[Pitlove]

that is the cutest thing ever. what a cool squirrel!

[Pitlove]

Chris- Nice change on the dog food! A lot of us here wont feed BB products due to the company being pretty shady.

I personally have no problem with Merrick, though some on here are not fans of the company for how they have handled recalls in the past. Most people feel that while recalls are often times just a happening of life, its how the company handles the recall that will decide whether they use their products again.
Merrick is one of three brands at work (petco) that i recommend to people that we carry. the other two being Nature’s Variety, and Wellness CORE, so I think you made a good choice. Depending on what your budget is, look at Orijen too or Acana both made by Champion Pet Foods in Canada. The company has a sparkling reputation. The food is expensive but worth every penny IMO.

[Pitlove]

My dog also once had a sensitive stomach and couldnt handle change in food. I give him a digestive health supplement made by The Honest Kitchen in the morning and a probiotic (kefir, you can use yogurt as well) with his dinner. I do it for the cat too. Now he’s able to eat a different food every bag without blending his food and no upset stomach.

Btw, I have an American Staffordshire Terrier. Not exactly the same as a Bull Terrier, but sometimes still considered similar.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

I can only find ones that are really really big at this small family owned pet boutique about a half hour from my house. I would start there. They also carry the yak chews.

[Pitlove]

Thanks for the update bigthree. thats great to hear! Orijen is an amazing food. My dog is a big fan and so am I. They have a few different formulas you can try. The Puppy, Adult and Senior are pretty much all very similar with chicken being the main protein source, however the Regional Red, Six Fish and Tundra have a lot more exotic proteins in them. I havent tried Champions other line Acana yet, however I plan to.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

Ill also note that aside from the yak chews and deer antlers the only treats in my house for my cat and dog are freeze dried raw treats. very easy to digest, made with only one ingredient and made in the USA. I use PureBites, however there are many out there. Nature’s Variety makes them for example as well and I know Blue Buffalo just came out with some but I would stay away from Blue products.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

I have a large breed dog that is a power chewer so chew toys and other chew things rarely last in my house. Ive used deer/elk antlers since he was little. Never had a problem digesting them, never broken a tooth and his teeth are not worn down. Ive also done the Yak chews. I really liked those as well and they are probably even easier to digest. Also dont ever hesistate to take something like that away from your dog if you feel they are working on it too fast. Deer antlers when he was young used to last for 5+ months. Now the latest one we’ve had so far is a couple weeks and he still has a long way to go on it. I always get one that is extremely oversized for him since he loves to carry it around in his mouth I dont want him accidently choking.

There are some sites ive read that demonise deer/elk antlers, however I’ve never had a single issue with them. My large dog doesnt break off huge chunks and swallow them so I doubt yours would either.

[Pitlove]

Ah i see. well thats good to hear! i have never had a pet with any type of cancer so its really hard for me to say whether or not you could be over reacting. but in my opinion (because im like this with my animals) any change in normal behavior should be looked into. there is always something behind it even if its nothing life threatening.
Definitely did not know about fish and mast cells! learn something new every day. i think by principle for cats and dogs avoiding fish is good because of the high risk of toxins in fish and the addictive nature it has for kitties. i try to avoid it if i can.

[Pitlove]

Ya ill have to check on that again. i wasnt quite sure if you could treat the infection with it or just prevent. So far every thing since the new litter box has been back to normal. Normal pee, no spraying, no peeing over or outside the box.
She is mad at me right now though because I bathed her. Gave her the Rescue Remedy with dinner to calm her down. She was really upset with the bath.

[Pitlove]

Kirklands I assume? I know a few people on here use it with no issue, but again the cancer could be playing a role. Have you spoken to the vet about his new behavior or is this only within the last day or so? is he in “remission” from the cancer?

[Pitlove]

Interesting, so what are they eating now if you don’t mind me asking? My dog for the first few months of his life ate BB as well. Thankfully no issues that serious, just refused to eat for a day and thats when I changed his diet and also learned about rotation feeding. So now he eats a different brand every bag and a different brand of wet food every meal as well. I keep maybe 4-5 brands of wet on hand at a time and cycle through those as much as I can.
On the note of Blue, a lot of people on this site, including myself, won’t feed Blue products anymore. I’m sure its still far better of a food then let’s say Beneful, but I can’t give my money to a company that A) Lied for a year+ about what was in their food B) now has number of reports of dogs being sick from it leading me to believe that Blue is an overpriced bag of junk and that their ingredients have gone in the gutter to be able to mass produce more food.

