[Dog_Obsessed]

So Lily has still been having some anal gland issues, even on the NVI LID Rabbit. The vet told us about something called the Balance It perscription diet. He said there was some kind of thing that allowed clients to order a custom prescription diet. I didn’t see anything about the customizable thing on the Balance It website, but it does appear that they have some veterinary diets. https://secure.balanceit.com/marketplace2.2/ https://secure.balanceit.com/marketplace2.2/details.php?i=44&cc=
The diets look great compared to other prescription diets, with actual meat as the first ingredient, but it’s not clear to me if they are actually any better than normal LID diets. Anyone have thoughts on this? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

In my experience, anal gland issues don’t have that much to do with the diet. Sure, any foods that will give the dog loose stools will aggravate the situation. It has more to do with their anatomy, more common with small breeds.
The thing I have found that works the best to avoid impactions, is routine expression of the anal glands. Check Youtube for how to videos, and confer with your vet as to how often. He may be willing to demonstrate or have a vet tech show you.

[theBCnut]

I looked into Balance It for Micah and they do have a custom diet option, but your ability to customize the diet is very limited. I canned the idea pretty quickly.

[El]

Hi DO

There are 2 options for creating a custom diet for your dog on BalanceIt.com The first is for HEALTHY dogs and is called the Autobalancer. I found BalanceIt’s Autobalancer recipe generator to be a lifesaver for people who want to feed their dogs a nutritionally balanced homemade diet quickly and easily. While it may not be beneficial to everyone and it doesn’t have unlimited options, it certainly can be of great assistance to novices and anyone else looking for a simple way of entering the world of homemade diets!

https://secure.balanceit.com/recipegenerator_ver4/index.php?

The second choice is for dogs with a specific health issue and while you can create a recipe, you can’t view it or use it without a vet’s approval.

https://secure.balanceit.com/tools/recipegenerator/

ALL the free recipes use supplements from BalanceIt. There is a paid option where you can use human supplements that you purchase yourself.

[Dog_Obsessed]

@Red My vet thinks it has a lot to do with food allergy/sensitivity issues, and while they also have recommended the routine expression, I have read quite a bit about it possibly worsening anal gland issues long-term. I have a few previous topics about this that explain the situation better: /forums/topic/anal-glandfood-allergy-issues-tmi-warning/
/forums/topic/more-anal-gland-issues/

[Dog_Obsessed]

@BCnut/El Doctor Thanks! I played with the website a bit more after posting this topic and found the one for specific health issues. It would be great except for the fact that Lily needs a novel protein source, such as bison, venison, or kangaroo, and I’m pretty sure that isn’t really practical to use for a homemade diet based on the availability/cost of novel meat sources.

[Bobby dog]

Hi D O:
On Dr. Wynn’s website she had a document posted on hypoallergenic treats with a link to a website that sold exotic meats. The company was located in Washington, but it looks like it closed recently. I found this site through a Google search, they are located in California:
http://www.exoticmeatmarkets.com/expetforaw.html

Did you check out this option on Balance IT?
https://secure.balanceit.com/marketplace2.2/details.php?i=17&cc=

Here’s info on individual consultations:
https://secure.balanceit.com/info/acvnecvcn.php

I am going to try out their Carnivore Blend for Bobby and the cats next month.

There’s also Just Food For Dogs custom and Rx diets. I want to give one of their DIY kits a try:
http://justfoodfordogs.com/vet-support-diets.html
http://justfoodfordogs.com/custom_prescriptive

Here are some sites I have come across and bookmarked. I haven’t really looked into them too much, but maybe one of them has some options for you:
http://www.raynenutrition.com/default.asp
https://www.petdiets.com/

[aquariangt]

I know Susan Thixton really likes Rayne for prescription diets, thankfully I haven’t had to use any before so haven’t looked into them, but from what I’ve read, if I did, Rayne would be one I would be leaning towards.

On balanceit, I believe I read once that they were synthetic vitamins? How do people feel about that?

[Dog_Obsessed]

Thank you for the links BD, and thanks for the recommendation aquariangt! I will look into the Rayne diets. And yes, I do think that Balance It uses synthetic vitamins, but don’t most commercial foods also use them? Correct me if I’m wrong on this,

[Bobby dog]

Welcome!

