Food questions
 

My boys have been on TOTW for about 5 years now. I liked it and it seemed really good for them.

As you know it was recalled due to Salmonella. I have briefly switched to Merrick Chicken, but I saw it had blueberries in it.

I went to the vet with Dex on saturday (unrelated), we got to talk about food and the vet mentioned that blueberries and avocados are toxic to dogs. I had NO idea about that!

Anyways, my vet said that she can only really recommend 3 foods... I can only remember 2 of them. Purina and Hills Science Diet. She said they are the only foods that they know of where they are always allowed to visit the plants, they test their foods on dogs and cats.

Anyways, I don't think I want to go back with TOTW and I don't want to stay with Merrick with blueberries in it.... :rolleyes:


Sooooooo.... what food????? Im sooo confused! :confused:

The third was probably Royal Cannin.
I don't mind Royal Cannin or Science Diet. I think they are good companies in teh fact that they run not just flavor/taste trials on their food. And, to be honest, vets recommend them because they know that they work.

However, if you're looking for a more "holistic" approach to dog food, there are a few other companies besides Merrick that you may look into.

FROMM
Blue Buffalo
Orijen
Acana
Nature's Variety
Nature's Balance
Canidae

All of the above kibble companies I would not be afraid to give to my dog.

Mine are eating FROMM Chicken a la Veg. They are loving it and doing great.

I am avoiding Nestle Purina since they are the makers of the treats that killed Zoey.

What treats killed Zoey? how did the treat do it? I do not want to support a company that has their treats (or food) made in China like the chicken jerky ordeal going on right now.
Vet may approve some foods but if they are supporting other things that are NO GOOD, then I can't follow the advice of my vet.

They are the makers of Waggin Train and Canyon Creek. You can google it on the web. I also post on it here.

If a vet recommends an RX for any dog, then I would not hesitate to place him/her on it.
But like I said, they recommend what they know and seen works. With that being said, many of them, unless they are holistic vets, do not explore further into food/nutrition.
However, I can't speak for Purina, but both Royal Canin and Science Diet are foods that are not made in China.
But keep in mind, Diamond (an American dog food company) just had a giant recall on their food which was causing harm to pets as well.
So, it's all a point of perspective when it comes to dog food. :)
Good luck, and let us know what you go with.

I was told for Quality Control Science Diet is good by a vet nutritionist. :) Rosie was on I/D before and did well on it. But I changed to home cooking for my own reasons.

Yup, I don't have a problem with Science Diet in the least and I feed Gizmo a Raw diet. It all depends on how your dog does on the food.

Hi!
I have been feeding TOTW to my puppy and had to return his bag of recalled food. I found some great info on line at Dogfood Advisor. I decided to switch Woodrow to ORIJEN. It's pretty rich but also grain free. I was worried about the abrupt transition but decided to mix a little canned pumpkin with the new food. Woodrow did great! No problems other than he loves this new food so much he wants more and he needs a little less because of the higher calories. Hope this helps. The Dogfood Advisor site was a Godsend in helping me choose a new food.
Best!
Cindy

Please please do not buy purina food and support the company that is making waggin train chicken jerky that is killing pets and making them very sick.

Canidae was recalled as well and is a diamond food

Learned something new, didn't know Canidae was apart of Diamond. Thanks for telling me.

I didn't know until all the recalls

I didn't think Canidae was on it. But when you told me I quickly called my Mom, she feeds Maizey Canidae. But her bag was bought wayyyyy before the recall batch was made. So, thanks again Taylor!:)

Not going to comment on food brands- but will say I have never heard of blueberries being toxic to dogs and many treats and foods include them .

Never heard the blueberry thing.

Also, Canidae is currently made at Diamond but is getting a new plant soon - they are done with Diamond. Natural Balance is also made there and was recalled.

I know that some say you need to just listen your vet and others say vets are stupid who know nothing about nutrition. I tend to sway somewhere in the middle. I think they recommend these foods because 1) they don't know any different - it's what their taught and simple as that. Hills, Royal Canin and Purina are the ones who sponsor all their events and classes. 2) they just suggest what "works"... meaning they don't wanna have to research every food out there, and don't know enough about them to be able to suggest them, and don't wanna be responsible for suggesting anything other than what's been "proven" (larger companies have a lot more money to put into research) 3) they do make some money off selling food, but I don't think the amount is substantial enough for that to be the main reason.

