im about to pull hair out over food

    • Silver

    im about to pull hair out over food

    im still looking for a food to put my adopted 3 year old pomeranian on.. he's been on ol'roy for 3 years .. ive had him with me for a week now and was checked at vet today.. and is good.. but feels he has some form of allergy.. ive posted here already but am still having trouble.

    i cant afford to order online and i only need a 7 lb bag or smaller.. he only eats a bit less than 1/2 cup per day. he weighs 5 lbs... and i cant pay 28 bucks for that small of bag online

    anyways.. here is my list.. ive visited every feed store and pet store and so on around me. so here is the final list.. PLEASE HELP ME CHOOSE im going crazy here.. lol

    MAXXIMUM NUTRITION 

    NATURAL CHOICE

    NUTRO ULTRA

    NUTRO MAX

    NATURAL CHOICE

    PRO PLAN

    NATURES RECIPE

    EUKANUBA & EUKANUBA NATURAL

    IAMS NAUTRAL

    PURINA ONE

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    Have you checked out Canidae (www.canidae.com), Innova (www.naturapet.com), blue buffalo (www.bluebuff.com), and etc? They are more or less about the same price as those you noted. 

    These food I mentioned have store locator on their websites.  Blue Buffalo and Solid Gold are carried at either Petsmarts and/or Petco.  For more selections and readings, you can go to www.dogfoodproject.com

     

    P.S. If those you noted were my only choices, I am not sure what I would pick.  Since your pet is such a small pet and does not eat much at all, I would probably home cooked for him or go with 100% canned food.  There are folks here who can give more information than I can. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    I've heard that the lamb/rice Maximum Nutrition actually isn't bad for the price.  And, I've read on here that the ProPlan Sensitive Skin/Stomach wasn't a bad choice either.  If it were me, I'd probably start with the ProPlan and if that didn't work try the Maximum Nutrition.

    • Gold Top Dog

    I've had pom's all my life.

    Chances are that if you get him going on a good food, his suspected allergies may clear up...what I'm saying, is he may not have food allergies at all, just a reaction to all the crap, if you will, in the ole' Roy formulation.

    Personally, I would not opt for any of the foods you've listed.  If these are your absolute ONLY options, I would personally try homecooking for him instead of any of the above mentioned foods.

    You didn't mention where abouts you live, but just about every town has a Petsmart fairly close by, in which you can look into the Blue buffalo foods.

    Otherwise, for my 5# pomeranian and 6# chihuahua, I buy them a 5-6# bag of either Innova, EVO, Taste of the Wild, or California Natural and don't spend more then maybe $13 or so and it'll last for a good month or so.

    When you feed a higher quality food, you should only have to feed your 5# pom maybe a 1/4th of a cup total per day (but break it down into a minimum of 2 meals), or a very slight tad more if he's very energetic.

    These pom's do FANTASTIC on a fish-based diet and/or a diet high in protein/fat, you do not want to feed a high carb diet to these guys, dries their hair out terribly.

    For $28-30 dollars, you are FAR better off cooking for him yourself, it's very easy and cheap to feed a pom a homemade diet. In fact, most of the time, my 2 little guys are homecooked, I spend less money on their food then I do my own.

    • Gold Top Dog

      You would probably have very good results on the ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach, like Lori said, or on the ProPlan Selects Salmon and Brown Rice. I've heard of excellent results with these foods. Jessie's allergic to chicken and salmon so I can't use ProPlan or many of the holistic foods, but I have tried Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice, and her coat is beautiful on it. Because of her sensitive skin, she does best on foods with fairly high amounts of omega 6, omega 3, and zinc, which the Natural Choice has.

    • Silver

     

    i live in a very small town in kentucky.. and believe it or not the only petsmart is 3 hours from me.. (maybe 2 if i drive fast..lol)

    where in the world did you find those foods for 13 bucks????  i know the food was cheap on petfooddirect.com but the shipping to me was right at 20 bucks

    • Gold Top Dog

    Well, if it has to be ordered that's a different story.

    I live in a small town too, but once a month we drive into town for major grocery shopping for the house, cause I can't find as many items in our small town store, and/or they're WAY more expensive....I stack up on a bag or two of food then.

    • Silver

     

    im most likely going to homecook for him and add kibble.. maybe the proplan as well.. but 90% homecooked..

    does anyone know of a group or a link to a site on homecook..? im looking on yahoo groups now and cant find one

    of course if i go this route ill be here with lots of worries and questions im sure

    • Gold Top Dog

    Here are some things to google:

    Totally Home Cooking on yahoo groups

    Monica Segal (great group/info!)

    Dr. Donald Strombeck _Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets, The Healthful Alternative_

     

    For your list of kibbles, I'd try the proplan. I had my minpin on it for a little while and his coat was the most beautiful I've ever seen it!

    I homecook also, but I use sojo's dog mix (you add your meat and veggies).  It's very cost effective for us and the dogs, especially the bichons are very healthy. 

