Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Dog food question for the pet experts
I asked this a couple of days ago on the Pets board, but I got very little response. (Several of my posts there have basically gone unanswered. Is there a secret handshake?)
Winnie has been on Wellness Super5Mix small breed since we got her. Long story, but we didn't know what the foster (a boarding place, essentially) was feeding her exactly, and they forgot to give us any to transition her. No stomach upset, but she's been on it for about 7 weeks now, and her stool is soft. I've been giving her canned pumpkin in a kong, and that helps, but I would like to switch her food to something else that would work well for her and cause firm stool.
Chuck and Don's recommended either Natural Balance limited ingredient or CA Naturals, but to be honest, I hate to switch to a lesser food (5* to 4*), and I've seen the bad things about Natural Balance on the Pets board.
Would a grain free food be something to try, or could it be too rich and cause similar issues? Perhaps one of the lower protein ones? Other suggestions?
Re: Dog food question for the pet experts
I'm FAR from an expert but Miley was on TOTW and she had VERY loose stools also and got to the point she threw up almost daily. I switched her to Nature's Balance Lamb and brown rice formula and we have had ZERO tummy problems since!!
I know the Pets board doesn't like NB because of how they handled a recall quite a few years ago and someone's dog got very sick (possibly died?) from that food. But it's been highly recommended to me and it did a WORLD of good for Miley!
I've never found the pets board to be very helpful. Unless you're a regular or they can flame you, your questions get ignored.
My dog gets Natural Balance Duck and Potato. I was wary of Natural Balance because of the recalls, but every other protein we've tried has given her stomach issues, and CA Natural doesn't make a duck formula. The Chuck and Don's I shop at suggested starting with CA Natural Chicken and Rice. If that doesn't work for your dog, they will exchange the open bag for another formula.
Natural Balance was not good to my dog. Soft stool and the worst.gas.ever.
We switched to AvoDerm for no reason other than it was rated well and it happened to be on sale as we were perusing the aisles. It works really well for her and, really, the small amounts of avocado do make a difference in her coat. She's always had relatively soft and shiny fur, but it's just improved since being on this food.
What kind of dog is Winnie?
margaritas in mexico
Thanks to everyone so far!
Winnie is a schnauzer poodle mix. 9 pounds of fluff and spunk.
She seems to have a good coat, but she does scratch occasionally, and I know her ears get issues, so I clean them regularly.
Ditto on other comments about the pets board. Pesties tend to ignore people who aren't regulars unless there's some reason to flame them.
My parents had a similar issue (soft/loose stool) with the dog they adopted 2.5 months ago. They had started feeding him Wellness SuperMix lamb since that's what they feed their other dog, but the new dog didn't do as well on it. They switched the new dog to Wellness Core (6*) and he's been fine.
Mr. Sammy Dog
Most transitions take about 2 weeks.
We've tried several different foods and discovered that grain free fish based food works the best for Rusty's ears and allergies. He gets Wellness Core Ocean. Works wonders.
He's had some new itchies pop up - I will be transitioning him to raw over the next month or so. I'm sick and tired of going to the vet for that stuff.
Have you ever thought of going raw? Woody's Pet Food Deli is supposed to be awesome.
The Pets board moves really fast and sometimes posts get lost in the shuffle. I've also noticed though that some posts with nondescript subjects sometimes get passed by. Instead of maybe putting "Dog food question" try something like "Loose stool - change dog food?". The more specific the better. In all honesty there are lots of food posts all the time and I think a lot of the knowledgeable regulars just get burned out on answering. Have you checked the FAQ's at the top of the board? I haven't checked them for awhile so I don't know what is in the food section.
How old is Winnie? I know you're not supposed to feed grain free to large breed puppies but it sounds like she is none of those things?
Our guys do really well on Solid Gold Barking At The Moon. Our backyard is full of evidence of lots of solid poops! (Solid solid, not just frozen solid.)
You have no idea how glad I was to open this and see that you're feeding something other than one of the "popular" nasty brands like Iams, Eukanuba, Purina etc. Until people switch they really have no idea how much difference a good food makes!
