dogs were 8 and 9 years old, we had titers done and there vaccine levels were way higher than the required amount that they needed to have in there system, in some cases 200000, times higher, anyone, those guys never were vaccinated again and lived to be 17 and 18 years of age, both were medium sized breeds, one a border collie and the other an Icelandic sheepdog mix, I did do titers more than once to make sure their levels were holding and they were fine.
Yes, for some of these diseases I really don’t think they know what causes them, hopefully veterinary medicine will keep improving over the years as it has been. I read an article the other day that certain areas of the country are really lacking in Veterinarians, Phoenix Arizona being one of them, not enough vets per capita for the number of sick animals. I think that can make getting good care more difficult.
Anyway, thanks for responding!

[Logan W]

For those new or novice to homemade dog food, it does take some research and a little bit of trial and error to see what your dog will eat. I’ve been doing homemade 100% for about 7 or 8 years now and I would highly recommend it. It does require some initial time and research but it’s all well worth it. I first started with several dogs and wasn’t convinced, like many here, that anything available on the market was as nutritionally dense as homemade. I started when I first adopted several dogs and they loved eating anything I bought, but the food certainly never agreed with them and they were sick all around my house. I think the last food, both dry and soft, they ever ate from the pet store was Blue Buffalo way back when. I would give them rice and chicken till they got better then slowly start working commercial food back into their diet. Every time… they got sick. That’s when I started out on the quest for something that I could rest assured was wholesome and nutritional… from my own hands.

People are right here when they warn you of feeding your dog homemade food without understanding your dogs nutritional needs. We all know our dogs will eat just about anything and you’d hate to learn the hard way that you are malnourishing your dog. I started by searching the web for a canine version of a daily nutritional requirements list that includes not only the macro nutrients (proteins, fiber, fat, carbohydrates, etc.) but also details all the micro nutrients (different amino acids, minerals, vitamins, etc.). The lists are out there if you search. It will be a long, long list of about 30-40 nutrients.

Once I found this list, I did some calculations based on my dogs activity level and size, multiples really. Then I created an Excel spreadsheet of all the target daily nutritional requirements. From there I started searching the web for natural sources of each nutrient and cross referencing them again sites to make sure they weren’t toxic to dogs. You’d be surprised to find that much of the normal fresh meats and vegetables at the store have just what your dog needs. I created a list of ideal food ingredients and Googled each ingredient’s full nutritional profile and built a tab for each ingredient in Excel listing out its nutrients per 1 gram or other serving size. Then I would build other worksheets modeling possible combinations of natural ingredients and seeing how the resulting nutrional profile compares to the target. You’ll find, just like with any animal, that you’ll never get it perfect. You may figure out that adding sweet potatoes helps you fill one nutrient you were targeting only to provide an exceeding amount of another. This is inevitable but just make sure that you aren’t creating a recipe that has far too little of one nutrient that is very important, or even far too much of another that can cause problems if ingested in large quantities like Vitamin A, etc. Its really a process or trial and error modeling a recipe that is really close. I got a few recipes and then went for it. But I do give my dog a multivitamin once a day too just to be a little safer.

The recipes I’ve been using for some time is muscle meat and some organ meat like ground beef and beef livers or kidneys, or chicken breasts and chicken livers. Organ meat is very nutritionally dense and its what dogs go for first when they find a animal in the wild. Muscle meat is a thing we humans prioritize for some reason so remember that you dog IS NOT BEST SERVED WITH FILET MIGNONS OR CHICKEN TENDERS. For veggies, I use about 3-5 different vegetables and switch them up every once in a while. My favorites are sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, squash and zucchini. For fiber and carbohydrates, I pick between a rice (white or brown) or beans (dry pinto or black beans). There’s other things I do too, like I use quite a few eggs and I boil the eggshells to sterilize them. Then I grind the dried shells into a powder for their high calcium needs. I also add some ground flax seed and olive oil to every batch. That’s really it about ingredients… now the PREPARATION METHOD becomes vitally important.

If your dog is like any of mine, they probably don’t care to eat vegetables raw or their own flavor. Also, how you cook the vegetables and beans/grains can either retain most of the nutrients or deplete most of them. Dogs have very short digestive tracts compared to humans and that means that just because they can eat a raw carrot…. it doesn’t mean there digestive tract can break it all down fast enough before it passes. Pressure cookers are great for dog food vegetables. Pressure cookers apply high heat for a very short period of time that not only softens the vegetables so they are more digestible, but it helps retain the nutrients in the vegetables much better than, let’s say, boiling them. One could simply use a steamer, but the trick I use is adding some chicken broth to the pressure cooker so that it injects a tasty flavor in all the vegetables. I chop all my vegetables and pile them into the pressure cooker and add a couple cups of real chicken broth and set it for 10 minutes, done. I pull out the finished veggies and set aside. Then I do the same flavor-injection with the beans or rice by using the pressure cooker too. I take out the beans or rice when finished and mix it into the cooked vegetables I set aside.

Next I chop up a cook the meats/organs either in a large pan or also in the pressure cooker (depends on the meat). I add a generous amount of olive oil and pour in the eggs and ground eggshells + ground flax seed. When this is all done I mix it all together with the already completed parts I set aside. A little salt and its done. I divide the food up into glass, airtight containers that hold enough for no more than 5 days of food. I keep one in the fridge and the others in the freezer. After the first container is nearing empty, I start thawing the second container. I give me 20-30 lbs guys about 1 cup of the food nuked for about a minute, morning and night.

How’s it working? Wonderful coats, plenty of energy, no skin problems EVER, all vet checkups clear and I’ve had their blood tested drawn at different times of their metabolic cycles to test for nutrients in their bloodstream (a whole lot of expensive testing just to reassure me that what I was doing was good) and not a single thing ever wrong with them. Since their food is not very hard or dry, you do need to brush their teeth or make sure they get plenty of dental chews. Their stool should be nice and loose, but not huge and frequent. Once or twice a day is normal. Their digestives tracts are using more of the food mass than was being used when feeding commercial food filled with corn and other grains. So their stool gets smaller. You can go online and find paid recipes backed by vets, but I’ve yet to see one that is truly all homemade. They typically create recipes that require using some overly priced supplement powder they distribute or co-advertise for. Don’t waste your time on them.

You may find that your dog devours the food right away or plays the hold-put game for something better. Mine play both games depending on their mood. They usually don’t eat the food right away cause it’s just been reheated and they know not to try. So they usually meander around for a while before eating it later. But when they finally eat… they eat it all… every last piece of vegetable, bean and rice, etc.

So there’s my experience and I hope it inspires you to give it a go and stick with it. I have an electric pressure cooker only for the dog food… best investment ever. It costs me about 50 cents to feed 1 lbs dog for a week. So that’s $10 a week for one 20 lbs dog. I consider that a much better ROI than commercial dog food. Since I only have one freezer, I only make food every 2 weeks and spend about 2 hours when I do. But you get used to it and you learn the process inside and out. I’d never go back. Now if only I would eat as good as these damned dogs do!! 😉

[irene w]

Hi
Thanks for your response.
Maybe you can answer another question for me. I read on this blog somewhere that it’s good to change the food you give your dog.

How many brands do you keep? or are they just different flavors?

I thought someone told me to be very careful not to upset your dogs eating by changing off to different flavors
Thanks

[pugmomsandy]

There might be over 100 suggestions for new reviews already so it could be quite some time. Or you can suggest it again.

/contact-us/suggest-dog-food-review/

[Mark A]

I first heard of NuVet when I thought my 13 year old long-haired Chihuahua was blind. She fell into our swimming pool. Luckily, I was right there to pull her out. My first thought, she’s blind. She hates the water. The vet told me that she had cataracts. I researched “cataracts in dogs” on the internet. I found this website and read the raving reviews here and other reviews site like:
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.nuvet.com
http://www.viewpoints.com/NuVet-Plus-Canine-Supplements-reviews

After that I bought the first bottle. A couple of weeks later, I took my dog to the specialist and he couldn’t find any cataracts. Now, my dog’s vision is better than ever, and her coat is shiny and fluffy. I just signed up for automatic refills.

