[Robin S]

Needing any advise. My 5 month old male lab is on 4th round of antibiotics for UTI with crystals.(I think). The reason I say this is that after 3 rounds of Clavamox and Science Diet c/d with symptoms reappearing, he is now on Baytril and Science Diet s/d for 2 weeks. He had an xray which showed no stones in the bladder but has crystals in urine, according to the first vet. I have $700 in medical costs with this vet as of today for this UTI. So, I thought I would get a second opinion as I am lucky enough to have 2 veterinarians in my small town. The second vet did a direct draw of urine from the bladder (we had been doing just a catch while he urinated with the other U/A’s) The second vet could not do a culture as I had just started the Baytril so would have to wait until he is off of it for 5 days before she could do a culture. She did ultrasound him and found everything was looking good. She did say his bladder was large and not irritated ( I guess bladders shrink up a bit with UTI’s?). She also did blood work which looked good. She did not find crystals and does not feel that he has a UTI. Now doesn’t that just boggle the mind? My puppy had only had 2 doses of the Baytril and about a can and a half of the s/d so she didn’t feel that things could have been cured that fast. The thing that just slays me is whenever he is not on antibiotics, he turns into a peeing machine, with no bladder control, clear urine, it doesn’t color a paper towel. The longer he is off antibiotics the worse it gets. A previously good puppy where housetraining is concerned suddenly lowers his head starts to walk and pees a streak all the way to the door and out! So if he doesn’t have a UTI (remember one vet says he does have a UTI) what condition would respond to antibiotics that is not a UTI and make the symptoms stop? The second vet said I had two options, I could either finish out the other vets prescription of Baytril and Science Diet s/d and wait 5 days and come in and she will direct draw urine and retest and culture it then if need be, or I could stop the Baytril and wait 5 days and do the direct draw and retest and culture. I am baffled by two very differenct diagnosis. I decided for now to go ahead and do the first vets prescription as I have the Baytril and the s/d and the second vet set it wouldn’t hurt anything to try it. I am aware, however, that Baytril is not recommended for young dogs, but the vet said one round would be okay. Anyway, sorry to be so long on this, but as you can read I am at a loss on this. Any insight would be appreciated.

[GSDMom]

Hello All,
I have a male GSD that will be 7 in June. Since he was 1, I’ve been trying to find out why he scratches so much. I’d read that allergies tend to start at a year old, but when it started I was really unprepared. Since then, I’ve done the Spectrum Blood allergy testing through the vet, twice (2009 and April 2014) I’ve done the Nutriscan test (saliva – 2014) with Jean Dodds. (She told me she disagrees with blood testing for food allergies) I’ve recently done the Glacier Peak Holistics test as well (hair and saliva). In addition to all of that, he’s been blood tested for environmental allergies and he has those as well.
Every season he seems to have a secondary bacterial infection or a yeast infection… and I truly have no idea if it’s environment, food or both causing them. Currently his hair is growing back on his sides where he had been tearing it out from chewing, and his inner thighs and underarms are bright pick. The vet has given me a 21 day (2 per day)prescription of 200mg Simplicef. I hate to use it, as I always do, but after being given Chinese herbs from a holistic vet time and time again, I’ve never seen results.
Can anyone give me their opinions (and not about me being crazy, I already know I am, haha) …good, bad or indifferent about these tests and their reliability? Thanks!

[constant_lurker]

Hi all,
I’ve hit kind of a roadblock and I’m hoping someone here may have a suggestion.
My dog has a mix of environmental allergies and food sensitivities (or possible sensitivities I’m still trying to figure out). Since the summer, I’ve fed her a combination of a raw diet and The Honest Kitchen foods. Her allergies have improved greatly and I’ve been able to figure out some of the meats that set her off. Chicken (and chicken eggs) and beef are out, and unfortunately, so is fish and fish oils.
I’ve been trying to add in variety and am making headway. But I want to find a good source of useable omega 3s for her. She does very well with rabbit, which has a decent omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. We’re still iffy on lamb, though lamb heart has a decent omega3:omega 6 profile from what I can tell.
Are there other meats I can/should look at? I know (or think I know) that flax oil has lots of omega 3s, but that it doesn’t convert into the important kinds well. Are there other oils worth looking at?
Anyone have a dog with fish sensitivities who’s had good luck with krill oil?

Thanks for taking the time to read through this, and for any suggestions.

[Dori]

Hi Akari. I just read your posts on the comments side and wanted to tell you that Denamarin IS a combination of Sam-e and Milk Thistle which is why the vet has Ginger on that particular medication. Hannah has been on it once a day since beginning of last Spring. She takes the chewable version. She thinks they’re a treat. She gets 225 mg daily as per her specialist. I also give her 1/4 teaspoon of canine immunity by Standard Process. All of this is for her liver which is now on the lower range of normal. I also give her daily a vitamin E capsule once a day. The vitamin e I poke a hole in the capsule with a pin and squirt it on her food. She’ll be on this routine for the rest of her life. The Denamarin I give her one and a half hours before her p.m. Meal. Easier for me and her than having to get up so early to give before breakfast. Of course she gets a ton of other supplements and essential oil and aromatherapy but those are for her cancers. She’s doing remarkably well on the cancer issues. She also only eats raw.

Anyway, I haven’t been on DFA in a while and probably won’t be again but I did see your discussion with crazy4dogs where she was telling you to add milk thistle and I wanted you to know that you already are. It’s one of the components in Denamarin. If I can help any more regarding Ginger either email me or go to my FB page. One more thing. Amazon has better prices on Denamarin than the vets do. That’s where I buy mine. It’s the same exact product. My vet is the one that told me to buy it on Amazon. Night!

[Dawn R]

My puppy Bella is an 8 month old 9 pound schnoodle that has been suffering from severe diarrhea accompanied by occasional blood & mucus as well as vomiting since November 2014. I have spent thousands of dollars at the vet to eliminate other possibilities such as addisons, parvo, liver shunt etc etc. She had giardia when she was very little and treated with metronidizole. Good news is so far all tests are good (liver enzymes very slightly elevated as is potassium), bad news is we still don’t have a definitive diagnosis, however the vet seems pretty sure it is colitis/IBD/HGE. What the vets are not helping me with is putting her on a diet other than the Hills W/D which she doesnt want to eat. I started her on Merrick dry kibble when I first took her home. When she stopped eating that, I mixed in Merrick wet food. This worked for a month before she had terrible diarrhea. In addition she seem to be allergic to something in the merrick food which caused a chronic cough & eye discharge. Then She went on Natures VAriety for a short while, but would ONLY eat the freeze dried raw bits and not the kibble. So because of this I then I put her on Stella & Chewys freeze dried lamb & duck patties. That also worked for about a month and then she had another bout, this time extremely severe. Through each bout (which seems to happen 1-2 times per month) they put her back on metronidizole again, so I never really get the chance to see if a food is working or not. Vet wanted to try the whole novel protein diet and put her on Hills prescription D/D. Tried it for 2 weeks and she would not touch it and lost 1.5 pounds. At that point I gave up and needed to just get food into her system so I put her back on Merrick but this time tried the grain free duck. One week into it and she started back with diarrhea again and is now back on metronidizole. This time the vet wants me to put her on Hills W/D because of the low fat/high fiber. I already use a probiotic (restore) and give her a tablespoon of pumpkin everyday (which incidentally seems to make the diarrea worse). Took her off all bully sticks (still love the brand BEST bully stick, but never again). No treats either. I have read extensively and there seems to be many different opinions on what to give a dog with GI inflammation of sorts. I have read everything from Canine cavier to Addiction and more. Having had signed up for the editors choice, I am hoping for some good solid recommendations. I do not want to give her Merrick or Hills anymore. Cost is not an issue, but I don’t think puppies this tiny are ok with raw food (just my experience since the worst she ever was when I fed her Stella & Chewys, even though I think its a great product for most). She is going in for spay surgery on May 7th (health permitting) and the vet is saying if I am not able to regulate her with diet in the next month that they want to do an intestinal biopsy which I have a real problem with especially if the intestine is ALREADY inflamed. I have an appointment for her with a holistic vet tomorrow and am really hoping to get some suggestions that I can speak to the holistic vet about. I have read all about pre/pro biotics, digestive enzymes, glucose, fructose, hypoallergenic, L-glutamine and plan to ask the holistic vet which of those she thinks I should try, but I find it troubling that I have not gotten any viable food options from my vet to date. Any advice would be greatly appreciated by Baby Bella & her Mom!

• This topic was modified 11 years ago by Dawn R.
• This topic was modified 11 years ago by Dawn R.
• This topic was modified 11 years ago by Dawn R.

