Dog food???

[LittleMissMich]

Lady has gotten rather picky with her food, so I can't cut any corners. I was thinking of putting her back on freshpet select again since she did well on it. I add fish oil to all her meals. I won't even look in the direction of purina, iams, or kibbles 'n bits...or any other crap food out there. I loved it when she was eating raw, but we moved and i haven't been found a store or butcher willing to sell scraps. I would love to have her on raw, my boyfriend bought her a bag of chicken and now she's in love with him rofl He brings her all kinds of treats like that. I don't like how her coat is looking since this second bag of diamond. I'll look into wellness since it seems to be getting the most hype. It might be available around here.  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

- Vet Tech - 2011

I would also suggest Wellness or Natural Balance. I have heard good things about Fromm as well but never used the diet myself to know a lot about it.

Let me think on it and I will see if I can come up with some other ideas that will avoid most allergy-causing ingredients but be easier on your wallet.

Cowboy was on FROMM for the better part of a year. Was the best thing my parents would buy. He did very well on it. He actually LOST weight on that food and even more when I took over buying the food and switched him to Acana/Orijen. Which being grainless you wouldn't think the best choice for an overweight dog.

Anyway, all this to say I would still feed FROMM, I just personally find it a little high in grains. Which is a bit deceiving because natural foods like FROMM and blue buffalo boast real meat as the number one ingredient but if you add up all the carb sources it would outweigh the meat easily.  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

LittleMissMich

Lady has gotten rather picky with her food, so I can't cut any corners. I was thinking of putting her back on freshpet select again since she did well on it. I add fish oil to all her meals. I won't even look in the direction of purina, iams, or kibbles 'n bits...or any other crap food out there. I loved it when she was eating raw, but we moved and i haven't been found a store or butcher willing to sell scraps. I would love to have her on raw, my boyfriend bought her a bag of chicken and now she's in love with him rofl He brings her all kinds of treats like that. I don't like how her coat is looking since this second bag of diamond. I'll look into wellness since it seems to be getting the most hype. It might be available around here.

I'm not familiar with freshpet but if it worked... Wellness I like to recommend because for the price it's a great food. There are a couple better ones out there BUT recommending a food to someone that they get sticker shock from will often turn them away from any natural kind of food and not want to listen to me at all lol. I try to keep budget in mind when I work as well. Like my ex's mom I will never push her to go grainless with her cats. For one they're overweight but I also know the food their on is less expensive than Wellness but almost as good. No by-products at least, and the glucosamine did a world of difference on her older cat.

Plus, sometimes when you can get a customer to go up in quality just a bit and they see the difference for themselves, they're more willing to upgrade more.  

[- Vet Tech - 2011]

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

- Vet Tech - 2011

I would also suggest Wellness or Natural Balance. I have heard good things about Fromm as well but never used the diet myself to know a lot about it.

Let me think on it and I will see if I can come up with some other ideas that will avoid most allergy-causing ingredients but be easier on your wallet.

Cowboy was on FROMM for the better part of a year. Was the best thing my parents would buy. He did very well on it. He actually LOST weight on that food and even more when I took over buying the food and switched him to Acana/Orijen. Which being grainless you wouldn't think the best choice for an overweight dog.

Anyway, all this to say I would still feed FROMM, I just personally find it a little high in grains. Which is a bit deceiving because natural foods like FROMM and blue buffalo boast real meat as the number one ingredient but if you add up all the carb sources it would outweigh the meat easily.

The common major allergy causing ingredients I frequently see are wheat, soy and corn. I do believe other allergy causing ingredients are normally beef, egg, ... there is something else but it's not coming to me off the top of my head (I would avoid any artificial colours etc.)
Do you know if its a specific ingredient? Just from trial and error on foods (and dental chews) with my parents westie allergic ingredients are wheat and soy. He would have itchy ears (ruled out an infection-type problem), flaky skin and/or small raised scabby bumps along the center of his back. If we stay away from these ingredients he doesn't have a problem. Luckily we found food AND dental chews that don't cause him problems.

