changing dog food

psycho-hope

Hi guys,

just have a few quick questions, our dog has been sick on and off the last week and the vet has come to the conclusion he must be intolerant to something in the food we are giving him. we have to fast him today and just feed him some chicken and rice tomorrow and tuesday and see if that settles his tummy.

any ideas on foods to try him on, he has a dodgy tummy since he was poisoned 2 years ago and we have noticed that beef dosent seem to agree with him

thanks

paultf

Normally if a dog has an upset stomach a vet would recommend chicken & rice.

I wouldn't know all the different foods but John Burns practiced as a vet and he used to recommend to his customers to give chicken & rice to their dogs for various problems.

After a while the customers said they didn't have time to be cooking chicken & rice every night.

So John Burns developed his own dog food: http://burnspet.co.uk/

There are many flavours but I give Burns chicken & brown rice: 20% chicken & 60% rice. Local stockists: http://burnsireland.com/ or www.zooplus.co.uk

psycho-hope

thanks will have a look at that site.

was talking to our vet yesterday and she recommended the rice and chicken route alright

paultf

psycho-hope wrote: »

thanks will have a look at that site.

was talking to our vet yesterday and she recommended the rice and chicken route alright

Forgot to say if you get on to Burns Ireland they will send samples. Plus if you get on to Burns UK either by: internet chat, email or phone they will advise which food is best. Fantastic customer service. And if you get in touch with Burns Ireland or email Burns UK with your telephone number, they'll ring you back for free, as the customer support is based in Wales.

lorebringer

One of mine has a very sensitive stomach, has a grain (wheat) intolerance and it was a nightmare to sort her out with food. We ended up trying Royal Canin Sensitivity Control - worked miracles. It's a veterinary food so you can get it in most veterinary surgeries and online (www.medicanimal.com), I know a few people who have tried it short term for dogs with upset bellies and it always seems to work well. It can be used as a long term food also (we still feed it to my lady!).

psycho-hope

lorebringer wrote: »

One of mine has a very sensitive stomach, has a grain (wheat) intolerance and it was a nightmare to sort her out with food. We ended up trying Royal Canin Sensitivity Control - worked miracles. It's a veterinary food so you can get it in most veterinary surgeries and online (www.medicanimal.com), I know a few people who have tried it short term for dogs with upset bellies and it always seems to work well. It can be used as a long term food also (we still feed it to my lady!).

thanks lore, we have to bring him back on wednsday so ill ask then if she has any samples we can try, hes a picky eater at the best of times

paultf

I am not pushing Burns (I am actually switching over to Orijen ~ which is another food you could try) but my dogs have been on Burns for a few years.

With regards lorebringer post on Royal Canin, Burns claim they can offer an alternative to the perscription diets.

http://burnspet.co.uk/petcare/alternatives-to-veterinary-and-prescription-diets.html

I am not knocking Royal Canin - I mean it can be very hard to find a food that suits your dog.

I think Burns would work out cheaper though?

Wibbs

Or cheaper again would be raw meat, chicken thighs, lamb and offal from your local butcher, with a side order of mixed veg from lidl mixed in. Per kilo certainly cheaper than commercial dog food, especially the high end stuff. If you're worried about bones and such(understandable), then aldi/Lidl (raw)chicken fillets for a time could be a plan. In the absence of the raw/cooked meat and veg, on the commercial dog food front I've found james wellbeloved a good un. The others, or at least many of them purporting to be "healthy/organic" are dubious on that front. Our American friends are way better served on the good commercial food front.

Graces7

Wibbs wrote: »

Or cheaper again would be raw meat, chicken thighs, lamb and offal from your local butcher, with a side order of mixed veg from lidl mixed in. Per kilo certainly cheaper than commercial dog food, especially the high end stuff. If you're worried about bones and such(understandable), then aldi/Lidl (raw)chicken fillets for a time could be a plan. In the absence of the raw/cooked meat and veg, on the commercial dog food front I've found james wellbeloved a good un. The others, or at least many of them purporting to be "healthy/organic" are dubious on that front. Our American friends are way better served on the good commercial food front.

This is the route we chose too. They do need the raw chicken bones and we have never had any problems.

I never eat processed stuff and would not feed it to our pets.

They thrive on this and never any upsets.
Good for their teeth etc. And the sheer enjoyment. CRUNCH!

We cook the veg in chicken stock and add rice etc to that. In a slow cooker is not a hassle.

If you have several animals - and we feed cats and dogs raw - see if there is a chicken factory nearby; we get necks for E5 for 10 k at ours. Excellent food

America had to clean its pet food act up a few years ago; the food they were buying in from China made cannibals of their pets. Like the UK and BSE....

LIDL pet food is better; in from Germany who generally have high standards. .

lorebringer

paultf wrote: »

I am not pushing Burns (I am actually switching over to Orijen ~ which is another food you could try) but my dogs have been on Burns for a few years.

