Advice on Blue Buffalo, help
 

Hello, I'm so nervous now. Just read the thread on Blue Buffalo food. We recently adopted a two year old Yorkie. They gave us the bag of food and it is the Blue Buffalo wilderness blend for small breeds. She told us that he had responded the best to this food and never had any problems like diarrhea as opposed to many of the others she had tried. (They've had him since a puppy) I have noticed that he only eats a few bites at a time and seems to just tolerate it but not love it. However, no issues with pooping or allegies etc. Well, today we finally ran out and I bought more and fed it to him. He gobbled up the 1/4 cup immediately, and left the pieces that had been left in his bowl previously from the old bag. The same thing happened tonight. He is about 5 lbs and usually eats barely 1/3 cup a day. I was so happy to see him eat it so well. Of course, I came to Yorkie talk to look up foods and found the info about the lawsuit. Yikes, now I'm wondering if he likes it because it's changed and maybe not for the better?? I hate to switch if he had issues with other foods but don't want to give him bad food either. I would love adviceii

We just recently quit feeding Blue Buffalo. Where did you find info about a lawsuit and changes in the food? I would like to read it. Thanks.

I read about it here. It's a whole thread in Yorkie health and diet. What did you switch to and why?

With Blue Buffalo... I look at it like this:"It's better to be safe than sorry, switch!"

There are so many foods to choose from, why use one that that has some obvious issues on multiple fronts?

I'm using some Wellness products currently. Core's kibble size is too large for our smaller yorkie. I'm going to try some Fromm products next.

On one hand there's grain free, on the other there is a small breed formula... I'll end up with 2 separate foods from the same company. chewy.com is where I'll most likely get it from.

It's more then just the lawsuit I personally am not sure that didn't just have to do with money. I belive doodlebug is the one whose dog go sick from there being to many life source bits in the food and when she called the company they knew that could be an issue. In my opinion if they know to many of those things make pets sick why put them in the food and why not fix the darn problem instead of letting dog continue to suffer and get sick. After that they sure as heck lost any trust I had for them.

Thanks so much! I'm switching him to Wellness small breed grain free as he was on grain free BB. They allowed me to return the bag of BB as well. I have enough here to mix in to acclimate him to the new food. He seems to like it. Phew! Hopefully it will be a good fit. Feeling better about not taking the risk.

Hope everything works out ok.

That's how I'd look at it! Feeling good about the food you choose.

This one? Wellness CORE Small Breed Formula
CORE® Grain-Free Small Breed Formula

Somehow I missed that one when looking before my last purchase. Huh!
turkey/chicken and potatoes w/joint health, natural preservatives and probiotics... if I'm reading the ingredients correctly.... sounds good!

Deboned Turkey, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Peas, Dried Ground Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Tomato Pomace, Natural Chicken Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Salmon Oil, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Choline Chloride, Spinach, Vitamin E Supplement, Broccoli, Carrots, Parsley, Apples, Blueberries, Kale, Sweet Potatoes, Taurine, Spearmint, Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Chicory Root Extract, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Rosemary Extract, Green Tea Extract, Spearmint Extract.

Yes it is Daisy. We are still trying to sort out why her ALP liver reading is high. Don't know if is related to the BB or not but I have seen others whose pets on BB had liver problems. Vet said it's hard to tell. Both of my last two vets said not to feed BB. One said you are paying premium price for so so food. The other said quality control is poor as evidenced by the bag we got with about 50% life source bits. When I called the company the rep said for sure that would upset her tummy. Rep seemed pretty flip about it and said just return the bag to the store and get another from a different lot. She sent me a bag of treats for my trouble. So far this liver issue has been expensive with continued testing/monitoring, meds, and special diet. Quality control seems very poor. That should have never happened. Also both vets told me that the BB company does not do their own research in composing their foods.

Not saying BB caused the liver problems but both vets wantes to know in detail what we were feeding them. I just don't want to take a chance with my babies.

Can anyone provide the link for the thread about the lawsuit? I can't do searches on my phone. Thanks.

I'm so sorry she is having liver issues. Hope she gets better soon. The lawsuit was just Purina saying BB had grain in there grain free food I believe.

Thanks for posting the link. I was so upset with BB after the life source bits incident. They explained to me that it is not unusual when they are bagging their food that the shoot that fills the bag with kibble or the shoot that fills the bag with life source bits runs out and then the bag fills up with whatever is coming in from the other shoot. Apparently no one is watching and the bags go out like that. The rep told me that life source bits are supposed to be about 7 or 8% of the bag but ours was about 50%. I guess someone eventually discovers that one of the shoots is empty and they fill it. The rep was like....it happens all the time, no big deal.

Our dogs were spitting out the life source bits for the most part anyway. Our vet said their great commercials are misleading and "natural" means nothing. He said that many people fall for the sales pitch and commercials because they make the food look so healthy. Maybe it is and maybe it's not but I am trusting my vet on this one.

Thanks for wishing Daisy well. We got her numbers almost back to normal and then I was allowed to start adding green beans, then boiled chicken. Her ALT went back up and she started itching. So now we suspect a chicken allergy and back to square one with the Hepatic diet. I think she will be fine.

I meant to say that her ALP went back up, not ALT. The vet explained that her ALP being high is not as serious as if her ALT was high but they wanted to know what is causing it. They tested her for cushings but the test came back negative for cushings. We are going to eliminate chicken from her diet and hope it goes back to normal. We are not sure what is causing the high ALT readings but will just monitor it now and then.

Yep! That's the one. So far he loves it!

I'm so sorry doodlebug. Hope everything gets back to normal soon. It's so hard when our fur babies are sick!