EVO Small Bites
 

I'm so sorry to be posting this. I know this topic is always being addressed. I am about to order food and was going to try EVO small bites. Does anyone use this or have an opinion. I didn't know if I should try that or Inova small bites? Right now Coco is eating IAMS!! I need to switch.

Don't ever be sorry silly, posting questions is never wrong. We all want to be great parents and asking is the only way we can be sure, right!?

1st off, how old is Coco?? If she is less than 6-7 months, I would wait until then to feed the Evo. Evo is an all life stages food, but I waited till Snickers was an "adult" to start feeding him it. They say puppies can grow too quickly if fed a high protein food at such a young age. I love it, very good ingredients, and great food company!!

Innova small bites is also awesome. Same super company. So either one you go with, it will be a good choice. Many feed both successfully on this site. If you wish to go grainfree, do the Evo.

Thanks. Coco was 1 year at the end of March, so I'm assuming I can go with EVO right? She is only 5.5 lbs though

Innova is a great company. Lots of people here feed regular innova and the evo. I tried Morgan on the EVO and its been the only food that has made her sick (my cat too, weird). She ate it great for a few days and then started vomiting bile every day while on the diet (she never did that on any other diet), so we stopped it and gave her back her old food. never had any other problems.

i'm sure others will come on here and tell you about their experience with it. Its a great food.

maybe since she is only 5.5lbs, i should do inova

Snickers is 3.5lbs, so yes, Evo should be fine. But be sure to carefully monitor Coco for the 1st week so you can see how she does on the high protein diet. Some dogs don't do well on it (ex:kalina) and some dogs thrive. Is Coco an active dog?? If she prefers to be a couch potato, or snuggler most of the day, I would go with the Innova. If she is active--then Evo should be fine.

I also keep the red meat Evo small bites on hand in case Snickers decides to protest his chicken small bites. We have had to use the red meat already (just last week) b/c he would not eat his kibble. Picky!!

I really don't like Evo at all.
There are some reports of Yorkies not doing well on it.
Of course all dogs are different but I prefer Innova.

I'm not sure that it's the high protein or the high fat.
The kibble isn't really high in fat but it is about 22% last time I checked which is more than a lot of other kibbles. The canned is way too high in fat for any Yorkie in my opinion. So is the Innova canned. Just too much chance of it triggering pancreatitis.

Both of my girls eat Evo Red Meat Small Bites. They are fairly young almost 2 and maybe 2.5 (rescue). They are really active and attend doggie daycare every day while we are at work. I also give them a little of the Innova wet food with their dry kibble. I think it's a great food. I have a coworker who feeds her pugs Evo, and the one with numerous allergies hasn't had a problem since they switched.

Ah, this scares me! I give my girls both the Evo dry and the Innova canned. You think Innova kibble would be a better option? They are bigger girls almost 12 lbs and 9 lbs - or does their weight even matter?

i think it was the high fat content of the evo that upset morgan's stomach. She's eaten RAW and other high protein foods with no problems. For some reason EVO just doesn't sit right with her.

If they are going great with it then i wouldn't be concerned. Just watch their body weight. If they become less active you might have to cut back on their food since the EVO does have a higher fat content.

Thanks guys. I think I will try the Innova and see how it goes. I wouldn't say she is overly active all the time.

Thanks! They are both really thin (though I know with those weights it doesn't sound like it). They have the measurements of dogs who are 3 lbs less, but I'm going to keep a close watch.

If they're doing well on it, then there is really no reason to change.
I still would not recommend feeding either EVO canned or Innova canned though. They are both around 35 or so percent fat. Most dogs will do fine with it. Some probably won't. Most dogs who eat kibble have about 10-25% fat...

TresCuties---have your noticed a weight gain since your Gilmore's have been on it?? ;) I know it is higher in fat and I wanted Snickers to gain some weight, he looks so scrawny. He is also on raw and has gained .4 ounces in about 3.5 months and I happy with it. I only give the EVO kibble, no canned. Maybe eliminate the canned?? I think Ellie May was referring to the canned as the higher fat one. I think the kibb;e might be slightly higher in fat too but not by much. I could be wrong.

Thanks, I will stop the Innova canned then. Is there any canned food you would recommend to mix in a bit with the kibble?

You noticed they were Gilmores! :love: A lot of people tell me Rory is a boy's name.

Yes, I think I'm going to have to pick a different canned version that isn't so high in fat. Thanks!

Rory is going to be two in August, and other than the obvious weight gain as she matured I haven't noticed any. Lane was a rescue (from a puppy mill = crappy food and fighting just to eat with her cage mates, heh) and was very, very thin when we got her just before Christmas 2008. I couldn't tell you exactly how much weight she has put on over the past four months, but she looks much better now (I'd guess at least a pound).

Not really.
It is either made at Menu or the company is questionable.
Just go with a company you like.

