[charisse]

Also wanted to mention “Carna4″ which got good marks for quality human grade dry dog food on her 2018 list of best foods from author of The Truth about Pet Food” blog/website.

I’ve decided to give this brand to my ShihTzu Bella, along with “Meal Toppers” from Honest Kitchen.

[charisse]

Dr. Karen Becker mentions the best dry food to be “human grade dog food”.
https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2015/11/08/best-to-worst-pet-food-types.aspx

Dr.Karen Becker has a great blog that I subscribe to.

…But human grade dog food may be going through some changes now see this article:

Concerning Change for Human Grade Pet Food

[charisse]

Well, One surprise to me was there are loopholes provided by the FDA for certain by product ingredients to be in their foods…

Well worth the time to watch it …

[charisse]

Best dry dog food: “Human Grade Dog food”.

Best Human Grade Dog food according the munch zone:
Canidae…https://www.munch.zone/human-grade-dog-food/

So I nominate Canidae #1 and Honest Kitchen for #2 best Human Grade Dry dog food

….and what is Human Grade Dog Food:

The Only true Pet FOOD, Human Grade

[charisse]

Best dry dog food: “Human Grade Dog food”.

Best Human Grade Dog food according the munch zone:
Canidae…https://www.munch.zone/human-grade-dog-food/

So I nominate Canidae #1 and Honest Kitchen for #2 best Human Grade Dry dog food

….and what is Human Grade Dog Food:

The Only true Pet FOOD, Human Grade

[charisse]

Hi Karen,
Yes, I’m taking my extra foods to our local rescue. Good idea.

[charisse]

Just trying out Acana’s Single protein Duck and Pear. Kibble same size as Origen (and Acana is made by Orijen), but this one has less protein – and I am told less protein means less calories…So we’ll try it out.

We have been exercising her more too (Bella’s initial problem was to loose some weight). She has lost about 3/4 of a pound so now she is under 14 lbs which is good progress. I don’t know if it’s food or exercise or a combo. This 3/4 lb weight loss is over about 3 months.

Thank you Karen for your info!

[charisse]

Hi Jeanne R
I’ve heard that adding pumpkin to the food may affect their bowel movements.

I’ve just ordered pergormatrin ultra, but now that it’s on it’s way I remembered that I wanted to try wellness core reduced fat… because of her weight issue. Darn, an impulse buy.
Huffington Post had an article about trying to find a healthy dog food and it mostly said that it’s so complicated “good luck”!

[charisse]

Hi Susan H,Thanks for your input!

I recently bought the Annamet Lean for Bella from Chewy but the kibble is a bit too hard for her to chew so she swallows it whole. So the search continues. I think next I will buy Wellness reduced fat small breed grain free and see how she likes the size. But I will read reviews on it first.

Later on in a year or so I may switch to something even more healthy for small breed but that will be yet another long research I’m sure…maybe something that’s more healthy than kibble.
Charisse

[charisse]

Ok, thank you ac!
Charisse

[charisse]

Thanks InkedMarie! I’ll check out Chewy and Petflow.

[charisse]

Thank you Jeanne R! I will look into Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Healthy Weight.

Thank you InkedMarie! I will look into Wellness Core reduced fat.

I’ve been having difficulty being able to purchase Annamaet Lean in U.S….seems it’s easier in to find in Canada than here.
Thank you,
Charisse

[charisse]

Ok pugmomdsandy…got it.
Thank you,
Charisse

[charisse]

Thank you Christine. Wellness does look good although I had heard something about cleanlabel.org not very impressed with them due to perhap environmental effects or something like that.
Thanks again!

[charisse]

Hi, …I came across this posting re Wellness:

“…I thought about Wellness Core reduced fat but decide not to try it after I read the report from Clean Label Project…..

[charisse]

ac, this issue is so complicated!… I’ve spent hours on research.

I came across this good article re dog food quality, brands, dog food types, etc. (They listed Orijen – which I don’t agree with due to some recent changes in their ingredients).

https://www.reviews.com/dog-food/

I gave Bella her first little piece of chicken breast and she loved it. She loves to eat! I’ve also tried a little canned green beans on her food and she ate it – but she won’t eat the green bean by itself. She is tiny – only 14.5 lbs, and she needs to go down to 12 lbs.

I ordered the Annemaet Lean yesterday, and plan to start her on it gradually over an 8 -10 day period. I’m hoping the kibbles are small enough so that she chews them! The Orijen were too big for her little mouth.
Thanks!

[charisse]

FYI I had shared on my thread that I had heard some bad opinions recently on Orijen. (my thread is: Weight issue for Shih tzu Bella switching from Orijen to what?? Help please).

DFA says they don’t change any info on Orijen until FDA says something…here’s the copy below of one the posts I saw:

“I saw a few posts about the Orijen USA production vs Canadian production, and also this one around Feb/March entitled Orijen USA : “…I am disappointed to see that Orijen is still on the Editor’s Pick of this website. I actually subscribed when i got overwhelmed with my search for a kibble to replace Orijen which I have been feeding my Golden for 6 years. Origen has definitely changed their ingredients (to inferior quality), and have admitted as much. The color and smell is different, and our Golden’s stomach has been irritated by it…”
Charisse

[charisse]

Thank you ac! This is very helpful. Are you happy with the ratios of fat, fiber etc…

I heard some lean foods have more fiber – hopefully this does – and not that it has less fat, since fat makes them full!

I will try Annemaet Lean with a little filtered water with her. Thank you for the comparison info on kibble size – this should help her not swallow it whole!
Thank you!

[charisse]

Thank you ac and Susan H. for sharing your tips. I believe the Annemaet is called Annemaet Lean? Someone also mentioned Wellness Core reduced fat.

I now have a new problem in that I actually watched her eat the Orijen and she dosen’t chew most of her morsels – because I think they are too big for her small mouth! She just swallows them! I noticed with her old bad food – before we rescued her it was a 2.5 star purina – was smaller kibbles and she chewed them first.

So now I think I also need to look at a small breed specific food. Someone mentioned “Wellness Core small breed” and “Canidae Pure grain free small breed” but neither is reduced fat. (I’m adding a little bit of cut up green beans to the top of her meal. She’ll eat a few that way but not just by itself).

So I guess now i’m looking for a lean, small breed specific food perhaps.

[charisse]

Thank you to John, Lewis, and InkedMarie.

I will try the DFA dog food calculator after I find out the kcals per cup.

For the grams measurements idea I think I’ll need to purchase a kitchen scale – which I will also try.

I saw a few posts about the Orijen USA production vs Canadian production, and also this one around Feb/March entitled Orijen USA : “…I am disappointed to see that Orijen is still on the Editor’s Pick of this website. I actually subscribed when i got overwhelmed with my search for a kibble to replace Orijen which I have been feeding my Golden for 6 years. Origen has definitely changed their ingredients (to inferior quality), and have admitted as much. The color and smell is different, and our Golden’s stomach has been irritated by it…”

Thank you!
Charisse

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