[Tina]

My family and I are going through H*** trying to find a “perfect food” for each of them and because of that they all may end up at a vet!!!

[Tina]

I spend over $80 dollars every 2 weeks for this prescription diet AND IT WORKS!!!

My other dogs are on at least 5 different brands each, NONE OF WHICH INCLUDE HILL’S SCIENCE DIET.

[Tina]

People who feed All-Life-Stages dog food should be feeding an all natural raw diet or a dehydrated dog food. Anything else is for those what are to ignorant to completely understand a dog’s true needs.

The only way I would feed a dog All-Life-Stages dog food is if it were a mutt from the pound because usually you don’t know their actual age.

[Tina]

What??? That doesn’t make sense at all…

[Tina]

My 5 year old dog Ginger has to be on a prescription diet dog food for her weight. No other dog food that I’ve ever tried worked. In fact it just made her problem worst.

[Tina]

AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION!!!!! I copied my posts off the Hill’s Site because when I asked that question online, that answer showed up.

[Tina]

WHATS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!!!

[Tina]

“All-Life-Stages” is one type of food and “Puppy” is another type of food. If you people say that “All-Life-Stages” is basically “Puppy” food then why not feed “Puppy” food in the first place? I mean if it’s just all “advertising” then whats the big deal. Why call “All-Life-Stages” that name at all?

[Tina]

My point is that we still haven’t answered the initial question at hand and all I’m saying is that a good veterinarian can answer that for you. As far as pet nutrition goes, you all can take what ever advice that you want. Anything found on the internet can be written by anybody and there is no proof that it truly was them that wrote it. Anybody can create a web page saying anything they want because it’s the internet and the internet is full of lies and con artists.

[Tina]

Well then the school that she went to was a bad school.

[Tina]

Veterinarians know way more then you people think. As far as asking them what dog food brand is the best, no they may not give you the answer that you want to here but who’s to say that your decision is any better then you local veterinarians (who has gone to school for many years)!!!

[Tina]

Nutritional Adequacy Statement or “AAFCO Statement”

AAFCO is an organization that sets the nutritional standards for pet foods sold in the United States.
This legally required statement verifies the testing method used to determine nutritional adequacy.
The statement indicates whether the food provides complete and balanced nutrition for a specific lifestage of your dog (growth, adult, pregnant/nursing), or if the product is nutritionally adequate for all lifestages.
Beware if the package states the food supports “all lifestages.” The product likely contains excessive levels of some nutrients necessary for the most demanding lifestage, which is growth. For example, it might contain higher levels of protein and calcium for puppies, but those levels are inappropriate for an adult or senior dog.

The Best Life for Man’s Best Friend
Adult dog with puppy

Whether you have a new puppy or the dog you’ve loved for years, caring for your dog properly ensures many happy years together. As you care for your dog, even the little things – perfectly selected food, exercise and love – can make a big difference. We want to be a part of your dog’s happy, healthy life, so we’re here to share information on proper nutrition, fitness and special needs.

Knowing the age of your dog is important in choosing their nutrition. If you have a dog and aren’t sure of his exact age, your veterinarian can help estimate that for you.

Adult dogs include dogs of the following ages:

1 to 7 years old for small and medium breeds
1 to 5 years old for large breeds and
1 to 4 years old for giant breeds
As you care for your dog, it’s important to remember that his needs change as he grows. Caring for your dog according to his lifestage means you’re giving him the best care.

[Tina]

And people here are just normal people that also isn’t trained in canine nutrition. I was talking about the original question…At what age do you guys switch a young dog from a puppy formula to adult formula?

[Tina]

All I’m saying is to call you professionally trained veterinarian. They are trained to answer your questions such as these. People here are just normal people with opinions to suggest and thats all.

[Tina]

All I can say is contact your vet, they will have your answer.

[Tina]

So any food no matter what the title is good for all age dogs, even prescription diet pet food. What about cat food, is it the same as dog food? Can I feed my dogs cat food and my cats dog food? What if I feed all my pets the same exact thing?

[Tina]

Merrick Adult All Breeds
AAFCO Dog Food Nutritional Facts
Real Chicken Brown Rice + Green Pea Recipe Adult Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

Merrick Puppy All Breeds
AAFCO Dog Food Nutritional Facts
Real Chicken Brown Rice + Green Pea Recipe Puppy Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

Merrick Senior All Breeds
AAFCO Dog Food Nutritional Facts
Real Chicken Brown Rice + Green Pea Recipe Senior Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

Merrick Grain Free All Life Stages
AAFCO Dog Food Nutritional Facts
Merrick Grain Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potato Recipe Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established
by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

Halo Adult
HALO, Purely For Pets® Spot’s Stew® Adult Dog Formula Wholesome Chicken Recipe Dry Dog Food is formulated to meet nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

Taste of the Wild Puppy
AAFCO Statement
Taste of the Wild® High Prairie Puppy® Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for All Life Stages.

