Dry Food Recommendation?

[ZOE*BOXER]

As many of you know, Catalina has been sick with diarrhea since we got her in August. I will try to make this short. She has had hookworms since she was born as far as I know. She still has terrible digestive issues that we are aggresively pursuing. She has shown an improvement in her stools over the past couple of weeks as I have been feeding her eggs, ground meat and potatoes but she has actually lost weight. She is severely thin. :( To get to the point, the vet wants her back on kibble because he says wile her stools got better on the home cooked, kibble has the scientific makeup to give her what she needs.He has previously had her on Science Diet ID and Ultra ZD, both of which did not help her stools. He is no mentioning Royal Canin which I am not a big fan of. I had her on Innova EVO for about a week with good results at first, but her runs returned and she lost weight. She has not gained weight in 2 months. I am bringing her in to the vet tomorrow and would like to have a few food suggestion of my own complete the the information from the Dog Food Analysis website. She seems to do better with potatoes than rice. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kayboxer]

What about a grain free food? Timberwolf or Taste of the Wild would be good. Your vet is also wrong about the makeup, you could do just as well with your own homecooked. If you were worried about vitamins and such, you could put a supplement in with the food. Just use a pressure cooker or crock pot and cook chicken with the bones, veggies if your want, sweet potatoes and pressure cook for two hours or simmer in crockpot for 24. The bones mush right up. You could also add oats after it is done and still hot so they will cook. We supplement with our homecooked with Taste of the Wild and they are doing great. They love the taste of it, and the price isn't too bad either. We have tried Innova but my girl had the runs with it. Went to totally grain free with Timberwolf and they did great on it but it was harder for me to get than Taste of the Wild so I went with TOTW, which is a 6 star rating anyway. Good luck on your decision!

 

[Jan]

I would keep home cooking for your girl or even better feed raw food. I certainly wouldn't put her on the crappy kibble that you can get from the vet. It is important that she get a good source of calcium. If you are not feeding her raw bones you need to find another source. You can cook chicken and pork bones to mush in a pressure cooker or you can add crushed egg shells or bone meal that you can get at the health food store.

Good luck!

 

[KCboxer4]

We have had excellent results with Timberwolf organics Blackforest, we have no soft poo issues and no tummie issues. We have fed this for over a year and ahalf and we are thrilled, so are the "kids". Maybe you could try a sample bag, Blackforest seems to be the "one" for tummie problems. I wish you luck, it is so disheartning when they aren't feeling well.

 

[dalefuller]

You might try a pre-made raw like Nature's Variety frozen raw. That's a 95% meat-based food with a good balance of vitamins and minerals. Ours poop better on that than anything they've ever eaten (don't know whether you consider pretty poop to be a "recommendation" or not...).

Solid Gold also make a nice steamed bone meal supplement. Just make sure that Catalina's calcium/phosphorus ratio doesn't get out of balance. Your vet can do a blood test to check this.

 

[DukeWood]

I wish this was closer to me ! The nearest one is over 50 miles away !!

You might try a pre-made raw like Nature's Variety frozen raw. That's a 95% meat-based food with a good balance of vitamins and minerals. Ours poop better on that than anything they've ever eaten (don't know whether you consider pretty poop to be a "recommendation" or not...).

Solid Gold also make a nice steamed bone meal supplement. Just make sure that Catalina's calcium/phosphorus ratio doesn't get out of balance. Your vet can do a blood test to check this.