Innova's EVO dog food/tummy rumbling feedback please

[Burton'sMa]

About two and a half weeks ago, I switched my 3 1/2 yr old boy to EVO. He loved it and his poop seemed okay, but lately he has had a grumbling stomach, been eating a lot of grass and acted like he had tummy upset.....then hours later, he'll be fine....he had this problem before I switched him to EVO....the tummy upset would come and go (about once or twice a month), but now it seems to have gotten worse (almost three days a week). I have given him pumpkin....but when he has real bad tummy upset, he won't eat at all, so all I can do is give him some Pepto Bismol....I don't know what is causing the tummy rumbling....it is so loud I can hear it and he does not have access to anything unusual....so, I was wondering if maybe the food was too rich for him....anyone have any feedback or suggestions as to what could be causing this??

 

[gmacleod]

Any chance it's just an empty stomach? Some dogs need frequent small feedings, or else become nauseous and won't eat. It might be worth offering him a small snack when the tummy rumbling starts (or else just try feeding him three times a day) and see if the food doesn't help matters.

 

[Burton'sMa]

That is very possible....I will try that Thank you

 

[Burton'sMa]

Gmacleod-Question

Well, now he keeps throwing up....I've made sure he gets smaller portions and more frequently, but at least once a day he is vomiting this food up....I also noticed he has begun licking his paws....I can't imagine what he is allergic too though....do you think I should switch him to Canidae? or is that too close to what he was already on? Give me your thoughts

 

[gmacleod]

Well that does rather sound as though there's something in the food that doesn't suit him.

This has all started only with the switch to EVO? Environmental allergies are also a possibility (in fact, they're more common), but they're also much harder to track down and if this all coincided with the switch in food, then it's a reasonable thing to assume the food to be the problem. Certainly it's the best place to start.

As for what to switch to... what was he eating before EVO? If he was OK on his previous food, then that will help to narrow down the possible causes in the EVO and to choose a new food to try (that doesn't contain whatever likely suspects we can come up with). Fortunately, the ingredient list on EVO isn't that long

 

[Burton'sMa]

Yeah, I don't think it's environmental, b/c he's never had this problem before and he is 3.....we lived here the entire time. He used to be on Solid Gold's Hund-n-Flockin.......I think he began getting tired of it.....he loves the taste of the EVO, but he just can't always seem to keep it down.....I read in the Canidae that it appears to have digestive enzymes in it....I thought maybe that would help?? Yet, EVO and Canidae seem to have a lot of the same ingredients? What do you think?

 

[gmacleod]

Mmmm. Hund n Flocken is a lamb based food. That's not quite so helpful as if it had been a chicken one, for example. Then we could have suspected turkey as the cause... LOL - life is rarely so nice and simple though.

Anyway. Comparing the two foods he's been on lately:

EVO ingredients:
Turkey, Chicken, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Herring Meal, Chicken Fat, Natural Flavors, Egg, Garlic, Apples, Carrots, Tomatoes, Cottage Cheese, Alfalfa Sprouts, Dried Chicory Root, Taurine, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract, Vitamins/Minerals, Viable Naturally Occurring Microorganisms

Hund n Flocken ingredients:
Lamb | Lamb Meal | Millet | Brown Rice | Cracked Pearled Barley | Oatmeal | Rice Bran | Menhaden Fish Meal | Canola Oil | Flax Meal | Amaranth | Blueberries | Dried Chicory Root | Carotene | Choline Chloride | Vitamin E Supplement | Iron Proteinate | Zinc Proteinate | Yucca Schidigera Extract | Copper Proteinate | Manganese Proteinate | Potassium Iodide | Thiamine Mononitrate | Ascorbic Acid | Vitamin A Supplement | Biotin | Calcium Panthothenate | Sodium Selenite | Pyridoxine Hydrochloride | Vitamin B12 Supplement | Riboflavin | Vitamin D Supplement | Folic Acid |

That actually generates quite a number of possibilities. Actually all of the ingredients in the EVO... since none of them are also in Hund n Flocken.

