Calibra dog food - is anyone familiar with it?

Kash

Hello! Our vet has recommended Calibra puppy food for our 11 week old Cane Corso pup, expected to be about 45kg when fully grown. She's currently on James Wellbeloved but the vet and her trainers was concerned it isn't suitable for large/giant breeds.

http://www.mycalibra.eu/previous-web/index.php/superpremium

Has anyone any experience with it? The composition looks good to me, but I am no nutritionist.

tk123

They look pretty much the same - why don't they think it's suitable out of interest? Usually the small/large/giant thing is just down to the kibble size. Are they analysing the % of protein/fat/etc etc - one of the joys of raw feeding is that you don't have to worry about that crap lol : Is he fat feed him less, is he skinny feed him more! . When Lucy was a pup I had her on a slow growth diet I got from some breed club in America so while she was slightly smaller as a puppy she's built like a tank now!

Kash

I would love to go the raw route, but I think I would struggle getting sticking to it! I assume it is not markedly more expensive, but just the practical elements - where to buy, how to store - as we're in the middle of nowhere, i tend to buy 30kg of kibble at once which is delivered to my door and does for a few months. I assume raw food would need to be bought more regularly, or I would need a new freezer.

The fast growth composition in typical puppy food is apparently not suitable for giant breeds, as they put on weight faster than their skeletal structure can cope with, leading to problems in later life.

I've actually just called the vet again, and they have said it is the Large Breed Puppy food that they recommend, not the generic puppy one I linked to. I can't find any details of that online, so I'll post a pic later.

The vet is good, so I do trust her advice.

tk123

Yeah you need space imo for raw so you can buy in bulk!

Some posters here don't feed puppy food at all for large/giant breeds and put them straight onto adult food.

Bells21

Raw will work out more expensive than calibra, more so if you buy completes. If you go down the diy route it may not be as expensive but as I don't do it myself I couldn't possibly comment. Ours were on calibra for a while, they turned their noses up at it so we switched to acana before we started on raw. We feed completes and it works out much of a muchness in price in comparison to acana. Having lots of freezer space is a must especially if you want to cut costs.

Edit to add: I'm feeding a 7kg and a 10kg dog

tk123

Raw works out WAY cheaper for me - say €30-40 max a month for 2 x Golden Retrievers. DIY you're looking at €1 a kg at most... I haven't bought anything for a few months - last time I spent €40 trying to mixes that didn't suit them all so back to DIY for me.

Kibble I'd be very very choosy about epecially if it came from America or made by Mars after watching Pet Fooled. I think I'd drive myself insane trying to find the best one(!) - I almost did before lol

Kash

I'll have to look into the raw stuff again. The expense isn't a big issue for me (not that I'm Ms Moneybucks!) but we already have two full freezers, and I have no idea where I would squeeze another. I looked into it before and it did appeal to me, but i never sorted out the practical elements. I guess at a minimum, I should be providing some raw food. Is raw good for pups too?

The other thing is that the dogs are totally different, so need different kibble and different amounts of it. I have Shadow who will be 45kg ish fully grown, that's what her mum was - her dad was easily 50kg (and fed raw, incidentally!) Kiki, my other mutt is 9 years old and 31kg (a healthy weight for her - down from a fat 40kg last year), and should now be on senior food apparently - I had a bit of a land in the vet when she said that - until a few months ago, she was the pup and her mum was the old dog! Unfortunately the mum passed away and Kiki was lonely, so we adopted Shadow.

I don't think the pup will turn her nose up at any food right now, she's very food driven.

Bells21

Kash wrote:

I'll have to look into the raw stuff again. The expense isn't a big issue for me (not that I'm Ms Moneybucks!) but we already have two full freezers, and I have no idea where I would squeeze another. I looked into it before and it did appeal to me, but i never sorted out the practical elements. I guess at a minimum, I should be providing some raw food. Is raw good for pups too?

Kash wrote:

The other thing is that the dogs are totally different, so need different kibble and different amounts of it. I have Shadow who will be 45kg ish fully grown, that's what her mum was - her dad was easily 50kg (and fed raw, incidentally!) Kiki, my other mutt is 9 years old and 31kg (a healthy weight for her - down from a fat 40kg last year), and should now be on senior food apparently

I know if pups that are weaned onto raw. It's a diet suitable for all age groups of dogs.
In terms of feeding raw, you will still be feeding different amounts. For adult dogs it's recommended that you feed 2-3% of their ideal weights, depending on activity etc. I feed 2% which works out at 140g a day for a 7kg dog, I split it between two meals. AFAIK pups are fed off higher percentages but as ours weren't fed raw as pups I don't know what the percentages are.
If you need to up/lower weight feeding different proteins can help i.e. turkey would contain less fat.
We have an under the counter freezer that has three drawers which will fill with the dogs food. I usually get approx 45/50 500g completes in there.

Kash

It was this one: http://www.mycalibra.eu/produkty/pes/granule/calibra-dog-ha-junior-large-chicken

Suitable from 3 months, but the vet felt it was better for now than the other one, as she's not far off that.

I'll definitely relook at raw food though - where do you tend to get it?!

Bells21

I feed completes and the companies I've used are carnivore Kelly's, slaney petfoods and k9 kitchen. Carnivore Kelly's and slaney pet foods also do minced and offal that you can buy in bulk separately in order to make up your own. Not sure if k9 supply this.
The Dogs First website offers a good deal of info in terms of ratios of meat, offal and bone (and veg if you wish) and what percentages to feed.

tk123

I get most of my stuff from Slaney and then other bits and pieces depending on what's on offer e.g. Pallas and somebody on a raw feeding FB group who sells stuff for etc The bulk slabs from slaney are great - if you have room for them lol

Bells21

tk123 wrote:

I get most of my stuff from Slaney and then other bits and pieces depending on what's on offer e.g. Pallas and somebody on a raw feeding FB group who sells stuff for etc The bulk slabs from slaney are great - if you have room for them lol

Do the slabs contain bone or do you feed it another way if you don't mind me asking?

tk123

Bells21 wrote: »

Do the slabs contain bone or do you feed it another way if you don't mind me asking?

Yep they're just a bigger version of the 1lb bags and have bone and offal in them but I feed other bones too - lamb necks, chicken carcass/leg/wings (i freeze the wings so they have to chew them rather than gulp) rabbit, guinea fowl, duck wings, ribs etc. The lab necks would be the hardest thing I feed now with Bailey's jaw (he had a piece removed) and at that I'd help him by cracking it with a cleaver.

Bells21

tk123 wrote:

Yep they're just a bigger version of the 1lb bags and have bone and offal in them but I feed other bones too - lamb necks, chicken carcass/leg/wings (i freeze the wings so they have to chew them rather than gulp) rabbit, guinea fowl, duck wings, ribs etc. The lab necks would be the hardest thing I feed now with Bailey's jaw (he had a piece removed) and at that I'd help him by cracking it with a cleaver.

Ah I thought it was just the mince and needed offal etc added. Thanks!

omerin

Anyone familiar with this Irish company who provide dog shelters with free maybe discounted dog food but seem to lack detail in terms of ingredients -

http://www.healthypetfeed.com

pinks1965

Hi I put my pup on it and he just deteriated . lost weight and just went straight through him ..I put him on raw diet and he thrived