I tend to agree that grain free is far better than grain inclusive, however grain-free does not mean carb free. All dry kibble needs carbs to bind the food together, hence the introduction of white potatoe to the grain-free kibble industry. That along with other carbs like sweet potatoe, legumes, peas etc. I just learned however with white potatoe, in the process of being cooked to be used for dog food (dog food gets cookd twice over, rendered and then extruded) a carcinogenic by-product is released that has been known to cause cancer in dogs and humans. Something to look into?

Basically be wery of grain-free foods as well, as they can still be high in carbs, which can be hard to digest and aggravating for some dogs. One food I personally like and many others on this site do too is Orijen made by Champion Pet Foods out of Alberta Canada. Award winning kitchens, human grade meat, poultry and fish sourced regionally in Canada as well.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

This is a great site made up of a lot of people who have a wealth of knowledge about a lot of things having to do with dog nutrition regardless of them not being vets. I guess my point was to offer you something you could do in the now instead of hoping someone on here has been through the exact same diagnosis.

If you can’t/don’t want to/or are uncomfortable feeding raw you can certainly tell the holistic vet that and she might be able to find another option for you. Raw typically is the best diet for dogs, however when medical conditions come into play who is to say whats best as that can change with each case.

Great to know that you have vet’s that are supporting you! What diets have they recommended just curious? Prescription? or other.

[Pitlove]

Hi Heather-
Cancer is a very serious diagnosis and none of us here are vets. I don’t know how many here have dealt with that specific type of cancer. If you are wondering about a diet that is more all natural for a dog like a raw diet I would absolutely consult with a holistic vet. They are far better versed in dog nutrition than most vet’s are and can probably aid you in formulating the best diet for dogs with that diagnosis.

you can do a simple google search to see if there are any holistic vets in your area and most are willing to do an over the phone consultation for free.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

Hey C4C-
Ya our space is insanely limited, so I’m trying to do my best for her with what I have to work with. Her pee generally is very normal. Sometimes I’ll see smaller than average clumps, but nothing as bad as my cat who passed away this past christmas when he had a UTI at 2 years old. I always think back to my experience with him when trying to decide if she could have a UTI. I saw something on one of Dr. Becker’s videos called D-Mannose and she said it was excellent for clearing up urinary infections that could end your cat at the vet otherwise and on anti-biotics. She also mentioned that while anti-biotics are not terrible to use they can often cause recurring UTIs after the first one. I know I would get a prescription for anti-biotics from my vet if I brought her and I’d really like to avoid it. Have you heard of or used D-Mannose before?

I was using something called Rescue Remedy for Pets in her food. I got it at Whole Foods for my deceased cat before we made the 31 hour drive from CT to Louisiana. It was all natural and not a sedative and recommended to me by my old vet. Im not really sure how it worked because I went to work. I think Im going to give it to her again tomorrow morning since I have the next 2 days off and see how it works for her. It worked great for my other cat. He was calm and slept for a lot of our move.

[Pitlove]

oh and another:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeEWRNs13u8

[Pitlove]

I feel that a change in food to something with less fillers and ingredients that are biologically inappropriate for a dog would help in other facets of your dogs life as well as some of the allergy symptoms, for example preventing weight gain and diabetes.

heres a video you might be interested in:

heres another discussing allergies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v9gKgs_NDQ

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

Your dog certainly could be different, however a normal healthy dog can efficently process a species appropriate protein, meaning animal meat and not corn. There are different sources of proteins that are used in commercial dog foods that while they are a source of protein they do not digest as well because they are not species appropriate. The rX food your dog is on contains protein, however the sources are corn and by-products which are not sufficent sources of protein. The by-products are the least of the problem because if paired with whole meat wouldnt be terrible, its the abudance of corn and rices that are difficult to digest.

I would highly consider a commercial raw diet. A little different than what L M suggested, however the maker of the commercial raw food usually works with a holistic vet ( i know Darwins does) to make sure all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc are in the food at the proper levels, where as when you make the food yourself you need to be able to formulate those levels on your own which if you are new to it can be much more scary.

