# Food advice from groomer....opinions plz



## thach8 (Nov 28, 2007)

The food issue has always been a hot topic for me. My parents had Diamond on the basic Eukenuba puppy food. They then continued to feed Diamond the Eukenuba adult dog food. I was concerned about Diamond licking her paws raw, so I tried out the Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potatoe after reading some great reviews on this forum (and perhaps thinking Diamond might have an allergy to poultry). 

After a few weeks, my parents found Diamond only ate her food once a day at night. They figured she didn't like her new food and switched her to Pro Plan Selects (turkey and wild rice). She still eats sporadically and continues to lick her paws raw. We have kept her on this food for about 3 -4 months now.

About a month ago Diamond's anal gland ruptured. I am concerned about the food choices for Diamond and how that affects her bowels.

My groomer is great and we have had an email discussion on Diamond's anal gland issue. I asked her about food options and this was her email back:

_"You need to choose a food with a lot of fibre and not too much protein so explain to them (the pet store....in this case Global Pet Foods) what the problem is with Diamond.

I feed raw in the morning (Pets For Life) and a kibble at night consisting of a mixture of Fromm Senior, Acana Fit and Wellness Premium Mix. I'm a strong believer that dogs should get a variety in their diet and not just the same protein every day.

My friend feeds this food, which is cooked pure food (it comes in a meatloaf, she mixes in low fat cottage cheese and yogurt):
http://www.dogswelove.com/orangeville/

The best thing is to feed a natural a food with high fibre as possible, so that the stool is large enough to create pressure on the anal glands to expel some of the liquid when a stool is passed. The problem is that nowadays, since pet owners prefer smaller stools, dog food companies are making food that will create small stools... not exactly healthy "_

I know there is a wealth of information about different food options on this forum. I just wanted to see what people thought about the advice from my groomer.

Any help is most appreciated! I just want my little princess to be the happiest and healthiest Diamond she can be.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

I'm not a nutritionist or vet, but my opinion is - I would be careful to feed too much fiber if it were my dog. How old is your dog? If it is a young dog, you don't want to feed it low protein/senior food, unless there is a medical problem. The food listed on the website you linked seems okay, but I don't know why you have to go to all that trouble feeding all those different foods. How do you know then what amount of viamins/minerals the dog is getting if you mix all of those foods together? She might get too much or too little of something. 

If I fed my dog commercial kibble, I'd feed Acana grain-free food. Pacifica is the one with salmon and other fish and from all indications, it appears to be a good food.

Dr. Becker had an article about anal glads recently:

 <a href="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/12/23/your-pets-anal-glands.aspx" target="_blank">http://articles.mercola.com/sites/healthyp...nal-glands.aspx</a>


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

What I learned from other SM members is to try food with a different protein source, one that your baby hasn't had before. Try one food at a time and you'll need to stick with it for 2-3 months to see how it works for Diamond. I know it can be frustrating having to wait that long. I've been through 4 different foods in the last year. But if you're trying to see what food (if it's food) causes Diamond to lick her paws raw, you can't be on different foods or you'll never know what causes what. I don't know about high fibre and will defer to the others here.

Raine is our resident's picky eater but she doesn't have allergy issue just tear staining early this year. She never liked NB Venison & Potato. She also found the NB Duck & Potato kibbles too hard (will eat if I crushed the kibbles to smaller bits). She was okay with Orijen 6 Fish but didn't love it. We're now on Acana Grasslands for about 6 weeks and she seems to like it. Global Pet Foods usually gives out free small sample bags of food. I'd give the sample kibbles to my fluffs as treats. If Raine doesn't like the kibbles as treats, I don't buy it to try. You can check what samples they have instead of having to invest in a big bag. I also just found out the last time I was there that they'll take a bag of food back if your dog doesn't like it at all and won't eat it (satisfaction guarantee). Wish I known it before. BTW, the one near my house has samples of Acana Pacifica.


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## thach8 (Nov 28, 2007)

Thanks Suzan and Cleooscar for your insight. I really appreciate the tips and suggestions from SM members!  Thanks also Suzan for posting the anal gland video. It was very informative and helps reinforce what I thought about the whole expressing issue.

As for food, I'm very unfamiliar with the various food options out there (especially now considering different protein levels etc). Unfortunately, Diamond's previous vet didn't think anything of Diamond's raw paws, so I never knew whether changing Diamond's food was the key factor for her. This forum has been such a great help in getting me to understand Maltese health and well being.

I think you're right cleooscar about the problems with mixing foods. I wouldn't be able to tell which foods were affecting Diamond if they're a whole bunch. Acana sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind trying it out. My question right now is: is it better to know where each ingredient comes from when choosing a food (ala science diet that lists every single ingredient and where each ingredient comes from?) My partner (who loves Diamond to bits) is concerend about the ingredient issue along with all the other concerns.

Thanks again everyone for your help. I may hit up Global foods in the next few days (davisville and yonge one).