[Robyn O]

We lost our beloved chihuahua Piper almost 6 weeks ago and I’m still torn up about it. She was just the best dog and she is so missed.

We got her from a family friend who had to go to a nursing home. Piper was 10 years old at the time and lost the only home she’d ever known. I knew she’d need extra care and to be spoiled and that’s what we did. I was battling cancer at the time and I think she knew I needed extra care too. We became immediate, fast friends. I loved learning that even though she was a senior dog, she loved to play. She was silly and goofy and loved people. She could be a little shy at first but once you were her friend, you were her friend for life.

She became my comfort during my treatment and the pain that followed. She would comfort me when I cried and made me laugh every single day. Some days, she was the only thing that kept me going. I didn’t give up because of her and I owe her my life to her!

She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure at 13. We nursed her back to health and she was doing so well on her medication!! The doctors thought she could live for several years, she responded so well. But In late June, everything changed. She was fine on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she was running into walls. By Wednesday afternoon, she’d lost the use of her front left leg. We rushed her to the vet and they kept her overnight to monitor her. They told us she’d gone completely blind and that they hoped it was a stroke. She could recover from that. She continued to go downhill and they advised us that it was probably a brain tumor. We (and the vets) couldn’t believe it!! Her condition was grave but she was stable so we decided to bring her home. We had the most wonderful weekend with her. She rallied for us and even began to walk again. She was blind but knew we were there for her. We didn’t leave her side all weekend. We honestly thought the vet had made a mistake. That she’d recover. But by Monday morning she wasn’t eating. That evening, she began to have uncontrollable seizures. We couldn’t watch her suffer anymore.

The second seizure had made her scared but when we brought her to the vet I just think she knew it was time and calmed down immediately. That wasn’t normal for her. She was ready. I wasn’t. But I tried to be calm and I held my best friend through the whole thing. It was a peaceful end for her. I’m grateful for that.

I’ve been devastated ever since. She gave me so much more than I could ever have given her. She was kind, funny and sweet. She knew my heart and I knew hers. She was my companion almost 24/7 and I love her more than words can ever say. I do believe that dogs go to Heaven and that I’ll see her again. Until then, I cry tears for her every day. I’ll see you again, sweet Piper, my little love!!!!

[Stephanie M]

My husband and I just adopted the sweetest 8 year old doberman mix from the SPCA. She is our first dog together and she is heart worm positive (stage II). We live in Texas and half of the dogs at the shelter were HW +. We didn’t really know much about heart worms so we talked to the shelter employee. They seemed very knowledgeable and said that they pay for the HW treatment if we go to one of their partnered vets. They made it sound like an easy treatment and the biggest thing was restricting activity for one month after the first injection.

We saw the vet today and here is the treatment:
-3 months of heart guard doses prior to the first injection.
-1 month doxycycline before the first injection
-first injection of imiticide. She would be sedated and spend the night at the vets. They’d also give a steroid injection.
-She’d come home and need to be on “bedrest” for 30 days. Only going out of her crate to the rest room on a leash.
-After 30 days she’d go back to the vet and stay a few days where she’d get the final 2 injections. Then its complete. No other mention of an additional 30 days bedrest.

A few things concern me now. First, the vet said that our dog would be the oldest dog he has done the treatment for. He doesn’t anticipate any issues but things can always happen unexpectedly. Secondly, after looking more into the imiticide it looks like quite the potent drug and I’m frightened by it.

Currently she had one dose of heart guard at the shelter so she has at least a two month waiting period before her first injection. She is on the doxycycline now due to her biting at her stomach. The vet suspects a possible UTI and this should clear it up. I asked if she would need a second 30 day antibiotic the month before the injection and they said no.

This is our first dog so I wanted to ask people who have more experience with them what they would do. Our dog is already 8 and is a large breed girl. We knew by adopting her we’d probably only have a few years with her. If it were your dog, would you put her through these treatments? I don’t want the time she spends with us to be spent in pain.

Thanks for any insight!

[Susan]

Hi, I always read the Kcals per cup, you can find Kcals on the kibbles web page under “feeding guidelines”…….I always read the Kcals per cup & work out how many calories my dog should be eating a day, here’s a link so you can work out how many Kcals per cup ur dog should eat, my boy needs about 1000 calories a day, also if your dog is looking thin then add another 1/2 cup a day…..try rotating a few different brands with a different protein…. Wellpet makes Wellness, Holistic Select & Eagle Pack…. normally premium kibble you need to feed less & always add some fresh meat to diet, like tin sardines in spring water add a couple or mussels…
http://www.german-shepherd-lore.com/dog-food-calculator.html

[Raava]

Hi all, just joined b/c I have an unusual question…

I just started my dog on a full raw diet again. He’s a 30lb, 10yo husky mix. Tried it before but couldn’t keep up the expense, and he’s eaten raw on and off throughout his life.

This time I’m a little bit “OCD” about making sure he’s not lacking in any nutrients. lol I give him a pretty balanced diet: Mostly red meat like beef and pork, pork bones, chicken quarters, gizzards, eggs, chicken and beef liver, beef kidney, canned mackerel, salmon, and sardines, kefir sometimes, and salmon oil (b/c I’m paranoid about the mercury in even small fish). I’m swapping the chicken out for turkey now though (both ground and bone-in) b/c I kind of suspect a chicken allergy, but I’m not sure. He even gets oysters for the extra zinc, and a liquid vitamin E supplement.

I recently noticed that iron seems low though, and I got him some baby clams to supplement it since those are super high in iron, but then I read about cadmium in them and other heavy metals that can accumulate (might be the same with oysters, I don’t know anymore). -_- It’s always something. I discovered that spleen is high in iron too, but I can’t get my hands on that.

So I was thinking about how wolves in the wild eat… they kill their prey and eat/drink some of the blood as well while they’re gnawing on their meat, right? Well blood has plenty of iron in it… but I can’t buy fresh blood. I’ve even read it’s illegal to sell (not sure on location). So the next best thing is blood meal.

Would adding blood meal be a good idea as an iron supplement? (I’ve calculated the amount of iron in it and know how much he would need, roughly 2g, give or take.) Or do I sound like a lunatic? xD I’m just slightly paranoid about him getting ALL the right amounts of nutrients he needs. I know they say “balance over time”, but even then, the raw diet seems low in a lot of things. Particularly, zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin e, and manganese.

Since I added more red meat and the oysters to his diet, his coat is getting a lot better. It was unusually dry-ish before, and not soft and shiny like you typically see with a raw diet.

And to add another thing: I really wish I knew the nutrient content of bones! I read there’s some magnesium, potassium, zinc and other things in them, but there’s no info to say how much. So there’s no telling what he’s getting from the bone content too.

