Preference Between Blue Buffalo Formulas?
 

I was looking to switch my pup to a higher quality food when she finally comes home in November. She's currently eating Hill's Science Diet Small & Toy Breed Puppy Dry Dog Food:

Hill's Science Diet Small & Toy Breed Puppy Dry Dog Food at PETCO

I noticed the first two major ingredients are: Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal

From researching I know that Grain/Corn really shouldn't be the first ingredient listed, correct?

I've been looking at switching her to Blue Buffalo, but I'm not sure if there is a difference between the small breed formula vs. say wilderness (as there are serving sizes for small breeds given for "non small breed" foods). I'm a bit confused as to what I should switch her to. I was leaning toward the Small Breed Puppy Chicken and Oatmeal:

Blue Buffalo - All Natural Small Breed Dog Food

Any opinions?


Now I know you all might not know anything about cats, but I'm going to take a shot in the dark because someone may know because it is related to the Blue Buffalo food itself:

Does anyone know if the Blue Buffalo foods are Limited Ingredient Diets (aka hypoallergenic)? My cat Suki is on Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet: Green Pea and Duck for allergies (she used to throw up a lot on her original food, so I switched her and she's done great), but I was looking to switch her to Blue Buffalo as well if possible. I was thinking that maybe the Wilderness line meets the requirements for a L.I.D? That way I can buy the food all in the same place.

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance® Limited Ingredient Diets® Green Pea & Duck Allergy Formula Cat Food

Blue Buffalo - All Natural High Protein Healthy Cat Food


Thanks!

My dogs liked blue Buffalo but they did not have a solid enough stool on it, it was always too soft.

Mine have done good on Taste of the Wild dog food that can be purchased at Tractor supply.

Hmmm...
 

I'll have to see if there is a carrier of Taste of the Wild around here and look into the food itself. I don't believe we have Tractor Supply stores. :)

Thank you for the information!

Has anyone else experienced too soft stool on Blue Buffalo? :/ Or is it just very individualized and I won't know until she comes home?

Oh dear!
 

After using trusty Google, searching "Blue Buffalo + loose stool" I came up with the following:

My Fancy eats Blue Buffalo Small Breed and doesn't have any problems with loose stools. It took several tries to get her to eat it but it was partly my fault for adding people food in it & now she eats just the dog food. Her hair seems to be shiny after eating Blue Buffalo. Hope this helps.

Thank you Nanny. This is the impression I got from most, if not all, the YT posts I've read. \

If Fancy is in the puppy stage it looks like there is only the one alternative for small breed food (chicken and oatmeal). If she is past the puppy stage, which adult mix do you feed her? Chicken and Brown Rice or Fish and Brown Rice?

Has anyone else experienced a problem with Blue Buffalo and stool? Or the Vitamin D issue that I mentioned earlier? More positive reviews are welcome as well. I'm trying to gauge my choice in food. Thanks!

Levi ate Blue Buffalo Small Breed Chicken and Brown Rice for quite some time and did very well on it. I only switched his food (to Orijen) when I decided to try grain-free with him. He loves his Orijen, but I still have no problem with Blue Buffalo.

Rhett's done extremely well on the BB Small Breed puppy. Shiny coat, firm stools, lots of energy. I tried switching him to TOTW and he had very loose stools on it. I think it comes down to the best quality food that works for your individual dog.

Thank you all for your replies : )

I think I'm going to stick with the Blue Buffalo Small Breed formula for Rylie once she arrives and keep Suki on her Natural Balance L.I.D. I may have to go to different stores, but so be it.

It seems that Acana (33%) and Orijen (40%) exceed the recommended protein percentage of 27 or 28% for puppies (source: Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies, best book I've bought this month). I'm sure their adult formulas exceed the 22% recommendation for adults as well.

Blue Buffalo is over those percentages as well, but not by overly much (29% for puppy and 26% for adults). Is this a concern? Should I be looking for a lower protein alternative?

The book has the warning with the bomb picture beside this particular tidbit of information, so I'm hard pressed to argued with it... being that I did buy the book in hopes of it teaching me the right things! ^_^

Thanks again!

If you are feeding your cat Natural Balance maybe you could switch your pup to it? Their kibble is really good quality. They have all sorts of limited ingredients or they have the premium in small bites. Mine ate it for a while and liked it.

Plus, if you email them they will send you a ton of samples to try it out before you buy.

Check out my posts in this one thread:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/3220432-post6.html
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/3220686-post8.html

It will explain a few things about protein content, and myths, etc.

rachelanne820: Oh duh! Why didn't I think of that? I know they make dog food as well and yet I didn't even think of it! :rolleyes: I just went right for the popularly recommended food here thinking that I start with what the more experienced thought was a good idea and go from there.

I will definitely look into that option now! Thank you so much for pointing out what should have been obvious to me. A *big* thank you for the sample tip. ^_^



Britster: Thank you! I will be sure to check out these posts asap.

Britster: Well now I know where all the diarrhea issues probably came from for all those people on that review website. It was most likely overfeeding. The Vitamin D toxicity could have resulted from overfeeding as well. Of course, I'm sure individual digestive systems can reject the food anyway. :) Thank you for the post!

My Zhoie has been on BB Salmon for quite sometime now, she loves anything fish. I mixed a teaspoon of Instinct wet with both her meals, but I rotate the can flavors. Currently she is on Duck and she is wild about it. Does the yorkie twirls all the way to the sunroom where she gets her food. LOL

Perrella: Sounds like Zhoie is one very happy pup! ^_^ I hope my little girl is as pleased with what I end up feeding her. I don't think I'll divert from duck (see below). I also probably won't give her anything but dry food because we weened Suki off of it awhile ago (That is how we coaxed her into eating her Duck and Green Pea L.I.D. in the first place. She wouldn't touch the darn stuff before that) and I don't want her feeling jealous or getting back into it after potentially mooching off Rylie's bowl :P

Zhoie sounds adorable. I can't wait until my baby gets here!

