Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
overwhelmed by all the choices but definitely ready to make a change!
i am totally overwhelmed with too many food options.
i started foster on orijen soon after we got him, (he's 1 now) feeling that the grain free choice was best. he came to us as a rescue with giardia and another parasite, and had loose stools from the get-go. though he went through several courses of medications for these parasites, the loose stool was always there. When he hit about 4-5 mos and it was clear that there was no more parasites, the loose stool persisted. rather than follow my vet's suggestion to do a very costly fecal analysis, I decided to switch foods. I switched to a commercially available food, Iams for large breed puppies. Lo and behold, no more loose stool. i have continued with him on this food because first, I didn't want to mess with upsetting his system, and i just plain had no idea what would be best. i know i should choose a higher quality food and feel like maybe the grain free isn't right for him. has anyone had experience with a puppy who doesn't tolerate the grain-free but later on, he will? i'm ok with food with some grains, and i'd love to be able to get food easily no matter where i am.
I guess i'm not the most organized, and have found myself in a "guilty" bind. then add the recent recalls into the mix and i'm really stumped! help is much appreciated -- maybe 2 or 3 choices to pick from?
also, price has to be considered. some of these foods are so, so expensive. it would be nice to know whether some are just outrageously overpriced!
thanks, dianne
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Karen & Jackdoodle on -
I don't think that any of the foods we recommend are overpriced. The more expensive foods actually end up costing less than foods that are priced lower in many cases, because you feed less. I don't think there is anything I could recommend that would have a per pound price as low as Iams, but there are some foods on our recommended list that are more moderately priced than others.
It's possible that Foster does better with more limited ingredients. Right now, with all the recalls, I hesitate to recommend many of the foods I would have suggested a week ago. Maybe take a look at Fromm's Four Star line; I'd start with the Chicken a la Veg formula. It's not grain-free, it contains rice, but it appears that Foster does okay with rice, so this might be a good choice for him.
Another choice would be Acana's Chicken and Burbank potato. You might also look at Nature's Variety Prairie line, the Chicken and Brown Rice.
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Permalink Reply by Ricki and Tara (doodle) on -
It could be that it is not the "grain free" part of Origen that caused the soft stool problem. Tara had problems with soft stool when eating Origen too and I have heard of other DK doodles that experienced the same problem. She has been fine on TOTW which is also grain free. I know it is not a good time to switch to TOTW right now but I just wanted to point out that if you do want to try to stay grain free that another brand may work fine.
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Permalink Reply by Karen & Jackdoodle on
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Except she hasn't stayed grain-free, she's using Iams now, which is loaded with grain, of a very poor quality, and there's no more loose stool. :)
I personally doubt that's due to having grain in the current food too, Ricki, or that the lack of grain was the cause of the loose stool. But for a long time, it did seem like JD did better with rice in his diet.
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Permalink Reply by Allyson, Peri & Taquito on
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Try Fromm - just like Karen said. My Peri has done well on it - didn't with grain-free. Each dog is different. Fromm is a value in my opinion. Very high quality but affordable. Can you find it near you?
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