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

QUOTE (thach8 @ Dec 30 2009, 11:35 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=868206


> Thanks Suzan and Cleooscar for your insight. I really appreciate the tips and suggestions from SM members!  Thanks also Suzan for posting the anal gland video. It was very informative and helps reinforce what I thought about the whole expressing issue.
> 
> As for food, I'm very unfamiliar with the various food options out there (especially now considering different protein levels etc). Unfortunately, Diamond's previous vet didn't think anything of Diamond's raw paws, so I never knew whether changing Diamond's food was the key factor for her. This forum has been such a great help in getting me to understand Maltese health and well being.
> 
> ...


I believe that Acana lists the source of the food on their packages. At least the one-pound sample bag I have does. I wouldn't worry to much about Acana. In this case, you get what you pay for. No cheap fillers. Every ingredients is thought out and there for a specific reason, as far as I can tell.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

QUOTE


> I believe that Acana lists the source of the food on their packages. At least the one-pound sample bag I have does. I wouldn't worry to much about Acana. In this case, you get what you pay for. No cheap fillers. Every ingredients is thought out and there for a specific reason, as far as I can tell.[/B]


I am currently feeding Orijen (from Champion pet foods who also makes Acana) and I can say that Orijen & Acana are a couple of the best dry foods I've ever come across. Orijen has a higher protein content than Acana so I tried that first -- When my Orijen bag runs out (this is their 3rd month on Orijen) I would like to try Acana for the simple fact that my babies tend to pass gas on the higher protein Orijen and the Acana might be a happy medium.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

I have a sample bag of Acana Pacifica. I wanted to try it in case there are emergencies or long travel and I am not able to home cook for Nikki.

I've been giving her a few pieces in her food and she gobbles them up. In the entire time I've had her, she has never liked any brand of kibble and I tried many. So I guess I'll buy a larger bag of Acana and keep it around for emergencies.


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## thach8 (Nov 28, 2007)

QUOTE (Nikki's Mom @ Dec 30 2009, 02:38 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=868271


> I have a sample bag of Acana Pacifica. I wanted to try it in case there are emergencies or long travel and I am not able to home cook for Nikki.
> 
> I've been giving her a few pieces in her food and she gobbles them up. In the entire time I've had her, she has never liked any brand of kibble and I tried many. So I guess I'll buy a larger bag of Acana and keep it around for emergencies.[/B]


That's a pretty good endorsement when fluffs are willing to eat the acana kibble in addition to home food! :biggrin: 

Hoepfully I'll be able to locate some sample packs of the acana for Diamond to test out. She'll eat anything out of my hand. The test will be if she eats her food out of her bowl. 

Thanks again for all of the suggestions and feedback. The more info offered the better choices I can make. I'll keep everyone posted about Diamond's food progress as well. I guess I'll have to mix in her pro plan with the new food.


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

QUOTE (thach8 @ Dec 30 2009, 08:09 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=868365


> QUOTE (Nikki's Mom @ Dec 30 2009, 02:38 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=868271





> I have a sample bag of Acana Pacifica. I wanted to try it in case there are emergencies or long travel and I am not able to home cook for Nikki.
> 
> I've been giving her a few pieces in her food and she gobbles them up. In the entire time I've had her, she has never liked any brand of kibble and I tried many. So I guess I'll buy a larger bag of Acana and keep it around for emergencies.[/B]


That's a pretty good endorsement when fluffs are willing to eat the acana kibble in addition to home food! :biggrin: 

Hoepfully I'll be able to locate some sample packs of the acana for Diamond to test out. She'll eat anything out of my hand. The test will be if she eats her food out of her bowl. 

Thanks again for all of the suggestions and feedback. The more info offered the better choices I can make. I'll keep everyone posted about Diamond's food progress as well. I guess I'll have to mix in her pro plan with the new food.
[/B][/QUOTE]

Raine aka Miss Really Picky Eater really enjoys Acana as well much to my amazement (she won't gobble but she licks her plate clean :biggrin: ). I hope she continues to like it as I'm running out of food option. 

I mix in a bit of new food to the old food over a 5-6 days period. Some fluffs don't have problem changing food but Raine gets soft runny poop so I do it over time.


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## thach8 (Nov 28, 2007)

I was just at global pet foods and they were out of the smaller bags of acana except for Pacifica. And, no samples. Apparently Acana is the hot new thing for pet owners. Everyone's loving the 'made in Canada' production. That also means it's very difficult to find in the smaller bags (not the huge bags for $40)

I decided to give the pacifica a try and hopefully we'll have some success.

I am a bit worried about the fish taste for Diamond. I gave Diamond some salmon strips awhile ago and she spit it out. But, who knows.....maybe Acana will win Diamond over :biggrin:

Thanks again to everyone for their help and leading me on the right path to a great food choice for Diamond. I will keep everyone posted.


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