What food is better Calif Natural or Wellness? Please your advice will help.

[LuvBully26]

I have a four month old Bulldog who has a sensitive stomach and needs more fiber in his diet. He was on Blue Buffalo Puppy for about a month and it gave the little guy terrible runs my vet said the food is to rich for him so he put him on Purina DCO for now which I am not a fan of Purina I am trying to slowly switch him to Calif Natural as of 2 days ago but now the loose stool is back again. I am so confused I just want him to be on a healthy good food that works for him. I was also thinking of trying Wellness since it seems to have more fiber in it. Calif Naturals seems like a excellent food but not if he has a loose stool again. Any advice would really help us. Thanks

 

[bullmama]

Hi LuvBully26!

Before I reply I have a couple of questions regarding your puppy. First, did the vet do a fecal analysis on your puppy's stool? There are many contributing factors to runny stools, including coccidia, worms, stress, giardia, allergies and more.

If he did a fecal analysis and determined that the food was too rich, it could be the protein content is too high, or he is allergic to an ingredient in the food. Whether or not Natural Balance is better than Wellness- this all pretty much depends on your bully. It took me several food trials to find my personal favorites. (Fromm and AvoDerm) but others here also have much success with Wellness and Natural Balance.

My first question is how fast are you switching foods? For Bullies- especially those with a sensitve stomach, the process must happen very slowly. If you switch too quickly, it will send the digestive system in an uproar and cause gas and stomach pain, diarrhea and bloating.

If you bully has really loose stools right now, I recommend putting him on a bland diet for a couple of days and see if his stool firms up.

Bland diet is white rice, mixed with a bit of boiled hamburger or chicken. You can also top it with a scoop of cottage cheese.

I usually give about 3/4 c of rice and 1/2 c of hamburger myself.

Once I clear out the system, I slowly add dry food back into the diet. Like 1/2 c rice with 1/2 c dog food twice a day for one more day and then the next day back on two feedings of just dog food.

Also be sure you are not adding any unhealthy dog treats into the mix, this will upset the tummy as well. Make sure he is drinking plenty of fresh clean water throughout the day as well.

Hope this helps, and please keep us posted. I am sure you will get much more advice on this. But right now I am the only one online! LOL

Where is everybody??!!

 

[TessaAndSamson]

Well California Natural is part of Natura Pet Foods. Natura pet foods was recently bought by Proctor & Gamble. Sooooo probably not going to be a very good food for much longer. Wellness is an excellent food.

 

[Maximus]

I know everyone is up in arms over Proctor and Gamble purchasing Natura Pet Foods, but I'm not concerned. I feed Maximus California Natural GRAIN-FREE Lamb Meal and he does very well on it, and he loves the food. His skin and coat are beautiful, and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. WELLNESS was not tolerated, and gave Maximus diarrhea. Maximus just can't have any grains, so the California Natural (In addition to FROMM Grain-Free Surf & Turf) have made all the difference !

 

[sheshistory]

Interesting topic as after a TON of research looking for a grain free, lower protein food without sweet potatoes, I finally decided on California Naturals Lamb Meal Grain Free. Then I found out it's been purchase by Proctor & Gamble. I am going to see how it works since I am still committed to a grain free diet but think sweet potatoes might be giving Linus some yeast issues but I have a moral concern about Proctor & Gamble's practices in testing its foods. Ugh, the food decisions never end!

 

[LuvBully26]

Hi LuvBully26!

Before I reply I have a couple of questions regarding your puppy. First, did the vet do a fecal analysis on your puppy's stool? There are many contributing factors to runny stools, including coccidia, worms, stress, giardia, allergies and more.

If he did a fecal analysis and determined that the food was too rich, it could be the protein content is too high, or he is allergic to an ingredient in the food. Whether or not Natural Balance is better than Wellness- this all pretty much depends on your bully. It took me several food trials to find my personal favorites. (Fromm and AvoDerm) but others here also have much success with Wellness and Natural Balance.

My first question is how fast are you switching foods? For Bullies- especially those with a sensitve stomach, the process must happen very slowly. If you switch too quickly, it will send the digestive system in an uproar and cause gas and stomach pain, diarrhea and bloating.

If you bully has really loose stools right now, I recommend putting him on a bland diet for a couple of days and see if his stool firms up.

Bland diet is white rice, mixed with a bit of boiled hamburger or chicken. You can also top it with a scoop of cottage cheese.

I usually give about 3/4 c of rice and 1/2 c of hamburger myself.

Once I clear out the system, I slowly add dry food back into the diet. Like 1/2 c rice with 1/2 c dog food twice a day for one more day and then the next day back on two feedings of just dog food.

Also be sure you are not adding any unhealthy dog treats into the mix, this will upset the tummy as well. Make sure he is drinking plenty of fresh clean water throughout the day as well.

Hope this helps, and please keep us posted. I am sure you will get much more advice on this. But right now I am the only one online! LOL

Where is everybody??!!

Yes. Dr Arn did a fecal test and it came back normal it was the Blue Buffalo for sure to rich for his system. I am slowly adding the Calif Naturals day by day with the Puina DCO.

 

[LuvBully26]

I have been doing tons of research as well but I am just getting more confused. I just want a excellent high quality food that will work well for Diesel.
Any research you can pass my way would be greatly appreciated. I will do the same as well... The food decisions never end you are so right..

Thanks for the help.

 

[LuvBully26]

Why is Proctor and Gamble not that great? I think I should probably try Wellness instead the last think I need is for Calif Natural to work then they change stuff and I am end up with a food issue.
I apprecate your help and opinion.

 

[sheshistory]

Here is a pretty interested link to an article about California Naturals being bought out, which highlights some very serious problems associated with ingredient replacement when they bought Iams, as well as some questionable testing practices. The linked site is a bit hard on California Naturals but it's something to keep ourselves aware of:

http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/california-natural-dog-food.html

 

[LuvBully26]

Okay. Great. Thanks so much for all the help. I will keep all of you posted.

 

[LuvBully26]

I know its been awhile since I've checked in but I feed Wellness Core reduced fat. My Bully's do amazing on it no issues at all.
I have done a ton of research on dog food. Hope this helps someone out there.

 

[aprilemari]

my breeder recommended wellness puppy (lola is 6 months) and she 's been on it ever since she got home with us. She does great on it, when she eats it that is. I think she's getting bored with it and we have to entice her to eat much more than we used to. That aside, no health issues, and she's growing like a weed. hard poops too! (hard boiled egg at lunch might have something to do with that..). We have another 50lb bag of wellness, but close to the end of that, I'm contemplating a switch just for her taste buds, I have decided to try taste of the wild or natures variety instinct, depending on the results of an allergy test later this year.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Great update and yay for you that you found a food that works well for your bullies!

 

[NICASFINEST]

I had the same problem with Bugzy, he had a sensative stomach and developed an allergy(demodex), after reading several post on here i realized that his food also contributed to his allergy, so i switched him to Natures Variety Instinct-grain free lamb meal, its excellent he no longer has itchy paws, his faced cleared up, no stains on his wrinkles, his stool is firm, and his farts dont smell!!! i recommend the lamb meal, ive tried the duck and he did not do well on that one

 

[NICASFINEST]

[MENTION=3225]aprilemari[/MENTION] i switched Bugzy to natures variety instinct-lamb meal(grain free) after he developed an allergy to his previous food and having demodex, i totally recommend it, he has been on it for a year and demodex did not come back, he no longer has itchy paws that he cant stop licking, its like his back to normal, :D