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.

I feed mine the Fish and Sweet Potato recipe. They do great on it and boy do they love it. I use to feed them the chicken and rice formula but they would get soft bowels with that and started chewing their feed so I think the chicken was bad for them as in the case for some yorkies.
The Fish and Potato formula also has a lower protein which I like and has the smallest kibble besides the small breed formula.

I personally would never feed mine the Wilderness Formulas, they are too high in protein for my liking. It's better to stay with a lower protein with yorkies.

I'm a fan of lower protein as well. My book, Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies (really great buy!), tells me to be aware of it and I'm hesitant to divert from that advice being a new mommy. I think I'll stick with the Natural Balance for now and see how Rylie does on it. The breeder offered to start feeding her with that right off the bat, so I won't even have to switch her! I just have to buy a bag and send some with the care package I was sending anyway (with blankets and such that will have our scent and then absorb mama's scent before she comes home with us).

yes my Rocco has been on Blue Buffalo since i have hime for the last 3 weeks. he is 11 weeks old now, i took him at 8 weeks because i didnt think he would get the love and attention he needed from the home he was in. i think they were feeding him purina puppy chow, and and soon as i got him i put him on BB. He loves it and i mix it up dry and wet but i do notice that he REALLY loves the wet especially when i put just a little too much water and make too much gravy..OK so i pamper him a little too much. he does go soft when he has the "extra gravy" but not so much that I think it is a problem... These are just my observations, and Rocoo is my first Yorkie and i understand that they are very GENTILE as we would say in Italain!! I do LOVE him sooo much.... sleeping righ here next to me right now as i am answering this post!!

My furbutts are on Blue Buffalo small breed with a teaspoon of BB can to encourage them to eat. Jacie can be picky, but since he gets it, they all do. I like the BB a lot. I haven't had any stook issues. My son feeds his jack russell mix the natural balance low calorie diet since she's a tad bit overweight. He used the regular natural balance before that. His dog has always done well on it. I just had some issues getting 2 of mine to eat it.

MY BFF just put her 10 year old Jack on BB because she has an 11 week old YT who happens to be Roccos sister. He adjusted to BB for seniors like he never ate any other type of food before. No problems, it has been 3 weeks now.

Maybe you could consider California Natural? It's also limited ingredient and I believe has more meat.

Does anyone remember if BB is the food that a lot of pups eat the life bits out of or if they eat around the life bits? I remember reading something about this before on a different thread but couldn't remember if it was this particular food.

i remeber reading that alot of pups do throw out the life bits from BB but i must say Rocco eats every last morsel..

That's good -- probably where most of the nutrition is:) Too bad they just don't make a life bits formula!

hey you could be on to something here;)

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.

I know the protein argument really has no right answer, but being a new mama I'd rather stick to the resource I'm following if I am able (e.g. Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies). :) Maybe once I'm a little more experienced I'd feel more comfortable diverting from the protein guidelines.

I was looking at the L.I.D. because it is grain free and that's a huge deal for me. Even BB isn't grain free. Also, as I mentioned, I don't want my cat getting into anything she's allergic to by accident. In addition, I'm more comfortable staying within the recommended protein ranges as per my book (whether it actually means anything or not), so I'm not looking to raise the protein levels. The premium formula is within protein levels, but it is not grain free. I figure I can supplement with treats or wet food if my pup needs more protein correct?

Has anyone feeding their puppy the Natural Balance L.I.D. experience problems with protein levels being too low? I know it meets adult yorkie requirements, but puppies need slightly more.
BanditSocks2: "Maybe you could consider California Natural? It's also limited ingredient and I believe has more meat."

I will have to look into this brand. I have not considered it. If it is L.I.D. I will certainly check it out. I am slightly concerned about the NB protein being too low for a puppy.

What protein guidelines do they give?

According to Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies:

"If the named ingredient comprises 95% of the food, then manufacturers can call it "Beef for Dogs," for example, or "Beef Dog Food." If the name includes a combination of ingredients (like "Beef and Chicken Dog Food"), then the two items together must make up 95% of the product. Also, the first ingredient listed (in this example, beef) has to make up the majority of the 95% - but this rule applies only to ingredients of animal origin. So, if the name is "Beef and Rice Food for Dogs," then 95% of the product still must be beef."

Regarding the Natural Balance L.I.D., this implies to me even though potatoes is listed first on the package and even though it is the first thing in the ingredients list. The food is still mostly duck because potatoes are not an animal product. The only thing the ingredients list order indicates is that it comprises the most by weight.

"...the item that appears first comprises the biggest part of the food, by weight..."

That does not mean that there are more potatoes necessarily, it just means that they weigh more. If the meat is dried it could still mostly be meat, but it wouldn't weight a lot. Same thing if they grind it down.

I will do more research on review sites, but I'm still leaning toward the Natural Balance L.I.D.

It has the bomb picture with "warning" written by it, which in this book means pay attention lol and says the following:

"Too much protein can strain your Yorkie's kidneys. For adult Yorkies, look for foods with a maximum protein content of around 22%; a puppy requires slightly more protein, but the amount shouldn't exceed 27 or 28%. Pay particular attention to the amount of protein indicated in the guaranteed analysis."

The puppy just says slightly more, but slightly is not quantified, this is my dilemma. All I know is that it "should not exceed 27 or 28%."

This is a link to an article discussing the calcemia believed to be connected to the BB if anyone is interested in reading it:

Pet Connection Blog Blue Buffalo dog food may be linked to serious illness