As I mentioned in the beginning, he’s 10 years old already and I want him to live forever, basically…. lmao So that’s why I’m a little paranoid about him getting everything he needs. Sorry for being long-winded, and thanks to anyone who reads this. lol

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

[Robin F]

Hello Everyone,
My Natasha is almost 10 years old and weighs 125 pounds. She has arthritis and has a fatty tumor which I was told should shrink when she looses weight. I finally trained the husband not to give table food or cook chopped beef to mix in food! She is eating Wellness Cores Reduced Fat dog food. She hardly never eats all of what she is given (2 cups once a day) which I do top with half a can of one of the stews from Blue since the chopped beef is gone! Does anyone know if there are supplements to help the weight loss, but without her getting diarrhea or having to go potty all the time? She is limping quite a bit and is already on pain meds (Tramadol and Rimadyl).
Thank you, Robin

[Kristy O]

I’ve been reading (through online research sites and here) good things about the Fromm weight loss dog food (Gold, Gold Coast, and Four Star Weight Management) but I haven’t yet tried one of them…I’m leaning toward one of the 2 Gold choices right now. I have a female, spayed German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP), about 9 years old who is tremendously overweight. I volunteer for the Illinois Shorthair Rescues and she came to us as a foster dog from a kill shelter. She was with us for one day and became ours forever. 🙂 She’s so sweet, but I’m thinking she was likely a puppy mill dog – at the very least a backyard breeder/breeder dog. It’s obvious she has had several litters of pups. She should weigh between 50-60 pounds and definitely not over 70, but she’s over 80 lbs. 🙁 In all fairness, she came to us overweight, with heartworm and multiple other problems, so it’s been difficult to work too much on her weight loss; however, she’s now heartworm free and we’re working diligently to get the weight off. We run her every morning on a nearby farm (as far as she can tolerate – also has hip problems) and have cut back on her food to approx. 2 cups/day and a couple treats in between. We currently feed Exclusive, which works well for our other GSP (she has Addison’s Disease). As a matter of fact, I believe that food really helped to save her life when she was diagnosed years ago. I digress. Sorry. I’m thinking about trying the Fromm for both of them now. Has anybody else tried their products? Would be happy to hear if you have. The weight management products ARE on the list of Editor’s Choice at 4 Stars, so it must be pretty good. Please let me know what you all think. Thanks!

[crazy4cats]

Hi weezerweeks, my fellow crazy cat lady friend!!! I’m so glad to hear that you still have so many that stuck around. I’m sorry about the ones that didn’t make it. I agree with Acroyali! I think you have a shot at making it work. Especially since it sounds like they are not totally feral.

You definitely need to keep them contained for a while so they do learn where their food is coming from. Can you bring the beds and condo home and put them somewhere that you can keep them contained? I’d try to keep them in for a couple of weeks. I also have a small cat enclosure set up off a down stairs door with a pet door in it for mine to go in and out as they wish. It’s basically just a covered kennel with a few perches for them to climb on and get some sun and fresh air. I do not let any of my cats roam free outside anymore due to losing one to a coyote a few years back and couldn’t deal with that again.

If you google, pinterest or youtube catios and/or cat enclosures, you will see some very creative and clever ideas to keep cats safe. I have bought a lot of my kennels and crates and such off of Craig’s list at very good prices.

One of my current cats who recently turned 17 was feral when I trapped her. It took her a very long time to warm up to us. But we were patient and didn’t push it. She still is very shy, but not mean or aggressive and very cute!!

We have moved a couple of times and have never lost a cat due to it trying to return to its home. Albeit, they were already used to being inside/outside at the time which probably makes it a little easier.

Keep us updated on what you decide Good luck!

[Acroyali]

For years, one of our dogs fought this problem, and we kept him on Pepcid as a maintenance and would switch to Cerenia if things got bad. Surprise, after so long the pepcid stopped working at the recommended dosage and we needed to switch to a higher potency. Endoscopy showed inflammation. The symptoms got worse. As much as I love my vet in general, the diagnosis “IBD” and being offered z/d and cerenia for life was just plain not good enough for us.
Like Jenni M, we decided long term, drugs weren’t a good option for us, and we did the Apple Cider Vinegar as she suggested and it worked. While the flare ups still happened, things got better. We worked closely with a homeopath who was able to pinpoint the rest of the symptoms and select a remedy that knocked it out for good. Upon reading about GERD (Dr. Becker has excellent articles on this, as does the ottawa valley dog whisperer), it was mentioned that high stomach acid has the same symptoms as LOW stomach acid (just like it does in humans). Our dog was actually experiencing low acid, and we were treating his stomach as if it were highly acidic and we were giving him MORE things to reduce his stomach acid which he didn’t even have. That itself led to mild pica and vomiting as, without any stomach acid left, he was unable to break down his food and it had nowhere to go but up. (It also makes me think twice before popping a pepcid, myself.) I’m extremely grateful for conventional veterinary medicine, as it truly does save lives (you can’t fix a broken leg with coconut oil and herbs.) But when something, conventional or not, isn’t working, it’s time to look elsewhere and try something else. JMO.

[InkedMarie]

Vets get very little nutritional education. You need to be careful what you feed a large breed puppy; go to the Diet & Health issues forum here and read the stickie on top, highlighted in yellow, on what is appropriate foods for large breed puppies. I’m not sure if it’s “too late” or not.

I would not feed anything by Blue Buffalo; they’ve had their share of problems.

You can try a spoonful of canned pumpkin (the one without the spices) while you transition. Also, over feeding can be a cause.

[Greg D]

Hi,
I’m new to this forum and have come
across this site as I’m researching. Im going crazy with my dogs yeast infections. I’ve read all the comments, and as everywhere on the net you always find conflicting comments, statements, opinions etc regarding causes and prevention, so I am going to simply provide some of my findings and also hope people can advise any further.
My dog, Digi, a Maltese cross has a yeast problem. Started out in the ears and the paws. This has been going on for 12 months. I started off by changing her diet to a grain free and mostly meat based diet feeding her Wellness core . She loved it at the start but the problem didn’t stop. We then changed to K9 natural freeze dried. Again, she loved it but soon stopped wanting it. The problem didn’t stop. I then started feeding her a raw diet with. I grains or carbs. The problem got worse until she actually had an allergic reaction and ended up at the vets when her face swelled up and she got a red, raised rash all over her body. This happened instantly one night after she finished eating. The vet recommended a fish based diet which against my better judgement contains brown rice, but I was desperate so we tried it. Her ears cleared up miraculously and almost instantly but she still licks her feet. She is washed in anti fungal shampoo regularly but it will not disappear. Her ears are beautiful and clean and no other part of her body seems to be affected anymore. The vet has suggested she may have an allergy to grass as well but how can I keep her inside 24/7? She would go crazy with cabin fever!
I’ve tried soaking them in hydrogen peroxide and water and tried different sprays but she continues to lick them almost constantly and they are that rusty colour. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Willing to try anything. Thank you.

[pitlove]

Hi Kenneth-

Welcome to the forums. Hound Dog Mom hasn’t been able to post on here in quite some time due to school, so I don’t know that you’ll ever hear back from her. I can however, try to help.

Here is 2 articles from DFA that may help you understand large breed puppies and choosing a dog food a little better:

/best-dog-foods/best-large-breed-puppy-food/

/choosing-dog-food/brand-guidelines/

It is interesting that when you read through the second link the rating that Pro Plan recieves does not reflect those criteria that Mike has outlined. In fact Pro Plan makes a excellent choice when using those 9 tips. Another thing to be mentioned is that Purina is one of 2 companies that are the leaders in research for large breed puppy nutrition and growth. While some may choose other brands or diets other than kibble, many show dogs are fed Pro Plan as well. Personally, I see no reason to switch simply because this website rates it 2.5 stars, especially since you’ve noted your dog is doing quite well on it.

However, if you are insistant, I would highly recommend looking at Dr. Tim’s Kinesis (not the grain free one). It is formulated by both a vet and a nutritionist and has gone through AAFCO feeding trials and if star rating is of that much concern, it is rated 4 stars.

[Denise R]

I had a Brittany that passed away two weeks ago at age 15. She too was allergic to legumes plus peanuts and potatoes. We struggled for years trying to find good foods without any of these and as soon as we settled on one, they’d change the formula. You had to read the ingredients on the bag. Ev.er.y. time! (On an aside, I did read that a lot of dog food manufacturers were buying their peas from China where they were treated with toxic chemicals in their pesticides.). Sometimes we had to use the cheapest dog foods because they had the right ingredients or should I say they lacked the wrong ones. Now…so sorry, back to your question, in the end we were having really good luck with the PetSmart brand “Authority”. I don’t know if they made “the list” but you can check the ingredients online. I think I saw at least one that may work for your dog. The crude protein runs 29% on the ones I checked. Our dogs did well on it. No more itchy spots, nice shiny healthy fur, etc. And right now all dog food is 30% off with free shipping if you buy it online. Good luck!

