Innova EVO for 6 month old

[Lael]

Hi everyone,

I have been feeding my two girls Wellness all their lives; one is 3, and she's on Lamb, the other is 6 months and still on Puppy formula.

The pet supply store where we buy our food sells all kinds of great food. They recently recommended switching from Wellness to Innova EVO, because the quality of Wellness has apparently declined in the last year (didn't know about this).

Anyway, after doing some searching through the threads, I read in several places that Innova EVO is not recommended for dogs under 18 months. However, NaturaPet's website claims:

Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that Innova EVO Red Meat Formula Dog Food provides complete and balanced nutrition for ALL LIFE STAGES.

What is your experience with this? Should I feel safe switching to Innova when Eva is only 6 months? (And is Wellness really going downhill??)

Thanks in advance,
Cat

 

[GoCougs]

The advice you found on this forum still holds true. Overloading with crude protein and calcium is believed to cause skeletal growth issues.

That said, high protein kibble is still a relatively new concept, so the research hasn't been done. Putting your puppy on a diet of this sort amounts to making it a guinea pig. None of us can really tell you whether it's ok or not.

 

[gmacleod]

GoCougs is right Nobody, Naturapet included, really knows whether or not high protein in a dry food is a problem for a puppy or not. There is conflicting information about that one. Pretty much everyone agrees that excess calcium is a problem. So is excess overall calories (overfeeding). And some veterinary information says that excess protein is too (some says it's not).

When you bear in mind that many of the problems associated with overnutrition of puppies don't show up until the dog is 2-5 years old - and that foods like EVO have only even been around for about 3 years... well, how can anyone really know for sure? My suspicion (based on no more than theorising, btw) is that we'll find that high protein isn't a problem. But we won't find that out until puppies have been fed on these foods for 10 years or so. That means we need some guinea pigs, of course Not sure if you want your pup to be one of them though.

Incidentally, it is worth noting that Naturapet used to advise that the EVO formula was not suitable for puppies and could make them grow too fast. They no longer give that advice. But they don't give any indication of why they no longer give that advice (have they done any studies? Who knows? If they have, the results aren't shared). Your guess as to whether or not it could be detrimental to your puppy is as good as anyone else's (problem is, it's a guess).

 

[jgerhold]

The biggest problem with the food, in my mind, is the Calcium:Phosphorus ratio which is too high for a growing puppy which can lead to bone and joint problems down the road. Infact the only grain free kibble that I can find that would be suitible for young dogs would be made by Timberwolf Organic "The Wild and Natural" and "Ocean Blue". However b/c of the high fat and how dence the calories content is, if you would choose to feed these foods you would have to be very careful to monitor the portions to prevent further complications down the road (i.e., cubby puppy syndrom and osteological problems).

 

[Lael]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. My hunch (and general style in life ) is not to be the guinea pig. Both the girls are doing very well on Wellness, so I suppose there's no reason to fix something that isn't broken.

If I do switch, for rotation's sake, I suppose we'll try Innova once Eva's past 18 months.

Thanks again!
Cat