These are just some examples from the company Merrick, Halo, Taste of the Wild,. Why do the bags say adult, puppy or senior but the AAFCO label says All Life Stages?

[Tina]

I’ve read some brands of dog food that say for all life stages but the AAFCO label says for maintenance. ALS brands of dog food are very unclear to whom they are really for. Yes wolves out in the wild eat whatever they want at any are but dogs aren’t wolves. Dogs have been domesticated for over thousands of years and throughout that time as well as breeding dogs loose more of their natural instincts and become more reliant on different life stages of dog food. Without this dogs become sick easier, die at an early age and even loose their own natural ability to heal on their own. Dogs need us to supply them what they need to live daily including proper food, extra vitamins, exercise and lots of love.

[Tina]

It depends on the size dog usuMedium-large dog breeds (Collies, Labrador Retrievers, Boxers) are fully grown by about 18 months and at their full weight by about 2 years of age. Giant dog breeds (Great Danes, Mastiffs) may take up to three years to reach their full weight, though they should be fully grown into their paws by about 18 months.

I personally changed over all of my puppies at age one but if I had known this information back then I would’ve waited until age 2.

[Tina]

All-life-stage dog food is very unclear to the proper amount of vitamins that they may or may not have in each bag/brand. In fact, most all-life-stage dog foods are created for puppies and by the time the dog gets older, they are over-weight and sometimes very sick. Unless you plan on feeding some sort of Raw Diet to your puppy or a dehydrated dog food, if thats the case then all-life-stages is the way to go.

[Tina]

A growing puppy needs precise levels of essential nutrients to stay her healthiest. To meet the growth and development requirements of puppies, their bodies require a puppy food with increased amounts of energy, protein and calcium compared to adult dogs’ needs.

Association of Animal Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) statement on a dog food label verifies that the food provides complete and balanced nutrition for either:

puppies or kittens
pregnant or nursing pets
adult pets
all lifestages

Key points
If you see the words ” … for all lifestages” on a package, it means it’s a puppy or kitten food.

The early years

In the early stages of life, young pets need high levels of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to ensure proper growth.

Therefore, a pet food that claims to be “complete and balanced for all lifestages” must contain nutrient levels that are suitable for growth. Are the nutrient levels in foods for growth too high for older pets? We believe they are.

Too high, too low

The “one size fits all” pet food philosophy may sound attractive, but it goes against everything Hill’s has learned in more than 60 years of clinical nutrition research. A food that’s appropriate for growth will contain levels of fat, sodium, protein and other nutrients that are too high for the older pet. Likewise, a food that contains reduced levels of nutrients for older pets may be inadequate for growing puppies and kittens.

All things to all pets

Today, many pet food manufacturers offer lifestage foods for pets. They often tout the benefits of their foods for puppies and kittens, adults or seniors and how these foods are perfectly balanced for each of these lifestages.

However, many of these same companies also offer brands of pet food that carry the claim “… complete and balanced nutrition for all lifestages”!

Are the companies that manufacture these products truly committed to the lifestage concept? The answer is obvious.

[Tina]

Look for the AAFCO label on the back of the bag or on the brand website. Some say…

Adult
______________________Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance

All-Life-Stages
_______________________ Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

Puppy
________________________Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for growth and gestation/lactation.

Senior
_________________________Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for adult maintenance.

There really isn’t a difference between adult and senior but there is a difference between puppy, all-life-stages and adult. Hope this helps!

[Tina]

Shadow is eating Hill’s Science Diet Sensitive Skin and Coat and Stomach. He does the same thing, eats it very slow.

[Tina]

7 days later we had to switch back to Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult because he stopped eating. He ate it for one meal but stopped the second meal. The I bought a bag of Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Young Adult. He gobbled that down the first three days but stopped again the fourth day. Throughout this process I tried all types of wet food and even chicken broth ad well as chicken.

[Tina]

As an adult Shadow started off on Hill’s Science Diet Sensitive Skin and Coat formula (back when the formula was separate). Then I gradually changed him over to Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult. He was eating that great until recently when I began reading about ways to help demodectic mange. I began changing him over to Hill’s Ideal Balance Grain Free Adult Chicken and Potato formula. He ate that for the first few days but then he stopped so I tried different types of wet food with it.