Ellie likes sweet potato mixed with her kibble.;)

Most puppy food is high protein food. That is usually the difference. I feed dry Canidae All Life Stages (24% protein) to all of my adult dogs and once a day give a little Canidae All Life Stages canned food to my puppies, not enough that they will quit eating the kibble, more as a treat and variety. They have a constant supply of Royal Canin Babydog 30 (30% protein) which I love because of the soft, small triangular bites. Since they just made the 8 week mark this weekend and all have some teeth, I bought a bag of Royal Canin Mini-puppy 33 (33% protein) yesterday to start the switch. I had previously avoided grain, but after seeing some respected breeders recommending this, I use the Royal Canin just for puppies. It is just a lot easier shape and size for them to deal with than the Canidae. I still use the Canidae All Life Stages Dry for the adults.

After looking up Evo Small Bites and seeing the 43.16% protein in their Nutrient Analysis I have to wonder if that is not too high in protein for any of our Yorkies, regardless of age. Since they are prone to pancreatitis, I was under the understanding that we were not supposed to feed that high in protein. I am not an expert on nutrition but I think I would avoid that.

Thanks for your honesty! My bullmastiff went crazy for sweet potatoes. It was wild.

At daycare, they eat lunch which is the Innova canned mixed with no salt green beans.

Maybe I will just start mixing in veggies with the kibble and come up with something different for the "base" for their lunches. It's only because they are so active that I feel they need the lunch. On weekends, they don't get lunch unless they are acting really hungry, and we have gone for a hike or long walk.

And sorry to the OP, I have totally hijacked your thread. I think the Innova kibble will be a good choice. :)

I used to mix in small amounts of EVO red meat small bites w/Mimi & Momo's regular NB kibble. It made their stools firmer but smellier. I guess all that protein. I stopped giving it to them because I read here on YT that too much protein in their diet isn't good for them. When they were eating it, they seemed to like it & did well on it, even tho it was small amounts.

I know you addressed this to someone else, but I want to recommend Canidae if you are looking for a good canned to add as a treat or variety. I very much believe in the kibble (I use the Canidae dry All Life Stages Chicken & Brown Rice) for the majority of nutrition, but I will give mine canned Canidae All Life Stages Chicken& Brown Rice occasionally too.

All Canidae foods are super high quality, human grade, grain free foods. I actually had a little trouble getting it during all those recalls a while back because everyone was flocking to it to avoid recalled brands. Check out their site. Another site to look at is: Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost

didn't canidae recently change their formula and it was making dogs sick? i used to feed it too but stopped after hearing about them changing.

What are the symptoms of pancreatitis?? And how do you figure out if your pup has it? Bloodwork?? Snick's doign awesome, but I always wonder...

Thanks - I will look into the Canidae...

By sick, do you mean causing death? Or more like dogs who were already on it had an issue because the formula was changed unknowlingly?

Vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, abdominal pain, etc. depending on severity.
The Spec cPL is the most accurate for diagnosis but elevations in lipase and amylase with symptoms is a good clue.

None of mine have been sick and I have used Canidae for several years. I was off the forum for a while, maybe it was discussed while I was gone. What sort of changes? Now I am curious and will do a search, but I still have to give my personal recommendation as it has always been a good food for us. I have also been good about checking recalls and as far as I know Canidae has never been invovled in any of them.

Okay -- read up on the changes. No problem with mine and the changes evidently. Adding a little barley and peas did not sound so bad. Not sure what all the fuss was about! Mine definately did not get diarrhea from any changes. In fact, that is one of the things I love about Canidae -- they have tiny little compact, dry stools that I can just pick up with a tissue and flush.

BTW I went back and saw one of my previous posts and I made a BIG typo -- I said all Canidae foods were "high quality, human grade, grain free foods" I did not mean grain free obviously since I was talking about using the Chicken and Brown Rice variety! I meant corn free. (Tried to edit but it was past the time limit.) I had previously avoided corn as I heard it was sometimes a problem. But even that I have found is not so with my dogs. I had to substitute a different brand recently when awaiting an order of Canidae and they tolerated the corn in the other brand just fine.

So I am still a Canidae fan! Here is a review of the changes: CANIDAE® Pet Foods: Facts About the Improved CANIDAE and FELIDAE Holistic Dry Formulas

i they changed their formula and manufacturer. If you do a title only search here for "canidae" and go to the second page of results you should see the threads that were popping up about it.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sea...82&pp=25&page=

dogs were getting stomach issues, mostly constant diarrhea i think. seems the dogs were on the old formula for a while but after the change they started getting sick

if your dogs don't mind the change then that's great!

I swithced Max off of EVO Small Bites Chicken & Turkey to Wellness Adult Small Breed about 2 months ago. He loves it and there have been NO problems.
I was concerned about the high protein levels in EVO.