Changing food for fluff with MVD?

[k/c mom]

Originally Posted by poochie2

I would NOT soley feed Acana. I am constantly rotating different types of food for VARIETY and because my malt is very picky.
My malts bloodwork was excellent. This is the foods that I rotate: Acana Pacifica, Grandma Lucy's Lamb and Chicken, Merrick canned foods, Cani-Source dehydrated raw and homecooked. These are all high quality foods. She gets a lot of variety and I am lucky she has no issues switching all these foods around. Like others have stated........variety is important and I would not stick to the same bag of food day in and dayout. Mine likes variety and Acana as part of a rotation diet has done wonders for her health.

I'm not trying to argue with you .. really!! But I do have an interest in food and health for humans and dogs and you say the Acana has "done wonders for her health"... Could you explain more about this? I've really lost track of the foods that are out there as there seem to be so many new ones in the last couple years. I feel like I'm learning all over again.

[poochie2]

Originally Posted by Nikki's Mom

Sounds to me like you are taking very good care of your fluff. Rumors regarding various dog foods for small dogs abound, and whether the info is correct or not, who really knows? It's great that you think for yourself to do what is best for your fluff and you.

Thanks for your kind words, Suzan------And I thank you as well for your honest informative suggestions pertaining to the health of our fluffs

[Crystal&Zoe]

Originally Posted by poochie2

My main two foods right now are "Acana Pacifica" and "Grandma Lucy's". I' been using Acana for a long time now and my malt's blood work was all in the normal range. I reccommend it.......but my local pet food store does NOT. He refuses to sell Origen or Acana to anyone who has a small breed dog. He says it is too rich for them and knows of too many small breeds whose kidney values were up...... The only way I can buy Acana at his store is if he is not in

He is probably talking about there not being enough water in kibble to balance out the high protein. It can blow their kidneys. As someone who is thinking of bringing in more food to my store, I'm really struggling because I know just the normal amount of drinking for most dogs is not enough for these high protein kibble diets. Fresh meat is a totally different story. I think rotating your foods like you are doing is excellent.

Oh...and good for that store owner! Sounds like he has integrity and is not wanting to sell something just for the sake of selling it. He has your fluffs best interest at heart. Makes you feel safe to try other things at his store, doesn't it?

[Nikki's Mom]

Originally Posted by Crystal&Zoe

He is probably talking about there not being enough water in kibble to balance out the high protein. It can blow their kidneys. As someone who is thinking of bringing in more food to my store, I'm really struggling because I know just the normal amount of drinking for most dogs is not enough for these high protein kibble diets. Fresh meat is a totally different story. I think rotating your foods like you are doing is excellent.

Oh...and good for that store owner! Sounds like he has integrity and is not wanting to sell something just for the sake of selling it. He has your fluffs best interest at heart. Makes you feel safe to try other things at his store, doesn't it?

Fresh veggies like celery and cucumber contain a lot of water.

[Nikki's Mom]

Originally Posted by Crystal&Zoe

He is probably talking about there not being enough water in kibble to balance out the high protein. It can blow their kidneys. As someone who is thinking of bringing in more food to my store, I'm really struggling because I know just the normal amount of drinking for most dogs is not enough for these high protein kibble diets. Fresh meat is a totally different story. I think rotating your foods like you are doing is excellent.

Oh...and good for that store owner! Sounds like he has integrity and is not wanting to sell something just for the sake of selling it. He has your fluffs best interest at heart. Makes you feel safe to try other things at his store, doesn't it?

Could you please provide me with a link to a website that has a double-blind, independent study that concludes "high-protein dog food blows out a dog's kidneys, and that a normal amount of water isn't sufficient for dogs who eat higher protein kibble?" Thanks!

(BTW, EVO, which is IMO, a poor-quality food, has given all high-protein dog foods a bad rap.)

[Crystal&Zoe]

Originally Posted by Nikki's Mom

Could you please provide me with a link to a website that has a double-blind, independent study that concludes "high-protein dog food blows out a dog's kidneys, and that a normal amount of water isn't sufficient for dogs who eat higher protein kibble?" Thanks!

(BTW, EVO, which is IMO, a poor-quality food, has given all high-protein dog foods a bad rap.)

Susan, I don't think you and I are disagreeing. I think high protein foods are fine when made with fresh foods or canned. It's the kibble that CAN cause problems.

