All Life Stages Food, good or a crock?
 

Well, after a vet visit today for Zoë the vet has informed me that there's no such thing as an all life stages food. A puppy has different nutritional needs than an adult and that of a senior dog. She said "all life stages" foods are really adult dog food that are high in protein. A puppy should be on puppy food, an adult dog on adult food, and a senior (7+) dog should be on senior food.

Zoë's had issues with food (or rather not eating her food) since we got here. For the past week or so I've been transitioning her to Merrick's Wilderness Blend, which is an "all life stages" food. She'd shown A LOT of interest in it and things, food wise, were looking good. Well with the vet saying "Get her off of that NOW" and that it's poor nutrition for her I'm discouraged. I'm torn on what to do, since she liked it so much and I have heard of all life stages food but a vet should know what's best. While I'm deciding on what to do I'm going to contact my old vet in Miami and ask his opinion.

That said I wanted to know what you guys thought, since you have so much knowledge about all Yorkie!

Thanks!
-Vicky and Zoë

To contradict your vet...puppy formulas also have a higher protein count than adult varieties.

A large breed puppy does a LOT of growing...they are in need of a high protein diet. Small breed puppies do not need all that protein.

None of mine have ever eaten puppy formula anything and according to MY vet ( lol sounds like a fight)...it is perfectly fine.

I was feeding Wellness fish and sweet potato but switched over to taste of the wild...bison/venison formula.

Sigh....

One thing you want to ask yourself is why, for sure, would a vet know what's best nutritionally when they only receive about 1.5 hours of nutritional education during their entire education? There are a FEW vets who will truly admit to the travesty of what vets really know about nutrition - and here's one of them who is truthful.

Also, READ labels. You will see for yourself that some "Puppy Foods" have the exact same analysis as many "Adult Foods". For many others, the real differences are marginal or scant. For some, there are differences - but not necessarily bc they are Puppy or Adult, but perhaps bc they are grain free or not (or whatever).

The one you're feeding is 24% protein, 15% fat - a midrange food if I ever saw one - there is nothing radical, no red flags, nothing concerning there - in my opinion.

I would encourage you to read this white paper and perhaps give it to your vet as well. :p

Puppies and adults can do well on ALS food.
Feed what works for your dog.:)
You can always talk to a nutritionist about it if you're concerned.

:laugh: It's so funny what happens when you put your mind to it. I told my Mom what's going on and she's been on a mission. She's spoken to our old vet AND a Merrick representative. :laugh: Really, there's very little difference between Merrick's All Life Stages and their Puppy formula. There's 4% (minimum) difference in protein (24% Wildnerness and 28% Puppy) and the rest of the ingredients are really similar too. (Though the puppy formula is a different flavor then the Wilderness blend.)

Her old food, Small Breed Puppy Eukanuba, is 32% minimum of protein. From 32% to 24% seems like a lot, but 28% to 24% isn't that big of a difference. I'm a bit torn. Of the kibble available in the stores here (there's no Mom and Pop good dog food stores, only big chains) Merrick seems like one of the best brands available. So I'm thinking of maybe using Merrick and switching to the Puppy formula (and then back to Wilderness when she's old enough to be on adult food). Though it concerns me that a dog food brand would have an all life stages AND puppy and senior foods. If a food were good for all life stages why would they have any other versions?

I feed Life's Abundance and its an All Life Stages food and I really love it. I breed, and I also start weaning my puppies on it. I feed it to my pregnant girls too and have had great success! Plus everyone goes NUTS for the food! LOL

I sell it now on my website and you can even order free samples:

Clothes, Beds, Healthy Food, Treats,Grooming products and Dental Care for your furbaby! | Pooch Potato Beds, Life's Abundance Pet foods, Dental Care

Marketing 101. Creating needs in you. Fulfilling them. :)

Greedy little buggers. :laugh: It makes sense but it still makes me a bit nervous. Having both those formulas at the same time in their line of foods makes either one questionable. I guess you could say it's a bit sketchy. Though you know what, in the interest of appeasing my vet* and maybe buying in to their marketing I think I'm going to go and get the puppy formula. :rolleyes:

(*Though my vet doesn't really instill confidence in me. I'm going to either see if I can't see another vet in the practice or look in to another vet in town. Unfortunately, the other vet that seems good is crazy expensive, as in $50 vet visits....)

Ellie's vet told me that she learned very little about nutrition in vet school. She said if I have questions I can go online and/or talk to a nutritionist. Thankfully she doesn't stand there and try to answer questions when she know nothing about the subject.:)

Anyway, from the small amount of reading I've done on this, a food can be considered all life stages by AAFCO if it passes a feeding trial. Some people don't think this is good enough because they are only 6 months long. That is what I know so far...

It won't hurt your pup by feeding puppy food, if it makes *you* feel better, then go for it. :)

I think what's important is that you're asking questions and trying to learn. And I think it's really important to learn about ingredients, compare labels, learn about the industry, read the links different folks post, and keep an open mind. :)

Well, of the 2 stores in town that carry Merrick *dry* food, neither carry the puppy version. One store is ordering it from another store out of the county (actually in Georgia) and should be in a few days from now.

So now the debate continues. :laugh: I'm thinking I'll make a decision if I'll switch to Merrick's Puppy or stay on Merrick's ALFs Wilderness by the time I get the call that the puppy version is in.

I guess I'm just concerned about making the wrong decision. I'm trying to educate myself and learn what it all means but I still feel very lost. All I do know is that for now I have no intentions of feeding raw or home cooked or canned foods, I'm sticking to plain kibble. But even then there's just so much!