Despite recipes and all that, you still need to be careful when preparing your own homemade raw diet.

[Pitlove]

I just wanted to point out how similar the ingredients in these 2 Science Diet formulas are. One is the prescription your dog is on and one is a food you can find at any pet store without a prescription

http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-canine-id-canine-gastrointestinal-health-dry.html

vs

http://www.hillspet.com/products/sd-canine-adult-sensitive-stomach-and-skin-dry.html

both meant for “sensitive stomachs”

None of the ingredients that are in your dogs food need a prescription at all, but you are paying the premium price for a prescription food only meant to aid in disgestive health..

Point being, there are many budget friendly ways to help your dogs tummy. Amy A made a great point about adding the supplement/pre and probiotics. Your dogs stomach is sick which is why she has digestive upset. Putting healthy bacteria back into her gut will allow her stomach to become healthy and be on any food she wants without the runs.

You can defintely start with something LID to ease her off the prescription diet. I would really consider adding the some type of probiotic like kefir or plain yogurt and a supplement because when you take a dog from a food like Science Diet to a higher quality food that has biologically appropriate ingredients (not corn and brewers rice) they need all the help they can get adjusting to the better quality food.

Nature’s Variety makes a really good LID food. Natural Balance while I dont like the food does as well. LID diets tend to be a little lower in protein and other things as well which is what Susan mentioned about keeping the levels similar as to not shock the system. If your dog has been on the same food for the better part of her life that is also contributing to the sensitive stomach.

This video from holistic vet Dr. Karen Becker might also help you too

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

I got a 4$ off Merrick Back Country coupon in my email that i wanted to share with you guys but then I read it and It says one time use. It was from Petco and through the pals reward card.

If you shop at Petco and have a pals card make sure you check your email for that coupon if you were interested in trying their new Back Country line.

[Pitlove]

C4C- I actually went to walmart last night and got a 30gal tote similar to the one that Dr. Pierson shows on her website. She said she recommended the 18 or 30 gal and when I looked at the 18 it just looked to small even for my 6lb kitten. the bf and I cut the opening and she did go in and use it and kept going in it and playing so I think she likes it!

Heres what my problem is. Our living situation right now is basically a small studio apartment above his parents garage on their property. The only actual room we have is the bathroom and its so small it barely fits the trash can. Her litter box right now is currently in a central part of the house (the “living room”) right next to our TV. I have tried to think in my head what other spaces there are to put it, but outside of sticking it in the closest, which I dont want to do, there is no where private for her. The dog can get to every spot in the house.

They often play by her litter box too which she participates in but I try to discourage it because I dont want her to associate anything else with the litter box besides “I pee and poo here”. So far the tote has been working a lot better. The sides are high enough that my dog has not tried to come sniff her while she is using it and i took a peek at her while she was peeing and it was normal. No elevator butt, nothing. Its still new so we will see how it goes but I think I found a much better option.

this is the box I had before:
http://www.petco.com/product/126582/So-Phresh-High-Back-Open-Litter-Box.aspx?CoreCat=MM_CatSupplies_LitterBoxes

My other problem is there is no spot up here for a second box. I was considering using the old box as the second box for her, but I sat and looked around the apartment last night and could not find a spot that it would fit that there wasnt already something in the way.

I also think I’m going to get her checked out by my vet. I wanna make sure she doesnt have some type of infection. I think she got spayed really early in her life (she was caught in a feral trap site). And im hoping that didnt cause complications.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

Hi Joseph-

I’ve heard good things about Earthborn and I believe that some on this site use it in their rotational diets. Its also rated 5 stars on this site. Not sure what your budget is but I personally love the 2 brands that Champion Pet Foods makes, Orijen and Acana. Very high quality, regional sourced meats etc in Canada, made in Canada as well which has high quality control standards. They also use human grade ingredients. Big plus for me!

Let us know where you shop and what you have avaiable to you and if you would consider shopping online and we might be able to help you out better with a variety of suggestions and not just one!