[Thomas K]

I have had 2 labs and lost both to cancer. The most recent this January at 9 1/2 yrs old. We will be getting our new puppy around September of this year and while it is early, I’ve been trying to research puppy food for a large breed. I see the reviews, check out the 4 and 5 star foods on DFA and invariably at the bottom of each review that depicts the high quality food and its contents are the horror stories by posters sharing how horrible the food is and the side effects and other health issues the “4 & 5” star foods delivers.

I have limited choices at my local Petco with really no other retailers around other than the local grocery stores.

I am totally confused on what food to even consider. and yes, i’ve read ALOT on this forum.

Are there really “ANY” good choices, it seems no matter what you look at, someone or many people say STAY AWAY from this food and this company. For every praise there is a horror story.

*sigh*

:/

[Jennifer H]

I would stick with Fromm. Taste of the Wild is manufactured by Diamond, and while the food is good, the company is pretty shady and has a long history of recalls. A lot of people here recommend a rotational diet with kibble, there’s a few threads on it around you may be interested in 🙂

As for feeding raw. I personally wouldn’t mix them in the same meal, as this can give some dogs digestive upset. I would feed one meal as kibble, and one meal as raw. For raw, you want to feed him 2% of his body weight per day. So if you’re only feeding one meal of raw, cut that number in half. So since he is 100~lbs, he would need 2 lbs of food per day. Since he is only getting 1 meal a day of raw, that would be 1lb of food at his mealtime.

Start him out slow with just poultry for awhile to get his tummy used to it. Then you can gradually start introducing other meats like beef, pork, etc and organs, which are an important part of the diet. When feeding something bony like a turkey neck, add in some nice meaty meat like chicken breast or hearts (about half the weight of the bones worth) to cut the calcium and prevent constipation.

I currently feed my dog kibble in the morning and raw at night (next week we make the switch to full raw!!) and he does well on it.

For chews, you can try giving him a frozen turkey neck and let him work on that. It can keep a dog busy for hours.

You could also look into antlers, although I know some people have reservations over them being too hard.

This is a good thread to read to find some information on raw food – /forums/topic/menus/

[Rachel M]

Hello! I am very new to the raw dog food world, and I’m finding it to be overwhelming! But… I want what’s best for my dog child, so I need some help please 🙂 I will fill you in on the details first, since I’m not sure what you all need to know. My canine child is a 1 year 3 month old Doberman Pinscher. His health is normal. He is currently on Fromm Gold Large breed dog food. He eats 5 cups a day, 2 1/2 in the morning, 2 1/2 at night. He was previously abused, so he has some problems with eating quickly *or at least I assume the abuse was a huge factor*. I have given him raw turkey neck before as a treat *AFTER I searched to make sure it was safe*, and he loved it. I started looking more into it, and that’s when I found all these things about raw feeding and how it’s great for them. I can’t afford to feed him entirely raw, so I’m looking to supplement. I was thinking of switching him to Taste of the Wild, but I am wondering if this would be a wise switch as well. We tried the puppy pacific stream formula when he was young, (3-5 months?), but that was right after we had picked him up from a situation where he wasn’t being fed. The food was too rich for him at the time, and he had mushy poo’s. We ended up trying a few different foods, but went with Fromm, as it seemingly fixed his poo problems. I’ve been reading that Taste of the Wild is a good food, but I wasn’t sure if I should try it again.
I am also always looking for long lasting chews for him. I made the terrible mistake of giving him a beef knuckle bone when he was young, and he ground his canine teeth down a little bit 🙁 I will feel terribly guilty for the rest of my life for that. Regular rawhide scares me, so right now he gets Digest-eeze and pork chomps. These are not enough. He FLIES through these.
SO BASICALLY, I am wondering
A. If I should supplement his kibble with raw? And if so, how should I do this? How much raw? How much of a kibble cut back? And how often should I feed raw? Is this something I should mix WITH his kibble every day? Or feed raw in the am, kibble p.m? I am so lost!
B. Is mixing a kibble while also feeding raw going to hurt him?
C. If I should switch his food to TOTW? Is this worth trying again?
D. ARE THERE ANY CHEWS OUT THERE THAT WILL LAST LONGER THAN 10 MINUTES FOR MY DOG THAT AREN’T GOING TO HURT HIM?!?!
Haha! Crazy dog mom essay over. Thank you in advance for your help, and I apologize for all of the questions! I am just totally overwhelmed!

[Alan I]

I changed my 8yo Jack Russell onto a raw food diet about four months ago. A few weeks later she started having little urine accidents in the house which she’d never done before. Concerned I took her to the vets.

A few hours later I received a panic call to say her ketones were very high and her glucose curve none existent – at the time this meant nothing to me – and that she had diabetes. Since then I’ve been injecting her with insulin twice a day.

The vet tried to get me to change her food to diabetic kibble but I refused. So they have accommodated my determination to keep her on raw food, checked the diet I use (it’s fine and balanced but without carbs) and I monitor her ketones and glucose everyday.

Here’s my problem. I’ve done lots of research online and feel like I’m between a rock and a hard place. Whilst there is very little about dogs there’s lots about humans and ketogenic diets. What that tells me is that ketone levels rise dramatically when you remove carbs from your diet and your glucose curve flattens (as you don’t have glucose spikes because you’re not eating carbs). This seems to suggest high ketone levels in my dog are normal – it’s obvious really, she doesn’t eat carbs so she needs ketones in her blood to process the protein; and that the standard measure of diabetes (glucose curve) might not to relevant either!

So here’s my quandary. I don’t know if my dog actually has diabetes anymore. I wonder if everything is a function of her diet. That leads me to be concerned as, if I’m giving her insulin she doesn’t need I’m poisoning her and she’ll create triglycerides that are very harmful to her.

Does anybody have a view? Any research or papers I can read?

[C L]

Rhonda, I’m new to raw myself. What I see people do is to feed their dog in a space that’s easy to clean up, so a tiled area. You can feed your dog outside. You can provide a piece of linoleum for your dog to consume raw on it. You have to teach your dog to stay on it. Some put down a cloth, or you can use a drop cloth (plastic). It is a messy thing to feed raw. I’ve seen people feed their dogs in a large wire crate.

You can take a bone or meat away and refrigerate it for another day. I’ve never seen anyone address if they bury it.

Depending on the size of your dogs, some bones are more appropriate than others. People tend to feed bones that can be consumed. One that are hard are the ones that a dog can chip/break a tooth on, so many serve chicken. Where ever you feed your dog, you need to watch your dog consume the bone. They can choke. You have to be ready for that. I don’t see it mentioned on my raw site, but Capri got the keel bone of a chicken breast stuck in her mouth. I looked over and she was not moving. I removed it and gave her a few pressure compressions, because she looked like she wasn’t breathing, then she was okay. No one talks about that, so it’s something to be aware of and that they can choke.

I belong to a raw FB page called Raw Feeding. You can join and ask questions there. They have files on the page that they want you to read up on first, because they can answer questions (they’re articles). I’m still learning.

Something that they do that I didn’t learn right away is “trading up”. If your dog is at the end of their piece of meat or bone and you think they will gulp it, you offer them something they like better to get it away from them.

[Lori]

Kathleen, my Cocker, Teddy sounds like your guy. He is not much of a player, but I do make him go on walks with a dog walker (I have mobility issues so I cannot walk with my dogs) and he goes to the dog park when the weather is good. He also eats poop, but it doesn’t have to be his (he doesn’t go for Chuck, my lab) and happens at the dog park.

There is a site (I think Aimee might have put a link on a different post elsewhere) http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/Weight_Management_Guidelines.pdf that I have read many times to let it sink in. According to what I read, if I put Teddy’s goal weight in, which should be 24, and you do the math (instructions provided, thank God), I should be feeding him roughly 335 calories. That is at 80% or resting energy requirement). I just started in the last couple of weeks to stay around that number, although I feel it is pretty low for him even when he is sedentary, although he doesn’t seem to be any more food crazy then he already was 🙂 I plan on weighing Teddy tomorrow and see if there has been any change, but I think with smaller dogs, the weight will come off slowly. When Chuck had to lose 20 pounds a couple of years ago, it took about 5-6 months, but I, at that time, wasn’t as dog food knowledgeable as I am now (still learning!) and put him on Purina OM prescription food. It did the job, but I wouldn’t do it again as the ingredients are less than desirable. He has maintained his 75 to 78 pound goal weight now for 2 years, maybe fluctuating 2 lbs higher/lower.

It also shows you how to calculate protein needs for the food you want to feed and if it is enough for your dog and other good information.