As to a link, no I don't have anything here at home, right at my fingertips. In fact, I may not even be able to find it at the store among all my research. I do know that in speaking to Dr. Harvey, as well as several other Pet Boutique owners about the foods they carry and why, they have all said about the same thing. They had customer's whose dogs were doing fine on certain foods, then switched to a 'better' high protein KIBBLE, not canned, and then developed kidney problems including but not only pertaining to struvite crystals.

I'm pretty sure the WDJ even had an article on this where it mentioned that most dogs (as are we humans) are in a mild state of dehydration. I'll try my best to find this info at the store tomorrow but can't promise it. That type of digging takes time that I'm sorely lacking in any more.

[Nikki's Mom]

Originally Posted by Crystal&Zoe

Susan, I don't think you and I are disagreeing. I think high protein foods are fine when made with fresh foods or canned. It's the kibble that CAN cause problems.

As to a link, no I don't have anything here at home, right at my fingertips. In fact, I may not even be able to find it at the store among all my research. I do know that in speaking to Dr. Harvey, as well as several other Pet Boutique owners about the foods they carry and why, they have all said about the same thing. They had customer's whose dogs were doing fine on certain foods, then switched to a 'better' high protein KIBBLE, not canned, and then developed kidney problems including but not only pertaining to struvite crystals.

I'm pretty sure the WDJ even had an article on this where it mentioned that most dogs (as are we humans) are in a mild state of dehydration. I'll try my best to find this info at the store tomorrow but can't promise it. That type of digging takes time that I'm sorely lacking in any more.

I in no way felt I was disagreeing with you. I'd like to read the study which concluded what you indicated in your post, in order to satisfy my own curiosity. It is also important to me in the event I want to buy a backup kibble in case I get sick and nobody around me wants to be bothered home cooking. I wouldn't want Nikki and Keiko to acquire kidney problems.

Here is a FAQ from Champion Pet Food, which make Orijen and Acana:

Champion Petfoods | F.A.Q The FAQ contains a link to an informative "white paper," and a study done by Univ. of PA on the "myth" of high-protein diets for dogs, which may help dispel some of the controversy, or at least give people more info to go on.

Hope this helps those who are considering different foods.

[jpupart]

I have a friend who breeds Havanese who had her dogs on Canidae and several of them developed crystals. The vet suspected Canidae and told her to start feeding a lower protein kibble. The vet had several dogs that had all been on that same food develop crystals and that was the only common link. The breeder changed their kibble and the dogs all got better. I try to be careful not to feed too high of a protein kibble for that reason.

[k/c mom]

Originally Posted by Nikki's Mom

I in no way felt I was disagreeing with you. I'd like to read the study which concluded what you indicated in your post, in order to satisfy my own curiosity. It is also important to me in the event I want to buy a backup kibble in case I get sick and nobody around me wants to be bothered home cooking. I wouldn't want Nikki and Keiko to acquire kidney problems.

Here is a FAQ from Champion Pet Food, which make Orijen and Acana:

Champion Petfoods | F.A.Q The FAQ contains a link to an informative "white paper," and a study done by Univ. of PA on the "myth" of high-protein diets for dogs, which may help dispel some of the controversy, or at least give people more info to go on.

Hope this helps those who are considering different foods.

The subject of pet nutrition seems to have gotten a lot more complicated over the years. All we used to have to worry about was does the food contain by-products, does it contain soy, corn, or fillers. Now it is a lot more complicated, it seems.

The Univ. of Pa. paper is a bit too scholarly for me to grasp easily but at the bottom of the page it says "proceedings 1998 Purina Nutrition Forum", which confuses matters because who knows what influence Purina had on what was written.

I'm at the point of total confusion!

[poochie2]

Originally Posted by jpupart

I have a friend who breeds Havanese who had her dogs on Canidae and several of them developed crystals. The vet suspected Canidae and told her to start feeding a lower protein kibble. The vet had several dogs that had all been on that same food develop crystals and that was the only common link. The breeder changed their kibble and the dogs all got better. I try to be careful not to feed too high of a protein kibble for that reason.

Back in March of this year , my malt developed struvite crystals and UTI while on Acana .......but it was NOT the food that caused it ....she was not drinking enough water so I started increasing her water intake by giving her tablespoons of yougourt mixed with water in between her meals. 2 weeks later and NO struvite crystals and no uti.