[Pitlove]

Ok so now I have another issue with her and the litter box. She has been spraying while she is in the litter box. Tail shaking everything, doesnt try to cover it after. Im thinking that is has something to do with my dog constantly going over by her litter box, however I dont want to get her another hooded one and I try to shoo him away as much as I can but its not a perfect system. I dont want her to feel uncomfortable, like she has to defend her territory. I was interested in making my own litter box now from a storage tub, but I’m wondering if you guys think that will be enough to make her feel safe from the dog but still give her ventilation and plenty of room and stop the marking?

Also could it be medical? is it worth a trip to my vet to get her urine checked?

[Pitlove]

I cant really diagnois what the issue would be, however i think making a change to his food is a really good start. You’re paying a premium price (50$ at Petco for the largest bag of the Large Breed Light) for corn, rice and by-products. I certainly think you could find a better food for that price or perhaps a little more that has better ingredients.

Not sure what your bugdet is so it would be hard to recommend a food for you.

/dog-food-reviews/hills-science-diet-dog-food-adult-dry/

The Large Breed Light falls under this rating.

A lot of people believe that their dog has a “sensitive stomach”. What a sensitive stomach actually is, is a lack of healthy bacteria in the gut which allow the dog to change brands and proteins frequently without digestive upset. Just like a human a dog should be able to eat any type of dog food (unless they have a known allergy to a certain protein or carb etc) and not have digestive upset at all.
The stomach becoming unable to adjust to diet change, is due to eating the same food for many years or even months.
My dog used to be the same way. If i did have to change his food and did it too fast, he would get diaherra for a few days. Since adding digestive supplements to his diet and a probiotic (i use kefir, you can use plain yogurt too) I have been able to switch what brand he eats every bag without blending his food and he has no diaherra at all. Quite a few people on this site are actually able to do that with their dogs too.

Just because you see no reason to change the dogs food, it doesnt mean your dog wouldnt enjoy variety in his diet. I highly doubt you would be happy eating chicken and rice for every meal of every day for the rest of your life. Your dog isnt happy doing that either.

Companies will tell you not to change your dogs diet. However its not because its in the best interest of your dogs health, its because they will keep you spending your money with their company. My dog eats a different brand every bag of kibble and a different canned food as well each meal. If i could afford to buy X amount of bags of kibble and change that every day I would do that too.

L M gave you some good advice about determining what the root cause of the itching and hair loss etc is, but diet is the foundation of good health, so starting there never hurts!

GL, keep us updated!

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

edit: just gonna end it here.

gl Carrie!

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

Carrie- I’m so happy to hear you found another vet who was willing to work with you and offer you better suggestions! Thats fantastic and very rare. I didn’t want to step on C4C’s toes as I respect her and appreciate the hardship of something so serious as stones, however my concerns with rX foods remains. If you read up about them on Dr. Lisa Piersons website catinfo.org (cat info site yes but her explanation of rX diets can be applied to canines as well) she explains that there is no independent agency that governs rX diets and in fact the FDA is quoted as saying “Prescription Diet is an industry coined term, and has no legal meaning”. The FDA does not regulate them neither does any other organization and there have been no studies to even prove that they treat the disorder they claim to treat. Hill’s (Science Diet) actually were the ones to coin the term back in 1990. All in all you are paying a premium price for corn, rice and by-products and she also goes on to say that there is literally nothing in the food that requires a prescription though you need to have one.

I think the options the other vet are far better than being on a prescription diet for the rest of your dogs life. I really wish you the best of luck and I hope everything works out! Keep us updated on your baby

[Pitlove]

Thank you for sharing your experience with rotational feeding! I do the same thing for my American Staffordshire Terrier. Glad it’s working out so well for you and your boy! Rotational feeding is wonderful and many of us here highly encourage it

[Pitlove]

I don’t know much about Cloud Star, however I do know Zuke’s just got bought out by Purina, so they might have started adding cheaper ingredients. The only treats I feed in my house hold (if they get treats) are freeze dried raw treats you can get at places like Petco called PureBites. Its just one ingredient (i do turkey breast for the kitten and beef liver for the dog), made in the USA etc. They can be broken into smaller pieces to use for training. i used them for clicker training my kitten.

PS just realized I mentioned these treats in my above post

[Pitlove]

Ya and I totally agree with their logic. I do agree that they should get different proteins and she already gets that with the canned. Im still going to think about it and definitely going to get the starter “pack” to see if she will even eat raw. So far Darwins is the company I’m most impressed with.