    • Silver

    im searching on google now for recipe's.. im just scared i wont give him all the nutrition he needs.. his coat is not shiny at all.. he has dry skin and licks his paws constantly he has little/no energy level.

     

    im working on improving his diet first.. but do i need to mix the kibble (pro plan is what im going with) with the homecooked?

    btw- any more sites with recipes will help out.. lol

    AND THANK YOU ALL

    • Gold Top Dog

    Here's a neat site to peruse: Dog Food Reviews

    MAXXIMUM NUTRITION - 3 Star

    NATURAL CHOICE - 2 Star

    NUTRO ULTRA - 3 and 4 Star (Edit: Depends on the formula. The Holistics are 4 star!)

    NUTRO MAX - 2 Star

    NATURAL CHOICE - 2 Star

    PRO PLAN - Not Listed

    NATURES RECIPE - 3 Star

    EUKANUBA NATURAL - 2 Star

    IAMS NAUTRAL - 1 Star

    PURINA ONE - 1 Star

    I personally wouldn't feed less than a 4 or 5 star food (if I could get it), but ANYTHING is going to be an improvement over Ol Roy! Smile So I say get the best food in your area and go with that. I live in a small town, too and I just switched my cats up from Hills Rx to a good food, so whatever you can do to improve is going to be a good thing. Yes

    • Gold Top Dog

    Edited to add a 4 Star food from your list - (Nutro Ultra Holistic)

    My Opinion Only - Homecooked is not something to jump into. You'll want to research and see if it's really what you want to do before you start. In the meantime, I would just get him on a better dry food while you research. His feet itching is probably because of allergies to something in his food.

    Also get some fish oil caps (in the vitamin section of WalMart or whatever) and start giving him one of those a day, increasing to 2 after a week.

    MAXXIMUM NUTRITION:


    Ingredients
    Lamb, chicken meal (natural source of glucosamine), whole ground grain sorghum, brewers rice, ground barley, chicken fat (reserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), dried beet pulp, carrots, natural flavor, ground flaxseed, peas, potassium chloride, dried eggs product, brewers dried yeast, salt, blueberry pomace, monocalcium phosphate, taurine, vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, choline chloride, proteinated minerals (zinc, manganese, copper), niacin, copper sulfate, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganous oxide, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6) menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin B2), sodium selenite, calcium iodate, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, cobalt carbonate.

     

    NATURE'S RECIPE has a lot of different formulas, but their Allergy Version ingredients are:

    Venison meal, rice, cracked pearled barley, oats, pea protein, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract, and citric acid), animal digest, potassium chloride, choline chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), inositol, niacin supplement, vitamin A supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, beta-carotene, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), minerals (zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, iron proteinate, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, manganous proteinate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), yeast culture, yucca schidigera extract. 

    If you can get Nutro Ultra Holistic that's the best from your list. Ingredients from their Small Breed Adult Formula:

    Chicken Meal, Whole Brown Rice, Ground Rice, Rice Bran, Lamb Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Flaxseed, Soybean Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Salmon Meal, Oatmeal, Natural Flavors, Suncured Alfalfa Meal, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Tomato Pomace, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Cranberry Powder, Dried Egg Product, L-Lysine, Vitamin E Supplement, Dried Kelp Meal, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Taurine, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Extract, L-Carnitine, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Biotin, Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, Garlic, Calcium Iodate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Beta-Carotene, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid.


    I think you'd see a huge improvement if you went with any of these foods while you're researching and deciding on whether to go homecooked. My choice would be the Nutro Ultra Holistic if you can get it.

    • Gold Top Dog

    I agree with FourIsCompany... if I knew what I was doing and had a lot of money I'd homecook for my dog too. But the truth is you really need to know what your doing.

    I have a Pomeranian who has SEVERE food allergies. Puking, shaking, itchy, diaherea... very very bad. I was pulling my hair out too over food for the longest time you have no idea... I would stay up at night crying wondering why my poor baby is so sick!

    Finally we found what works for us and it makes both of our lives much better.

    I do grain free & allergy forumlas. The brand I use is Natural Balance and can be found in any local PETCO. And if there is no PETCO around it is well worth it to buy online www.naturalbalance.net

    Best of luck!

    • Gold Top Dog

    I had ok results with Harley with the Pro Plan Sensitive...but we have since gone through several other brands and worked our way to better foods.   Often the allergies to the food are the dyes and artificial additives in the foods.  Some dogs do detox when they change  from poor quality food to better food.

    I would look for a better food with no dyes or artificial additives.  What about ordering the dogfood online?  I would add probiotics to the diet to help with digestion.  I would look for one with few ingredients.

    • Silver

    here is the link to the ultra that the tractor supply store carries.. i dont think they have the small breed formula just what is shown here.. but i do know in the sample the kibble was A LOT smaller pieces than he is use to.

     IS THIS THE NUTRO YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT?

    http://www.ultraholistic.com/adult.shtml