Carna4 doesn’t use synthetics, there are probably some more, IDK. Foods in my rotation contain synthetics. That’s part of why I feel it is important to add fresh foods to Bobby’s diet. While looking into dinner mixes I found several used synthetic or a combo of whole foods and synthetics; See Spot Live Longer, Wysong’s Call of the Wild, and Fresh + Oasis each contain synthetics. I have been checking out dinner mixes for many months and decided to try Balance IT and Just Food For Dogs DIY kit to start with. I am still waiting for See Spot Live Longer to come back on the market too.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up. The other thing is the Balance It Catfish and Beans Vet dry food: https://secure.balanceit.com/marketplace2.2/details.php?i=44&cc=
It is expensive for an LID, but Lily’s never had beans as a carb before as far as I know, and she hasn’t had much Catfish either, so it could be an option.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.

[Bobby dog]

Looks interesting! I have only fed a few kibble fish recipes to Bobby and he always seems to enjoy them a little more. I smelled the fish in them, it wasn’t overwhelming so I can only imagine it had a different flavor that appealed to him. He also really loves his sardines or any canned food that has fish in it too. I don’t feed too many canned foods with fish because the ones at my pet stores mostly contain larger fish.

I haven’t really looked at their kibble because I am not in the market (thank goodness) for an LID or Rx food. When I order the Carnivore Blend next month I am going to add some samples of their kibble to my order to try out for both the cats and dogs just to check it out and see if they like it.

On another note, I got a free bag of the Freshpet baked chicken kibble to try through a marketing promo. I started feeding it on Saturday and Bobby really loves it. He is actually crunching his food. He normally swallows most kibble whole. He even goes back to his bowl to lick it clean several times. I have used three different toppers so I don’t feel it’s that. I am wondering if the vegetable pieces give it some added flavor that he’s grooving on. It looks exactly like the picture on the website.
http://freshpet.com/

[Dog_Obsessed]

I’m currently looking at the Rayne Diagnostic (LID) diets. They are all super limited ingredient, which is great. I don’t think they work for long-term feeding however, which I may need to keep in mind for a longer elimination diet. The kangaroo wet food looks amazing nutritionally, but is not all sustainably financially ($40 a week). The dry food is much more practical, at something like $40 a month for Lily. http://www.raynenutrition.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VC201D-2kg
It’s not great protein-wise, with 17% as-fed protein and Sweet Potato Flour as the first ingredient, but I might have to just let that slide for the elimination diet.
Still keeping in mind the Balance It Catfish and Beans, though this might be my first choice because there are so few ingredients.

Edit: The Rayne diet I linked to is also currently out of stock, which could be an issue.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.

[Bobby dog]

I hear you on the prices! I think you have to tweak your pet food criterion a bit when you are feeding an elimination or Rx diet. It may not be your ideal protein, but the more important issue is the limited ingredients. You’ll have to e-mail them and see when it will be back in stock.

They have a maintenance version too for long term feeding. It is on sale, the expiration is 7/15/15.
http://www.raynenutrition.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VC201M%2D2kg

[Dog_Obsessed]

Ooh, thanks for link me to the maintenance one! I thought it would have a lot more ingredients, but the only difference is the vitamins/minerals required to meet standards.
Unfortunately I would not be done with the food by mid-July, so I can’t take advantage of the discount.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.

[Bobby dog]

🙁

[Dog_Obsessed]

Wait, is there one available at all right now with a later expiration date?

[Bobby dog]

Doesn’t look like it.

[Dog_Obsessed]

🙁 If they replace it soon then I might be able to get it. Lily will be on the metronidazole for a few more weeks, and I think we have a bit more of the NVI left.

[SvenTaow]

Hello guys,

My Cash (little Yorkie – 11lbs) is suffering from severe IBS. Now, he’s on a homemade recipe. Our vet suggested a BalanceIT diet. Currently, Cash eats fat free turkey, EGG noodles, however, BalanceIT don’t have it on their website (only regular pasta), so I contacted them and they told me to contact my vet…
Does anyone have any insights or experience how to calculate that?
https://secure.balanceit.com/recipegenerator_ver4/index.php?calculate-and-achieve essay https://lessonsfromaparalyzeddog.com/ww-balance-it-the-veterinarians-secret-website/

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by SvenTaow. Reason: balanceit

[mart S]

How to Choose the Right Call Tracking Platform https://solarpowersystems.org/

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