Still, some of those are more likely than others to be the cause. The two poultry ingredients have to be considered as likely causes, as would be the cottage cheese and eggs (dairy). While it is possible that the fruits/vegetables could be what's causing the problem, it's less likely than those other ingredients. Herring meal is also a possibility, but is the least likely since there was a fish meal in the Solid Gold and he had no issues with that.

Sooo. What to do with all of that? One obvious solution is reverting to the Hund n Flocken, since you know he's OK with that. But that leaves you without any knowledge of what in the EVO was causing the problem, and what you can safely feed in the future.

I think if it were me, I'd probably try him on a food that did include chicken (or turkey, but not both), and as few other common ingredients with EVO as possible. See whether the problem clears up. If it does, then you know it's not chicken that's the problem (which is certainly worth knowing, because chicken is the most common meat used in dog food). And if the problem doesn't clear up, then you know that chicken at least is a meat you'll have to avoid - with question marks remaining over turkey (though it's rare to find a food that has turkey without chicken - so if chicken is a problem, you can pretty much forget about feeding turkey too).

How about trying California Natural Chicken formula? Doesn't have to be long term, but it would certainly help to identify whether or not chicken is a problem for your boy. That is an allergy food that has very few ingredients - basically it is chicken, rice and oil. You already know rice isn't a problem, since he had that in the Solid gold. So if he has continued itching problems on Cal. Natural, you'd know with reasonable certainty that your dog is allergic to chicken (and if he is, then there are plenty of alternative suggestions we could make on high quality food options).

If he doesn't have any problems with the CN - then great, chicken isn't the cause. That would be a good time to try a different chicken/turkey based food to see about the turkey aspect of things.

 

[Tango's Mama]

That's interesting as Tango had the same problems with EVO. He loved it but his tummy didnt agree after about a month. He was throwing up and began shedding again. I switched him back to Wellness simple solutions and he cleared up. I've since went back to Solid Gold and he seems fine now. Maybe there is something that effects some but not others. I loved the idea of the food but poor Tango cant handle it!

 

[Burton'sMa]

Thank You Gmacleod

Thank you for taking the time to type all the comparison ingredients....I actually didn't have time to check my e-mail before I had to go get him some more food....so, I asked the people at the store about if Canidae and EVO were too similar....they said they didn't think so, they also suggested the CN....but I hadn't read as much about it as the Canidae, so I got a small bag of the Canidae....so far, he seems to be o.k.....I switched him completely over b/c the EVO was making him sick, so I didn't think it could be worse....so far, he is not sick or licking his paws, but....it's still early....so, my next bag will be CN....now he was on Chicken Soup at one time, he loved it, but shedded a lot more than normal....so maybe it is the chicken, b/c he's been on beef before and not had problems....so, we'll see if he has the same reaction to the Canidae, if he does and I try the CN and he still has a reaction, then I'll know for sure....I just remember getting him off Chicken Soup b/c of the intense shedding....

I am thankful to Tango's MaMa b/c it helps to know it's not only my boy....I really wanted the food to work too.....now, I tried my boy on Wellness Fish and Sweet Potatoes and he had bad dirahhea for two weeks straight....once I got him off it....he was o.k.....so, i know Wellness won't work even though it's a good food too.

Thank you for all your input, I am going to keep you all posted

 

[Burton'sMa]

Well, went back to the store to get a bigger bag of food today....after reading your post, and talking again w/another person working at the store who owns a boxer and feeds CN we decided to go w/CN Lamb and Rice.....we choose it b/c I think he may have been allergic to the chicken....b/c I had him on chicken soup before and he began to shed a lot.....and the girl in the store who had a boxer also said her boxer was allergic to chicken....so I thought that was likely and since Canidae had chicken in it.....and he hadn't been on it but a few days.....we thought it wise....since the ingredients are so simple and we know already he can handle the lamb from the Solid Gold Hund-n-Flockin. So, again thank you and I will keep you posted.