I agree grain-less would be better, but there are normally a complete grain-free formula or two with most holistic dog food companies. A duck (or lamb) and potato formula might be a better formula for a dog with severe allergies, especially if the cause of the allergy is unknown. It's what I would recommend starting with.

There are many holistic companies out there I could recommend, Fromm, Wellness, Blue Buff (not a fav for me personally), Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's, Acana, Natural Balance. I'm not sure of too many others I am only familiar with brands sold locally to me. There should be grain-less formula's within each company which for a dog with allergies would be a better choice or the ideal choice. You can do some research and see what works best for your budget and give that a try, buy smaller bags at first during the "trial" period.  

[LittleMissMich]

- Vet Tech - 2011

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

- Vet Tech - 2011

I would also suggest Wellness or Natural Balance. I have heard good things about Fromm as well but never used the diet myself to know a lot about it.

Let me think on it and I will see if I can come up with some other ideas that will avoid most allergy-causing ingredients but be easier on your wallet.

Cowboy was on FROMM for the better part of a year. Was the best thing my parents would buy. He did very well on it. He actually LOST weight on that food and even more when I took over buying the food and switched him to Acana/Orijen. Which being grainless you wouldn't think the best choice for an overweight dog.

Anyway, all this to say I would still feed FROMM, I just personally find it a little high in grains. Which is a bit deceiving because natural foods like FROMM and blue buffalo boast real meat as the number one ingredient but if you add up all the carb sources it would outweigh the meat easily.

The common major allergy causing ingredients I frequently see are wheat, soy and corn. I do believe other allergy causing ingredients are normally beef, egg, ... there is something else but it's not coming to me off the top of my head (I would avoid any artificial colours etc.)
Do you know if its a specific ingredient? Just from trial and error on foods (and dental chews) with my parents westie allergic ingredients are wheat and soy. He would have itchy ears (ruled out an infection-type problem), flaky skin and/or small raised scabby bumps along the center of his back. If we stay away from these ingredients he doesn't have a problem. Luckily we found food AND dental chews that don't cause him problems.

I agree grain-less would be better, but there are normally a complete grain-free formula or two with most holistic dog food companies. A duck (or lamb) and potato formula might be a better formula for a dog with severe allergies, especially if the cause of the allergy is unknown. It's what I would recommend starting with.

There are many holistic companies out there I could recommend, Fromm, Wellness, Blue Buff (not a fav for me personally), Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's, Acana, Natural Balance. I'm not sure of too many others I am only familiar with brands sold locally to me. There should be grain-less formula's within each company which for a dog with allergies would be a better choice or the ideal choice. You can do some research and see what works best for your budget and give that a try, buy smaller bags at first during the "trial" period.

She was on blue, but it caused her major breakout of hotspots and hair loss. Natural Balance did the same thing to her...I'm looking for wellness right now, I found Solid gold, but it's like $50 for 25lbs...Not happening. Fresh Pet is a refrigerated food that's $12 for 6lbs of meat, veggy, and brown rice mash. She's highly allergic to yeast (brewer's yeast) and it's in just about every dogfood except fresh pet.  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

LittleMissMich

- Vet Tech - 2011

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

- Vet Tech - 2011

I would also suggest Wellness or Natural Balance. I have heard good things about Fromm as well but never used the diet myself to know a lot about it.

Let me think on it and I will see if I can come up with some other ideas that will avoid most allergy-causing ingredients but be easier on your wallet.

Cowboy was on FROMM for the better part of a year. Was the best thing my parents would buy. He did very well on it. He actually LOST weight on that food and even more when I took over buying the food and switched him to Acana/Orijen. Which being grainless you wouldn't think the best choice for an overweight dog.

Anyway, all this to say I would still feed FROMM, I just personally find it a little high in grains. Which is a bit deceiving because natural foods like FROMM and blue buffalo boast real meat as the number one ingredient but if you add up all the carb sources it would outweigh the meat easily.

