# Searching for the right food



## mochilove (Nov 27, 2011)

Ive been researching and reading on dog food brands for a few hours now and its 1:24AM (!!) here in hawaii. I thought i would save some time and share the brands im interested in getting and itd be great to get different opinion and views of others. soooo...here it is! please correct me if im wrong, im new to this! 

im looking for:
grain-free (might help with the tear staining)
no ethoxyquin (sp?)
no rosemary...?

1. NOW!
2. Acana
3. Addiction
4. Fromm
5. Earthborn

i was so excited to try the first 3 but then only after i made the list, i read about the rosemary threads and was hesitant to try...should i..?

there are no stores that sell Fromm in hawaii  might have to check out online but its such a humbug to wait for it..

so im left with earthborn. <--any of you tried this out?

My pup is currently on Wellness just for puppy and the kibbles r far too large for her tiny mouth (even when i mix and let the warm water absorb for 10 min, even i have a hard time crushing/mushing it. its pretty dense). 
she doesnt seem to care much for it. 
plus it has grains.

any other suggestions would be much appreciated!


----------



## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

I use Earthborn for all three of my pups. It helped the dry coat of one of my Yorkies. It was recommended by my vet. They love it. I use the small breed (green package)


----------



## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

You will probably get different answers but the bottom line is there is no one "best" food for every Malt. However, in my experience, most Maltese do best on a moderate protein, moderate to low-fat premium food. The rest is trial and error. While Acana is a good food, I think it is too rich and too high in protein for the average Malt. One thing I have noticed about the food reviews is that often they will judge the food by the amount of protein and fat and if it is not really high, the food will get a "lesser" rating. This does not mean that the food with a lesser rating is "bad". Pet food companies sell food to people, not animals and they are constantly competing for our business. Good luck!


----------



## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

All the foods on your list are good options. Rosemary is in a lot of dog foods, and I think it's been in every food I've ever fed Bailey...he has never had a problem with it and I believe most dogs don't. It's been said that rosemary MAY cause issues with dogs who are prone to seizures but it's not very common. 

I would suggest getting trials of these foods and seeing if your dog likes them and how he does on them. It may be a wonderful food but if your dog doesn't like it or if, for some reason, it doesn't agree with your dog then it's not the right one for you.


----------



## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

I agree with April. Most Maltese seem to do best on a moderate protein premium food rather than grain free kibble.

Bailey's breeder recommends Fromm. I feed him Four Star and rotate through the flavors with every new bag to lessen the chance of him becoming allergic to certain ingredients.


----------



## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Those are all good options. You will just need to pick one to try and see how your baby does on it. Sometimes the food you want to feed won't work well for him. I used to feed Orijen, but it was too rich for London and Preston gained a lot of weight on it. Acana is a more moderate protein food, perhaps slightly higher than "moderate" but personally I would try that one first. The company is wonderful. I fed Acana for a long time and Preston did really well on it. It turns out that London has some digestive issues, so I had to switch her to a limited ingredient diet...she is finally doing really well. I now feed both dogs Natural Balance LID canned food, and started mixing it with Natural Balance LID small bites dry food. Is it the best food? Definitely not. I think it is a "good" food, but not nearly as good as Acana, Now! Small Breed, etc...but it is the only thing that has worked for London so far because it is so mild.

You can also look into feeding Now! Small Breed food -- Preston did really well on that, as have other here on SM.


----------



## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

Bailey&Me said:


> All the foods on your list are good options. Rosemary is in a lot of dog foods, and I think it's been in every food I've ever fed Bailey...he has never had a problem with it and I believe most dogs don't. It's been said that rosemary MAY cause issues with dogs who are prone to seizures but it's not very common.
> 
> I would suggest getting trials of these foods and seeing if your dog likes them and how he does on them. It may be a wonderful food but if your dog doesn't like it or if, for some reason, it doesn't agree with your dog then it's not the right one for you.


:goodpost:


----------



## gopotsgo (May 21, 2009)

I am a big advocate of a raw diet. My girls have done great on it for two years and my foster pup who originally had elevated bile acid tests, now has normal labs on a raw diet. I do add some special stuff to it as well so I call it 'semi-homemade'. If you decide to try it make sure you get a high quality raw product. It should be organic with as close to basic ph as possible.


----------