With regards lorebringer post on Royal Canin, Burns claim they can offer an alternative to the perscription diets.

http://burnspet.co.uk/petcare/alternatives-to-veterinary-and-prescription-diets.html

I am not knocking Royal Canin - I mean it can be very hard to find a food that suits your dog.

I think Burns would work out cheaper though?

We went the Burns route - even their Pork and Potato didn't suit her at the time (she was having a bout of colitis, come and goes every so often) and we found the only way to get food into her was to feed her the RC Sensitivity!

@ psycho-hope - my miss hoovers it up (had to buy her an "anti gulp" bowl!) and so do my other guys when/if they get their paws on it so never a problem getting it into them! (just incase you were worried about it). It comes in a wet food too and both wet/dry stink, the dogs get all excitied when it's coming :rolleyes:

psycho-hope

Graces7 wrote: »

Wibbs wrote: »

Or cheaper again would be raw meat, chicken thighs, lamb and offal from your local butcher, with a side order of mixed veg from lidl mixed in. Per kilo certainly cheaper than commercial dog food, especially the high end stuff. If you're worried about bones and such(understandable), then aldi/Lidl (raw)chicken fillets for a time could be a plan. In the absence of the raw/cooked meat and veg, on the commercial dog food front I've found james wellbeloved a good un. The others, or at least many of them purporting to be "healthy/organic" are dubious on that front. Our American friends are way better served on the good commercial food front.

This is the route we chose too. They do need the raw chicken bones and we have never had any problems.

I never eat processed stuff and would not feed it to our pets.

They thrive on this and never any upsets.
Good for their teeth etc. And the sheer enjoyment. CRUNCH!

We cook the veg in chicken stock and add rice etc to that. In a slow cooker is not a hassle.

If you have several animals - and we feed cats and dogs raw - see if there is a chicken factory nearby; we get necks for E5 for 10 k at ours. Excellent food

America had to clean its pet food act up a few years ago; the food they were buying in from China made cannibals of their pets. Like the UK and BSE....

LIDL pet food is better; in from Germany who generally have high standards. .

raw food isnt an option i live at home and.mum wont.go for that option + any raw meat that has been dropped in the house he wont go near so cant see him.taking to a raw diet

tk123

If you're going for dry food OP my guy developed an intolerance to his rice based Luath a while back...I tried a few rice/cereal free foods and settled on JWB cereal free since raw wasn't/isn't an option. It's more affordable than RC SC and I don't need to be a vet/chemist to know what the ingredients are!! :pac:
I tried a few others but the JWB is more affordable and suits him best :
Happy Dog Ireland - barley instead of rice - no probs with this but harder kibbles with JWB which suit him better
Happy Dog Africa - ostrich and potato - no problems but too expensive
Robbies salmon & potato - expensive and needs to be made up in advance - he was on this for 5 weeks while he was on crate rest since it was perfect for filling kongs

ISDW

If you're anywhere near a Pets at Home, they do their own brand of salmon and potato, Wainwrights and I've heard good things about it from people who's dogs have a cereal intolerance.

DogsFirst

psycho-hope wrote: »

raw food isnt an option i live at home and.mum wont.go for that option + any raw meat that has been dropped in the house he wont go near so cant see him.taking to a raw diet

Dogs are naturally wary of new food items. If they haven't experienced them while in utero ir in the first 6 weeks they are very slow to try them. It's a defence that keeps them away from nasty mushrooms (and stuff like cereal until recently!!).

If you were to include fresh ingredients it is recommended you do it really slowly. 95, 5% then 90, 10% etc.

Options to include on top of whatever dry food you pick could be things like sardines. Only 40c in Lidl and packs more nutrition in it that than the 15kg of food you'll pay your vet €70 for! Avoid fish in oil (like tuna) - too much veg oil is bad for the dog (too much omega 6, will make him itch).

Graces7

DogsFirst wrote: »

Dogs are naturally wary of new food items. If they haven't experienced them while in utero ir in the first 6 weeks they are very slow to try them. It's a defence that keeps them away from nasty mushrooms (and stuff like cereal until recently!!).

If you were to include fresh ingredients it is recommended you do it really slowly. 95, 5% then 90, 10% etc.

Options to include on top of whatever dry food you pick could be things like sardines. Only 40c in Lidl and packs more nutrition in it that than the 15kg of food you'll pay your vet €70 for! Avoid fish in oil (like tuna) - too much veg oil is bad for the dog (too much omega 6, will make him itch).

When we tool the collie in it took very little adjustment and she was 5. But then food was always so scarce for her that she would wolf anything.

DogsFirst

Graces7 wrote: »

When we tool the collie in it took very little adjustment and she was 5. But then food was always so scarce for her that she would wolf anything.

Yep hunger surely plays a big part in food selection too. This is why a lot people find success in starving their dogs into choosing some new cheap chemical gack that they find unpalatable. And if a dog considers it unpalatable.......!!