[Nate D]

If a company can’t say where they source their food from that’s a red flag. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about them not responding about it. I haven’t tried finding out myself though.
Has anyone tried Sold Gold dog food? It may have grains, but after looking at the ingredients in some of the food they use more acidic grains then alkaline ones. Wouldn’t have to use the berry balance with it either as it already has cranberries and blueberries in it.
Not to mention it’s still far better then what’s in Science Diet.

[Karen L]

My dog has sensitivities to several ingredients found in most high quality dog foods. I have exhausted myself reading ingredients of different dog food manufacturers, and the foods recommended by Spectrum still have one or more ingredients on the list my dog can’t have do to intolerance issues. Here is what he cannot have in food: Eggs, Oats, Kelp, Green Peas, Pork, Venison, Soybean, Peanut, Kelp. The least tolerated with a very high number are Eggs and Oats.

I’ve read a lot from ‘Dog Obsessed’ and “DogFoodie” and I would greatly appreciate their input/feedback/recommendations, as well as anyone else. Thank you.

[AJ A]

Thanks for all your opinions and experiences, I am glad I received replies.
I won’t ever go back to kibble EVER.
And I don’t run to the Vet all the time. I am organic myself since 15 yrs and haven’t seen a doctor since. Not even once!
I use common sense and needed to see if my case was only happening to my pup. As I can see it is definitely the water in the meat. Thats why they dont need to drink as much water as they do with kibble. Today I controlled a little the water intake and he pees less often, but still bigger spots than before and specially after feeding the chicken. He is doing just fine and has top energy, his coat started shining and it is growing faster than it was 1 month ago.
Before I switched to raw I did a deep education to be prepared, asking raw feeding breeders all over from Australia to Germany, checked everything online and started to understand that raw diet should not contain veggies neither grains like the BARF diet.. Wolves dont get a complete balanced diet everyday, neither do we and certainly they wont be searching for carrots, spinach and grains in their habitat. They receive the fermented enzymes from the digested food of their prey’s tripe, thats the good stuff, thats what they will eat first, thats where lots of balanced nutrients are.
When starting a raw diet with puppies (especially small breed) you best start with chicken, because low fat and easier digested than ground beef. Because I tried both, beef (grass fed 95%lean) and chicken. He regurgitated the whole ground beef everytime he ate it. He never did with the chicken. The wing helps cleaning his teeth and he gets supplements from the core of the bone and calcium.1 egg a week for breakfast. I give bone meal since he does not yet get enough bones in his food yet. Once he is used to the chicken and wings/necks I will start to join some liver and heart and green tripe little by little to not upset his digestion. Than we will do the same with duck, lamb and rabbit including organ and muscle meat as well. Of course a meaty bone everyday or 3 times a week.
Once established his likes than we can start feeding 1 day chicken, next duck and so on. I forgot the fish. Some fresh fish once a week is important as well.
I think probiotics , enzymes and clay are a must have in the kitchen. So is ionic silver and therapeutic grade essential oils like geranium, peppermint, frankincense and lemon. When they get lose stool some clay with enzymes/probiotics and diarrhea is cleared.
I use ionic silver to disinfect drinking water, once in a while internal against parasites and to clear my Shih Tzu’s eyes (14yrs). He suffers dry eyes and since he is on raw diet as well since 2 weeks his dry eye symptoms are already totally gone!! Yeahhhh! Now I hope to see changes in his coat like color and softness. His constant fear should disappear as well and his appetite should get better and better. I really hope to gain some more years of his company. I love him so much and hope we can gain back as much health as he has lost due to those bad kibble diet. He lost some of his hair on his back and I truly hope the high protein intake will fix most of his problems.
I stopped using vaccines on my Shih Tzu since 10yrs, neither I believe in spaying/neuter dogs. My pup received vaccines from her Vet, he won’t ever receive any other vaccines in his life. I dont believe it does any good, not for pets and neither for humans. Build up a healthy immune system and eat organic food and you will be fine!!! Same for dogs. THEY ARE DOGS NOT HUMANS!!! THEY DESERVE TO EAT HOW NATURE DESIGNED THEM TO.

[losul]

Aimee, I tried a search on “protein dehydrating” and “protein dehydrating in dogs” all I came up with was an article or two pertaining to humans and high consumption of protein.

It’s interesting though that I found this article, that said this;

“Other potential factors behind polydipsia and polyuria are low protein diets,”

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/urinary/c_multi_polydipsia_polyuria

K-Rae, I couldn’t come up with much info on the ingredients in carnivora.ca from their website, not sure, but I get the feeling from reading on it that they are against any carbs in the food? Regardless, I would be trying a different raw diet, and don’t be afraid to to use a good balanced one that does include some moderate carbs, they might do much better on it. It could be that your dogs are still drinking in excess as part of a learned/ingrained behavior from dry food days. I agree with the others though that this polyuria should be reason for concern, and should be investigated further. Seeking vet care/tests would be best, but you could at least do a phone consultation with a vet that knows raw feeding, and then go from there.

AJ, you CANNOT feed your 12 week old puppy nothing but chicken breast and wings, if that’s what you are saying. He will DEFINITELY have malnutrition disorders if you do so, and I would strongly suggest getting him back on a complete and balanced diet.

[Rhonda L]

Thanks so much everyone! Sounds like there isn’t one single way to go about it, but lots of good options if applied with a heavy dose of common sense. I’m especially glad to see the suggestions about topping a quality kibble with raw/canned/freeze dried. I had read a few comments in other threads about potential bloat problems with toppers, but it sounds like that’s not a big concern. I appreciate the expertise and time in replying! It’s reassuring!

[Susan]

Hi Rebecca I haven’t read thru the post has anyone suggested the Honest Kitchen ZEAL the fat is 8.50% http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/zeal scroll down a bit & you will see the Fat % Fiber % etc
a few dogs with Pancreatitis are on the Zeal & doing really well, if your on yahoo join a group called “dogpancreatitis” the lady that runs it Ann can help with low fat diets, I know Bella hasn’t got Pancreatitis but sometimes these groups are good for diets, there’s also Canine Cavier Special needs the fat is 9% min so its probably 11% max in fat so not really low…there’s also the “California Natural’ limited ingredient the Brown rice Lamb Meal weight management the fat is 7%min, the fiber is 3% the fiber isn’t high either like some weight management kibbles, their fiber is really high & you will need to feed more, but with the California Natural weight management just feed like you’d normally give & weigh Bella every 2 weeks & just see if Bellas weight is the same or dropping… thats what I do, I weight Patch weekly at Pet Barn.. California Natural also has the Nutrient Analysis & shows max % on everything which is really good.. also do you give one kibble for breakfast then a different kibble for dinner?? that’s what I do, I ask which one do you want & Patch picks what food he wants to eat also with the tin wet foods the fat has to be 2% & under, if it says 5% fat on the wet tin food that’s around 22% fat if it were a kibble…
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/1131

[RebeccaRose]

Hi, LM, I can’t imagine there would be a homeopathic vet any where near me. I did a search on theavh.org & it turned up zero for my State. I did just a general search with my towns name & homeopathic vet & it wasn’t much help. I know if I ask any of the Vet’s near me they’ll just recommend the Hill’s Precription Diets which is what they sell… We had a Pom that lived almost 13 yrs on the W/D Precription dry food. She wasn’t picky. But the price was very difficult for us to swallow all those yrs.

DogFoodie, how are you able to transition from different foods without tummy upset? I have to change her foods over slowly or she’ll either vomit or have diarrhea. I’m barely to the 50/50 ratio right now & she’s already refusing to eat it. She started out like she liked it though, picking out the new over the old.

I have never tried Fromm, I’d would have to order that online as they don’t have it near me.

So do you think I should continue on with the Wellness Healthy Weight with a spoonful of broth as long as she’ll eat it like that?

For dogs that don’t need to lose weight how do you keep them from losing weight when they need to be on a low fat food? I don’t think she’ll eat more than a 1/4 cup 3x a day even with the broth.

[InkedMarie]

Did you look at the “Diet & Health” forum here? On top, highlighted in yellow, is a stickie for large breed puppy foods. It’s a very long thread but since you have a very large breed puppy, its important to read, there is a list of appropriate foods to feed. Someone here can chime in on what page to find the most current list.