Sorry to hear that! Hopefully they will adjust to it. Do they get all canned as well or some dry and canned?

[Pitlove]

No I havent thought about doing that. She is already on an all canned diet and will eat any type of canned food be it pate, chunks in sauce, the human looking soup of Weruva, you name it she eats it. I felt like getting her on raw would be easy cuz of that. Also I’m thinking theres a chance it could be cheaper for me than feeding canned, even though she can only finish one 3oz can at each meal (dog and cat both eat twice daily about every 12 hours or so). I know you typically feed less with raw which is a bonus for me.

[Pitlove]

Jake’s Mom, thanks for the extra info. I had no idea you had to send the cooler back. I was under the impression that they let you keep it. I really don’t like that, which upsets me because I really really wanted to try Darwins. I check my emails nightly as well after work so it wouldnt be a problem for me to change the orders I just don’t want to get caught off guard.

I have a great little family owned pet store about 30 mins from me that I often by my dogs kibble at since they carrying Orijen and other really great natural brands. They also carry the Primal Raw food, so I can definitely look into that. They also carry Stella & Chewys.

Let me know how the Darwin’s goes! I really wish they made their ordering process more straight forward and streamline and allowed you to tailor your order every time.

[Pitlove]

If these are your choices for food the first and most important thing you are going to need to do is read up on proper calcium levels for a large breed dog like the one you are getting and you are going to need to call each company for each food and make sure that any of them meet the calcium needs of a large breed dog, as what is listed on the bag is often a minimum amount of calcium meaning they can add much much more than what is listed on the bag. make sure to ask for the as fed amount. i would not even begin to worry about anything else until you know whether or not those needs are met. making sure that from 8 weeks to 8 months old, you meet the proper calcium levels for a large breed dog is vital in preventing skeletal disorders like pano, OCD and hip dysplasia later on in life and also as early as 10 months of age.

Here is a link to a thread made by Hound Dog Mom who has owned large/giant breed dogs for many many years of her life, discussing the nutritional needs of large/giant breed dogs

/forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

Personally Im not really against meal simply because in a dry extruded form whole meats tend to only make up about 20% of the food as they are 80% water and the water is lost in the cooking process. Definitely still want to give this line a try though!

[Pitlove]

Carrie- From what I have read about struvite crystals in dogs and cats they can be managed WITHOUT a rX diet. You can however for a short time feed the s/d and then just like C4C said, PLEASE talk to a holistic vet (they often do free phone conslutations) about a better diet for your dog.

I do not think that rX diets are worth the money and I think (and others do too) that they are another marketing tool to force you to spend your money with them for the rest of your life. I was told when my cat had a UTI that he had to stay on Royal Canin Urinary SO for the rest of his life. I wish I had known what I know now about just keeping him on a species appropriate canned diet.

[Pitlove]

jakes mom – two things. im so sorry for your loss. i lost my 6yr old cat on christmas eve last year. no clue why he died. hence why we have the new kitten now. glad you and your crew are doing ok tho!

also yeah i don’t mind the trial shipment but what my problem was is lets say she doesnt like the duck but she loves the chicken and turkey, i dont have the option to only get those 2 proteins. and maybe im wrong but when i clicked on turkey to buy it and see how much shipping was i got brought to the page telling me about the starter thing and then how in 13 weeks my regular order would ship of all 3 proteins, with a set amount of lbs. I see that I can change it, but you have to change it before the order is shipped and it would kind of be a hassle for me. i COULD be misunderstanding the idea of the site. I just don’t like sites that force me to autoship OR make me cancel it every single time. in my mind its the same as whenever you sign up for a free trail of some service lets say Amazon Prime and they say after a month they are going to start charging you for it unless you cancel it. I hate having to remind myself to cancel the subscription before i get charged. also ive experienced canceling things like that and then still getting charged and i would not want that on a 100$+ order of raw food.

you have ordered food from them so please let me know if im confused or wrong about their ordering process! i really like the look of the food and would love to try it

[Pitlove]

thank you! She is very sweet. such the lap cat, but i worry she has seperation anxiety. not sure though.

also on a side note. im thinking about going raw with her and i looked into darwin’s. i was really annoyed to find out that they basically make up an order for you and you are forced into buying chicken duck and turkey from them all in one order and you don’t get to decide how many lbs you want or what protein you want and you HAVE to do auto-ship. I wanted to just try it out with her to see if she would eat it and that makes it impossible to do.
C4C idk if you know of any good commercial raw diets similar to darwin’s that doesnt do that.

if anyone else has suggestions to i’d like to hear it. im also wondering if feeding her raw since she doesnt eat much would be more cost effective than canned food.

