Opinions on NOW! Grain free food from Petcurean?

[Ava Mae]

We`ve been feeding Ava (5 months) her NOW! puppy formula mixed with Wellness Turkey and Sweet Potato for a week now, and she is thriving. She pooped a lot more than normal at first, but is now back to her usual big, healthy poops twice a day...

Her mood is also a lot more stable I find. She`s not as bratty--(if that makes sense). Her coat is much shinier too. Lets see what happens, but initial results are positive!

[lil fu fu girl]

Originally Posted by hugz4all4

Thanks for your help. He starting throwing up occasionally, 2 to 3 times a week small amounts mostly consisted of undigested food. A few times he would throw up yellow bile first thing in the a. M and he was burping quite often. Energy level, appetite, and poops were all normal. A few days before i started him on the I/d he was throwing up more then on Sunday he threw up a couple times,had no energy, appetite, he was dry heaving and at one point he let out the biggest burp. Monday he did seem a little better but at one point he jumped up on a pile of clean laundry and threw up all over. I called his vet and was told if it continued to bring him in. For his afternoon meal that day I offered him some wet I/d he ate it with no problem kept it down. Later that evening I offered him some dry I/d he agian ate it and kept it down. I gave it to him for a few days, he was such a different dog. I started offering him the evo wet and the acana and he ate it but by the 2nd day he was back to burping and he threw up. The only reason why I think it's the protien /fat was because when he was a puppy he was on totw and he was doing the same thing, I just thought maybe it was the totw not agreeing with him. I put him back on the I/d and he's been fine. So what do you think?

This is going to be a little long, so please bear with me.
Ok, so the main difference b/w the two kibbles is exclusively the complete proteins in totw, versus the incomplete vegetable proteins in Hills. As far as proteins go, egg white is considered the easiest complete protein to digest and is considered the benchmark by which all other proteins are graded, in consideration of digestion.
Then comes : (2) muscle meats, (3) organ meats, (4) milk and cheese, (5) and fish, and then the incomplete proteins follow: soy, rice , oats , wheat , yeast , and corn! Which is amazing as your dog is doing fine on the corn, the low man on the list, go figure?!

Let's see, egg is the main complete protein in Hills, and he is digesting that fine along with the corn. So maybe if you keep him on a non-meat complete protein he might do just as well.
There are several kibbles out that he might enjoy as well as he does the Hills.
There is something else you might want to consider supplementing into his diet. There is a product called,"NaturVet; Enzymes and Probiotics", it essentially helps the digestive tract maintain its healthy bacterial flora, while adding enzymes that assist in the breakdown of food. This might be helpful for your pup considering he is having digestive issues with the protein, and throwing up undigested food. I found mine at the local pet store, but I have included a link to where you can buy it online. My little girl had issues of this nature, mucus-y diarrhea and vomiting intermittently during her life. So, I started her on yogurt and then switched to this as well to help her, and it truly has.
I have also include links to various other high quality low protein kibbles that might work for your pup.
If you are planning on switching, I would do it extra slowly considering he already has digestive issues. Plus if he seems to do fine on any one of these and you feel that you would like to add in more proteins, then you can always just add in a soft cooked egg white to whatever kibble he is on. That would give him the added protein, without the problems associated with trying to digest a complete meat protein.

Well, this is all I can think of for now, but I will keep looking for other options for you.
Hope this helps you out!
NaturVet
California herring and sweet potato
Flint River Ranch
Solid Gold
Wellness Simple Solutions

[_Chrissy_]

Originally Posted by bonbon

Thanks again for more great info!! I just checked the protein, fat and calorie amounts in 3 different foods I feed. I am amazed at how much they vary (I guess I really shouldn't be surprised, but I am). The higher protein food that I felt they gained too much on has 35% protein, 482 cal and 22% fat. The other food that I feel they do the best on has 25% protein, but only 360 cal and 15% fat. No wonder they were gaining weight. Both foods list the same serving sizes on the packages, so I fed the same amount. I can't believe I never looked at the cal/fat info before - that's the first thing I look at on my food.

Thanks!