[Kush K]

Hi, I have a Great Dane puppy & since Farmina’s Natural & Delicious was a 5 star brand on this website when I checked in Jan, I started him on their Chicken & Pomegranate Puppy Maxi which he loves. After reading a bit more around the internet I have come to think that this food might not be the perfect food for my pup. It has a protein percentage of 35% (apparently I should be looking at a protein % of less than 27?) and fat percentage at 20%. Calcium :1.30% & Phosphoros : 0.9% with 3923 kCal/kg. The ingredients are all natural and no by products. This is probably the best food available in my country. The local vet had recommended any food with the highest protein content which also prompted me to get this food. I have gone through the list of Editor’s Choice puppy foods but unfortunately none of them are available here in India. The brands available are: Farmina N&D or Team Breeder, Hill’s, Earthborn, Genesis, Taste of the Wild, Eukanoba & of course the usual Royal Canin, Pedigree which I stay away from. I became a member here to find the best food for my puppy but was unfortunate to not have any of them available in my country & would request someone to help me choose the better food for my growing Dane puppy so I can give him the best possible nutrition.

P.S: I add 10ml of Salmon Oil to his food, it that all right?

• This topic was modified 11 years ago by Kush K.

[Cheryl H]

My vet has put my dog on prescription dog food. Once it was because of crystals in his urine and now because of a bout of diarrhea and vomiting. The crystals went away soon after he was treated for the urinary infection, but I had to keep him on the Hills prescription food for several months. I did some research to find a good quality food to transition from the prescription food. During my research I read numerous negative reports and posts regarding the quality of Hills dog foods. I chose a Blue Buffalo dry food that worked really well for several months. The soft stools that he had while on the prescription food feared up and there was no recurrence of the crystals. I bought a fourth or fifth bag of the BB and immediately had problems. At first my dog wouldn’t eat it and when he finally did, he got really sick. I chalked it up to a bad bag. I then bought some Blue Basic grain free, lamb formula and things went back to normal until the third bag. My dog became violently ill following the second serving from the third bag. My vet again has put him on a Hills prescription diet (ID). Any ideas about what to feed next? I’ve read that canned food might be better for dogs with urinary tract problems because of the water content. Any suggestions for a quality food for a sensitive stomach? Never using BB again!!

[aquariangt]

I read the first one, and the 2nd one I couldn’t find any information on Diamond. The first one was posted a year after the most recent Diamond mega recall.

While I applaud them for attempting to get things turned around, I still am leary and won’t be feeding their foods anytime soon. In a few years, if they’ve cleaned up their act…maybe, but still unlikely. There are plenty of foods out there that I like more than the majority of Diamond products anyway. I like that they have some affordable lines of decent quality, but for me, it’s not really worth the risk-and like I said, they still have to be clean for a few more years before I could even in good conscience recommend them.

As far as the probiotics and glucosamine you are looking for-there are other foods out there that add that, or you can add them yourself (I use supplements all the time with the dogs)

[Rosy R]

I been feeding my Dachshund since she was a puppy BB. We started with the life protection formula and now feed her the Freedom Grain free. But I want to soon switch her to a healthier brand with better ingredients but still stay within my price range. She is currently 10.6lbs. I feed her 3/4 cup a day divided into 2 meals.

I been doing some research and know that Orijen is the best but it’s currently too expensive for me, so next best thing or so I have read is Acana. But which to choose? Any suggestions or recommendations? Any dachshund owners out there?

• This topic was modified 11 years ago by Rosy R.

[DogFoodie]

I did read your note, Susan. Did you read mine? I directed you to the review for the Duck and Potato product and the Chicken and Vegetable canned food. But, you apparently glossed over where I had mentioned the Chicken and Vegetable dry food not having been reviewed yet. Glad you were able to find the reviews.

To say that I attacked you is incredulous. I tried to offer links that might help you find the information you were looking for. No need to be so rude.

[aquariangt]

Susan, the first link that DogFoodie posted does include the duck and potato, if you read down, it shows which formulas are reviewed in that group.

I do see the chicken and vegetables on tractor supplies website, but I wonder if the last time the review was updated, that it wasn’t available, so that’s why it wasn’t included. You can submit a request for it to be reviewed under the contact us tab on the bottom of the screen.

I would have to agree with DF on the note of Diamond not making it to editor’s choice based on their poor history. recently I’ve seen complaints about the Costco line-similar to TS they have diamond manufacture their house brand. If they can go without a recall for a few more years, maybe they could make it to consideration, but for the time being, there are still too many in recent years with poor handling to most likely make the cut

[Susan C]

To Dog Foodie (and I hope Mike Sagman). Again, I was not referring to canned food at all, so you didn’t even read my note. I was only referring the two dry GRAIN FREE 4HEALTH DOG FOODS, that I listed.
Dog Foodie wanted to know which independent sites I saw confirmation of the improvements that have been made to Diamond Pet foods processing procedures since 2012. Well, here are two:
http://www.petmanianc.com/diamond-recall-update and
http://www.wellmindedpets.com/blog
Also, Diamond themselves have quite an impressive video on their site where you can see what they have done to greatly improve their standards. Probably better than a lot human food processing places now!! Apparently some decision makers from Pet Mania saw this first hand on a tour they went on and thought the changes warranted it good enough to bring Diamond foods back into their stores in NC.
Again, I have NO allegiance to any company, just trying to find a very good dry dog food at a reasonable price. Since the two 4health dry foods I am referring to are relatively new, I just hope that they will get the thorough review by DFA that I believe they deserve. Again, they are:
1. 4health dry Grain Free Chicken and Vegs, and
2. 4health dry Grain Free Duck and Potato
A caring mom of 3 dogs,
Susan C. in VA

[DogFoodie]

Susan C,

4Health Grain Free Duck and Potato dry food has already been reviewed; and you can find it here: /dog-food-reviews/4health-grain-free-dog-food-dry/

If you’re referencing 4Health Chicken and Vegetable Stew canned food, it has already been reviewed; and you can find it here:
/dog-food-reviews/4health-dog-food-canned/ If this is the food to which you are referring, it cannot be made by Diamond, as they have no cannery. But if you are in fact referring to their new dry food, it does take some time to update all of the reviews and that DFA product page was just updated on 08/22/2014, so it might be a while.

Diamond has had more than a “blunder from time to time,” and is far, far from being “one of the best.” Yes, that’s my opinion, and I’d be willing to go out on a limb and say that’s likely the EC opinion as well.

Can you please share the links to the independent web sites which reflect that Diamond has “greatly improved their processing and testing procedures,” please.

[DogFoodie]

Hi William,

It’s important to feed a large breed puppy a food with an appropriate level of Calcium. Here’s a list, which includes grain inclusive, grain free and raw, acceptable foods: https://docs.google.com/a/dogfoodadvisor.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk/edit?pli=1

If you haven’t already, take a look at this thread, especially the first few pages and read the articles that Hound Dog Mom shared: /forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/

In addition to appropriate Calicum levels, you should keep your pup lean during growth and avoid over-exercising him, which can stress growing joints.

How old is your pup and what breed?

[jpjhooper]

After reading a heated discussion on the merits of the Merrick brand (one we currently use and do not have a problem with) as with any pet parent you wonder if what you are feeding your dog is enough. Here is the run down.

Over a year ago we were feeding our 7 year old Pom/Australian Shephard mix (not even sure how that happens) Blue Buffalo when that company had some issues so we switched to Grandma Lucys freeze dried grain free chicken. Did well on that but pooped like a German Shepard. Recently started feeding Merrick grain free Texas beef with no ill effects. Pooped less and not as loose but stinks to high heaven.

We shop at a local natural pet food store and there are so many to choose from its overwhelming. Do you stick with what you know? How do you decide what is best for your pet? I notice a lot of people switch around between 2 or 3 different foods.

After getting teeth cleaned we had him on Merrick canned chicken senior food until his gums healed up and still not a lot of waste which I hope means he is actually absorbing more of the good stuff.

Long winded I know. Thoughts?