The common major allergy causing ingredients I frequently see are wheat, soy and corn. I do believe other allergy causing ingredients are normally beef, egg, ... there is something else but it's not coming to me off the top of my head (I would avoid any artificial colours etc.)
Do you know if its a specific ingredient? Just from trial and error on foods (and dental chews) with my parents westie allergic ingredients are wheat and soy. He would have itchy ears (ruled out an infection-type problem), flaky skin and/or small raised scabby bumps along the center of his back. If we stay away from these ingredients he doesn't have a problem. Luckily we found food AND dental chews that don't cause him problems.

I agree grain-less would be better, but there are normally a complete grain-free formula or two with most holistic dog food companies. A duck (or lamb) and potato formula might be a better formula for a dog with severe allergies, especially if the cause of the allergy is unknown. It's what I would recommend starting with.

There are many holistic companies out there I could recommend, Fromm, Wellness, Blue Buff (not a fav for me personally), Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's, Acana, Natural Balance. I'm not sure of too many others I am only familiar with brands sold locally to me. There should be grain-less formula's within each company which for a dog with allergies would be a better choice or the ideal choice. You can do some research and see what works best for your budget and give that a try, buy smaller bags at first during the "trial" period.

She was on blue, but it caused her major breakout of hotspots and hair loss. Natural Balance did the same thing to her...I'm looking for wellness right now, I found Solid gold, but it's like $50 for 25lbs...Not happening. Fresh Pet is a refrigerated food that's $12 for 6lbs of meat, veggy, and brown rice mash. She's highly allergic to yeast (brewer's yeast) and it's in just about every dogfood except fresh pet.

Again I don't know the company so I cant say for sure, but it sounds like a good option. Fresh food being the second best option after raw generally speaking. There's a "restaurant" near my headquaters that sells it and it's too expensive even for ME to buy regularly (close to $5 a day for Cowboy) I still get it when I'm in the area as a treat. But I find the raw actually cheaper, the pre packaged "Instinct" that I get anyway.  

[LittleMissMich]

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

LittleMissMich

- Vet Tech - 2011

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

- Vet Tech - 2011

I would also suggest Wellness or Natural Balance. I have heard good things about Fromm as well but never used the diet myself to know a lot about it.

Let me think on it and I will see if I can come up with some other ideas that will avoid most allergy-causing ingredients but be easier on your wallet.

Cowboy was on FROMM for the better part of a year. Was the best thing my parents would buy. He did very well on it. He actually LOST weight on that food and even more when I took over buying the food and switched him to Acana/Orijen. Which being grainless you wouldn't think the best choice for an overweight dog.

Anyway, all this to say I would still feed FROMM, I just personally find it a little high in grains. Which is a bit deceiving because natural foods like FROMM and blue buffalo boast real meat as the number one ingredient but if you add up all the carb sources it would outweigh the meat easily.

The common major allergy causing ingredients I frequently see are wheat, soy and corn. I do believe other allergy causing ingredients are normally beef, egg, ... there is something else but it's not coming to me off the top of my head (I would avoid any artificial colours etc.)
Do you know if its a specific ingredient? Just from trial and error on foods (and dental chews) with my parents westie allergic ingredients are wheat and soy. He would have itchy ears (ruled out an infection-type problem), flaky skin and/or small raised scabby bumps along the center of his back. If we stay away from these ingredients he doesn't have a problem. Luckily we found food AND dental chews that don't cause him problems.

I agree grain-less would be better, but there are normally a complete grain-free formula or two with most holistic dog food companies. A duck (or lamb) and potato formula might be a better formula for a dog with severe allergies, especially if the cause of the allergy is unknown. It's what I would recommend starting with.

There are many holistic companies out there I could recommend, Fromm, Wellness, Blue Buff (not a fav for me personally), Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's, Acana, Natural Balance. I'm not sure of too many others I am only familiar with brands sold locally to me. There should be grain-less formula's within each company which for a dog with allergies would be a better choice or the ideal choice. You can do some research and see what works best for your budget and give that a try, buy smaller bags at first during the "trial" period.

