[puppypiles]

I have tried FreshPet actually – he hated it.

[puppypiles]

I really like The Honest Kitchen. One of their new base mixes, Kindly, has zero of the ingredients you said he’s allergic to. With that, you add fresh meat of your choosing to make it complete. With that, you can give him whatever meat you wanted, and it might ease your mind knowing you’re giving him something complete and balanced.

Also, THK is super great about giving out samples. If you email them, I guarantee they’d send you a couple things to see if your pup liked it.

[puppypiles]

I’ve never tried a puzzle toy, since he doesn’t like any kinds of treats, but I could give it a whirl. And frozen canned food? You are a sneaky genius.

[puppypiles]

I agree with Aquarian, they are low in protein. Their new base mixes Kindly and Hale don’t have any potatoes in them, and you can add whatever kinds of meat you want to those.

[puppypiles]

If you’re interested in making your own food or dehydrating it, I suggest looking at http://www.dogaware.com/articles/newsdiet.html#recipestudy. It’s an article about the research and nutrient deficiencies in homemade diets, and links to where you can get supplementation.

I also agree with Akari in that feeding a purely raw (especially PMR) is easy if your calculations are correct. The very basic rule of thumb with dogs is 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, and 10% organs, with 5% of that being liver, and the other 5% being another secreting organ, such as kidneys or pancreas.

[puppypiles]

While generally I agree that starting a commercial raw first is the best idea, it’s pretty cost prohibitive with a dog as large as your. Prey model raw can be done exceedingly cheaply, IF you know what to get and where to look.

[puppypiles]

This is all really excellent! I appreciate everyone’s input.

I think I have been lucky in that I have had managers and worked in stores that dedicated significant time to training their employees. One store I worked at had great relationships with food reps, so we got news and info about their foods as it was happening. For example, when I found out that Nature’s Variety was changing their frozen raw to distinct dog and cat formulas, I went immediately to a raw feeding Facebook group and told everyone. No one believed me cause it hadn’t come into stores yet! But I had a good chuckle when it did start integrating into stores.

Have there been other instances where you needed to correct store employees? Or when you spoke to the customers after the employees helped them and helped them instead?

[puppypiles]

TOTW is an OK food. On the one hand, it’s grain free, and they have a few “semi limited ingredient” diets for dogs with mild sensitivities. Its price point makes it a good introductory grain free diet. On the other hand, while it is grain free, it is high in actual carbohydrate content. It is also manufactured by Diamond, a disreputable dog food company with a history of many recalls. TOTW itself was recalled a few years ago.

Here on DFA, they are both rated similarly. I think if your dog is responding well to the Pure Balance (losing weight appropriately), you like its price point, and your vet has no concerns, I would stay with Pure Balance. There is no rule, however, that you could rotate between the foods to give her something different.

[puppypiles]

I’m a big fan of Merrick. Their grain free line is excellent and if you’re going to do canned as well as dry, their cans are great.

[puppypiles]

I know raw and canned are more species appropriate, and I want to continue feeding him this way. It is however hard for me to feed him a can at 7am, and not be home until 8pm. If he’s tired of that flavor, the can of food has sat out for 13 hrs, and that’s 13 hrs that he hasn’t eaten. Plus who can have a social life when they have to be home every morning and every night on the dot to give him food? I want to give him the option of being able to eat when he needs to, and not have to schedule everything around canned diet.

As far as cost goes, he is the pickiest gosh darn cat in the whole universe, and one can he might have loved 3 days ago no sits uneaten. He has actually been diagnosed with anorexia by 2 separate, excellent vets, and has a standing prescription of mirtazapine, an appetite stimulant.

[puppypiles]

I was happy with RR when I ordered from them. They’re based in southern Maine and they let you do pickup for free if you live close by (which I did) and shipping is free in New England!

Unfortunately my cat didn’t like their turkey or chicken grinds, but I gave what I had to a friend and her dog scarfed down every last bit and did really well on it. I too give RR two thumbs up.

[puppypiles]

Part of the problem is he just doesn’t recognize dry food as, well, food. He wasn’t a big dry food eater before, and now he doesn’t know what to do with it.

I tried everything with the Acana I brought home one time, and I mean everything – poured chicken broth and parmesan cheese over it, heated it up, threw pieces around the apt so he’d chase them and eat them, crushed it into powder and sprinkled it over his favorite food, hid it underneath his food, left some in a bowl so he’d get used to the smell… I mean, I went all out!

[puppypiles]

I second the Alnutrin. I used the one with eggshell calcium added and made my own homemade mix with chicken, rabbit, and chicken livers. My cat, the fussiest, prissiest little turd on the planet, ate every last bit.

[puppypiles]

I would not mix Perfect Form long term. PF contains slippery elm, a gastrointestinal tract soother. It’s an emollient that creates a film over the GI tract (and everywhere else, great for sore throats btw). However, this film also blocks the absorption rate of essential nutrients, and using it long term could result in serious nutritional deficiencies.

[puppypiles]

I would check with your vet and maybe also THK. They say you can mix premade raw with their base mixes, and I don’t think that would be much different than the supplemental cans like Wellness 95%.

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