[aquariangt]

Hi Catherine- I and love and you’s canned and dehydrated foods are a bit newer to the market. You can request a review here:

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

They may already be in the works. I work in Boulder, and have used both the canned and dehydrated, I like them! They are a cool company as well

[SdianeM M]

Last week was my first time posting since I was just about to take the plunge and begin my pup on a new way of feeding. Yes, I was a bit apprehensive about this change, but with everything I have read, I knew this was the answer to her yeast issues.
I came across a raw food manufactured in Norcross, GA called AllProvide … Being the apprehensive person I am (and after having something horrible happen to my pup before Sadie), I am very protective and cautious. I called this company to ask questions in regards to their food, I expected to hear from customer service and hear the same chat that lacks the personal touch — was I ever surprised when I was able to speak with one of the owners of the company! Not only did he answer all my questions, but he even emailed me with a list of medications that he has tried with his dog. Wow! I could not believe it!
The rest of the weekend I researched and tried to find reviews, etc. When I called them back in regards to reviews, they offered to send me a free sample of their food. Another Wow moment — who does this in this day and time?
I happened to find two other ladies that wanted to try the food too, so we all went into this at the same time and wanted to compare our findings. This is what I have found: from the very first feeding my Sadie started sleeping all night, her yeast issues are clearing up – they are very minimal right now, and she has lost that musty smell! She absolutely loves the food — she has gone from a dog that would pick and eat her kibbles, to a dog that is downright greedy and in love with her food.
I spoke to both of the other ladies who happen to have smaller pups than Sadie, but both have reported that their picky eaters are now anxiously waiting in the kitchen for their food. All have accepted the food very easily, with minimal problems. One had a touch of diarrhea, but the lady was able to overcome the problem very easy.
Yesterday I spoke with Dr. Judy Morgan, DVM – Holistic Vet in regards to Sadie, and explained to her the new diet that I have placed Sadie on. Dr. Morgan has authored a book on making dog food and dog nutrition, but she did tell me that 1/2 of her clients are on the home cooked meals, while the other 1/2 is on a commercial raw food. She said how she recommends 3 different companies to her clients for the raw … I told her about All Provide, and while we were talking she pulled up their website and studied it. She was very impressed with what she saw, and was even more impressed with their prices. At the end of our conversation she told me that she was going to start recommending this company to her patients. That, my people, meant a whole lot to me — I highly respect Dr. Judy Morgan’s decisions.
There are several ways to offset the cost of the food on their website: you can join and earn reward discounts by liking their page, sharing their page, etc. You can also earn discounts by recommending it to your friends … if you recommend the food and they give your name when placing an order, you each get a $10 discount … pretty cool!
I would like to ask that if you decide to try this company that you please consider giving my name as the person that referred you … my 53 lb. fur baby and I would really appreciate it. Looks like Sadie is trying to work overtime on ways to make me feel sorry for her and feed her more! Just put in my name: Diane Miller
Here’s the website for All Provide — http://www.allprovide.com

[SdianeM M]

Last week was my first time posting since I was just about to take the plunge and begin my pup on a new way of feeding. Yes, I was a bit apprehensive about this change, but with everything I have read, I knew this was the answer to her yeast issues.
I came across a raw food manufactured in Norcross, GA called AllProvide … Being the apprehensive person I am (and after having something horrible happen to my pup before Sadie), I am very protective and cautious. I called this company to ask questions in regards to their food, I expected to hear from customer service and hear the same chat that lacks the personal touch — was I ever surprised when I was able to speak with one of the owners of the company! Not only did he answer all my questions, but he even emailed me with a list of medications that he has tried with his dog. Wow! I could not believe it!
The rest of the weekend I researched and tried to find reviews, etc. When I called them back in regards to reviews, they offered to send me a free sample of their food. Another Wow moment — who does this in this day and time?
I happened to find two other ladies that wanted to try the food too, so we all went into this at the same time and wanted to compare our findings. This is what I have found: from the very first feeding my Sadie started sleeping all night, her yeast issues are clearing up – they are very minimal right now, and she has lost that musty smell! She absolutely loves the food — she has gone from a dog that would pick and eat her kibbles, to a dog that is downright greedy and in love with her food.
I spoke to both of the other ladies who happen to have smaller pups than Sadie, but both have reported that their picky eaters are now anxiously waiting in the kitchen for their food. All have accepted the food very easily, with minimal problems. One had a touch of diarrhea, but the lady was able to overcome the problem very easy.
Yesterday I spoke with Dr. Judy Morgan, DVM – Holistic Vet in regards to Sadie, and explained to her the new diet that I have placed Sadie on. Dr. Morgan has authored a book on making dog food and dog nutrition, but she did tell me that 1/2 of her clients are on the home cooked meals, while the other 1/2 is on a commercial raw food. She said how she recommends 3 different companies to her clients for the raw … I told her about All Provide, and while we were talking she pulled up their website and studied it. She was very impressed with what she saw, and was even more impressed with their prices. At the end of our conversation she told me that she was going to start recommending this company to her patients. That, my people, meant a whole lot to me — I highly respect Dr. Judy Morgan’s decisions.
There are several ways to offset the cost of the food on their website: you can join and earn reward discounts by liking their page, sharing their page, etc. You can also earn discounts by recommending it to your friends … if you recommend the food and they give your name when placing an order, you each get a $10 discount … pretty cool!
I would like to ask that if you decide to try this company that you please consider giving my name as the person that referred you … my 53 lb. fur baby and I would really appreciate it. Looks like Sadie is trying to work overtime on ways to make me feel sorry for her and feed her more! Just put in my name: Diane Miller
Here’s the website for All Provide — http://www.allprovide.com

[SdianeM M]

Last week was my first time posting since I was just about to take the plunge and begin my pup on a new way of feeding. Yes, I was a bit apprehensive about this change, but with everything I have read, I knew this was the answer to her yeast issues.

I came across a raw food manufactured in Norcross, GA called AllProvide … Being the apprehensive person I am (and after having something horrible happen to my pup before Sadie), I am very protective and cautious. I called this company to ask questions in regards to their food, I expected to hear from customer service and hear the same chat that lacks the personal touch — was I ever surprised when I was able to speak with one of the owners of the company! Not only did he answer all my questions, but he even emailed me with a list of medications that he has tried with his dog. Wow! I could not believe it!

The rest of the weekend I researched and tried to find reviews, etc. When I called them back in regards to reviews, they offered to send me a free sample of their food. Another Wow moment — who does this in this day and time?

I happened to find two other ladies that wanted to try the food too, so we all went into this at the same time and wanted to compare our findings. This is what I have found: from the very first feeding my Sadie started sleeping all night, her yeast issues are clearing up – they are very minimal right now, and she has lost that musty smell! She absolutely loves the food — she has gone from a dog that would pick and eat her kibbles, to a dog that is downright greedy and in love with her food.

I spoke to both of the other ladies who happen to have smaller pups than Sadie, but both have reported that their picky eaters are now anxiously waiting in the kitchen for their food. All have accepted the food very easily, with minimal problems. One had a touch of diarrhea, but the lady was able to overcome the problem very easy.

Yesterday I spoke with Dr. Judy Morgan, DVM – Holistic Vet in regards to Sadie, and explained to her the new diet that I have placed Sadie on. Dr. Morgan has authored a book on making dog food and dog nutrition, but she did tell me that 1/2 of her clients are on the home cooked meals, while the other 1/2 is on a commercial raw food. She said how she recommends 3 different companies to her clients for the raw … I told her about All Provide, and while we were talking she pulled up their website and studied it. She was very impressed with what she saw, and was even more impressed with their prices. At the end of our conversation she told me that she was going to start recommending this company to her patients. That, my people, meant a whole lot to me — I highly respect Dr. Judy Morgan’s decisions.

There are several ways to offset the cost of the food on their website: you can join and earn reward discounts by liking their page, sharing their page, etc. You can also earn discounts by recommending it to your friends … if you recommend the food and they give your name when placing an order, you each get a $10 discount … pretty cool!

I would like to ask that if you decide to try this company that you please consider giving my name as the person that referred you … my 53 lb. fur baby and I would really appreciate it. Looks like Sadie is trying to work overtime on ways to make me feel sorry for her and feed her more! Just put in my name: Diane Miller

Here’s the website for All Provide — http://www.allprovide.com

[Susan]

Hi LM, what test did you have the Blood Test or the Salvia test Jean Dobbs?? I’ve read that the Blood Test, tests for foods that the dog is Allergic too & Environment allergies where Jean Dobbs Saliva Test, tests for food intolerances & food sensitivities…. there’s a difference with food allergies the dog will react that day to the food, like when people eat peanuts they react with 1mins, like Patch when he eats Potatoes he gets a rash all over chest within 5mins of eating the potatoes, paws go real red & itch, then if I keep feeding the potatoes, he gets real bad diarrhea ….Then there’s food Intolerances & Sensitivities, it can take from 1 day to weeks for the dog to have a build up of an certain ingredient, like with Patch he does well straight away on a new kibble, like 2 weeks ago, I introduced a new food he was doing OK, poos were a bit soft but then this week hive like lumps all over his head, sore throat can’t swallow, burping up food into his mouth, swollen back paws after eating this new food but he was right the first 5 days…so now I cant decide what test to have done the Blood test or the Salvia test…. I’m thinking the Saliva test cause Id say Patch would have more Food Sensitivities to foods then Food Allergies…

[Susan]

Hi Mike, peanut butter TOTW marrow bones these are all HIGH in fat, Now that you know all this, you must keep her fat LOW Dogs can die from Pancreatitis….There’s a really good group on yahoo called “Dogpancreatitis” join the group, you will learn so much & there’s a few boxers in the group…. a few ladies in that group feed “Canine Cavier” Special Needs fat is 9% “Honest Kitchen” Zeal 8.5% fat….
you must stay 10% & under in fat for kibble, if you feed wet tin food stay 2% & under, wet is better for Pancreatitis, I even had to lower the Protein cause of acid reflux, some dogs with Pancreatitis will get Acid Reflux, being on a lower fat diet they will start to lose weight so increase the feed, I use to feed wet food for Breakfast then Kibble for lunch & dinner, to keep the weight on… You’ll work it out, Please read the Fat% in everything you put in Kolbies mouth,…
Love Boxers, I lost my girl 3 years ago to Mast Cell Tumors, so watch those lumps, You see a lump, Please have it tested, I didn’t…..