She was on blue, but it caused her major breakout of hotspots and hair loss. Natural Balance did the same thing to her...I'm looking for wellness right now, I found Solid gold, but it's like $50 for 25lbs...Not happening. Fresh Pet is a refrigerated food that's $12 for 6lbs of meat, veggy, and brown rice mash. She's highly allergic to yeast (brewer's yeast) and it's in just about every dogfood except fresh pet.

Again I don't know the company so I cant say for sure, but it sounds like a good option. Fresh food being the second best option after raw generally speaking. There's a "restaurant" near my headquaters that sells it and it's too expensive even for ME to buy regularly (close to $5 a day for Cowboy) I still get it when I'm in the area as a treat. But I find the raw actually cheaper, the pre packaged "Instinct" that I get anyway.

The price combined with her metabolism proved to be too much for my budget. I would like to get it as a treat since she still loves it. My boyfriend bought her a weeks worth of raw chicken, my male won't touch it, but Lady loves it. She weirdly loves chicken liver too...My male won't touch raw food. He's a garbage gut, but he won't eat the high grade stuff.  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

LittleMissMich

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

LittleMissMich

- Vet Tech - 2011

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

- Vet Tech - 2011

I would also suggest Wellness or Natural Balance. I have heard good things about Fromm as well but never used the diet myself to know a lot about it.

Let me think on it and I will see if I can come up with some other ideas that will avoid most allergy-causing ingredients but be easier on your wallet.

Cowboy was on FROMM for the better part of a year. Was the best thing my parents would buy. He did very well on it. He actually LOST weight on that food and even more when I took over buying the food and switched him to Acana/Orijen. Which being grainless you wouldn't think the best choice for an overweight dog.

Anyway, all this to say I would still feed FROMM, I just personally find it a little high in grains. Which is a bit deceiving because natural foods like FROMM and blue buffalo boast real meat as the number one ingredient but if you add up all the carb sources it would outweigh the meat easily.

The common major allergy causing ingredients I frequently see are wheat, soy and corn. I do believe other allergy causing ingredients are normally beef, egg, ... there is something else but it's not coming to me off the top of my head (I would avoid any artificial colours etc.)
Do you know if its a specific ingredient? Just from trial and error on foods (and dental chews) with my parents westie allergic ingredients are wheat and soy. He would have itchy ears (ruled out an infection-type problem), flaky skin and/or small raised scabby bumps along the center of his back. If we stay away from these ingredients he doesn't have a problem. Luckily we found food AND dental chews that don't cause him problems.

I agree grain-less would be better, but there are normally a complete grain-free formula or two with most holistic dog food companies. A duck (or lamb) and potato formula might be a better formula for a dog with severe allergies, especially if the cause of the allergy is unknown. It's what I would recommend starting with.

There are many holistic companies out there I could recommend, Fromm, Wellness, Blue Buff (not a fav for me personally), Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's, Acana, Natural Balance. I'm not sure of too many others I am only familiar with brands sold locally to me. There should be grain-less formula's within each company which for a dog with allergies would be a better choice or the ideal choice. You can do some research and see what works best for your budget and give that a try, buy smaller bags at first during the "trial" period.

She was on blue, but it caused her major breakout of hotspots and hair loss. Natural Balance did the same thing to her...I'm looking for wellness right now, I found Solid gold, but it's like $50 for 25lbs...Not happening. Fresh Pet is a refrigerated food that's $12 for 6lbs of meat, veggy, and brown rice mash. She's highly allergic to yeast (brewer's yeast) and it's in just about every dogfood except fresh pet.

Again I don't know the company so I cant say for sure, but it sounds like a good option. Fresh food being the second best option after raw generally speaking. There's a "restaurant" near my headquaters that sells it and it's too expensive even for ME to buy regularly (close to $5 a day for Cowboy) I still get it when I'm in the area as a treat. But I find the raw actually cheaper, the pre packaged "Instinct" that I get anyway.