What are the 2 brands of foods you listed above?
Thanks

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by _Chrissy_

What are the 2 brands of foods you listed above?
Thanks

The first is Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit Meal formula which I think may be their very favorite food.

The second is TOTW's Pacific Stream formula. I really liked how they did on this food, but I quit feeding it because I'm not comfortable with the ethoxyquin being in it.

Before I realized NV caused their weight gain and TOTW contained ethoxyquin, I was perfectly happy with the foods I was feeding them. Now the search is back on again.

[hugz4all4]

Originally Posted by lil fu fu girl

This is going to be a little long, so please bear with me.
Ok, so the main difference b/w the two kibbles is exclusively the complete proteins in totw, versus the incomplete vegetable proteins in Hills. As far as proteins go, egg white is considered the easiest complete protein to digest and is considered the benchmark by which all other proteins are graded, in consideration of digestion.
Then comes : (2) muscle meats, (3) organ meats, (4) milk and cheese, (5) and fish, and then the incomplete proteins follow: soy, rice , oats , wheat , yeast , and corn! Which is amazing as your dog is doing fine on the corn, the low man on the list, go figure?!

Let's see, egg is the main complete protein in Hills, and he is digesting that fine along with the corn. So maybe if you keep him on a non-meat complete protein he might do just as well.
There are several kibbles out that he might enjoy as well as he does the Hills.
There is something else you might want to consider supplementing into his diet. There is a product called,"NaturVet; Enzymes and Probiotics", it essentially helps the digestive tract maintain its healthy bacterial flora, while adding enzymes that assist in the breakdown of food. This might be helpful for your pup considering he is having digestive issues with the protein, and throwing up undigested food. I found mine at the local pet store, but I have included a link to where you can buy it online. My little girl had issues of this nature, mucus-y diarrhea and vomiting intermittently during her life. So, I started her on yogurt and then switched to this as well to help her, and it truly has.
I have also include links to various other high quality low protein kibbles that might work for your pup.
If you are planning on switching, I would do it extra slowly considering he already has digestive issues. Plus if he seems to do fine on any one of these and you feel that you would like to add in more proteins, then you can always just add in a soft cooked egg white to whatever kibble he is on. That would give him the added protein, without the problems associated with trying to digest a complete meat protein.

Well, this is all I can think of for now, but I will keep looking for other options for you.
Hope this helps you out!
NaturVet
California herring and sweet potato
Flint River Ranch
Solid Gold
Wellness Simple Solutions

Thanks so much, I truly appreciate your help. I did try yogurt with him on a couple of different occasions but he refused it. I will definitly buy the enzyme. I will look into the other foods you have listed. I am waiting on samples from wellness simple solutions.
Agian, thanks so much!!

[lil fu fu girl]

Originally Posted by hugz4all4

Thanks so much, I truly appreciate your help. I did try yogurt with him on a couple of different occasions but he refused it. I will definitly buy the enzyme. I will look into the other foods you have listed. I am waiting on samples from wellness simple solutions.
Agian, thanks so much!!

Sure, you are most welcome. Good luck with the Wellness samples, after looking through the others that one was the top pick for me. Their smaller amount of ingredient combinations might also help with his digestion.
Please keep me posted on how he is doing!

[nezumitaro]

Hi I am from Malaysia, I do not own any YS, just looking up for the NOW! Grain Free food review and found it here.

I own a bullie and he was on NOW! Adult for a month, would like to share with you all his before n after photo.

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by nezumitaro

Hi I am from Malaysia, I do not own any YS, just looking up for the NOW! Grain Free food review and found it here.

I own a bullie and he was on NOW! Adult for a month, would like to share with you all his before n after photo.

OMGoodness! What a difference! Thank you so much for posting those pictures. You're bullie is just beautiful, by the way.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by bonbon

The first is Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit Meal formula which I think may be their very favorite food.

The second is TOTW's Pacific Stream formula. I really liked how they did on this food, but I quit feeding it because I'm not comfortable with the ethoxyquin being in it.

Before I realized NV caused their weight gain and TOTW contained ethoxyquin, I was perfectly happy with the foods I was feeding them. Now the search is back on again.