[Bobby dog]

Hi Tammy:
Large and giant breed dogs have special nutritional needs. Keep your puppy lean and avoid over exercising because his bones and joints are still developing. Check out this article:
/best-dog-foods/best-large-breed-puppy-food/

Here’s a link to the large and giant breed puppy forum. Read at least the first three or four pages (it’s a huge thread now) and the links to the articles posted on the first page.
/forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/

On this page you will find a link to a document of recommended foods. If you choose a food from this list I suggest calling the manufacturer to confirm the calcium % is still within the recommended parameters; the list has not been updated recently. Look for a post dated July 23, 2013 at 1:51 pm:
/forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/page/15/

For a current list of approved foods for large and giant breed puppies you can also join the Dog Food Advisors Editors Choice.

Good luck with your lucky puppy!

[RebeccaRose]

We don’t have a 24 hr clinic. There are 3 vet practices in the town next to me. One is the vet we go to. They all have a system where if it’s after hours/weekends you can call a different number and essentially you are paging one of the vets and they will meet you at the office. My vet office has already told me they can’t do ultrasounds they refer out to one of the other vets for that and probably the bigger stuff too.

I think I will be returning to the vet tomorrow. If for nothing else than IV fluids. I squirted some chicken broth down her with a syringe this morning. So far, still no eating. The last time she ate a meal that stayed down was Thursday night about 10:30 pm. Friday morning is when it all started. She did eat her Friday morning meal at 6:45 am, but when I got home about 2 hrs later it looked like she’d thrown it all up. So I’m not sure if the Friday morning meal counts. If not then it’s been 60 hrs since she ate anything. No vomiting since Friday but diarrhea continued last night and this morning. Small amounts, dime size to quarter size.

This is definitely the worst sickness she’s ever had. All the other times she’s had her random vomiting spells or diarrhea episodes she did NOT lose her appetite, she kept right on eating and playing and acting fine. This time it’s not like that. Last December when she started refusing her Wellness food she was not sick, she just didn’t like that food anymore, I even bought a new bag to be sure it wasn’t a bad batch, but as soon as I bought the 4Health and started mixing it in to slowly transition her over she was eating again.

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by RebeccaRose.

[Susan]

Hi, the only thing they will find out thru blood work is if she has Pancreatitis, with Pancreatitis they are in a lot of pain, right side, under rib cage & they either lie with their front 2 legs stretched out & their bum in the air or sit in the praying position, if you touch around her Pancreatitis/stomach area they normally flinch & don’t like you touching that area, they vomit up their food, some dogs need to be put on a drip because of the vomiting & vomiting.. There’s no blood test for the stomach acid reflux…..

Ask your vet what would be the best test to do where we’ll get results, some vets don’t have to Endoscope equipment, so they don’t recommend doing it cause you’ll need to see another vet so they do all the other test first.. I went down the same road, started with medications & Patch seem like he was getting better then he started to vomit up his food, eat grass some mornings when he first woke up, burping after eating..then we’d have a few good days, so I thought, Oh he’s getting better…after trying medications things didn’t improve so I asked for fecal test, it came back no parasites…then I asked for CBC & A cpL test (Pancreatitis test) $230 results came back all good… months went by then Patch was ill again pain right side all the symptoms for Pancreatitis so this time I asked for an Ultra Scan $450 came back all good..we were back & forth to vets, I tried probiotic, which now Ive been told to stop & stop any foods with prebiotics (Beet pulp) I tried new diets, I lowered the fat% cause of his burping & acid reflux, I lowered the protein, it seemed to help..
I tried everything that people recommended…then I thought that’s it. I was sick of watching Patch suffer, in the beginning he’d just have 1 off day then after 1 & 1/2 year & after I tried a new diet Patch got worse, waking up burping up acid into his throat & burnt his throat, he couldn’t swallow, he was put on more meds Patches vet Sue wasn’t in so I got Johnathon the vet that loves steroids & Royal Canine vet diets Patches first vet at the Small Animal Hospital..Johnathon prescribed Prednisone Carafate & Losec for 3 weeks..I never gave the Prednisone cause I thought he has bad acid reflux already & prednisone is known to cause acid reflux with some people & animals…
I made a deal with myself if Patch isn’t better by his birthday 20/11/ 2014
I’m putting him to sleep, his birthday was the day I rescued him 20/10/2012

I had him for 2 years & we were always at the vet in the end Sue the vet would just ring me for free & ask hows Patch been doing, if I needed more meds she leave me a script & I’d just get Patches meds from my chemist real cheap cheaper then the vet charged….the only problem was Sue always wanted to open him up & do biopsies saying “its IBD the only way you’ll know is if we open him & do biopsies,” so I joined a IBD group & started asking question & the ladies said you don’t need to open Patch up just have the Endoscope & biopsies done & you will get some answers, so last December I went to my vet & booked Patch in with the best vet there Simon, Patch was diagnosed with Lymphocytic Gastritis & inflammation of the stomach cause the Helicobacter was left for so long vets think he has had the Helicobacter from a pup & caught it from his mom, Oh well he’s getting the treatment final after 6 years cause hes 6 years old now..

I did everything I could think to do, except one test, a Endoscope + biopsies that Johnathon Patches first vet suggested I do in the beginning but I changed vets to Sue & we went around & around in a circle, she just would ask “How’s Patches poo’s” I’d say really good, then she’d say “alright keep him on what your feeding him” I’d say BUT

It’s not that easy, LM just go to a 24hr vet & getting results there & then, the vet would just do a in house blood test, if the tests come back all good the vet normally just sends you home with some meds & a vet diet food probably the Hills I/d Low Fat restore & that’s it, you then have to go to your regular vet for a follow up..

I’m not saying Bella has the Helicobacter or stomach ulcers the 2 normally come together, but you will save money in the long run, going straight to the top & have an Endoscope + Biopsies & you will get results from the Biopsies & you’ll have a answer to all Bellas health problems & its sooooooooo stressful, Patch has become the son I lost years ago he’s my little boy & when he feels well & he’s not feeling sick, he’s a little monster, barks at me to get off the computer & take him for his 9.30 walk, runs up to any dog to say hello, gets bashed up sometimes, some little dogs bite or a cat karate chops him over the head, he just walks off wagging his tail, people say how healthy he looks shinny coat, you’d never know he has IBD…

[Dori]

Wellness Core Reduced Fat has low fat, but it has 42% carbs which is quite high. The decision to take your dogs to the vet for blood work is, of course, yours. But the fact that both dogs are not losing weight would suggest to me that it’s the food and not that they are ill. That would have to mean that they are both ill at the same time. Of course, this could happen in theory but really rare in practice unless they have caught a contagious illness. Do they have colds or any other symptoms other than not losing weight? Are they coughing, do they have running noses, diarrhea, constipation, foul smelling poops? Just trying to help out here.

I hear what you’re saying that Wellness Core Reduced Fat is on the Best Weight Loss Foods, I’m not questioning Dr. Mikes reviews or thoughts, I just wouldn’t feed a high carb dog food to any dog of mine let alone one that I am trying to get to shed some weight. It all depends on whether one believes that fat causes weight gain (which a lot of people do) or one believes that carbs attribute to weight gain (which a lot of people do). Remember also that, even as with humans, not every diet works for everyone. I’m going to check out the thread on Best Weight Loss Foods and see what else is there I keep all three of my dogs on the lean side so I’ve never looked at that list. I’ll do so now.

I just noticed that you mentioned that both your dogs are around 9 years old. Are they siblings? Are you thinking they might both have hypothyroidism? Has your vet made any suggestions in the past as to weight loss?