I mean, Merrick is a good food, right? (And at the least Merrick is better than her original Eukanuba food.) I'm just unsure about this all, especially with Zoë eating so little to begin with and not being on any food long enough to know if she has any reactions to anything!

I personally don't like Merricks.
They have had two or three recalls within a few years and I have a couple other issues with them. That doesn't mean they are bad but they aren't my favorite.

It is good to listen to your vet but sometimes they are just wrong (not saying that is true in this case). As with human doctors, it is okay to get a second opinion or check to make sure what they are telling you is true. Ellie's vet is awesome but we don't agree 100% on everything and I still do research for myself.

It is not going to hurt to feed a puppy food though. So if that is what you are comfortable with, go for it.:)

I feed mine Merrick, I have fed the puppy plate dry and I rotate the cans. Mine love it.
They have not had any problems so far.

The "puppy" formula is actually an All Life Stages food as well :) Ask the Merrick representatives...The Senior food is also an All Life Stages food...
LOL :)

Yes, there are All Life Stages Foods. The only real difference in a puppy's need is the amount of food - which should be a little greater than an adult dog. A senior dog would need a little less (and an overweight dog even less). Your vet definitely needs some nutrition training!!

Exactly :) :thumbup:

This info is posted on the Canidae website as well since it's an all life stages food. I'm not recommending it, I'm just saying you can look at the website for info.
Canidae® Pet Foods: Why Choose Canidae All Life Stages

I feed mine LIfe's Abundance also. It's an "all stages" food. My Vet (and the 4 in our community) were very impressed with the formulary of the food.

I have puppies and I have a 16-year old dog. The formulary of the food is excellent. The probiotics are even better. I know I am making the right choice for my babies.

Why would a vet say "feed TO ALL STAGES FOOD?" Because they get a kick-back for selling the different stages of food.

When I was in the medical field I would recommend one drug for treatment over another - why? The pharm salesperson. My kickback!

Hate to say it but the mighty dollar is a strong incentive.

I have to agree with everyone as well.

I feed mine an all life stage food, Canidae. They have always done great on it and I feed it to puppies, adults, and seniors and they all do well on it.

There are a few vets around here who really know nothing about nutrition. When I tell them what food they are on they have no clue what it is. So what do they recommend? A really crappy food such as Iams, Science, Purina, etc.:thumbdown
Not many vets spend much time studying about their nutrition.

:thumbup::thumbup:

I feed Orijen puppy - it may be a gimmick, but I feel "safer" doing it :D I do feed my 2 year old shihtzu the same food though. I wasn't willing to spend another 400.000 rupiah ($40) :eek: for a 7kg bag she might not like as she is really picky, but she loves Orijen puppy, so I'm feeling good about switching her to the adult version. :) The puppy has about 4% more fat than the adult one.. I don't think it makes too much difference, but some people might scream at the thought of feeding "more" fat to an adult dog. :D

It's crazy how people here (in my country) have no idea whatsoever what makes good dog food and what not.. Just yesterday I walked into this pet store with loads of chihuahua in crates.. Turns out he was "breeding" them :mad: I asked around for the prices and all. He was selling them real expensive too. There were some new pups there, and he "proudly" pointed out the stud. The stud was real skinny even for a chihuahua, bones sticking out everywhere, and really dirty ears. I asked him what the hell was going on with the ears, he said, oh it's the tattoo (when you register dogs here to the Indonesian AKC, they get tattoos in their right ear), I said no, that's not the freaking tattoo, that's DIRT or WORSE right there. I asked him what food he feeds them and he proudly says "Eukanuba". I have a feeling he was lying too. Probably feeds them cheaper food as Eukanuba is one of the more expensive here. I went to a crate with a white chi inside, just stroked her paws, and she was trembling with excitement, yet she looked so sad too. I wonder how many times she has been out of that crate her whole life.

Makes me want to open up a pet store myself, and only carry "good food". :mad::mad: I'm soooooooo upset for dogs owned by these people..

I feed mine Merricks and they just love it. I feed them different flavors...to spice up their menu... and tonight after reading something on dogfoodanalysis.com about switching up there food every 1-3 months so they will not get bored I also purchased the Merricks Before grain which they have just gobbled up tonight. I just hope its not too much protein but since im switching the foods monthly I'm hoping it shouldn't be a problem. Merricks is the best food that I can get near my home and I myself am pleased with it. Their coats to me look great... no skin problems or anything like that. I also bought the Before grain for my cat tonight! lol

Oh and by the way the others are right about not always taking your vets opinion on nutrition... My vet assured me when I first got mine that and i quote "Eukunuba is a GREAT dog food!!!" and we all know that is not true. lol:) Hope things work out for you!

lol.. and i just now realized this is an old thread. oopsy

I agree with pretty much everyone in here! :thumbup: Vets don't generally know much about nutrition, honestly. They recommend foods such as Science Diet, IAMS, and Pedigree.... which are full of crap, lol.


Oops, LOL.

This is so true!:thumbup::thumbup:

I love our vet but I was asking her if it was ok for Bandit (2 1/2 years) to eat our puppys (Wellness Puppy) food because I knew the fat and calorie level was slightly higher, but Bandit is pretty thing, and she said to worry about the phosphate level. The difference in the adult version and the puppy version is minimal, but I trust her opinion, so I'm scared to let Bandit eat the puppy version which he loves.

:thumbup::thumbup:
I never understand why vets do not just come out and say, "Sorry, I only had 1 class in nutrition, why don't you go see a nurtritionist". Guess it all has to do with that god complex!;)