[Pitlove]

agreed i’d love to see more than just two protein sources from them. here’s hoping they come out with more.

Also I just realized the Duck has chicken in it, so people definitely need to make sure they still read the label if their dog can not have chicken. I also wish NV would stop using Tapioca and do sweet potatoe or something else as a binder.

[Pitlove]

ya i know. i feed a lot of chicken to my dog so I wanted to try the Duck for some variety :p

[Pitlove]

does your vet think that it could be environmental? i thought for a long time that my dog was allergic to chicken because of him constantly licking his feet. came to find out he A) had a yeast infection under his nails and B) my vet felt it was most likely environmental. possibly grass and pollen. ive been trying to get better about wiping his feet off when he comes in from outside and we did a anti-fungal shampoo soak and meds for the yeast infection. he licks still but its not NEARLY as much as before and he eats whatever protein source he wants including chicken.

i would suggest switching the food and the treats and finding a food that is completely devoid of the same ingredients that are in the BB Wilderness and the treats. If you notice a change then it i’d say its the food, if not talk to your vet about the possiblity of an environmental allergy. those are far more common than food allergies.

also I would check into the recent problems Blue has been having and decide for yourself if you still want to support them as a company. you can find the info on google about the outcome of their lawsuit.

[Pitlove]

i was so surprised by the Max. Dani ended up with diaherra from the Nutro Natural Choice, so I’ve stopped feeding that but she does good on the Max. and anything under a $1 a can makes me happy budget wise.

I was so surprised that Dani didnt like being outside on the harness as she was actually living with a feral colony and her mother is feral before I adopted her. I thought she might have a desire for the outside so I made sure to get her microchipped and she wears a collar at all times (something ive never done with any other cat) but she honestly doesnt care for the outside at all. and she is fixed since they did it when they trapped her. thats when they also found out she was not feral at all! now sadly she has half her ear missing though.

my girl 🙂

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

Karen- I love Nature’s Variety products. I’ve fed the vension rawboost formula and the duck and turkey raw boost formula before and they will come back into my rotation for sure. thank you for sharing your experience with the new Ultimate protein line. really looking forward to trying the Duck.

[Pitlove]

i know right! lucky for me EVERY food is kitty crack to her. Since eating the fancy feast she has not refused any other food thank god. She had a can of Merrick Turkey pate today and went just as nuts for it as always. i really got lucky with her. no dry food addiction and she will eat anything i put in front of her. I am the exact same way with trying to balance the quality of the foods both my cat and dog eat. I’m doing the Iams purrfect delights, max cat, WEF and FF as my budget foods, but I still always cant help but get her a few cans of regular Merrick, Nature’s Variety etc as a way to still have a higher quality food in her diet. name with my dog too. plus with the budget foods it allows me to a feed a higher quality kibble to my dog since unfortunely i do have to feed kibble.

ya i totally understand. we dont have much wildlife like that here but i would hate for her to run off. I bring her outside on her harness sometimes but she hates it lol!

[Pitlove]

as long as the wet food you make is complete and balanced (which it should be as you had the help from your vet in designing the food) there is nothing wrong at all with making your own dog food. in fact almost everyone on here will tell you thats great that you do that. its so much better to be able to know exactly what is going into your dogs food because YOU picked it out not a dog food company and YOU know where it came from and the quality of the product.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

I put in a request to have it rated and review by Dr. Mike and the team as it is a brand new product. Its on my list of to-do’s for feeding it to my pitbull. It looks really food. We’re on a bag of EVO right now and I cant decide which food I want to feed him next.