[Jennifer R]

Does anyone know of a dry dog food that has absolutely no form of legumes or poultry but that has a rating of 4 or 5? I’m probably looking right at it, but I can’t for the life of me find one.

I have a senior Akita who has liver and gallbladder issues and food intolerances. He’s refusing homecooked food and canned food (refusing as in not eating for days). He will eat kibble right now, but I’m having a hard time finding a quality kibble without legumes and poultry. He’s also sensitive to corn, soy, and goat, but he really can’t tolerate any form of legumes or poultry.

His vet recommends Royal Canin, which has chicken fat and causes gas. I was ready to try Natural Balance LID or California Natural but then I saw the ratings. At this point I realize grain free foods are out because they replace grains with legumes, but isn’t there a quality meat-based kibble that uses grain not legumes? Are all kibble with grains plant-based?

Any ideas would help! It’d be great if the kibble were also low fat while still being high in protein, but I’ll settle for meat-based, above 4 stars with no legumes or poultry of any form.

Thanks!

[Karigan P]

Hello all, I have a 12 week old Great Dane puppy who has been through it all in his short time (parvo & severe demodex) He is well now and we are focusing on nutrition for him. It has been about a month post parvo. My issue is he is now knuckling over or, bowing at the leg on his front.
It is so bad he can’t walk very well. It seemed to start healing and then I took him out for a long walk and it worsened. Should I just keep him on bed rest? I thought exercise would help.

Here is the food he has been on so far: Orijen Puppy (1 1/2 weeks) then switched to Zignature Zssential formula (2 days – this is when he started losing his hair), Then Orijen Large Breed Puppy (only 1/2 a week). When I noticed his knuckling over I did some research and he is now on the Precise Holistic large and giant breed puppy.

I have unfortunately switched foods TOO many times b/c I thought the demodex was a food allergy and I’m scared to switch again but he is having runny diarrhea on this food – he has been on it for 4 days now. I can possibly wait it out but I have read that this is a common issue on this brand and I don’t want him to lose any more weight than he has already.

Any suggestions?

[Susan]

Hi my boy suffers with Food Sensitivities & Environment allergies.. your best of doing an elimination food diet to make sure she is sensitive to chicken?? My boy is sensitive to chicken he gets red paws, itchy ears, itchy skin & sloppy poos, as soon as I feed cooked or raw chicken his paws went red & hot within 20mins, also when he eats a kibble with
barley, corn, maize, gluten meal….
“Taste Of The Wild” puppy formulas both are chicken free & no chicken fat….one is Pacific Stream puppy with Smoked Salmon the other one is High Prairie Puppy with Roasted Bison & Roasted Venison….your better off feeding the Salmon kibble. Fish is a cooling meat where beef isn’t my boy itches when I made him Beef rissoles now I feed pork rissole with sweet potato for dinner & the Taste Of The Wild Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb kibble for breakfast, the TOTW Sierra Mountain is an all life stages kibble & can be feed to a puppy & is chicken free. send TOTW an email ask for some puppy samples & All Life Stages kibbles for a large breed puppy & their booklet so you can read ingredients & which kibbles are All Life Stages kibbles…their samples are pretty big..

also BATHS are the best when your dog has environment allergies, I bath weekly sometimes twice a week depends if Patch is itchy & scratching after a walk…Baths wash off any pollen & allergen that are on their fur & skin & relieve any itch when you wash in the right shampoo I bath Patch in Malaseb medicated shampoo. I also wipe him down with Huggie baby Cucumber & Aloe wipes after going on our daily walks… http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
Another chicken free kibble is “Holistic Select” Salmon & Anchovy & Sardine Meal Adult & Puppy Health is suppose to be really good for itchy dogs…
http://www.holisticselect.com/
If after changing kibble to an all fish kibble & your dog is still itchy red eyes then book an appointment to see an Dermatologist they are better then a vet, dearer but a Dermatologist knows all about allergies & the skin you’ll end up saving money vets just put the dog on a vet diet & give antibiotics & steroids….Have you tried an antihistamine?? especially her eyes are you sure its not a turned in eye lash?? that can cause irritation & infection, I’d see a new vet for her eye…
besides the red eyes is she itchy all over her body & scratching, red paws or itchy ears?? she may just need the eye drops & be put on a premium kibble..

[pitlove]

Hi Tonya

Welcome to the forums!

Tripett is a canned variety of green beef tripe that is a great topper for kibble because it has a perfect 1:1 ca/phos ratio.

Basically as I’m sure you have learned, excessive calcium and excess weight gain are the two major causes of bone growth disorders in growing large breeds. Some of these diseases don’t manifest until later in life, some manifest early on and then clear up. Either way it is important to feed a food appropriate for a growing large breed. The calcium to phos ratio should not exceed 1:5:1 and the calcium to calorie ratio should not exceed 3g/1000kcals.

Here is the issue….some foods make the claim “All Life Stages” which does mean it can be fed to a puppy or an adult. However, that does not always mean a LBP. Natural Balance makes the claim “All Stages, All Breeds” however that may or may not be true depending on what their nutritional philosophy regarding LBP’s is. Some companies are running on the old tired myth that protein is the main cause of bone growth disorders, dispite this theory being debunked some 20 years ago. They put so much emphasis on low protein that they ignore the calcium content.

Some companies list their “nutrient analysis” right there on their website, which I love! Some do not and you have to email the company and ask for it. Reason this is important is because there is a great tool on DFA here in that thread we orginally were talking on that lets you put in the MAX calcium, MAX phos and the calories/kg of the food and it tells you the calcium/phos ratio and the calcium/calorie ratio. However, you can not use the MIN numbers found on the bag. It does not tell you the true amount of calcium contained in the food. When using the MIN numbers, just about every food on the market would look LBP safe lol.

When it comes to feeding guidelines on the bag, they are simply a guideline. NB is a lower calorie food, so in order to meet the dogs daily caloric requirements, more food needs to be fed. Higher calorie foods would require less. One issue with feeding SO much less than the guidelines is the dog becoming nutrient deficient over time.

A lot of factors come in to play in keeping a dog lean. Being spayed/neutered will decrease metabolism, being less active, consuming too many calories in ratio to what is being burned. Personally, I would reward with something like green beans instead of the Zuke’s treats you are using if you are doing a lot of training with her and she is getting a lot of treats. We don’t use a lot of treats in my house because I’m very careful with my dogs weight. I have 3 kinds of treats right now, each with different kcals/treat and I use them based on how much excersize I feel they have done that day. Many days they don’t get a treat at all because I’m also incorporating raw into their kibble, so that takes up the calories of the treats. Praise is also a good training reward vs a treat.

[Maniza D]

Sorry .. I did not read that your dog maybe allergic to fish. My research revealed that dogs with digestive issues are best treated with having a higher protein than fats and carbs. Dogs do not have the intestines needed for digesting complex carbs … hence diarreahh, stinky stools, big stools etc. There is a PHD pet nutritionist in Canada who has a cookbook for dogs as wells totally balanced vitamin supplement. Her name is Hilary Watson and her website is http://www.hilarywatson.com/. I spoke with her today. She was very helpful. She is the one who suggested to me that my Toby may not have an allergies to food but food intolerances. Her recommendation was to feed him food with lower fat content than I had been. The recipe I created above certainly provides less fat than what he was accustomed to with Acana. I also think the addition of slippery elm, the small amount of garlic, ginger and some greens has helped tremendously. Dr. Watson suggested that once his digestive system has settled down, I might want to reintroduce him to other low fat proteins such as turkey, venison, bison and goat. But please note that almost every kibble has higher fat percentage than protein. The fat is added back in to make the food palatable to dogs. Natural Balance is a good food per my breeder .. but it’s nutrient values are (for fish and sweet potatoe .. limited ingredients) Protein 22%, Fat 20% and the remainder is carbs.