The price combined with her metabolism proved to be too much for my budget. I would like to get it as a treat since she still loves it. My boyfriend bought her a weeks worth of raw chicken, my male won't touch it, but Lady loves it. She weirdly loves chicken liver too...My male won't touch raw food. He's a garbage gut, but he won't eat the high grade stuff.

If she did great on fresh she might do just as great or better on raw. And like I said, I personally find it cheaper. A bag of Instinct well I'd need to check prices. A small bag is 20, that lasts my cat about a month. You can probably supliment raw in her regular diet when you can. 2-3 times a week would probably be beneficial. But I wouldn't do JUST chicken a whole week. Either you make a balanced meal, or you use dog food and replace a meal once a day 2-3 times a week.  

[LittleMissMich]

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

LittleMissMich

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

LittleMissMich

- Vet Tech - 2011

The common major allergy causing ingredients I frequently see are wheat, soy and corn. I do believe other allergy causing ingredients are normally beef, egg, ... there is something else but it's not coming to me off the top of my head (I would avoid any artificial colours etc.)
Do you know if its a specific ingredient? Just from trial and error on foods (and dental chews) with my parents westie allergic ingredients are wheat and soy. He would have itchy ears (ruled out an infection-type problem), flaky skin and/or small raised scabby bumps along the center of his back. If we stay away from these ingredients he doesn't have a problem. Luckily we found food AND dental chews that don't cause him problems.

I agree grain-less would be better, but there are normally a complete grain-free formula or two with most holistic dog food companies. A duck (or lamb) and potato formula might be a better formula for a dog with severe allergies, especially if the cause of the allergy is unknown. It's what I would recommend starting with.

There are many holistic companies out there I could recommend, Fromm, Wellness, Blue Buff (not a fav for me personally), Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's, Acana, Natural Balance. I'm not sure of too many others I am only familiar with brands sold locally to me. There should be grain-less formula's within each company which for a dog with allergies would be a better choice or the ideal choice. You can do some research and see what works best for your budget and give that a try, buy smaller bags at first during the "trial" period.

She was on blue, but it caused her major breakout of hotspots and hair loss. Natural Balance did the same thing to her...I'm looking for wellness right now, I found Solid gold, but it's like $50 for 25lbs...Not happening. Fresh Pet is a refrigerated food that's $12 for 6lbs of meat, veggy, and brown rice mash. She's highly allergic to yeast (brewer's yeast) and it's in just about every dogfood except fresh pet.

Again I don't know the company so I cant say for sure, but it sounds like a good option. Fresh food being the second best option after raw generally speaking. There's a "restaurant" near my headquaters that sells it and it's too expensive even for ME to buy regularly (close to $5 a day for Cowboy) I still get it when I'm in the area as a treat. But I find the raw actually cheaper, the pre packaged "Instinct" that I get anyway.

The price combined with her metabolism proved to be too much for my budget. I would like to get it as a treat since she still loves it. My boyfriend bought her a weeks worth of raw chicken, my male won't touch it, but Lady loves it. She weirdly loves chicken liver too...My male won't touch raw food. He's a garbage gut, but he won't eat the high grade stuff.

If she did great on fresh she might do just as great or better on raw. And like I said, I personally find it cheaper. A bag of Instinct well I'd need to check prices. A small bag is 20, that lasts my cat about a month. You can probably supplement raw in her regular diet when you can. 2-3 times a week would probably be beneficial. But I wouldn't do JUST chicken a whole week. Either you make a balanced meal, or you use dog food and replace a meal once a day 2-3 times a week.

she never eats just chicken, she'd hate me...and yell at me, and if you've ever heard a collie bark you'd know how piercing it is. It's added to her dog food and it helps her to not get hotspots, it stops at dry skin. My vet told me to rub baby oil on her skin...is that okay?  