[Pitlove]

Sorry to repost, but I never got an answer and I’m still really curious if anyone has info about this. I posted this one page ago

Hey guys,
was reading through the front few pages for some help with a question about pano. i kind of got most of my answer but i guess i still have some questions..heres the story
i work at petco as some of you know already and i had a customer today whos 5 mo lab has already been diagnoised with pano. her vet recommended a senior dog food that was low in protein because she explained that high protein can cause over growth in large breed puppies. i thought that sounded weird but i really didnt want to completely be rude and go against her vet (since im in a professional setting) but i did mention to her what i know from Hound Dog Mom about calcium levels etc. i read through some of the articles HDM posted and saw that the protein theory was debunked but some vets still hold on to that. why is that? lack of education about recent research or what? SHOULD a dog that already HAS pano be on low protein? or is that not true either? i guess i’m wondering if the low protein diet her vet recommended was because the dog already has pano and its no longer a matter of preventing it

[Pitlove]

C4C- Wow sorry to hear that Wild Pursuit didnt work out! I havent tried it, but then again Im not a Natural Balance fan.

Sounds like you got more than you bargained for on your stay-cation tho 😀 glad the kitties are ok and got a little adventure too!

On another note, I decided after listening to an interview with Dr. Pierson to try feeding Fancy Feast. She made some really good points about by-products with cat food and so far so good. my kitten likes it of course and no bad poop or anything! and i do love that its cheap

[Pitlove]

I love Orijen personally. My dog has just finished two bags of it (the Regional Red and the Adult Dog) and now we are on a bag of EVO. My dog used to be quite picky as well, lately what I’ve done is wet food on the bottom of the bowl topped with the dry food and I change the dry food he eats every bag, whether it be a different protein or different brand. Gives him a variety and he has been eating great since I started doing that. Before when I was just feeding the same boring dry food all the time with no wet he would sniff the bowl and walk away. Now when I’m making his food he sits right next to me and stares at me waiting for his food and devours it when I put it down. Feeding canned food can be very expensive, and because I have a tight budget I try to go for the more budget friendly wet foods like Walmarts brand Pure Balance (5 star rated on here) and Tractor Supplies 4Health (rated 4 stars on here), Merricks Whole Earth Farms line which is about 1$ more than those so I don’t get as many and then he gets special treat wet foods like Wellness CORE, Nature’s Variety and Merrick Classic. But since those are more expensive I only do like 1 or 2 cans of each. It allows me to feed a higher quality dry food, which is where you really don’t want to skimp if possible. Canned food is far closer to a species appropriate diet for them and most holistic vets will say that they would rather see a dog eating the most dumpy terrible canned food than to see them eat dry kibble.

Glad Orijen is working for you! If she gets bored of that brand switch the brand! Just like a human being, a healthy dog can change his diet constantly with no digestive upset. You can add yogurt or kefir to the food as a probiotic and canned pumpkin for the fiber in case of diaherra. The healthy bacteria in the yogurt and kefir will help make your dogs stomach healthy enough to withstand the change in diet

[Pitlove]

glad you got it working! i was going to suggest just copying and pasting the whole PDF file into Microsoft word or something

[Pitlove]

Hi Tonia- Marie did actually point you in a good direction if you are interested in feeding raw/homemade. Hound Dog Mom who is the one who made the thread focusing on large/giant breed puppies does in fact feed a raw homemade diet and talks about it in that thread. It is however a very long thread but a good and helpful thread. Unfortunetly large breed puppies have certain diet requirements until 8mo’s of age that help prevent many diabilitating skeletal diseases, that can end up costing thousands of dollars in vet bills.

Hound Dog Mom has a list of foods that have the proper calcium levels for large/giant breed puppies, some are grain-free and others are grain-inclusive. I would start there and figure out what your budget IS and then compare a few that she has on her list and see if any are budget friendly enough. They are all 4 to 5 star in quality so if you are looking for something 3 stars or lower to save money A) that list won’t be too helpful and B) the food may not have the correct calcium levels a large breed puppy needs.

[Pitlove]

its no problem. everyone here is really nice and helpful and has helped me a ton so its nice to be able to share the information ive learned with people willing to listen

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by Pitlove.

[Pitlove]

ya i just get a can of 100% pure pumpkin at walmart and give him one or two spoon fulls and that is usually enough. I mainly have done it when hes had diaherra and its fixed it within a day. Now I plan to keep up with doing it more so that i can strengthen his stomach to be able to switch foods without blending them. the canned pumpkin is such a cheap great way to get probiotics into their diet and so is the keifer.

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