[nata78sha]

Hello. I am new here. I have a St Bernard mix (98 pounds) that will be 9 years old in the fall. I also have a 5 year old miniature schnauzer. Our dogs have been on the grain free natures domain from Costco for years (at the advice of our old vet). The vet here wants my Saint on senior food. He suggested canned food, cooked human food (and buy vitamins if I cook his food) and then dry food or mixing canned with dry food . But he suggested Science diet and said he did not like Blue Buffalo … so that has me questioning him. I know BB had a recall but I had always seen high rating for it. I could have also sworn that he said a low protein diet.. I would think it would be the opposite- less carbs.. but I am not a vet. Does the Saint need to be on a senior food , is there an all stages food that both dogs can be on? Also the schnauzer is very active, the Saint..not so much. Price does matter.. I can not afford to pay $50+ for 30 pounds of dog food when I go through 6 cups a day (current food).

[theBCnut]

BB has great advertising, that is not the same thing as being a great food. There have been a lot of people having vomitting and diarrhea issues with BB lately.

I think you are right about the protein versus carbs thing. Seniors have less ability to absorb the protein in their diet and can need as much as 50% more, not less. There are specific medical problems that may need the protein reduced, but your vet would be talking to you about diets specific to kidney or liver disease if that was a factor.

You may just need a good ALS food with a joint supplement added. No food has enough joint supplementation to actually have a therapeutic dose.

Maybe look at NutriSource.

[nata78sha]

I also added glucosamine to his diet. The only health issue he has is minor arthritis. Thank you for your response. I’ll look into that

[RescueDaneMom]

Nutrisource is a good food. I think Victor would be good too. It is rated 4 or 5 starts and is reasonably priced. It can be found at some feed stores or online at sites like Petflow.com or Chewy.com. I would feed the Victor Select Hi Pro Plus (30% Protein). You can get it on Amazon- $55 for 40 pounds: http://www.amazon.com/Victor-Dog-Food-Formula-40-Pound/dp/B00CJLP4EA
I also like all of their grain-free formulas and would recommend any of them.

[theBCnut]

Victor is an excellent idea! There are a couple others that I wish I could bring to mind. But that leaves plenty of room for others to comment.

[Tulmaster]

Hi, new here and hope I reached an appropriate page for comment. First I am searching for the best dry food to give Odin, my 7 yr old Lab/Rot. I have been feeding him Blue Buffalo for years. So to cut to the chase, I was reviewing the Stars, 5 and 4 and noticed when I got to some, and I will use BB as an example, it said in the 4 star category, there were 17 different food that were offered. Of those on the list there were 4 or 5 that did not display a stars rating, and the rest were rated from as low as 2 and as high as 4.5. I tried to find a rating method explanation, but could not so, what do they mean? Did some not meet the 4 star rating and if so why? If they are all 4 star, then why the difference. If they are not 4 star then why are they listed under the 4 star link? All to confusing for me.

[RescueDaneMom]

To use your example, the brand overall has a 4 star rating meaning the varieties listed rate 4 stars unless otherwise noted. Some varieties can rate higher or lower than others depending on their ingredients. The ones in the list without a rating next to them are 4 stars, the others rate as noted next to their name in the list. I hope that helps you make sense of things.

[RescueDaneMom]

nata78sha-

I was looking up other bargain high quality foods for another thread and have more options for you. Annamaet Ultra (32% protein) is $70 for a 40lb bag ($1.75/pound). Dr. Tim’s Pursuit (30% protein) is $66 for a 44lb bag ($1.50/lb).

[GRamoin]

I am trying to learn more about proper dog foods for my just turned 11 year old female yellow lab. She is about 70 lbs in really good shape and only has some joint stiffness occasionally showing. I have fed her IAM’s dry dog food forever.

2 Questions for someone to please assist if possible :
– Is it beneficial or OK to change now after using IAM’s so long ?

– What would be a great food recommendation if changing now is ok, & what is rotation strategy for and what would the rotation products recommendation be ?

Thanks so much for any input !!

[joet]

TO *NATA**FROM JOET

1ST-just make the food is at least a 4 star food–from this site–
2-make sure it does not come from the west coast–
im sure **PATTY VAUGHN**can tell you why,she seems to be an expert on everything here-EXCEPT 1 THING PATTY–

her comments on blue buffalo–
you would think she works for a rival company or worked for them and got FIRED.
i live in new york—so you know patty–i have never seen a blue commercial–ever—so there goes your advertizing thing–

2-as far as *gas*–dogs get gas from many many things-cant be helped –as we also do–
3-but–vomit-diar—–give us the names of all the people you personally know that feed blue and have had this problem—-you cant -can you—

teddybear has been on blue for 7 years now—–yellow lab-pure bread—perfect health—-
my drummers little dog–5 years–no problem–
my sister-in-laws lab–7 years—no problem—–

so PATTY VAUGHN—
WHATS YOUR STORY—IM SURE WE ALL WOULD LIKE TO KNOW–SIGNED**JOE~T**

[InkedMarie]

GRamoin: it’s fine to switch, I would just go very slowly, over a week. I would also use a probiotic. As far as foods, it’s been said that grains aggravate joints so I’d suggest a grainfree food. Some easier on the wallet ones are dr Tim’s, Earthborn, hi Tek…..more expensive are Acana, Orijen, Natures Variety Instinct.

Good luck!

[theBCnut]

Well Joe
My story is that I was a vet tech. I worked for 14 years. I quit when I had my first child so I could raise my children myself. Sounds terribly sinister, doesn’t it.

You used Consumer Affairs website as proof that another food should not be fed, Joe. So why is it good enough proof when it backs up your claims, but not when it disagrees with you? Personally, I haven’t even read the site, I don’t think it constitutes proof of anything, but apparently you do. Then there are all the people that have come here over the past few months, that have complained about BB products. Finally, as I said, I worked for vets for 14 years, so as you may imagine, I have made friends of the vets I worked for, and the only food they have ever warned me away from was BB, because they had clients pets that developed vomitting and diarrhea on the food to the point that they were severely dehydrated.

And no, your not seeing a BB commercial does absolutely nothing to shoot down my statement about their advertising.

BTW, I’m sorry you can’t do anything about your gas, but most of us can, if we look for solutions.

So why did you feel a need to try to attack me, Joe? Does everybody have to like your food? If we aren’t all entitled to an opinion then I’m sorry, but you aren’t either. Grow up.

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