But I don't think that just because a vet may be very good at what they do, that they necessarily know what's best for dogs nutrition-wise. But I also don't think you should blindly follow what people post on the internet either. So like I said, I think you have to have a good balance. I've seen with my own eyes dog transform when switching off foods like Purina and SD... *shrugs* but I am sure lots have seen dogs transform when being switched TO SD or Purina...

I like to find smaller family owned companies who have had minimal or no recalls, and handled any potential problems professionally, good customer service, decent ingredients, and good quality control.

If you are looking for something comparable to TOTW in ingredient and price - check out Earthborn, Precise or Nutrisource. I also like Lotus, Fromm, Acana, Canine Caviar.

I haven't heard of Canine Caviar until about two days ago, and from what I've read they seem good. And the beaver option cracks me up.

Blueberries, IF RIPE, are NOT toxic to dogs, according to the ASPCA Poison control. ASPCA | Fruit Treats

No problem I'm glad I was helpful

Teaka was on TOTW for about a year as well. After the recall, and per the vet I was told to switch foods. Trying to find a low fat, grain free, not chicken, moderate protein diet, with less Kcals/Kg than TOTW for her was a struggle. Let me tell you, I did hours of research. Finally I ended up with Now Fresh (senior/weight management, even though shes not a senior) by Petcurean. She actually likes it somewhat. Although shes not a vigorous eater by any means. As long as shes eating it, I'm happy.

Its hard to suggest a food. What might work for one dog, won't for another. My vet also suggested Hills Science Diet. I told her, Um NO I don't like the ingredients. Its made with corn. She agreed and I told her I would find an alternative. It took about a week, but I found it. :)

What I suggest, is look on this site. It is now my 'go to' dog food site. Has great articles, lots of food suggestions, and it reviews dog foods. Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings

Also, instead of going to the store and spending hours walking around looking lost, check out each brands website. They will have the ingredients there, the KCal/kg, KCal/Cup, general analysis etc. Thats what I did. Like I said, it took a while, but I found something that works for Teaka and thats all that matters. ;)

Good Luck!

As for pet foods using ingredients sourced from China, it is not necessarily that the food is made in China but rather the food is made in the USA but uses some ingredients that it gets from China. It's really hard to know where they get the ingredients they use. Diamond DOES source ingredients from China, among other places, even though their plants where they make the food are here in the US.

I have never heard of blue berries being bad for dogs either quite the opposite actually. (shrugging shoulders).

I had Riley on Orijen and it was a teeny bit too rich for him so I switched to Acana, made by the same company. He does really really Great on it! Right now we are on a bag of Acana/Pacifica. :thumbup: :thumbup:

Hhhhmmmmm I see Acana is popular!

I got a small bag of Merrick last week as a comparable TOTW replacement. My dogs just don't like it. Today Dexter ate less than 1/4 cup and fletch only ate a 1/4 cup. So I bought a small bag of science diet. Dex dove in. They really love TOTW though. Both of them have had weight gain over time tho. Dex was 5.5 lbs for years, now he's almost 8lbs. Fletch was 9lbs, now he's 12.5. Might be time to change it up to get weight off them. I will look for Acana.

Thanks so much!

I took Lexi in to the vet we bought her from for a second opinion on her fatty tumor. She needs to lose alot of weight before he will do surgery. Kayla is also over weight some, so I bought the Purina Pro Plan he suggested. THey are both itching like crazy. Went out and bought Blue Buffalo (which they were on) for weight maintance. I am going to cut back on the amount alot. Will never buy Purina anything again. I also bought a case of the w/d canned. UGH! I am so tired of all these food issues. Our poor babies. Its like nothing is fit for them to eat.

Can you chop up some greenbeans and put in their food. That is what I do for Riley. I buy a bag of frozen greenbeans... run about 4 or 5 under warm water and chop them up into his food.

Teaka also needs to lose weight. I went out and bought Now Fresh (Senior/weight management) by Petcurean. Its grain free and she likes it. She only gets 1/4 cup of food a day. I'm thinking of adding green beans to her food too. I hope she'll like it.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

So I went out and bought a small bag of frozen green beans. I opened it and gave one to Teaka. She licked it a couple of times then looked at me like "what the heck is this? You expect me to eat that?" lol I think once it's in her food mixed with a bit of wet she might go after it, I think. Lol. At least I tried.

LOL!! Did you chop it up for her? Riley looks at them the same way.... He will eat them if they are small... but sometimes, he'll eat all his kibble and leave all his greenbeans and baby carrots... or spit them out next to his bowl.
LOL!!!!!