[C4D]

Hi RobbW,

I have several dogs of my own and foster dogs, and they are mostly large dogs, so there is a lot of urine going in my grass! What you read about giving the dogs more water (think adding fresher, higher moisture food to their diet) and watering the lawn more often is the way to go. Urine is essentially fertilizer in liquid form and is a free, all natural one at that. But too much and too strong will burn the lawn in a heartbeat. I’ve done that in the past when the spreader fell over. 🙁

In spite of having a lot of dogs in a relatively small area, I have very few, if any “burn spots” and I don’t feed any “grass saver” type additives. I also don’t fertilize the dog area of the yard. I do feed all of the dogs canned food when I feed kibble and add a good amount of warm water to the mix, so it’s pretty wet to begin with. I also have fresh water on hand throughout the day. I feed a fresh dinner to most of the dogs, all of my own. All this moisture means a more diluted urine. The results are healthier dogs that aren’t slightly chronically dehydrated and a lawn that doesn’t have many, if any, burn spots. I will spray the lawn area down on a fairly regular basis, maybe every few days, or run the sprinkler if it’s been very hot and dry. I do have a REALLY GREEN lawn in the dog area. LOL! 😉

Here’s a university link that you might find interesting:

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/gardennotes/553.html

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by C4D.

[Jen T]

Thanks anonymous. I had read what you have posted here in other people’s posts and it’s very helpful. I wanted to know how I could help my dog unrelated to drugs to maintain allergies as best as possible. I will take her to a dermatologist but in the mean time, instead of using Cortisone cream is there another natural anti-itch cream that can be used? Do people supplement with probiotics and salmon oil? Do people use those spot on treatments to help with the skin barrier? I’m hoping to find some natural alternatives to help her while we find a dermatologist and get to the bottom of this.

[pitlove]

Hi Jennifer-

To answer your first question, those numbers are the recommendation from the NRC (National Research Council) which in conjuntion with AAFCO, sets the minimums for the nutrient profiles in all dog foods. As far as I know there is no legal obligation to NRC for companies unlike AAFCO, however they influence AAFCO greatly and are a good rule of thumb. These are nutrient guidelines you would want to consider in preparing homemade and raw diets as well.

For number 2, my best advice is what you already know. Keep them lean, all throughout life. I find that I can still feed my older large breed (8 year old 75lb Lab) high calorie foods, but still keep him at a good weight, so long as I consider his activity level and any extras that he gets. I also do prefer leaner meats like chicken, turkey and fish. The other thing that certainly helps their metabolism is them being intact. It’s going to be much different with neutered/spayed dogs, as their energy requirements change. It’s said now, with some of the new research, that senior dogs require more of a high quality protein because of their inability to metabolize protein as efficently as their adult counterparts. Some still argue that high protein damages the kidneys etc. Others argue that processing excess protein is a passive process of the kidneys and has no effect on a healthy dog.

[Elizabeth A]

Thank you for all the posts regarding the allergies. I will definitely look over the links and do some reading. The rescue had recommends feeding grain free for skin issues. Most of his skin issues have cleared up. He had a severe yeast infection and lost a lot of hair and was severely matted and had to be shaved down. His hair is growing back now and we’re giving him some fish oil supplements as well. He has been on occasion chewing or licking his feet/paws. I think that might be our grass and we’ve had another dog who was allergic to the grass and I can attest that it is very itchy for me to walk in it (I have grass allergies).

Regarding the allergy testing. I don’t think the rescue is going to do that at this point unless it’s recommended by the vet. His allergies are not severe I would say (not like our late dog who had terrible allergies). We just notice a bit of paw chewing/licking.

Also, we brought the Limited Ingredient back and got the Merrick Lil’ Plates for him since it was 5 stars and the other was 3.5. I started feeding him 5/8 twice a day plus a spoonful of can food just to mix it for him. The can food he’d need 1.25-1.5 cans a day if we fed him entirely canned food so I’m not too worried about the calories in one spoon or two.

I’m just confused should I feed him to his ultimate goal weight of 15 lbs or should I feed him to 20lbs and when he reaches 20lbs feed him the 15lb guide? And thank you for pointing out the guides are too much on a lot of dog foods. We definitely noticed this with our other dog’s food (Nutro Ultra). We have one that’s overweight by about 1 – 1.5 lbs (small dog–12-13lbs) and we were feeding the guidelines too! I wish they would just put Calories/kcals on the serving size on the bag of food. It’s much easier for me to relate to and then I could find out exactly how many calories she should be eating.

We’re trying to exercise our foster as much as possible but it’s a little hard with the heat here. Today’s heat index was about 110! He is so overweight and had a lot of breathing trouble (recovering from kennel cough) so we didn’t want to walk him too much. He does like to walk he just can’t go too far. We’ve gone down a few houses each way and he’s huffing and puffing when it’s over.

[pitlove]

Hi Rikki and welcome-

I can appreciate your desire for science based medicine. To touch on a the points you hit on, no protein is not a factor in terms of correct growth for large and giant breeds. However, Dr. Rebecca Remillard ACVN states on her website petdiets.com, that growing puppies do not require a food with more than 25% protein.

Absolutely, by no means, should you feed your mastiff an adult maintenance diet. This is a tired old myth still thought to be true because it “worked” 30 years ago. Companies are now producing large breed puppy diets designed specificially for slow growth.

The safe upper limit for your calcium and phos ratio is 1.5:1. However, you also need to pay attention to the calcium to calorie ratio as well to keep the pup lean during growth. Overfeeding is a huge factor in devlopmental orthopedic disorders.

As for the choice of food….the two companies that have done the most research on large and giant breed puppy growth and nutrition are Hill’s and Purina. Selecting a large breed puppy diet from either of those companies would be fine. I do understand that some are opposed to using a food from either of those two companies. Dr. Tim’s Kinesis which you mentioned earlier, is safe for a growing giant breed, is formulated by a vet and a nutritionist and has been feed trialed. All qualities that are excellent to have in a food. Not to mention it comes in a 44lb bag on chewy.com. This would probably be my first choice for a budget friendly, good large breed puppy food, not from Hill’s or Purina.

Here is a good article to read that is posted on DFA here:

/best-dog-foods/best-large-breed-puppy-food/

and this is another from the persepctive of a veterinary nutritionist, that outlines DOD’s and large breed puppy nutrition fairly well:

https://msu.edu/~silvar/hips.htm

[Rikki W]

Eeeeeekkk!! Information overload!! I am so confused as to what I should be doing. We just got an English Mastiff puppy. He is 7 weeks old and I have no idea what to feed him. Right now we have him on the food the breeder was using. It is a super cheap supermarket brand that I am desperate to get him off of, but I cant seem to find any steadfast solid scientific backed information. I have been trying to research for over 3 days.

Some sites say protein needs to be LESS than 28%, some say that it doesn’t matter. I notice that the editors choice picks for puppy food have some listed with protein as high as 40%….. sooooo is higher protein really okay then??

It seems that the biggest consistent concern with Mastiff puppies and other giant breeds is their calcium intake. Calcium should be less than 1.5% with a 1:1 ratio to phosphorus. Is this accurate??

A different breeder than the one we actually got the puppy from suggested we just go straight to an adult food however that kicks the protein down and the calcium up.

I need science and studies to help me out here. I work in the medical field and am used to using evidence based medicine. I feel my dogs/furry kids deserve the same standards.

I also have two labs at home. One is 11 years old with the perfect current weight and health. The other lab is 2 years old and he could stand to lose a few pounds. I would love to find a food to just use for ALL three while keeping them all healthy. There is an editors choice for Dr. Tim’s life stages but man I am going to go through food quick with my three beasts and its expensive stuff. I will buy it though if I need to.

Can I just get some thoughts??

