Changing food
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@AJs:
I'd rather keep pills and additives to a minimum if possible. :)
Besides, his digestion is working just fine…I can smell it from here. :D
Wonderful! Gas is a result of poorly digested food. Digestive enzymes are a natural product that can mix right in. If AJ is not digesting his food thoroughly other problems will show up.
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The musical butt could just be the transition. I would not give up the duck until you have completely switched. I use the the nature's variety raw diet mixed in with my kibble and dogs seem to enjoy the variety. I also use 1000 mg of human fish oil gel tabs (human version from wal-mart). beautiful coats! good luck
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AJ didn't have any trouble at all when he was on Pinnacle. I'm considering going back to it because he's still got the toots pretty bad. I did notice that one of the preservatives in this food is citric acid. It's great for Vitamin C, but from what I've heard, it can cause "bloat." Isn't that another word for gas?
He didn't have this with Pinnacle. It was worth the try, but my olfactory receptors are getting burned out.
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We used to alternate Kairoe on Nutro Natural choice Chicken or Lamb kibble when he was a puppy and found that he was doing well with it. We'd also add a teaspoon of cod liver oil into every other meal to keep his coat shiny and to reduce his dandruff. The added oil has been a bonus since he rarely has dandruff. However, it does not bode well for his breath. Ikes!
When he got to about 8 months old, we decided to switch him over to Nutro's ULTRA small breed adult formula and since the switch we've notice that he's doing extremely well on it. No gas, no bloating and his coat is amazing looking. He even looks leaner.
BUT…
I decided to ween him over to EVO's red meat small bites formula [heard good things about it] but he has yet to eat a full meal and actually puked a meal that he eventually finished! It's funny but He would pick out the Nutro kibble and leave the Evo alone. And his gas is h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e! Holy. This also happened with that Call of The Wild brand. When he was on those formulas he looked tubby and bloated looking. We didn't over feed him and actually cut down each feeding to 3/4 cups compared to full cups with Nutro.
I guess, the food is just too rich for his young tummy?
So, now we're switching back to Nutro.
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Evo and other grain free foods can be quite rich for some dogs depending on what they had been eating. A really good alternative to EVO, made by the same manufacturer is California Natural it comes in chicken and lamb formulas. If you find California Natural doesn't have enough calories or fat they also have Innova so there is a whole range within the Natura pet line.
I have also had really good results with Nature's Variety kibbles both their grain free Instinct and the with grain Prairie.
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I have also had really good results with Nature's Variety kibbles both their grain free Instinct and the with grain Prairie.
+1
I'm now using the Instinct kibble and their raw food daily. Using both seems to have cut down on the room clearing gas. I was using just the Instinct kibble before.
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I'm now using the Instinct kibble and their raw food daily. Using both seems to have cut down on the room clearing gas. I was using just the Instinct kibble before.
The Instinct was causing gas? That's what I've been trying to switch the Knucklehead over to. Now he's an olfactory assault weapon. He was doing fine on Pinnacle, I just wanted to upgrade his food because of the dandruff. If adding fish oil to his kibble helps with that, I will go back to the Pinnacle and buy some fish oil. He loves fish.
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@AJs:
The Instinct was causing gas? That's what I've been trying to switch the Knucklehead over to. Now he's an olfactory assault weapon. He was doing fine on Pinnacle, I just wanted to upgrade his food because of the dandruff. If adding fish oil to his kibble helps with that, I will go back to the Pinnacle and buy some fish oil. He loves fish.
It might have been, but I'm not certain. It is a bit rich but i think it helps to mix up his diet a bit by offering different proteins daily.
Since I've started doing raw meals in the evenings, he hasn't had any problems. Instinct is great dry kibble though. I'm really tempted to do all raw but it does get a bit spendy. He absolutely go nuts over the raw food and still desires his dry kibble.
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I would highly recommend the fish oil. As I stated before in a previous post, I put Zak on a grain free diet and added fish oil pills daily and a Cosequin DS (glucosamine & chondroitin) capsule sprinkled on his food each day for arthritis and he has not had a problem with arthritis since. There are foods with these supplements included, however, it is my understanding that they are just sprayed on the food. My vet had in the past suggested for my senior dogs at least 1000mg fish oil daily for cognitive health and the arthritis. For Zak and some early kidney disease he is showing she is recommending, and I have also read on line, 100mg fish oil per 10 lbs. of body weight (2500 mg daily). I don't think you're going to find the best level of fish oil supplement in a kibble. Oh, and his coat this year is sooooooooo soft! :)