[Tina]

I paid

[Tina]

Each dip that he went through he got worst. He would loose over 80% of his hair, his skin would turn red and he would become very lethargic after. Now his hair seems a little better but not like it should. He still has bald spots and is itchy all the time. I thought it was fleas so I got some flea prevention and put it on him but shortly after he got even more itchy then before. Right now he’s on Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult and I’m changing him to Hill’s Science Diet Ideal Balance Grain Free.

[Tina]

My vet did do a skin scrapping and showed me the scrapping under the microscope.

[Tina]

What about food? What do you recommend? He needs a grain free diet, possibly for large breed dogs?

[Tina]

Yes, at 5 months old he was diagnosed with demodectic mange. My vet gave me GOODWINOL OINTMENT to rub on the bald spots and a midaban dip 1 every 3 weeks. We were given some pills to help itching which gave him bad, runny poop.

My vet has said nothing about food, immune system or anything else. My vet did say that I can keep him on Hill’s Science Diet, Royal Canin or Purina.

All the information that I looked up on the internet says that I shouldn’t give him any vaccinations, flea or tick control or any medication at all. I’ve already read that he needs to be on a carbohydrate free or at least a grain free food with high protein and antioxidants.

[Tina]

*Demodectic

[Tina]

My dog has democratic mange and all the articles that I’be looked up have said no or low carbohydrates.

[Tina]

*GRAIN FREE

[Tina]

Purina vs Blue Buffalo Update

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2014/05/07/pet-wars-blue-buffalo-fires-back-at-purina-over-food-quality-claim/

I found this statement very interesting

Blue Buffalo uses third-party co-manufacturers to produce its foods, but Bishop said the company provides all of its own ingredients. Bishop said, however, that he trusts his manufacturers and that his firm has “people watching the manufacturers” closely for quality-control purposes.

[Tina]

The independent local pet stores are great but they are much higher in price. Shopping online is an option but I fear bugs in the hot trucks or ruined merchandise.

[Tina]

What about Halo?

[Tina]

Colitis and a severe allergie to fish. As for the bones, my vet said that fish bones are very dangerous and could have caused her intestines to tear.

[Tina]

They explained to me that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING comes from China. Everything is sourced from the United States or New Zealand.

[Tina]

I called Blue Buffalo and spoke with a representative. They reassured me that all ingreadients found in Blue Buffalo are from the United States only. Only their lamb and venison are from New Zealand, thats all. They source nothing from China, in fact they stay away from China altogether. They reassured me that what they were saying was a 100% guarantee. Their life source bits are all explained on this page http://www.bluebuffalo.com/lifesource-bits Each bag is created with an equal amount of both types of kibble so that dogs will have a well balanced meal. If your dog is a picky eater then maybe Blue Buffalo isn’t the food for you or maybe you should think about adding canned food. Most dogs become picky eaters because their owners give them just dry kibble or they switch the type of kibble way to fast. Dogs won’t starve themselves, they eventually have to eat.

[Tina]

How do we know that Blue Buffalo is outsourcing to multiple factories? Wellness gets their vitamins from china, I know this because called and asked.

[Tina]

Thats interesting, my dog Shadow as a puppy he was on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy but after second bag of the exact same food he wouldn’t eat it at all not even to switch it to a new food.

[Tina]

My neighbor has a Yorkshire Terrier who is 18 years old and is allergic it nearly everything.

[Tina]

Dogs can have bad allergies to the proteins as well as grains and sometimes even potatoes. If you are worried about your dog having allergies to something just ask your vet for a food allergy test for your dog and that will tell you if he has any allergies at all.

[Tina]

Most dog food company’s offer one of these carbs or some other type of carb not mentioned. I’m just asking which one would be better to feed your dog if you had to choose? If there is something better please feel free to list it!

[Tina]

Merrick is a great food but my neighbors dog was on it and he had bad gas and very loose stool for weeks. I’m a Wellness fan and Wellness CORE is one of the best. My dogs had free samples of Merrick and just that alone caused them to have gas. Merrick is also very hard to find unless you have a Petco close to you.

[Tina]

Wellness large breed puppy or Wellness CORE puppy

[Tina]

It is widely available and also comes in different proteins like lamb, salmon and duck.

[Tina]

Wellness Simple Turkey and potato is great for dogs with sensitive stomach and skin issues. That would be the easiest to transition to.

[Tina]

Hip and joint problems, digestion problems, eye problems, ear problems

[Tina]

Blue Buffalo Wilderness?

[Author]

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