Thanks in advance 🙂

And now that I have at least gotten a post in, I will go read back through this thread of 1900+ posts for additional information 🙂

• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Rikki W.

[Sherri G]

I’m so glad I scrolled all the way through this thread to see it is still active.

We have a 5 1/2 year old English Bulldog. After MANY, MANY, MANY food changes, the only food that he can tolerate without diarrhea is Hill’s canned z/d. He was diagnosed with PLE (Protein Losing Enteropathy) a year ago but has been stable (as in no diarrhea, & mostly stable lab results) since starting the z/d. Trust me, we tried all diets with guidance from our vet! Through the course of diagnosing him with PLE, Oliver was on Prednisone and Metronidazole for a year and a half — at times being on 10mgs of Pred during diarrhea flares. He has FINALLY been weened off of the Pred (such an evil, nasty drug) and is also off Metronidazole. He is currently on Budesonide to keep his bowels in check.

5 months ago, Oliver (who never had any skin issues at all which is a rarity in the bulldog world) began scratching a few areas around his neck. It started with 2 small areas being itchy and then hair loss began. After many skin scrapings (which literally showed nothing), puncture biopsies were done. The pathologist diagnosed him with Mural Folliculitis, Granulomatous and stated she felt this was “drug related” but didn’t know which drug caused it — something our vet disagrees with. Our vet feels his skin issues are directly related to his poor absorption of nutrients due to his PLE. While we weren’t sure who was correct, we agreed more with our vet– as I have Crohn’s disease and know firsthand the link between the gut/immune system/nutrition and how it can affect hair, skin, etc.

BUT I still held out hope that once coming off of both Pred and Metronidazole, the itchiness would stop. It hasn’t. We’ve been told his fur will probably never grow back and we don’t care about that. We just want Oliver to be comfortable and as healthy as he can be. He isn’t itchy all of the time. It comes and goes– and we use Neo Predef to stop instances of itchiness and 1 Benadryl if it’s particularly bad. (He’s only had 1 Benadryl in the last 10 days.)

I was trying to research his skin condition and there isn’t much info available since vets consider it “rare”. When researching, I did stumble upon Dinovite and I have ordered it but haven’t received it yet. Now, however, I found this thread in the meantime and I’m on the fence about giving it to him. I feel the responses on here are thoroughly mixed. Some were helped by it, some were not.

I am also ordering Missing Link since I’ve now found that after ordering Dinovite. I’m not sure what to do, as we definitely can’t risk Oliver getting diarrhea as a side effect because that wouldn’t be good given his PLE.

So, does anyone have any opinions on Dinovite vs. Missing Link?
Thanks in advance!

[Cathy B]

I’ve been giving my two dogs (a 110 pound male and a 50 pound female) bravecto for almost two years with no problems to date but because I’ve been following this thread I’m considering getting them off of it. I live in swampland basically, on 40 acres of wooded and watered land where my dogs roam and come in and out of the house. Pills are the only thing I’ve ever found that works on the level of fleas in deep East Texas near Louisiana. Trust me, dips and sprays do nothing to phase fleas in seriously hot and humid climates. Our winters often don’t have freezes and the fleas never die. I have an indoor cat with flea allergies and will not risk ANY fleas getting in my house. Before Bravecto they took a type of pill that I can no longer find. Three different vets I called, the answer was all the same, Bravecto is the only flea pill they sell. So here is my question, do I have any flea pill options if I try to get off of Bravecto? I need the type strong enough that a vet sells them so if none of my local vets carry anything else what are my options?

[Brenda G]

My 12 year old box was told she had cancer and acute renal failure (acute = early renal = kidney). The vet insisted that unless I paid $200 a week for special hill’s K/D (or any other prescription diet) she would die and regardless she would die in 6 months. I was heart broken I couldn’t afford $200 a week. I had at the time 2 other dogs and a horse. So I cried for about a day straight (ok probably a lot longer than that), I love my dogs just like everyone here. I had to do my research and find the best alternative to the prescription diet. So I asked the vet if you could recommend anything else what would it be? That’s the only thing that she was willing to recommend also should mention this vet sells the dog food but was willing to give me a prescription for it to get it else where. The vet was willing to tell me that the two important things in a K/D diet were protein and phosphorus. I did my research and I called every major manufacture (iams and pedigree share the same phone number apparently a company called mars 1-800-675-3849) etc. Most dog foods contain around 0.8% phosphorus so I was looking for anything with less. I found one blend of dog food what wasn’t weight ( the weight control tastes gross and she wont eat it) controlled the price was more than reasonable at about $22 for 27lbs which would last my two dogs 2 weeks (now we have one other dog but it last them a month) This is a no sugar added no dyes and no artificial preservatives dog food (for all three brands). Here’s the kicker I could only buy it online in large bags or drive like 20mins plus for smaller more expensive bags(I had two large breed dogs and one small breed). I contacted Iams this week because the price of the dog food had sky rocketed to 47 (on amazon) which is way too much and Walmart wasn’t showing when it would be back in stock or at all. Come to find out they discontinued it 8months ago. I searched high and low and found blue buffalo (aka blue diamond) had about the same values but there have been 1400 consumer complaints and many recalls of their food and the same with purina. I did contact both companies and they did offer weight control alternatives to the dog food I was currently feeding. But again both companies had poor recall records and a lot of dogs were getting sick from their brands from diarrhea or vomiting and worse sometimes death. As my dog is a boxer she’s a natural gas bag so feeding her anything that would further upset her already delicate gastric intestinal systems is absolute a no no. Oh i forgot to put in the numbers, so when this all started I had her blood ran to see where she was at she had high phosphorus and high protein so I switched to this dog food “Iams so good Savory chicken” then took her to a different vet which was much further away by about an hour and half. The vet said that her levels still showed problems but dogs with her levels lived years so keep doing what i was doing. Anyway I’m writing today about this discontinued product because I think people should know about it. Call the number I put in and ask iams to start making the product they claim that the sales were poor but I assure you it ran out online all the time and it would sky rocket in price then drop back down. This is a good alternative to $200 a week. And they are not telling people enough about their product to say hey try this it might help your wallet and your dog. I have seen someone write about primal or nature’s as well as lotus which is really really really expensive. If there is enough pressure on iams they will bring the food back. This is working and its not breaking my already busted pocket book. It really shouldn’t be about money but when you dont have money to spend like that it kind of is the best you can afford. Once supply runs out they dont make any more and I cant find anything that she will eat. I’m not saying I know better than a vet. I am not buy any means a vet however I tested it before I put her on it full time. Switched her from pedigree normal nutrition for a week then had her blood checked again. About a year ago they gave my dog 6 months. As long as she has a good quality of life I’m happy. I’m going to buy a few smaller bags to give myself time to research incase they dont change their mind but so far the ones that are the best make your dog sick. I have done tons of research both this time and last time when I found the iams so good. It really makes me angry that people are buying it but stores wont carry it.

I found the perfect dog food Iams so good savory chicken (as well as their salmon and their beef have all the same % this is the beef but its the same as the chicken) The arrows show the two important values to a dog with liver problems

Crude Protein, minimum 21.00% <—-
Crude Fat, minimum 10.00%
Crude Fiber, maximum 5.00%
Moisture, maximum 10.00%
Linoleic Acid, minimum 1.9%
Calcium,minimum 0.65%
Phosphorus, minimum 0.5% <—-
Iron, minimum 225 mg/kg
Zinc, minimum 160 mg/k
Vitamin E, minimum 80 IU/kg

[Wabi S]

Hello,

First post, but I’ve been reading here a few days.

I have a 12 week old purebred Saint Bernard puppy. She’s currently on Eagle Pack but I’d like to switch her to something else, I’m thinking either Orijen if I can afford it on a regular basis (I heard their prices went up and their bag size is going down) or Fromm Gold Holistic Large Breed Puppy. $50 or under is ideal, but I can probably budget a little more if the food is worth it. Any suggestions? Also, how long should I be feeding puppy food?

