Thursday, November 12, 2009

The hunt for food begin again!

I've had problem decided what to feed the boys ever since I got Stanley. I didn't want to buy crappy food so I did a bunch of research and bought Canidae for Stanley. I cannot just buy Canidae from any pet store I have to go to specific pet store to buy them. When we were living up North there was only one pet store that sold Canidae which was not a problem but I wanted to give Stanley food that is good for him and is not filler food that I can get from a normal pet store like Petco and Petsmart. Anyway I changed him to Nutro which was not bad but hubby didn't like him eating Nutro because he said that he had loose stool so when he was done with Nutro we changed him back to Canidae again.

Is time to buy dog food again now so we went and google Canidae so we can locate a store to buy them. Well we happen to come across consumer report and lately there are a lot of customers complaining about Canidae because they changed their ingredients and pets were scratching, having lose stool etc. Well those symptoms fits Stanley's symptoms!So hubs said that Stanley's problem might be because we are again feeding him Canidae. Stanley started scratching like crap ever since we moved down here but also eating Canidae. Thinking Canidae might not fit Stanley we are trying to decide which brand we should get for them now. We were thinking to try either Evo, Innova or California Natural. The boys are almost out of food hence we decided to locate a dealer that's close to our house so we can buy them some food. The owner recommended California Natural for dogs that has loose stool and scratch a lot so we bought that. Yupp another new brand of food! I will need to monitor both boys when we officially switch them to their new food. I even took a bunch of samples to see if any other brand would fit them. Hubby bought a tub of meat (looks like Jimmy Dean's sausage) for the boys too.

I'm hoping that changing the new food will prevent both of them from scratching like crazy (initially I thought it was allergy) it might still be allergies but we'll have to see if it does anything to Stanley's stool. Hopefully I don't have to go through the process of hunting for dog food anytime again. Every single time when they eat a brand several bags we decide to change their food! I guess in a way is good so they won't get sick of their food.

4 comments:

2crazydogs said...

I'm feeding Canidae for both boys - different formulas tho. So far their stools are solid, no loose stools. I notice when I tried them on California Natural, they had loose stools. It could be they are not used to the food but they were just samples. My dogs are so greedy they eat anything thing. Initially I bought Blue Buffalo for Chase since it has a formula for large breed but he had some loose stools and it didn't do anything for his fur and skin. For the two older ones, I bought them Canidae and could see immediate changes in their skin and fur. Fur is softer, less shedding and the skin on Ranger is less purple-lish which is due to his skin allergies. I wanted to try Innova but too $$. I have to Google more on this brand again.

Sunshine said...

I got a couple of samples here and there and I bought California Natural too. The owner said that California Natural is good for scratching dogs. We'll have to see I haven't started them yet.

When I first fed Stanley Canidae I don't see any difference with anything the reason why I went back to Canidae is because is suppose to be top of the line. I would buy Innova for them if it helps because they don't cost me a lot although is really spendy but I think hubby would be willing to spend it on them. I was willing to try blue buffalo/diamond not sure which one but then they didn't have any there.

I was going to go back to Canidae but when I saw the complain I am scared since they changed their ingredients so now got to search for another one for them. They said that if it works for your dogs u can continue using it but since I don't see much difference in mine we decided to try something else.

2crazydogs said...

I read the consumer report and a few blogs and comments about the ALS which I'm feeding Chase now. I hope his gut is able to tolerate it. I know when I first mixed his old food and new (1/2 and 1/4) he picked a mouthfull and spat it out but ate them up right after he finishes the bowl. Till now he seem to be alright and his stools are solid. The one time I saw him drooling a lot and coming to me for comfort was on Monday a few hours after our trip to the trails. Scared me a little as I thought he might have eaten something out on the trails. He is fine now but the comments on the reports is really bothering. I will wait till he is done with the new bag of Canidae then I will change it to my original one I wanted to buy which was Wellness.

Sunshine said...

Yeah when hubby read the forums and comments he was like I think we should switch their food. He knows I am always looking out for better food for them. I cannot remember Stanley's stool when we were feeding him puppy chow (when we first took him home coz the shelter was feeding him that and I knew nothing about dog food at that time). So from what I recall he's always had loose stool.

I don't have chance to slowly change them to their new food because they only had one meal left of canidae kibble. I am actually feeding them a back of Nurti something sample I took bag and they seem to like it. Milo seem to eat all his food now when given but I'm not sure is it because is getting colder now too. I will see how California Natural work for them I guess.

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