Coco's mom said:
...Kody- I was also concerned about the high protein content of EVO for small puppies, although they say it's fine for them. My personal preference is a more balanced kibble.
By more balanced, what do you have in mind? In what way does EVO seem less balanced for a puppy? or in what way do puppy kibbles seem more balanced? i'd be interested in peoples' thinking of this--it seems at least a few think of EVO as less balanced, at least for a puppy. i'm wondering in what way.
Innova claims that EVO is balanced for a dog (at all life stages), by the same rationale that raw feeders use, the "no grain" philosophy assumes that what dogs in the wild eat is more healthy for them, more digestable, and grains are not a significant part of their natural diet.
While Innova says that EVO is for all life stages, they also sell a regular puppy kibble and a regular adult kibble. Is that all about diversifying in order to grow market share? Or is there a health rationale?
Innova emphatically recommends EVO NOT be fed to large breed puppies, based on known health problems that have happened--i think the reason was that it's too rich or it promotes too rapid skeletal growth, and is known to have caused skeletal problems in those breeds. But that's also been the criticism I've read of puppy kibble, yet regular puppy kibble with grain and low protein ratios is very different from EVO--so what does that mean?
The problem i've heard raised with puppy kibble isn't one that happens in the short run but rather later in the dog's life--puppy kibble has said to cause the risk that the long bones will grow too fast in relation to the rest of the body, possibly causing skeletal problems. I don't know if this is true, i don't know if it's been studied. But it would cause me not to use a puppy kibble unless i could find out more about whether this is true or not.
i suppose if i got a puppy, i would mix EVO with another healthy adult dog kibble, or just give EVO, adjusting based on whether there are any digestive issues. But like everyone else, i would want to research it a lot first and get different peoples' opinions.