An as aside, if it helps anyone, I contacted Taste of the Wild and they got back to me today. Here’s what they said about their food:

“Below are the calcium and phosphorous levels for all of our dry formulas. The levels below are based on an as fed basis of a typical analysis of the formula.

High Prairie Canine with Roasted Venison & Roasted Bison

Calcium: 2.1%

Phosphorus: 1.4%

Pacific Stream Canine with Smoked Salmon

Calcium: 1.9%

Phosphorus: 1.1%

Wetlands Canine with Roasted Wild Fowl

Calcium: 2.1%

Phosphorus: 1.4%

Sierra Mountain Canine with Roasted Lamb

Calcium: 1.6%

Phosphorus: 1.0%

Southwest Canine with Wild Boar

Calcium: 1.9%

Phosphorus: 1.1%

Pine Forest Canine with Venison & Legumes

Calcium: 1.4%

Phosphorus: 0.9%

Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine with Venison & Garbanzo Beans

Calcium: 1.8%

Phosphorus: 1.2%

High Prairie Puppy with Roasted Venison & Roasted Bison

Calcium: 1.4%

Phosphorus: 1.0%

Pacific Stream Puppy with Smoked Salmon

Calcium: 1.3%

Phosphorus: 1.0%”

Hope this helps someone.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Wabi S.

[pitlove]

Sally- You’re welcome!!

Goldenstar- Unfortuntely Golden Retrivers are prone to cancer. Personally Im not sure how much science there is behind that whole argument that kibble can cause cancer. I think some dogs have higher risk factors for it for many different reasons that we may be totally unaware of. Breed certainly can play a role, as does breeding.

When I started my quest to learn about canine nutrition a lot of what I started reading on here and other Internet forums scared the heck out of me. After about a year of feeling like at every turn I was gonna shorten my dogs life span because of this and that, I stopped and took a deep breath and relaxed. I think some people over analysis the world down to the finest detail to the point where they can’t even live a fully happy life. I do not want to live that way. I feed my dogs kibble, some canned ocassionally. But really there is more to a healthy dog than the food they eat.

I follow a family on YouTube with 3 huskies who had their first husky pass away a few years ago. She was sick on and off her whole life because she was a puppy mill dog (they bought her from the pet store in an attempt to rescue her). They live in Michigan and they sled their dogs, camp with their dogs, do agility with them. I mean the way they treat their dogs is beyond amazing. That husky lived to be 11 years old and yes she ate kibble her whole life. I firmly believe the way they took care of her played a bigger role in why she lived so long.

[goldenstar]

Pitlove…I am really glad that you have brought this higher calorie problem to light. I have not read anything about this before. Is there information that I can read about this to get a better handle on it.
I have been using The Honest Kitchen with extra meat and chicken necks. But since you have talked about the higher calorie problem…I am mixing it with Origin Puppy Large. I was really trying to stay away from kibble, but while she is a growing pup, I want to be sure she gets all of her nutrients. Thanks.

[Kim M]

Jacob,

If your head is not already spinning 🙂 haha..

I went with star rating and phos/calcium information from this thread, especially because of the large breed factor. It might be worth reading through this thread from page 1. Posts 12416 and 16665 start to touch on these. Hound Dog Mom has a great excel spreadsheet with some info in it. If I can locate the most current version, I will edit and add the link. That spreadsheet helped me narrow down to 4-5 options and then I did some minimal additional research from there such as price and reviews.

I would suggest you look at ordering online (fetch.com, chewy.com, amazon.com etc) as you get a discount for reoccurring orders and delivery is free with at a minimum order amount for many sites. Price/availability could certainly be a factor you will need to consider.

I was initially going to feed TOTW or Blue but agree with the comment above on past practices by the parent company.

EDIT: The spreadsheet is in link above by another poster. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk/edit?pli=1
I wanted to go with the meadow feast off the bat, due to lower calcium (1.2 versus the 1.3 in Coastal Catch) but the meadow feast chunks were a bit larger. As the formulas are consistent, our next bag will be the meadow feast flavor as she will be closer to 4-5 months by then.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Kim M.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Kim M.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Kim M.

[Salz]

Hello! I am a long time reader of DFA Forums but this is the first time I’ve actually posted anything. I have two dogs; a 4 year old minpin tripawd (Bean) and now a 4 month old Doberman/Rottweiler x puppy (Jax). Bean has done great on all and any premium food (wet, raw, kibble, he’s been on it all) but the more I read the more I want to just bite the bullet and switch fully to raw. Jax on the other hand, has had quite the hard time with kibble. I got Jax about two months ago and immediately put him on Orijen Large Breed Puppy. He’s had on and off diarrhea since I’ve had him. I figured the Orijen may have just been too much for his digestive system so I transitioned him (VERY) slowly to Natures Instinct Raw Boost Large Breed Puppy Kibble. His stools were firm for about three days until the diarrhea started again. I’ve had him tested for parasites and every malady under the sun with only negative results. Right now I just have him on cooked turkey and rice to settle his tummy until I decide on what to try next. I was hoping for some input from all of you lovely people!

I am concerned about putting a large breed puppy on raw so young, simply because I lack all of the knowledge about his nutritional needs. But so far, here are the options I’ve come up with.

Honest Kitchen Preference Base Mix mixed with a rotation of raw grinds/meats primarily from Primal and EcoPawz Raw (a local raw company in my area)

Stella and Chewy’s Frozen Raw (rotation of proteins)

Darwin’s Zoologics Line (a little out of my budget but they are sounding better and better)

No matter which I choose, I will definitely supplement with raw goat milk, yogurt, etc. I would also like some input on what kinds of meat I can buy at the grocery store. I’ve only ever bought dog raw from PFE. Sorry for the long post and I’m really looking forward to any and all input. You all rule!

Sally, Jax & Bean

[Blkdoodle]

pitluv, I wish we could attach a picture. I don’t care what their web site says, It’s what I read and have the label of the can. It says and I quote “Made in USA with imported ingredients.” What are those ingredients and are they up to our standards. If it’s meat meal, is the “meat” all beef or is there some other animal parts? Personally I wouldn’t eat anything coming out of China if I know it. Some say the vitamins in the dog food are imported from China. REALLY?

[Mike P]

Hey all. Just like Jeremy, I too have been reading this thread for a few weeks now. I too just brought home my first English Mastiff puppy. She is our second dog and our first is a rescue Chihuahua/Dachshund mix. (They are getting along well)

Jeremy.. I started on page one a few weeks ago and have read so much and there are some great advisors on here. Hound Dog Mom and Pitlove are really great along some other regulars. HDM even put up a couple lists of recommended foods and from what I can tell, it seems go me, it is a good idea to rotate a 2-3 and see what you puppy does well with.

Our mastiff puppy (Lola) is on Eagle Pack large and giant breed puppy food right now as the breeder was feeding her that and I didn’t want to totally shock her system. I assume the transition to a new home and different dog was going to be enough.

I also bought a bag of Fromm Gold Holistic large puppy food and will transition her to that next. In the future I plan on trying both Earthborn Coastal and Meadow feasts, Annamaet Salcha, Wellness Core, and Kirkland Signature ND Salmon.

There is also some that are adding a little wet food to their pups eating plan. Like Tripett. Also, some are going completely raw.

In my opinion, it comes down to what works well for you and your puppy.

To quote HDM “The best thing you can do is monitor his/her weight and adjust the food intake accordingly. So many factors can affect the calorie requirements of a dog including size, activity level, age, breed, gender, whether the dog is spayed or neutered, temperature, level of stress, etc. etc”

[Denise R]

We have a Goldendoodle too! But back to your post…we also have a Brittany that is highly allergic to peanuts,potatoes & soybeans. And now she seems unable to tolerate the peas in in the formulas of so many dog foods now. I read somewhere that these peas are often imported from China where harmful pesticides are being used on them. So I too would try if you can to steer clear of these dog foods. For 15 years we have had to watch our dog with allergies’ diet. And if I read the contents of a bag or can 100 times I had to read them 101 times because if I didn’t I’d miss a change in ingredients & my poor dog was in agony. And the dog food providers NEVER EVER state that they have a new formula. Sadly our dog did not always have the best of dog foods, only the ones without the bad ingredients.