[LittleMissMich]

There was a giveaway at Wilco up the street from me^^ Lady got a 5lb bag of Infinia Bison and potato dry food. It's grain free and has ingredients that I like. She wanted the 8lb bag of Exclusive lamb and rice(she wouldn't leave the giant bag alone and scarfed down some samples rofl ) But they were all out of that one. I'll never buy dog food at petsmart again!!! scream It was $55 for a 15lb bad of wellness and lady didn't even want to sniff it. I got her nature's recipe because it had okay ingredients for the price. The lamb and rice one said it had Tuarine in it...not sure how it affects dogs, but I know it isn't good for people. I got her the chicken and rice instead, but she never does too good on that formula. We'll see how things go. I'll be buying at Wilco from now on though 3nodding i found the 35lb for cheaper than the 15lb bag that I got. Not cool petsmart! stressed She seems excited about the Infinia; I'll save it to use as a transition after she gets close to finishing her current bag. I also found plenty of exoearth and cocofiber for only $3.99 for my frog. I don't know why I never went into this store before!!! sweatdrop sometimes I wonder about me...  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

What I meant to say was JUST meat is not a complete diet. If it was a whole prey including heart, brain, liver, stomach etc. Then yes, but just the muscle meat is high phosphorus with no calcium to balance it. Also wouldn't give the microminerals macromineral or vitamins needed.

As for baby oil, if the vet says to do it, I guess it's safe. Would it be possible to get an omega 3 supplement instead? I use to carry one, forget the brand but it was a food supplement AND you could rub it topically.  

[LittleMissMich]

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

What I meant to say was JUST meat is not a complete diet. If it was a whole prey including heart, brain, liver, stomach etc. Then yes, but just the muscle meat is high phosphorus with no calcium to balance it. Also wouldn't give the microminerals macromineral or vitamins needed.

As for baby oil, if the vet says to do it, I guess it's safe. Would it be possible to get an omega 3 supplement instead? I use to carry one, forget the brand but it was a food supplement AND you could rub it topically.

I put triple omega fish oil in her food, she loves it and it's helped her to avoid hotspots and full on rashes from allergies for a while now. I'm just unsure of the baby oil, after using it for a couple days she started acting lethargic and even refused to go for a walk...she never refuses, she knows I'm about to ask before i even look at her. I stopped using it, but if she breaks out again I might use it to see if it works. it could have been our upcoming vacation that stressed her like that.

She does get butcher bones and loves chicken liver and chicken necks. I can't get my other dog to eat them. He eats anything and everything gross, but not the good stuff...you'd think he'd love liver because it's squishy, but he touched it with his tongue and acted like I hit him. I'm glad that at least Lady loves the healthy stuff. 3nodding  

[Animelover955]

For my dogs I've been trying to find the right brand for a while now. I started Abby out on Wellness CORE and I loved it! It worked wonders for her. However for one at the time it was just Abby on core and I bought the smaller bag however it really hurt my wallet since I don't exactly have a working job yet(just babysitting adn dogsitting) and now that Bo's also switched over I just couldn't afford it. Then tried Blue and didn't really like it much. So Switched to TOTW. Another great brand however just made the dogs really gassy and gave Bo more runny poo's so once again I switched and tried some canidae. Another brand I liked though I relaly don't know why I switched... Anyways now I'm trying out Innova. The only issue is Abby's allergies to the grain so we're going to be switching to Innova EVO and giving that a go and hopefully see how the dogs take to it.

I also supplment wih Fish Oil and flaxseed oil  

[LittleMissMich]

I've added benedryl to her food, and it seems to be helping her with her itchy skin. She looks like she's doing great, I did find a small hotspot on her skin that connects to her leg(can't remember the name...) It looked like it was healing, so I guess it's okay. She's lost her belly chub and gained her muscle back which I'm really happy about. She's more active and looks healthier. Her coat is nice and shiny and soft. I get compliments now, it makes me feel good 3nodding