I did check the Weight Loss thread and that thread and those suggestions are based on a dog losing weight on a lower fat diet as opposed to low carbs. There are a lot of studies and there has been a lot of research suggests that just like people, low carbs is what will shed the weight. If you do want to have blood work done on your pets, please mention hypothyroidism to your vet and also having the blood work done may alleviated any fears or stress you may have thinking that there may be something else going on with the dogs. It certainly can’t hurt having the blood work done.

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by Dori.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Linda:
I am always on the lookout for average to low fat commercial raw foods. I find most recipes too high in fat. Good or bad fat it’s in there and I want the majority of my dog’s calories to be from protein not fat. Here’s an article on fat in commercial raw foods:
/choosing-dog-food/raw-dog-food-fat/

From my list I only have one food that may fit your needs Primal Frozen Venison. On a dry matter basis using the numbers from their site it is about 16% fat. Their Frozen Rabbit recipe is also low fat (17% DMB), but you mentioned rabbit might not agree with your dog.

You might consider making your own raw if you are unable to find a suitable commercial diet. Here is a list of books for making raw and home cooked diets:
http://www.dogaware.com/diet/bookreviews.html

Since your dog is not too thrilled eating TOTW kibble maybe try another brand or have you ever thought about supplementing with canned instead? Here are some low-fat canned foods I feed Wellness Core Weight Management, Innova Large Breed Sr., and Weruva’s Marbella Paella, Paw Lickin’ Chicken, and Bed and Breakfast recipes. On Weruva’s site they list their nutrition information in dry matter basis. Other low-fat canned foods I want to try are Fromm’s Four Star Shredded Chic or Beef and Petsmart’s Simply Nourish bisque or stew foods.

Feeding a balanced diet is important, however if my dog had a health issue it would definitely be priority for me. Regarding Sojos foods and mixes there have been comments posted on DFA about the vegetables coming out of their dog as they went in and lack of info on their labels. Some posters suggested grinding the mix before feeding it. You can do a search for comments on Sojos here’s one thread:
/forums/topic/sojo-premix/

Concerns have also been posted about The Honest Kitchen foods and mixes. Posters have commented on digestibility issues, label accuracy, feeding recommendations, and questionable information provided by customer service and the owner of the company. Check out the comment sections on the review side for more info:
/dog-food-reviews/honest-kitchen-grain-free/
/dog-food-reviews/honest-kitchen-dog-food/

Good luck!

[RebeccaRose]

Thank you Susan! Esp for the price estimates, that’s much lower than I was expecting. I have Care Credit, which is basically a credit card just for some medical, dental, eye care & veterinary purposes. I had to use that today & the bill was almost $200.

I think I agree about the Zantac, my only hesitation is a year or so ago when she first started that bile in the mornings thing the Vet prescribed liquid Zantac & it did not help her then. The only thing that helped was me making her feelings more spread out with that last feeding at bedtime.

I happen to have Zantac in tablet form here at home for myself but it is Maximum Strength 150 mg. would that be too much even halved? Also it’s generic not name brand.

I also for got to mention she’s burped a few times today. Just randomly & that’s not like her she’ll usually only burp a few seconds after eating or drinking. I thought it might be a combo of empty stomach and/or the two stomach meds she’s on.

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, it helps just to bounce ideas around. I’ve been feeling so stressed & worried sick over this. My daughter & I have reservations for out of town in 5 days. I don’t know what will come of that. It was our first little Mother/Daughter get away, my daughter is 10 & was so looking forward to it. It’s just for two nights. My husband & teen son would be here but I’m not sure I can leave if she is not completely well by then.

[Susan]

Hi, I don’t understand WHY your vet put her on a Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) “Omeprazole” first, before trying a H2 Blocker first like Zantac or Pepcid….he’s given Carafate that lines the stomach & must be only given on a empty stomach as it will just line any food in the stomach…be CAREFUL on any PPI’s, my vet explained to me how bad PPIs are if taken long term, you are making NO stomach acid & we need Stomach Acid in our stomachs to balance the pH, please read this link my vet told me I can give Patch Losec BUT for only up to 3 days then STOP, never take more then 4 weeks as you can not just stop taking a PPI, you will have awful pain, you feel like your stomach is going to exploded, cause you start making your stomach acid again & he comes back double amount.. I didn’t know all this & have been on Somac for 10years, I’m starting to reduce my 80mg a day dose, I tried just cutting my dose in half but the bad acid reflux was toooooooooo much & very painful, it was awful… http://refluxdefense.com/heartburn_GERD_articles/stomach-acid.html

A lower fat diet is best for Acid Reflux….. I would be booking to have a Endoscope done & Biopsies done, this way you will know what is happening & why this young pup is having all these symptoms, the vet should of recommended this…. I wish I did this first when I rescued my boy but for 1 & 1/2 years, we did blood tests, Ultra scan, test for Pancreatitis tests all came back good, a waste of money…finally Patch had Endoscope & Biopsies done December & he had what I was telling the vet from day 1, he had the Helicobacter infection, vomiting of a morning, always feeling sick, burping acid reflux, sloppy poos, sometimes diarrhea…..poor boy, he was put on triple therapy antibiotics for 3 weeks Metronidazole, Amoxicillin & Zantac to kill the Helicobacter cause my vet does not like using PPI, Losec is normally used but Ranitidine (Zantac) works just aswell without all the side effects from a PPI… I would be using a liquid ant acid like Mylanta or Pepto they work quick… also wet food is better then dry kibble, a low fat diet like turkey breast mince….. in a wet tin food fat must be 2% & under…if you do decide to have a Endoscope done make sure you have the biopsies done as they can tell you so much, when the vets looked down Patches throat & stomach everything look excellent, no scarring from ulcers nothing…

Patch got stomach pain from the Losec, green sloppy poos & his food just sat in his stomach cause he had no stomach acids to digest his food properly & a weird smell came out of his mouth, so I stopped the Losec, put him on Zanatc or use Mylanta when needed only, I changed his diet to a lower fat, Hypoallergenic, Gluten free diet….that just has rice & no grains no lentils or legumes….
you can give slippery elm or Manuka Honey…Slippery Elm is excellent for the stomach…Manuka honey is excellent for acid reflux, u put a little bit of the Manuka honey on small piece of white breed & take 1/2hr before eating…. if you join this F/B group this whole week we have been talking about Acid Reflux in dogs, the F/B group is called “Dogs with Inflammatory Disorders” you will learn so much & everyone is friendly & NICE…..here’s another Link, explaining how Carbohydrates cause GERDs especially if your dog has a intolerance to a carb say Legumes, lentils, barley,oats etc you can get real bad acid reflux…..

[RebeccaRose]

Well so far she has not thrown up since they gave her the shot of Cerenia. But she is still refusing to eat. She will not eat the Hills I/d. She just sits there. So I tried her regular food & she won’t eat that either. Do I just wait it out & see if she’ll eat tomorrow?

Well I switched from Wellness Complete Health Small Breed & that was Deboned Turkey & Oatmeal. She just refused to eat it anymore. So I switched to the 4Health & that’s Chicken, Chicken Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley are the first few ingredients. I guess most in common there are the grains Oatmeal & Barley. Aren’t those usually well tolerated? Maybe I should try a grain free but I have read some people here say they can be hard on a sensitive stomach. Is low fat not the key? Does Wellness make a grain free sensitive stomach?

[Taek K]

My beagle became allergic to everything a little after the age of 1. I knew of the consequences of feeding him cheap kibbles and bits so I started him off with Orijen then blue buffalo, etc…basically, anything that’s grain free, high in protein, etc…but at the end, it didn’t matter. It couldn’t have been couple of months after the age of 1 when constant itching, scratching, ear infection, eye infection, skin infection, etc started to plague my poor baby. Like most, I took him to vets after vets. Went to an allergist/dermatologist and paid over $700 for testing and allergy shots. I even got him testing for food allergies!!! Thank God I got him pet insurance, otherwise, I probably would have had to fork over over 10k out of pocket within the first year.

I’m just going to assume your dogs problem is associated with food and nothing more. My dog not only suffers from environmental allergies but also yeast infection. But I’ll just give you the run down for food. Otherwise, this post would be too long.

The best thing you can do for your dog is feed him REAL food. I don’t care how great a bagged dog food is made. At the end of the day, it’s all processed. Think of it this way. When Purnia, Pedigree, Blue buffalo, etc type of food companies didn’t exist, what did we feed our dogs? Exactly. We fed them real food. Long story short, I’ve done years of feeding my dog this and that type of real food and I FINALLY narrowed it down to what WORKS FOR MY DOG. And now, no ear or eye infection. He does get skin infection during the super hot months but it’s more like an instance vs a prolong battle. I think last infection lasted like couple days and it went away on it’s own. When infections creeps in, I suggest giving him a bath with antifungal shampoo like 2-3 times a week. But I digress.