[eddiedog]

Hi Melicha,

I had a similar story. My Yorkie had seizures and was on medication until I realized her seizures coincided with her eating food made with rosemary extract. Luckily, the neurologist had read about this and didn’t think I was crazy. I became a fiend about reading ingredients both for dog food, bird food, since out bird would throw his food and the dog would get it, and also people food. Once we eliminated rosemary extract from our life, Sadie stopped having seizures. I controlled her treats from the groomer or kennel where she’d board as much as I could. Her seizures went from 5-10 clusters that could last for up to half an hour a month to 1-3 per year that lasted under five minutes.

There has been research done on the neurological effects rosemary oil and extract has on small children, but as far as I know there hasn’t been anything definitive done on dogs.
You can do a Google search and find anecdotal articles.

Rosemary extract started being used as a natural preservative in dog food after dogs died in 2007 from dog food made in China.

I hope this helps.

[Z B]

Hounds and gatos is an excellent pate that I use regularly for my cat and dogs, it has 5 star rating here…. it’s not cheap but not super pricey either for a 5 star, so I feed it a lot.
They like natures variety pates but those cost more, so I don’t feed it is often.
I also use Walmart’s Pure Balance canned dog stews, very budget friendly, but sometimes my chihuahua won’t eat it unless i mash the chunks, you might try doing that if you haven’t already . PB also has a pate option but I haven’t tried it.
Regardless which form of canned food I feed, if it’s not a freshly opened can my chi likes it better at room temperature or with some room temp water added.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Dog Pack Mom,

Thanks for your question. And thanks to DogFoodie for her reply, too.

I can see why you’d like to know the reason why we remove some products from our lists. And in most (but not all) cases, you should be able to find the reason a specific product has been removed by visiting our “Product and Recipe Monitor” logs located within the Editor’s Choice members area.

By the way, this question comes up so frequently, I’ve posted my answer on our Editor’s Choice FAQ page. And I’ve copied it again below within this comment:

To keep the list short enough to be useful to our readers, we may sometimes be compelled to remove one good brand to make room for another more deserving one.

So, deleting a company from the list should not be interpreted as the discovery of some new or crucially important flaw.

Choosing brands for Editor’s Choice is based on as many facts as we can put together. And we’re perfectly willing to disclose those facts when appropriate.

However, it’s also based upon subjective opinion, insider tips, hunches and everything else we might privately know at any point in time. And sharing these notions publicly without proof would be irresponsible — unfair to the companies and misleading to readers.

For legal and ethical reasons, we will never knowingly publish any unprovable (non-factual) opinion about any company anywhere on this website just to appease a reader’s curiosity or expectations for an explanation.

To ensure our ability to add or remove brands from Editor’s Choice without concern for legal liability, we must reserve the right to keep much of the rationale we use to make these decisions private.

Hope this makes sense.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Added "thanks" to DogFoodie for her reply

[Scared D]

This is an older thread but Abady’s granular foods are the best ‘dry’ foods you can buy. 9/10 stores that carry these foods, the staff and owners of the store use them.

They are incredibly simple foods and not really processed at all except for mixing.

They just need to be mixed every so often and its best to keep them in a cool location.

Very few stores carry the large boxes, they need to be ordered but in my area if you call on a Monday, the food is delivered by an Abady truck by Wednesday. The food is generally only a week old when you get it.

You will notice in two weeks. Tiny stools, better coat and cleaner teeth. You will also notice how comfortable the dogs are eating the food and after they finish. The mass they eat is much less and the food is granular so it digests much more efficiently. There is no plant fiber in the food. The stools look like coyote of fox scat.

It is also the only company that will work with your vet and actually review blood work if needed. There is a Vet on staff at the company. I highly recommend the Classic version. I haven’t done the calculation but I suspect the calories from carbs is 10-12%, and just white rice.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Scared D.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Scared D.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Scared D.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Scared D.

[Joe W]

Ok, this thread has obviously deteriorated into a childish playground argument (thanks for that janus), let’s stay on topic and stop arguing like crazy biatc#s with PMT.

Anyone not intelligent enough to research opinions on a forum and come to a balanced decision based on opinion and fact (which I may add HAS to be linked and referenced otherwise only a retard would blindly belive it), is not responsible, intelligent or mature enough to be responsibly owning a dog in the first place.

Just look in the ingredients, it’s the best way to tell….. anything that lists cereals or animal derivatives at the top of it’s contents is in my opinion AND supported by a huge ammount of fact (research it yourself as I’m not doing it for you lazy asses) not good for your pet and will only lead to a bad coat and other annoying issues.

The only dry food I trust is from an independent local supplier who is passionate about going against the big brand’s horrible ingredients and makes his dry food from vegetables and only natural antioxidants, it’s ingredients starting ‘CHICKEN MEAL, MAIZE, RICE, OATS, CHICKEN FAT, PRAIRIE MEAL, CHICKEN LIVER, BEETROOT PULP, SALMON OIL….. you get the picture.

If you’re wondering what to treat your dog with that’s not harmful? Then stop shopping in a business and make your own, frozen chicken liver chunks, or just cook a whole chicken (they are mega cheap) and shred up the meat, freeze it and use as treats. Remember that research suggests (yes anus, sorry ‘janus’ damn my typos) that smaller treats are better for training than larger ones, so just a taste will do.

The only manufactured treat I trust and use are natures menu ones, my golden retriever Nico LOVES them so much that his teeth chatter as you train him with them! He can’t get enough, and they are 95% meat so they are most and each small treat easily breaks into 6 or more smaller rewards, he loves the chicken best but other flavours are avaliable.

My experience? I have owned dogs, only ever had pedigree dogs from show dog families so the breeders have been crazy into health and coat care, nutrition ect. and have given me a wealth of knowledge….. this plus conversing regularly with a very good vet when I have a question I can’t find the answer to myself (yes janus, by researching different opinions of other dog owners which I VALUE and RESPECT more than, well more than you), has given me what I think a balanced view on what is best for myself and my dog…… But hey, that’s just my opinion right?…. Oh wait sorry, that was ‘In My Honest Opinion’

If any of my spelling was off there, I apologise, I’m using my phone and this forum isn’t too mobile friendly with it’s format.

Joe
Retired British Army Infantry Sniper….. Hence why any haters or immature children that want to reply with something idiotic will be ignored, I don’t have time to waste on keyboard warriors with arrogant ‘black or white’ ‘my way or I cry like a child’ opinions…… Life is one big grey area, engage your brain, adapt, overcome, and deal with it.

[Richard N]

I agree that a filtering mechanism, would be fantastic, and I also know it would be a tremendous amount of work to keep up with. But something that had empty blocks where I can input all the different items she’s allergic to, then hit search and foods that did NOT have those ingredients would appear would be nice. Until then though, I just keep researching and reading ingredients until I find something she can eat. Luckily there are a few, and on the unlucky side they are extremely expensive at times. But she’s my little one so why wouldn’t I right?

[Joyce B]

I agree with BCnut – that it’s a food issue. My dog had the same thing, and when tests came up normal my vet said maybe it’s seasonal allergies. They recommended Pepcid and it helped a little but I stopped it because of the harm it can cause. They never once suggested a food intolerance. I investigated that myself thanks to reading the posts here. My personal theory is that a food that the dog is sensitive to causes inflammation in the digestive tract, causing the irritation from stomach acid, etc., particularly on an empty stomach. When you eliminate the foods causing the inflammation, which I was finally able to do, stomach acid doesn’t bother them (whatever the season).