Science Diet

[Schouiffy]

I second Daniel - from what I hear from my friends in Vet school.. Science Diet gives major $$ to Universities and up and coming Vets - and you can see how they get paid back in full for it because it's everywhere! Their PR ppl do a great job pitching it as a superior, "vet recommended" food. It's really sad how much it is absorbed by the public - how ppl don't even care to read the back of their dog food labels (then again, most ppl don't read the back of their OWN food labels, so I'll stop there)

I feed my pup Real Nature, which is pretty ,much the best I have found out here in the land of Swiss. It's does have whole grain brown rice (sigh) in the first four ingredients, but the other three are all meats and no corn (yay!). I am interested to know what the other Euros feed their dogs..

Perhaps to further extend on food - for those whose dogs are not on the raw diet, do you cycle your dog food every 3 to 4 months as suggested by nutritionists?

[Vicki]

What a difference when I switched Cami from Science Diet to Wellness. She didn't have the runs or any problems adjusting to the new food. Cami doesn't have gas any more…when she ate Science Diet her stools weren't firm.

[wizard]

My breeder recommended Innova (the basic version) and I'll alternate that with Solid Gold.

There's a website that rates various brands of dog food - I have it at home and will post it this evening.

[jenwilson]

Hollie eats Innova dry dog food and loves it. Sometimes I will give her a spoon of Merricks wet as a treat.

[renaultf1]

@wizard:

My breeder recommended Innova (the basic version) and I'll alternate that with Solid Gold.

There's a website that rates various brands of dog food - I have it at home and will post it this evening.

Do you mean dogfoodanalysis.com?

[myran]

I´ve switched from Precept Plus to Orijen without a hitch their poop amount is incredibly small.I also give them salmopet oil daily ,eggyolks three times a week and marrow bones.
I wish they´d sell Innova/Innova Evo over here but no such luck.

[wizard]

Here's some websites that compare dog foods (I've found the first one particularly helpful since it's more comprehensive) …
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
http://www.feedmypet.com/dog-food-comparison.html
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp
http://www.iei.net/~ebreeden/kibble.html

[CarrieH]

I feed my little girl Merrick dry & canned. Its the only thing she'll eat.

[Kebasmom]

My adult gets Blue Buffalo Wilderness and my girl is transitioning from Innova puppy to Wilderness. I also add a small spoonful of organic yogurt with live cultures and a spoonful of Merricks wet Grammy's pot pie. My girl doesn't get the wet because she needs to watch her weight.

[Sharla]

Instead of the Merrick cans have you ever tried evangers? My kids love the thighs and "hunk-o-beef". It actually looks like pot roast. YUMM:)

[ChaseandZahrasmom]

@Alex:

Innova EVO Small Bites Dog Food

We too also do Innova EVO, we do the red meat and mix it in with the turkey

[mauigirl]

@myran:

their poop amount is incredibly small

Isn't that strange? Zippy's poo got noticeably smaller when we switched her from Innova to Evo. It's small, dryer/harder and comes out shaped like distinct marbles (around 5-6 per poo). But now I feel like I'm wasting poo bags because they're too big for her mini poo!
We also found that she will eat just the kibble without Evo canned so we haven't been adding the canned as consistently any more, it's more like a treat. And that has probably affected her poop too, the food being dryer….

[tanza]

Evo is all meat with no filler grains it is total protein… reason for the small poo..... if you were to feed raw diet and things like raw meaty bones, chicken wings, etc.. it is the same was, but white in color....

[ChaseandZahrasmom]

THat is one of the things that I like the best about Innova EVO, the poo is easy to pick up.

[Bulu]

We have 2 basenjis and have been trying to transition them to Evo Small bites. Lulu is fine on it, but Benga gets chronic diarrhea if it's not mixed with the Hills perscription w/d. It seems to be the only thing that keeps his poops firm, but we don't want to keep him on it, because of the ingredients. What else can we use to make his transition easier and no messiness?

[tanza]

What/why was he put on the prescription hills w/d? If he has chronic diarrhea, obviously he has an ongoing illness, was it diagnosed? He may never be able to tolerate EVO depending on what his medical problem is….

[lvoss]

Hills w/d is a high fiber food and Evo has alot less fiber. Why is Benga on Hills w/d? Is it for weight loss or some other problem?

If it is just for weight loss, try adding some plain canned pumpkin to the Evo to add fiber.

[Bulu]

Benga had Giardia for a long time that had to get 4 courses of treatment and the vaccination. Lulu never had a problem with giardia, but the vet gave her treatment anyway for preventative reason. I actually spoke with her today, and she said I could actually try evo canned until he's old enough for the evo dry. She told me that sometimes dogs who have bad giardia cases are much more sensitive to foods like evo which are so rich, and it could be up to a year old before he can adjust. I'm going to give it a shot, but if anyone has more suggestions or advice, I'm all eyes and ears! Thx :~)

[tanza]

I would not wonder if there is something else going on with Benga. I think that maybe a specialist might be in order? While I know that Giardia can be hard to diagnose, usually with meds it clears up pretty easy. How old is Benga? And have you talked to his breeder?

Basenjis are prone to ISPID, you can read about it at if you are not familiar with it. http://www.basenji.org/PUBLIC/HealthInfo.htm

[lvoss]

Giardia can actually be very difficult to clear up. What medication did the vet use? Did they keep prescribing the same medication or did they try something else to see if Benga responded better to another? I know that with Nicky we had tried Flagyl but it would recur and then tried Panacur and it finally cleared up.

As for the food if you are looking for something less rich, try California Natural. It is made by the same company as Evo but is not as rich as Evo.