Innova for a new puppy

I'm definitely going to start Wesley on the Innova food, as it seems so many of you swear by it. But can I start him right away on the Innova EVO which you all use, OR... does he need to be on the Innova Puppy food? I just ask because there are different opinions on whether puppies can just have the adult food right away, as long as it's a good formula, etc.

Thanks in advance!

From what I was told the difference between puppy and adult food is the protein and fat content is different....puppies need the extra fat and protein in order to grow right...

I'm sorry but I really don't know the true answer...mayb before you get him might wanna run this question by your vet or breeder..or mayb someone else on the site might have an answer...

P.S. Take lots of pictures on the first night!!!!

I got Lucky Innova Puppy, but his tummy troubles started then so we never really fed it to him (he's on a prescription diet now). That said, from what I've read, puppy food is really not necessary and adult food is fine. Some of the breeders here might chime in, they have a better knowledge of the research around puppy nutrition than I do.

Right now, Lucky is on a puppy food, but if he did not have such a sensitive tummy, I'd probably move him off of puppy food based upon what I've read. It's a tough call.

That said -- is your breeder giving you some of the food that he's been eating? It's always good to transition slowing to a new food, so I'd find out what Wesley's been on before and see if your breeder will provide you at least a few days supply so you can transition gradually to a new food. You are going to have a blast!!! Can't wait to see pics!! :flwr:

those are good questions, i'd like to hear opinions on the subject. Innova Evo is already very high protein so it doesn't make sense to me that a puppy food would be needed for protein. The regular Innova, not the Evo, is not high protein. The puppy food is a version of the regular Innova, not the Evo.

It makes sense to me that puppies would do fine on a high quality adult food--if it's good for adults it will be good for puppies too. The puppy food option strikes me as a sales gimmick--i don't know, it's just my biased reaction, not something i have information about. But whether Evo is good for puppies, i dont' know. i think Innova does market it for dogs of all ages--they say it's like feeding raw because it doesn't have grains in it. Raw is supposed to be all life stages.

I was giving Zack Evo for several months starting when he was around 8 or 9 months old, but i needed to give him digestive enzymes for gas. then on the advice of a vet, i started mixing the Evo with regular Innova and the gas stopped. So maybe this is a good mix for Zack, still having the nutritional benefit of the Evo.

Food is an individualized thing. What's best for one dog or person can be different from what's better for another, and also what's best for one individual may vary over time too.

From what i read here, it seems many vets don't know about the premium dog foods, many just seem to know about Eukanuba and Iams and Science Diet, which are not as high a quality but vets haven't heard of the higher quality foods. Some have. In my experience it's been the holistic ones that have heard of the better quality dog foods. So, asking a vet for advice about what to feed might not take better quality foods into account.

She uses Fromm dog food and has mentioned that I will get a few days supply, as well as where to buy it from, but it's just a little too far for me to go. So I figured I'd try a transition to the Innova EVO. If it doesn't agree with him, I'll probably just go back to the Fromm.

on another forum, someone who others said was in the know said that Innova Evo was not good for large breed puppies, but was great after they finished growing,, but the person said Evo was good for small breed puppies,, they said that for toy breeds it was "ideal."

On that thread, someone posted that they had emailed Natura Pet, the brand that makes Innova, to ask about this, and they got a thorough email back which they posted, which i'll post here. I have heard once before, on this forum, that the company is great at communicating with dog owners who contact them, so it would always be valuable to call them directly and ask them questions about this unusual kind of dog food (Evo)--and then share their answers with us.

Here is the post--the person asked the company about feeding Evo to a large breed puppy who is already large. As you can see, the customer service guy does say EVO is an all life stages food that is appropriate for dogs that are not large breeds:

Response I got back from Innova on feeding EVO to a puppy:

Thank you for contacting us about our products. You should feed the puppy food until the reach their full growth potential.

The Innova EVO is balanced for all life stages, and therefore can be fed to puppies that are not large breeds.

Here is an excerpt from a letter our Vice President, co-founder, and nutritionist Peter Atkins wrote that might help to further define the Innova EVO and large breed puppies/dogs:
Q. Is EVO Dog Food appropriate to feed to my large breed puppy?

A. No. EVO Dog will tend to maximize growth. This could be harmful to the long term health and well being of your large breed puppy.

Q. Can I feed EVO Dog Food to my Adult or Senior Large Breed Dog?

A. Yes. Feeding EVO Dog Food to your adult large breed dog can work very nicely.

I hope I have given enough information to adequately address your query. If you have any further questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

Please reference the original e-mail when responding.

Rory Tharp
Customer Service Supervisor
Natura Pet Products
1-800-532-7261

Click to expand...

I think another problem with feeding puppy formulas is that the minerals and especially calcium might be too high, and maybe a problem with puppy foods is that different breeds or types of dogs may have different needs, whereas the puppy food is marketed to all dogs. I wish i knew more. I just have heard comments on the web but don't know the scientific foundation of any of them.

When I brought Darby home, I was feeding Dudley EVO and Darby always wanted it.

On the advise of my Vet and a few others I kept Darby on Puppy Food until he was 6 months then made the transition over to EVO.

I now mix EVO with either a litle chicken, fish or hamburger, with Solid Gold Seameal and occasionaly 1/8 tsp of fish oil which was recommended for Darby by the Vet when he was a puppy as he had dry skin.

Hope this helps.