Quote:
Originally Posted by Furbaby Friend  All,
I am now thinking about putting Rylie on the Natural Balance L.I.D. Potato and Duck small bites formula for small breeds: Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance® L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® Potato & Duck Formula
It is similar to what Suki (my kitty) eats and she's done very well. It is also grain free and hypoallergenic.  Also, I'm hoping since that both would be eating duck based that neither of them would be tempted to eat the others food :P I do plan on putting Suki's food on a high counter, which only Suki can get to, in order to keep Rylie away from the cat food as I've read in Yorkies for Dummies that cat food can cause health/digestive issues. Suki, on the other hand, would be able to access Rylie's food and so she might be tempted if it was chicken/fish flavored anyway and we really didn't pin-point what exactly she was allergic to. I just assumed it was the grains, but it could have been a protein source who knows.
It also meets all the protein percentage requirements I mentioned earlier. I know Britster mentioned that protein content can be an iffy matter, but it is kind of nice it adheres by the book. It puts my new mama mind at ease. Perhaps if I was more experienced I would feel more comfortable.
All in all, it seems this food fulfills basically the same requirements as Blue Buffalo and has some bonuses:
1.) It is *slightly* (but not by much) cheaper
2.) It is sold in the same place as Suki's current food since it is the same brand. I will have to double check that my specific store carries the small bites version though!
They also made a point on their website that puppies and adults don't need special formulas, so they only have the one for all growth stages. Is this accurate? Their reasoning makes sense: that the pups wouldn't eat something different from the parents in the wild, they'd just eat different amounts. It sounds like solid logic to me.
Thank you all SO MUCH for your input. I really appreciate it.
P.S. I'm sorry for being so indecisive, but I just really really want to be a good mama to my Rylie. I want so much to do everything right for her and I've already experienced the heartache and worry that goes with a poor diet via Suki. I don't want to put Rylie through that. I was uninformed with Suki, as all our prior cats did just fine on the "normal"(::cough::subpar::cough: food. |
OK, just a couple things
First, you can probably argue how much protein should be in dog food till the cows come home and never get an agreement, even among experts so all the research in the world won't give you a definitive answer.
Second, Natural Balance is a quality product and you the jump from Hills to Natural Balance is definitely a move in the right direction.
But .... Though I'm sure its fine for all dogs, I aways thought the LID formulas were for dogs with allergies hence the limited ingredients. Also, as the name of the product implies the main ingredient is potato, not duck. If you want to go with Natural Balance, consider the Ultra Premium formula which has a little more protein, from several sources, and also comes in a small bites form. (though I just reread what you said about the cat getting into the food so that may be enough to sway you).
I know I go CRAZY figuring out what to feed. I think there is a lot of crap out there and as long as you stay clear of that I really think the differences between one quality brand and another are probably small. One additional thing I do is rotate a couple different foods because I have read that it reduces the risk of the dog becoming allergic to a particular protein. What I am saying is you don't have to settle on ONE food.
Finally, I always thought puppies needed more protein to support growth but there are a lot of "all life stages" food out there so who knows.