sheshistory
Moderator
I am breaking this out from the "Food for Skin Issues" thread started by Nikki. That thread actually put me over the edge to make another food change for Linus and Truman.
So here's where I am at with things: Linus is 4 and suffered from chronic ear infections and, with the help of this site and a proactive vet, I finally decided to stop feeding him the junk he knows and loves and move towards a better diet. I was feeding him Royal Canin Bulldog formula (not bad, not great) but topping it with Pedigree canned food (I know, I know) and giving him all kind of bad goodies like Snausages, Pupperonis, etc. Linus lives to eat and, especially after Bentley died, I would do anything to make him happy but I realized that it was ultimately making him unhappy because he wasn't feeling great. It was a hard thing for us both.
I switched from Royal Canin to Taste of the Wild (TOTW) Pacific Stream, because it was grain free and the protein content was more reasonable since Linus isn't a terribly active dog. I topped that with a little TOTW canned food and fed only hypoallergenic treats. He got better, lost some weight, and his coat looks great but he developed red, yeasty tear stains and yeast in his ear, both of which had never been big problems for him, particularly the tear stains.
Nikki's thread brought to my attention a possible link between sweet potatoes (the starch that most commonly replaces grains in grain free foods) and yeast problems. My own brief investigation and desertsky's post about ingredients confirmed the idea that sweet potatoes are a main ingredient in most grain free foods.
So, long story long, I am going to switch foods again and based on the ingredients, I was thinking of trying Canidae brand of foods. My reason for this is I see higher quality proteins (absence of chicken fat) and better quality grains (barley, oats, rice instead of corn or wheat) as main ingredients. They are as follows, for the Lamb Meal and Rice Formula:
Lamb meal, brown rice, cracked pearled barley, rice bran, peas, millet, canola oil, lamb, tomato pomace, natural flavor, flaxseed meal, potassium chloride, choline chloride, suncured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta-carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, papaya, pineapple.
Does anyone have any experience with the Canidae family of foods? Hopefully, by sharing all of these experiences, we can help others pin point good food choices of bullies with specific problems like yeast or dry skin or itchy paws, etc.
Thank you!
So here's where I am at with things: Linus is 4 and suffered from chronic ear infections and, with the help of this site and a proactive vet, I finally decided to stop feeding him the junk he knows and loves and move towards a better diet. I was feeding him Royal Canin Bulldog formula (not bad, not great) but topping it with Pedigree canned food (I know, I know) and giving him all kind of bad goodies like Snausages, Pupperonis, etc. Linus lives to eat and, especially after Bentley died, I would do anything to make him happy but I realized that it was ultimately making him unhappy because he wasn't feeling great. It was a hard thing for us both.
I switched from Royal Canin to Taste of the Wild (TOTW) Pacific Stream, because it was grain free and the protein content was more reasonable since Linus isn't a terribly active dog. I topped that with a little TOTW canned food and fed only hypoallergenic treats. He got better, lost some weight, and his coat looks great but he developed red, yeasty tear stains and yeast in his ear, both of which had never been big problems for him, particularly the tear stains.
Nikki's thread brought to my attention a possible link between sweet potatoes (the starch that most commonly replaces grains in grain free foods) and yeast problems. My own brief investigation and desertsky's post about ingredients confirmed the idea that sweet potatoes are a main ingredient in most grain free foods.
So, long story long, I am going to switch foods again and based on the ingredients, I was thinking of trying Canidae brand of foods. My reason for this is I see higher quality proteins (absence of chicken fat) and better quality grains (barley, oats, rice instead of corn or wheat) as main ingredients. They are as follows, for the Lamb Meal and Rice Formula:
Lamb meal, brown rice, cracked pearled barley, rice bran, peas, millet, canola oil, lamb, tomato pomace, natural flavor, flaxseed meal, potassium chloride, choline chloride, suncured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta-carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, papaya, pineapple.
Does anyone have any experience with the Canidae family of foods? Hopefully, by sharing all of these experiences, we can help others pin point good food choices of bullies with specific problems like yeast or dry skin or itchy paws, etc.
Thank you!