And now your payment for all of this advice is more pictures of Winnie :-)
I switched my dog to a raw diet about six months ago and haven't had any problems since.
I started with Stella & Chewy dehydrated raw meat, but now feed Primal (frozen nuggets.) You can find them both at Chuck and Don's. They will even give you a free sample of 20 pieces of the Primal, I think you should try it!
Thanks so much, everyone! This is all very helpful! I'm happy to report that I learned when I had a cat (we had to put her to sleep a couple of years ago) about the importance of good nutrition, so no, I'm not a science diet/iams girl! I have been wondering if Winnie would do better on a fish protein. I'm unsure about raw, but perhaps I will get the sample from Chuch and Don's.
Winnie is at least 4 (microchip first registered in Oct. 2006), but we really have no idea other than to say she's not yet senior. The poodle in her makes her somewhat uninterested in food, so finding something that appeals to her is also important to me.
And for your trouble, here are a couple of new pictures.
Displaying her pretty haircut:
Showing off how spoiled she is, pre-haircut:
It felt like my puppy went through about 100 different foods before we found one that worked for her (soft stool). She started on Wellness once she came home and it wasn't good! I think I remember people saying it may be too rich, but she was also just a puppy. We tried CA Natural, it got better. Then we decided to go grain free. We tried Natural Instinct, better yet, but not perfect. Then we went to Natural Balance. It had limited ingredients and was grain free. That really helped her! (Like pp it seems people are mad about a recall they had, but if it works for your dog then it works!) We tried a few different proteins with Natural Balance. I liked their formula's because it was easier to narrow down a possible culprit with her tummy issues. They only have 1 protein and 1 carb. We are now on Nature's Domain which is sold at Costco. It is salmon and sweet potato and she has been fine ever since.
It can be a very frustrating process to go through! But it may just be narrowing down the right protein and carbs that work for your pup. Chuck and Don's it great and will take food back if it isn't working for your pup too.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
She's adorable! Thanks for sharing.
margaritas in mexico
Cute pup!!
Charlie has a sensitive stomach and the only food that has worked is California Natural. We get the chicken and rice formula! GL!
My Bio
Married Bio
I am late to the party, but thought I would respond anyways. Popeye is a picky eater. It took us a long time to find a food that was good to his stomach, and that was palatable for him.
We feed him Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul which is a 5 star dog food, has good protein and vegetable sources, and he really seems to like it.
2.3.11: Started TTC
2.8.12:Initial b/w - Normal
3.7.12:HSG - Normal
3.8.12:S/A - Normal
Cycle #12/Month #15 - 50mg.Clomid CD5-CD9 - BFN
4.24.12: RE appointment - DX Unexplained IF
7.12 - 9.12: TTA
10.12 - 1.13: TTC Naturally
February 2013 - IUI #1 w/100 mg Clomid - 5 mil.post-wash: BFFN
March 2013 - IUI #2 w/100 mg Clomid & Trigger - ?? MY BLOG
She's adorable! I would recommend a grain-free food. Good kibble to try would be Acana, Orijen, or Nature's Variety Instinct. I'm a huge fan of raw food. It literally saved our senior dog's life when she was having serious irritable bowel issues when we adopted her and prior had tried nearly every food. We fed her Nature's Variety raw but other pre-made formulations are good too. Stella and Chewy's has a process that ensures their products are pathogen free. Our 6 yo dog, Sofie, was fed raw up until our daughter was born. I've tried various grain free kibble/cans and haven't found anything that I'm as happy with as I was with the raw. Just not comfortable with feeding raw right now with a mobile infant in the house.
About a month ago I started feeding Sofie the Deli Fresh Pet food. http://www.delifreshpet.com/ Sofie gets the grain free Vital formulation and they have quite a long list of retailers that carry it. I've been really happy with this so far and seems as closer to raw than the kibble. I also want to try Country Pet Naturals http://www.countrypet.com/ but so far I've only found it at Whole Foods and we don't have one close so I haven't had a chance to buy any yet.
Good luck finding a food!
Photo taken at 16 months old