Hmmm... funny you say about the weight gain on NV... I never thought about that. Jackson had been eating NV since September last year... when we were at the vet about 2 weeks ago, the scale said he weighed 16lbs? That just SO didn't seem right to me. He's 1.5 years old. Back in December when he went to the vet, he was 11.7lbs? He always stayed right at about 12lbs since he was 7 months old. The vet did 2 scales in her office and both came back 16lbs! But the thing is, he's not overweight, he's not fat at all (he's skinny looking) but he's really muscular. I was just stunned... maybe the scales are wrong but they tried 2 scales, both were 16lbs! But I haven't had to resize his collars of harnesses or anything! Sooo confused, I wonder if the food made him gain more muscle mass or something??

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by Britster

Hmmm... funny you say about the weight gain on NV... I never thought about that. Jackson had been eating NV since September last year... when we were at the vet about 2 weeks ago, the scale said he weighed 16lbs? That just SO didn't seem right to me. He's 1.5 years old. Back in December when he went to the vet, he was 11.7lbs? He always stayed right at about 12lbs since he was 7 months old. The vet did 2 scales in her office and both came back 16lbs! But the thing is, he's not overweight, he's not fat at all (he's skinny looking) but he's really muscular. I was just stunned... maybe the scales are wrong but they tried 2 scales, both were 16lbs! But I haven't had to resize his collars of harnesses or anything! Sooo confused, I wonder if the food made him gain more muscle mass or something??

From what I saw with mine, I would say it probably did. Most of the grain free foods have similar portion sizes shown on their feeding guidelines so I usually feed the same amount no matter which food we're on. They didn't seem to be overeating, but the definitely gained. So, now that I know NV has so many more calories I will just have to cut back on their portion sizes.

It's funny, but they don't seem to be eating nearly as much of the Acana as they did the Instinct. I mean they like it but it's like they get full faster, or maybe they just stay full longer, and I can see that they're getting plenty to eat but it's just not taking as much to feed them. (Which of course means less poo ). Another plus for Acana!!

[RDB911]

**UPDATE**

Lola has been eating NOW! for a few weeks and she's doing great on it!! The biggest difference I notice is the eye goop she had all the time while eating Innova no longer exist and when she does have eye goop it’s very minimal compared to before.

Let's hope she enjoys this food for some time as she has a 25# bag to finish

Also, I highly recommend K9cuisine.com for ordering kibble..the service is GREAT!!

[RDB911]

PS poops have been good too!

[lil fu fu girl]

Originally Posted by nezumitaro

Hi I am from Malaysia, I do not own any YS, just looking up for the NOW! Grain Free food review and found it here.

I own a bullie and he was on NOW! Adult for a month, would like to share with you all his before n after photo.

He is beautiful!

Just out of curiosity, what were you feeding him before?

(edited to add) The first picture you posted looks like he was having serious allergy issues, that is why I am curious.

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by RDB911

**UPDATE**

Lola has been eating NOW! for a few weeks and she's doing great on it!! The biggest difference I notice is the eye goop she had all the time while eating Innova no longer exist and when she does have eye goop it’s very minimal compared to before.

Let's hope she enjoys this food for some time as she has a 25# bag to finish

Also, I highly recommend K9cuisine.com for ordering kibble..the service is GREAT!!

Ryan, I am so happy to hear this!!!

It's a long story, but I had to find another food to switch to. I was so disappointed because I really like everything about this food. But, it can be a trial to find one that all 7 will eat.

And I agree about K9cuisine - I will recommend them to anyone.

[_Chrissy_]

Originally Posted by RDB911

**UPDATE**

Lola has been eating NOW! for a few weeks and she's doing great on it!! The biggest difference I notice is the eye goop she had all the time while eating Innova no longer exist and when she does have eye goop it’s very minimal compared to before.

Let's hope she enjoys this food for some time as she has a 25# bag to finish

Also, I highly recommend K9cuisine.com for ordering kibble..the service is GREAT!!

Are you feeding the regular adult size of the small breed size?
I think I am going to try this. I picked up a small breed small bag a bit back.