[Teagsmom]

The study and my vet who is well known in her field feel otherwise. It’s not worth taking a risk. She has no problem with the Primal. She recommended going with a food that has a veterinarian on staff and has a history of trials. I have decided to switch to Go! Sensitive Duck w grains. It’s the same LID food I feed now but has no peas, legumes, chicken, turkey etc. I will continue to add Vital Essentials freeze dried duck nibs to her dry food and feed Primal in the evening.

I was hoping to find more options but for now this will work. Companies are coming out with varieties that contain grain minus the peas and legumes but I feel more comfortable going with a company that has been around with a good track record. Thank you!

[Teagsmom]

So sorry, I forgot to post back. We switched to a LID duck diet and her enzymes went back down to normal. I feed primal duck in evening and Go! Duck sensitivities mixed with vital essentials raw duck nibs. MY vet said it was a food intolerance. Unfortunately we need to switch AGAIN bc my vet wants her off any food with peas, legumes etc due to DCM. I can’t find a food without those ingredients. Primal would cost $80 month which is too much. FYI my dog is approx 12-13 yr old Chi mix. She’s a rescue so age is a guesstimate.

[Teagsmom]

My dog has a food intolerance but went through tests to find out. She licks her paws at times but it has nothing to do with food. I’m not sure how any vet can say for certain that a dog is allergic to something without doing any tests. Regardless, Primal Duck is a great option along with Go! Duck (both are sold on Chewy).

[Teagsmom]

I was feeding my dog Acana for years and Chewy will no longer be selling it. Perfect timing bc I was in the process of looking for a new food with smaller pieces of kibble. We went with Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost (kibble w pieces of freeze dried raw). If Fromm works for your dog, I wouldn’t change just to get a discount. Buy some Primal raw dehydrated to use as a topper or try another topper.
The prices at my local dog store are the same as Chewy and they solely carry high end foods. I’ll be supporting them once I use my 3 purchases from Chewy. I had 2 foods in my cart and it gave me 50% off of both. Nice surprise.

[Teagsmom]

I tried a few different kibble and the winner is Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost for small breed. The kibble is the size of Fromm (tiny). She absolutely LOVES IT. I used it as a treat (testing to see if she would insist on something better) and she gobbled it up. So I’m using the Instinct raw boost (it has pieces of freeze dried in it) with a Primal topper. I toss in a few pieces of Acana to make sure she doesn’t get sick from transitioning but she’s absolutely fine. Stools are perfect and she gets so excited for her meals. Fingers crossed this lasts!! 🙂

[Teagsmom]

I have a chi/mix rescue who was fed junk at the shelter. I put her on Acana grasslands and she loved it. I just started using Primal freeze dried. She gets so excited when she smells me adding water, she starts doing circles. You may want to try a good kibble with a topper of raw (I prefer freeze dried due to convienence but you could use raw patties). You could also do one meal kibble and one meal raw.

My dog wouldn’t go near Honest Kitchen. She literally ran away. I was shocked because she’s not a super picky eater. I’ve been obsessing over what dog food to give now that my dog had some teeth extracted. My last dog was diagnosed with Cushings at age 5, was on medication his entire life and lived to 15 1/2 yrs old eating Wellness. So I’m starting to question whether I’m thinking too much into this. Good luck!

[Teagsmom]

They make a plain goat yogurt you can buy in the store. I’ve seen it at Whole Foods.

[Teagsmom]

Thanks Susan- I will check it out. I may try the Instinct along w Canidae. Is the Canidae as small as Fromm? Im not a fan of wet food. I’m trying to make this process as simple as possible. I have soaked her food before but the Acana was still too big. She wasn’t digesting it. I’m definitely sticking to a topper. Just need to find a good small kibble.

[Teagsmom]

She’s btwn 11-12 lbs- it wouldn’t cost as much but is still expensive. I’m having a difficult time figuring out how much kibble (she ate about 1/4 cup Acana twice a day) to give if I use half a Primal nugget per meal. I may do kibble one meal and raw for dinner. This could drive a person mad. Lol

[Teagsmom]

Thanks for the info! I will be dropping Stella and Chewy’s off my list. That leaves me with Natures Variety Instinct. I’m thinking of doing Natures Variety Instinct with a topper of Primal. I will only use freeze dried raw. I need to compare the original Instincts to the Raw Boost. If I remember correctly, one of them only has small bites in chicken. My dog isn’t allergic but I’ve never fed her chicken.

[Teagsmom]

I recently switched to Primal (freeze dried) bc Acana just isn’t the same since they left Canada. My chi mix absolutely loves it! We have been using the duck. I think some of the Primal formulas got 2.5 stars due to fat content or ratio of protein.

My vet actually recommended Natures Variety when I told her I had switched from Acana to Primal. I have done a TON of research and that is one that wasn’t on my list. I make sure to look at recalls in addition to everything else. Primal is definitely pricey and I will most likely use it as a topper if I decide to go with them.

Stella and Chewy’s is the 3rd on my list in addition to Primal and Natures variety. Their meal mixers look good in addition to the patties. In addition to freeze dried raw, Natures Variety makes a kibble with pieces of freeze dried raw mixed in called Instinct Raw Boost. They make a small dog version which smaller kibble which is enticing. I am leaning towards Fromm (small pieces) and using a raw topper. I have tried everything except the Instinct raw boost. Once I try that, I will make my final decision. However, for a raw food, I really love Primal.

Does anyone else have a small dog and use kibble with a topper?

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