Dog Food question

mart · Post by **mart** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:28 pm

Hi there, and yes, yet again another dog food question.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a good quality food. I do have some limitations however. Logan is an older pup (12) and has to have regular blood work done to keep an eye on his kidney function. We have noticed that his coat is getting dry and coarse of late, and would like to switch his food. Do we need to keep him on a senior food, or would a higher quality food be better?? We currently feed him Proplan selects.
Thoughts appreciated!!!

etyson11 · Post by **etyson11** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:28 pm

For the price and quality, I cant say enough about Taste of the Wild (especially High Prairie mix). I'm sure someone will be along soon to provide further suggestions.

britlover · Post by **britlover** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:43 pm

i always stick to the grain-free foods rated six-stars on http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com and have had excellent results. I have used the Orijen senior food and really liked it, but my senior dog does not do well on chicken protein. EVO just came out with a fish-based grain free and am using that now.

dmedric · Post by **dmedric** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:25 pm

Max (a senior-around 13 years old) now eats Wellness Core (grain-free) and does well on it. We also use Canidae (grain-free) as a secondary food for variety and mix in Merrick canned foods for a special treat. We haven't switched to senior foods -- no real reason -- he just seems to do fine on the regular adult foods and doesn't have any health problems.

Post by **Barb Wright** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:54 pm

Thought maybe the following articles would be helpful in making decisions about what to feed a senior dog.

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/se ... ial-needs/
http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/pr ... nior-dogs/
http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/senior-dogs/

Lew Olson is a professional Nutritionist and her articles are great tutuorials for gleaning information about the nutritional approach to health and healing. There is a wealth of knowledge available in her series of articles and Newsletters.....certainly offering lots of ideas and sensible approaches to dealing with age related problems and how to avoid or mitigate most of these problems brought on by age.

HTH

Post by **Lisa** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:51 pm

Personally, I tend to stay away from foods billed as "senior" foods, because they tend to be lower in protein. Recent studies indicate that senior dogs may actually need more protein than younger dogs.

For my own dogs (even the old one and the one in renal failure), I alternate between Nature's Logic, Solid Gold's Barking at the Moon, and Wellness Core.

jwmkem · Post by **jwmkem** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 2:29 pm

You should check with your vet because the food might need to be special because of your dog's renal/kidney problems. The vet can probably give you the name of some food that has the right amount of electrolytes and protein for your dog's health issues.

janet909 · Post by **janet909** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:29 pm

jwmkem wrote:You should check with your vet because the food might need to be special because of your dog's renal/kidney problems. The vet can probably give you the name of some food that has the right amount of electrolytes and protein for your dog's health issues.

I would agree with that. Interestingly, my 14 y/o dog got pancreatitis (now two bouts) after I switched from her senior food to Taste of the Wild. I think there was too much fat and protein in it. Because of her age and her meds, I should have discussed it with my vet. It may not have been the only reason but we think it could have contributed to it.

I'm not dissing Taste of the Wild. My three brits are all on it. It was probably just too much for my old girl.

Post by **Lisa** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:15 pm

jwmkem wrote:You should check with your vet because the food might need to be special because of your dog's renal/kidney problems. The vet can probably give you the name of some food that has the right amount of electrolytes and protein for your dog's health issues.

Sadly, I've found that most vets simply tend to recommend prescription diets, which I won't feed. Generally, when I have a dog with a health issue, I don't ask my vet for a food recommendation. Instead, I ask her for a nutrition recommendation...what types of things should I avoid, what should I look for, what % of fat is appropriate, what % of phosphorus, calcium, moisture, etc. Then, I take those recommendations, and look at the higher quality commercial foods for one that meets those requirements.

For example, when all the dogs had a stomach bug, the vet tried to sell me a bag of Euk. Low Residue. I asked her why she recommended the food, and she said it was because of the low fat and easy digestibility. So, I said thanks but no thanks and picked up a bag of NB Venison...low fat, easy digestibility. With Emma (foster in renal failure), she wanted her on a prescription low phosporus diet...problem is it's also low in protein and calories and Emma was emaciated. Again, I asked what made the food idea - low phosphorus - and found one with higher protein and calories and low phosphorus.

mart · Post by **mart** » Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:33 am

Thanks for the advide everyone! I will call and find out what our vet is looking for in the senior food, keeping in mind his kidney issues. I was actually looking at TOTW, so I will do some checking and go from there!

Eltu200 · Post by **Eltu200** » Sat Dec 30, 2017 5:09 pm

Hi there, and yes, yet again another dog food question.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a good quality food. I do have some limitations however. Logan is an older pup (12) and has to have regular blood work done to keep an eye on his kidney function. We have noticed that his coat is getting dry and coarse of late, and would like to switch his food. Do we need to keep him on a senior food, or would a higher quality food be better?? We currently feed him Proplan selects.
Thoughts appreciated!!!

gagesbarb · Post by **gagesbarb** » Fri Oct 18, 2019 8:42 am

Good observation...Thanks for chiming in

mrRandallPal · Post by **mrRandallPal** » Tue Dec 31, 2019 9:34 am

I currently have a 10-year old setter and feed it Native III a 30:20 food. Im getting a new 8-week old pointer pup and was intending to feed it Native Puppy also a 30:20 food. However, I noticed on Natives website that both of these foods say that they are formulated to meet the needs of puppies. The ingredient list, calories, and nutritional measurements are the same for these two feeds. The best I can tell, the only potential difference is the size of the kibble.

Is it important to feed puppies, puppy food? It sure would simplify my dog food buying if I only needed to buy one type of food.

Post by **Barb Wright** » Thu Jan 02, 2020 7:20 pm

I think you can see that you've answered your own question.....if the ingredients in the two foods (puppy/adult) are the same and the only difference is the size of the kibble then the food should be adequate for both dogs...puppy/adult. But if optimum rather than adequate is your goal, then I would certainly consider adding some quality protein to the "puppy" food. Eggs, cottage cheese, tuna/mackerel (fish of some kind), salmon oil, liver (raw) etc. Not in huge amounts, 1/4 cup or so and varying the source....pups need quality protein for good growth and development. Unfortunately most processed dog kibble does not provide QUALITY protein. Just my personal preferences....many, many pups/adults manage to maintain adequate health and development levels with commercial processed dog food.

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