Cut out everything that is starchy and sweet. That in turn will starve the yeast. The problem with bag dog food is there will always be starchy fillers. This is so the food company can keep the cost down. Ziwipeak is a brand that doesn’t contain starchy veggies or fruits. But its very expensive. Whether it’s sweet potato, peas, fruits, etc..bottom line, its starchy and will feed the yeast. STARVE THE YEAST!!!

This is what I give my 45lb mixed beagle.

-Salmon/Tuna (This is his staple protein source. This never changes)
-boiled beef/organ meat (I switch this up. One week, I give him beef. The following week, I give him organ meat. All boiled.)
-non starchy vegetables (green beans, romaine lettuce, cabbage, etc)
-plain greek yogurt (read the label; less the ingredient the better)
-berries (only during colder months; I wouldn’t even give him any the first 2 years to wipe out the yeast)
-Dinovite (its a supplement, google it)
-if my dog wasn’t allergic to anything chicken, I would give him a crushed boiled egg with the shell.

Anything that’s not protein based are fillers. Protein should be the base of his food so provide enough of it. There’s going to be a lot trials to see what works best for your dog. But this will work. It just takes time. Integrate REAL food with his food slowly. Once you completely change over to real food, you’ll see huge improvements. FYI…when you start changing his food, he’ll have couple instances of infections. This is expected. Its like the yeast trying to fight back. Keep hold and I promise, it’ll get better.

The only treat your dog should eat are no filler jerky. Read the ingredients. Again, say no to starch/sweet/carb!!! I give my dog BIXBI beef liver jerky.

If anyone needs more info or have any questions, please ask. From one owner who suffered, I wish nothing but the best and will help anyway I can.

[RebeccaRose]

Hello, my Shih Tzu is 2 years old & always had digestive issues. Please bear with me & this long post as I give you some history on her first:

She weighs 15 pounds. She is fed a total of 3/4th cup of food daily broken up into three meals, so about a 1/4 cup of food per meal. She is current on all vaccinations.

She has had vomiting issues and diarrhea issues but not together. About a year ago she was vomiting bile each morning. The Vet suggested I break her meals up into 3 with the last being at bedtime. And that worked great, after that just a random vomit here & there. I will say though if I forget or am late for one of those feedings for whatever reason, within an hour or two she will vomit. So I try to be very good to stay on schedule with her meals.

She was on Wellness Core for puppies, then when she turned 1 yr old I put her on Wellness Complete Health Small Breed and she did great on that for about a year… then she started refusing to eat it. So I switched her to 4Health Small Bites this past January. After a few weeks of success on the 4Health I also added a small spoonful of the 4Health canned Chicken & Vegetable Stew. She has done well on this since then, with a few random vomiting episodes for example: once I was late getting home for her middle feeding a couple weeks ago. And another time I tried giving her a spoonful of a different flavor of 4Health’s canned. She almost immediately threw that up.

The diarrhea she’s had in the past has been what we think was caused by stress as it was almost always after a groomer visit. But it would not resolve on its own I always had to take her into the Vet. She was given metronidazole and Albon but we finally figured out that a spoonful of pumpkin on grooming day & maybe a day or two afterward worked like a charm. She is a very nervous dog at both the vet & groomer & varies noises at home also.

So this morning she threw up while I was preparing her breakfast. I thought it might just be that bile in the morning thing so I went ahead & fed her & she ate, I took my daughter to school & when I got back she had thrown up breakfast in her crate. After that she threw up several more times. Even after drinking water. She refused anything to eat even her favorite thing in the world pumpkin.

So I took her to the Vet. Temp was normal. They did an xray (2 scans) and everything was normal except on area in the upper intestines the Vet said looking like a little “thickening” but she didn’t think it was an obstruction or anything because usually with an obstruction they will see all these other things in the gut that she was Not seeing. She felt like it might be some fluid in the intestines.

She asked bunches of questions & I told her there was no way she had gotten into any garbage or people food, we watch her too close for that, and outside I always take her out myself & pick up her poop so I am always watching & there was no way she ate anything outside either.

So the Vet gave her a shot of Cerenia and some tablets to take home. Sucralfate that I’m to half & make a slurry & give to her. And Omeprazole that I’m to half & give as well. Then she gave me 2 cans of the Hills Prescription Diet i/d Low Fat, GI Restore.

We didn’t do any blood work & she did not mention pancreatitis, but when I got home & was looking online I read a lot about that being a cause.

My questions are… should I switch her to a low fat diet? Something easy to digest? I have been trying to educate myself today on what it is that makes dogs have sensitive issues in the first place and what elements in dog foods are the hard to digest problems. I am reading a lot of “go low fat” but I looked on 4Health’s website and it says for the Dry that I feed – 12% Crude Fat (Min.) and 4% Crude Fiber (Max) and for the wet food I feed it says 5% Crude Fat & 1.5% Crude Fiber.

So isn’t that considered low fat according to the chart here at dogfoodadvisor on the best low fat dog foods page? And 4Health is a 4 & 5 star food. I’m not even sure she will eat the I/d low fat food since they told me to wait till later today to give it to her. I’m not even sure it’s food related that’s wrong with her today but given her history & the fact that I know she did not eat something she shouldn’t have… there must be something going on.

Any advice would be appreciated. If she is not better by Monday I have to take her back.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Cecile:
Did you check out the links to all the articles on the first page of this thread? Here’s an article with more info on feeding large and giant breed puppies with references posted at the end that could help with your research.
/best-dog-foods/best-large-breed-puppy-food/

Keep in mind the commercial foods you have access to are more than likely different from those available in the U.S. Looks like the Eukanuba is a better choice out of those two kibbles.

I can’t comment on the milk powder and chic liver mix other than maybe the milk powder would throw the calcium ratio off; IDK if it’s beneficial to feed or not. Hopefully someone else will pop in with more knowledge. Any extra foods should be kept at no more than 10% of his daily caloric intake to avoid nutritional imbalance.

If you are interested in more home cooked dog food recipes for your other dogs I can post the names of some books.

[Robin Y]

Alright, you got me, yes dah, rice is a grain, chalk it up to my american diet upbringing where rice is a substitute for potatoes and not an ingredient is lovely crusty loaves of bread. When i think about the glutenfree dog food i guess i’m thinking if the bags that say corn free, wheat free, etc. and i shouldn’t have lumped them with the grainfree varieties. So thanks for reminding me.

[Akari_32]

The worst part is, there was absolutely NO EFFORT to even close the door, either time! There is a bell hanging from the handle for the dogs to ring when they need to go out, so I can understand the bell getting caught up and the door bouncing back open. It happens– whatever. But to just flat out not close the door? Are you kidding me???? Drives me insane!

Haha, thanks! I can’t even believe its been that long already! :O

[Bobby dog]

Jakes mom:
You have thrown us cat lovers off. I never look for cat stuff on any thread other than the cat rec thread! LOL

I lather up my hyper-t kitty with coco oil all the time, especially his face around his ears. It’s really helpful when his dry skin acts up during the winter. Sometimes he gets small sores from scratching too much and I use it as a salve to help them heal.

I have info stored somewhere about using coco oil for cleaning ears. I will see if I can find it. I have used it to clean out my kitties ears before. It’s important for it to be unrefined which is cold pressed. This process uses fresh coconuts and leaves more nutrients intact for the health benefits. Refined oils use dried coconuts and are treated to remove impurities losing nutrients through the process; sometimes chemicals are used in this process too.

[Mike Sagman]

Bioavailability is a term more commonly used in the science of pharmacology (drugs).

However, when used to discuss dietary supplements and nutrients, as long as the chemical structure and digestive environment of a particular nutrient is chemically identical to that of another, it would make no difference whether that nutrient is sourced from a plant or an animal.

The bioavailability of any mineral (like magnesium or selenium) would be expected to be nutritionally identical to any other pure form of the same mineral — whether or not it had been derived from a soybean or a chicken. It makes absolutely no difference from where it is sourced.

However, when that same mineral has been chelated — combined with an amino acid, for example — it would become more bio-available for the animal.

So, in our ratings, we do tend to slightly favor recipes that contain chelated minerals over their standard inorganic counterparts.

In the case of whole foods like eggs or corn — not individual nutrients — the biological value (or nutritional completeness) of a food can vary significantly for any particular species.

For clarification, it may help to read this article about biological value published elsewhere on our website.

Or the Wikipedia articles about biological value and bioavailability, too.

Hope this helps.