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Which dry food is best?

S

swellsie

New member
We have had Ruby for 7 weeks now and she has had various health issues - eye infection, worms, kennel cough, gardia (poss not spealt that right) and another bacterial infection.

The vet told us to put her on Hills Vet Essentials which we did but she can now go onto a different one. Only problem is each one I try upsets her tummy. Before I did any research I put her on Bakers and that was ok. Vet said it was a bad food and most opinions on the net agree with that. So I tried her on JWB - runny poos - and now Royal Canin same again.

So can anyone make any suggestions as to what to give her? :confused:

Oddly enough if she has our food it doesn't seem to affect her :confused: :confused:

Any advice is greatly appreciated as we only want what is best for her.
 
First of all you should make sure you do any switches gradually over the space of a couple of weeks to help prevent tummy upsets. IMO the "best" food is the one that your dog does best on.

Personally in a dry food I look for one without corn or other corn products, (although most of the vet diets here in Canada have corn as the #1 ingredient) and avoid unnamed proteins or meals and by- products.
 
Where do you live? The U.S. has "Taste of the Wild" - highly recommended as grain-free and easily digestible with real meats, fruits, veggies, antioxidants, and great for the immune system. It's the only dry food Nalu will eat (She's sampled lots!!) I add probiotics to it to firm up her stools. The kernels are nice and small and it comes in a variety of flavors so you can offer variety without transitions.
 
Our little guy loves his fresh chicken breast and rice puppy loaf. It has the same consistency as a deli meat and he
really enjoys it. We also feed him a beef based dry food that we pop into his treat ball and refill it twice a day. I think an assortment of
different textures and flavours keeps your puppies diet interesting. We treat him with Kangaroo sticks and half a raw carrot to chew on
as well while he's getting his big boy teeth.

Our little guy also has little cubes of watermelon and apple for dessert in the evenings as well.
We try to give him as well of a balance diet as possible and offer a variety of foods, so he isn't bored with the same thing.
It works for us, as he's a solid 6kgs and is happy and healthy.
 
Which dry food is best?

Forgive me for putting it this way, but I cannot think of any dry food that is best. This is what my dogs' vet has to say about dry food:

"Another reason for overweight pets is what we feed our pet friends. Commercial pet food is anywhere between 45 percent to 65 percent carbohydrates (grains). Grains are the least expensive part of pet food and can fill the animal quickly. Dogs and cats are more carnivores than we humans are, and we are feeding them almost as much grain (or more) than we humans eat. I feel that this high carbohydrate commercial pet food is the worst food we can feed our pet friends. Our pet friends need fresh meats, not dehydrated meat by-products. I also feel vegetables are an excellent source of fiber and moisture as well as sources of natural vitamins and minerals for our pet friends."

"I feel most commercial foods use poor quality proteins, and destroy even those with high temperature cooking."
 
I fed taste of the wild from April till November of this year. Grain free seemed to make anal glands more of an issue, so we're back to a diet that includes grain. I was very happy with taste of the wild overall, but they would both have very full glands after only 4 weeks.

The current food has meat, or meat meal as 3 of the top 5 ingredients. I can't judge yet how well they'll do on it.
 
RodRussell said:
Which dry food is best?

Forgive me for putting it this way, but I cannot think of any dry food that is best. This is what my dogs' vet has to say about dry food:

"Another reason for overweight pets is what we feed our pet friends. Commercial pet food is anywhere between 45 percent to 65 percent carbohydrates (grains). Grains are the least expensive part of pet food and can fill the animal quickly. Dogs and cats are more carnivores than we humans are, and we are feeding them almost as much grain (or more) than we humans eat. I feel that this high carbohydrate commercial pet food is the worst food we can feed our pet friends. Our pet friends need fresh meats, not dehydrated meat by-products. I also feel vegetables are an excellent source of fiber and moisture as well as sources of natural vitamins and minerals for our pet friends."

"I feel most commercial foods use poor quality proteins, and destroy even those with high temperature cooking."
Click to expand...

Although I don't entirely disagree with this I would say that the reason we have overweight pets is because we feed them too much period. A pet could get fat eating a home prepared diet if its fed too much. It's far too easy to go on the internet and find a "recipe" for home cooked or raw that is not well balanced and will cause your pet harm long term. I totally agree that non-processed is best as long as it's also well balanced. I think a good quality kibble is far better than a home prepared diet where the calcium/phosphorus rations (for instance) aren't balanced.
 
I feed mine on Darlings Raw Food, (60% meat, 30% Veg, 10% ground bone) , we do not have any problems regarding general condition of skin, coat, eyes, teeth or anal glands.
If I was not able to feed raw, I would switch to K9 natural freeze dried raw food. http://www.k9natural.co.uk/index.php/k9-products/k9-natural-freeze-dried/


When we first put them on the raw diet, we fed the amount recommended. It was far too much, we adjusted according to the amount of exercise they have.
 
We feed Sonny, Dick Van Patton's Natural Balance Potato and Duck formula in his treat ball and then his treats throughout the day are usually different meats, so far we have given him chicken, pork and steak.
 
I feed mine Merrick dry with a teaspoon of Merrick canned mixed in. They have done very well on this. I try to restrict treats to raw veggies, which they love, or Mother Hubbard biscuts with an organic "cookie" for a bed time snack. Ihave some problems buying the Merrick since the one pet store closed and tried to switch only to end up at the vet with a tummy ache.
 
I used to feed Kokoda Royal Canin, and he was doing quitre well on it and I fed my previous dog on it. However, I have always wanted to try raw.

So now I feed Kokoda a mixture of Ziwi peak and some premade raw patties, chicken necks and other assorted bones.
We get the meat from a small pet food company that delivers it to us, so it's very convenient and he loves it.
They "consist of a combination of Fresh Meat, Ground Soft Bone, Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables, Flaxseed, Kelp, Omega 3, 6, 9, Yoghurt and Garlic."

The ziwi peak is extremely different to anything I have ever fed any of my dogs.
It is a bit like jerky treats and when I first put it in his bowl he looked at me like i was insane for giving him treats for dinner.
But he loves it! I can't say I think it smells too appealing... but he loves it. When i tried to introduce it gradually into his diet, he just picked those bits out of it and left his other bikkies!

This is the ziwi site : http://www.ziwipeak.com/nzl/home.shtml

Hope this helps!
 
I feed mine Fish4Dogs, which seems to have sorted out Maddie's colitis (no episodes since she switched to this she can't have chicken or turkey) and Pippins yeasty eyes (possibly due to the fact it doesn't have grains)
New addition Rosie (10wks old) is currently on James Wellbeloved Duck and Rice, but we will be switching her over to Fish4Dogs once we start to get towards the end of the food the breeder gave us.

Although kibble fed none of them are fat, Pippin did put on weight on Orijen, but that was because I was giving him far too much of it.

I echo what others have said about making the change over gradual - much better for them and less chance of upsets.
 
I used advance puppy but wanted to swap to Royal canin cavalier king charles spaniel mix at 12 months...but they dont make it anymore so am trying eukanuba spaniel mix......also has tuckertime loaf at night........ sparkles isnt a fan of dry food.......so tucker time has everything in it.........
anyone tried this from australia??
 
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