High protein for Akitas?

jellyfish

I was wondering if feeding Toki a high protein kibble (like Orijen) would be good for his life style? Seems like high protein isnt always good for large breeds, but I can't really find any straight answers about high protein and large breeds. He is done with height, and all he has left to do is fill out. We've been running a lot lately (we run one mile now, still lots of stops and not all on pavement). What other supplements would be good to help his muscles grow healthy and help him on runs?

shibamistress

I don't know....I feed my dogs raw, so it's pretty high protein, I'm guessing. I think it's ok once they are past puppyhood as long as they don't have health issues....

Crispy

After London's bloat surgery, I found that keeping him on Acana (which isn't even TOO high in protein) had him bloating/gassy very often so we swapped off to something with a lower protein content at a suggestion as something to try and since then, he's not bloated at all. I'm very wary of high protein diets for London, now.

I'm not sure what Toki's needs are, but the higher protein kibbles didn't really work out for London (who's naturally lanky/leggy and deep-chested).

Good luck with finding something for Toki, no matter what it is!

sachismom

I think it is trial and error. Sachi eats 1/3 Orijen 6 Fish, 'cause she loves it. But it is too rich on its own (gives her runny poo) so, I blend it with a lower protien that she won't eatby itself because it's too bland. I don't know the science though.

ayk

@Crispy - what did you switch him to?

I've had to go off of Acana because the petstores around me have been very inconsistant in carrying Pacifica. I'm still doing trials of other stuff.

Crispy

@ayk - He went from Acana Pacifica to TOTW's Pacific Stream but even TOTW was making him gassy, so I went to Natural Balance's fish and sweet potato. He does very well on that, but I wish I could have kept him on Acana.

jellyfish

I wanted to update this thread by saying Orijin seems to have givin Toki a noticable amount more energy. It's really refreshing to see him bounce around a little more
I think this food is absolutely awesome! His digestive track hasn't had any issues either, and i *may* have not transitioned him over properly. Not a single bad poop.

sachismom

Wow, I love Orijin. Great that Toki can eat it without tummy troubles.

xenxes

Orijen is great, just takes a transition period if he's on something else. Might give you a few days of runny stool. Just mix in incremental portions with your old food.

Also with richer foods, you can feed less of it, I'm feeding a little less than the recommended daily servings. Yoshi poops twice a day, all solid. I notice if I feed too much, he gets a few squirts towards the end of his bowel movement (extra unprocessed protein).

Dogs are not omnivores (~50 meat:50 others) like some say, they're non-obligate carnivores (more along the lines of 80/20). Go for the rich protein imo.

jellyfish

@xenxes and I agree that canines are non-obligate carnivores. I am glad I have Toki on this kibble for this reason, it emulates more what a real diet would look like (real being a raw diet).

And really? Ive always wondered why Toki's poop sometime gets a little soft at the end. That might explain it. He usually poops at least three times on our walks, sometimes four. I swear by the third or fourth poop, it is because he is desperatly trying to mark, which, is really gross. Though, I wouldn't say I feed him too much, I can feel his ribs and he looks a healthy weight.

Zinja

Ninja had skin problems but we switched her to evo. Her skin cleared up within the month.

We now use orijen

sachismom

I am also looking at trying Earthborn, the Coastal Catch is similar in content to the 6 Fish Orijen she eats but the protein goes from 38% to 32%, I am thinking that I could then feed one food. Now I'm mixing the Orijen with Nutro Ultra. And I think she may be bored with it. Does anyone have any opinions about Earthborn?

Crispy

I just started on Earthborn: Coastal Catch. It seems very similar to other high-quality holistic foods, so I suspect I'll see the same results. I was a little worried about the higher protein content than TOTW and other brands I've been feeding as Acana (which was also a little higher in protein) seemed to make London (Malamute) horrifically gassy/bloaty.

One thing I can say that -does- entice me to buy more is Earthborn's frequent buyer program I only learned about after purchasing the bag. Every ten bags, apparently, gets you one free. It's a silly reason to like the food, but if it produces the same results as the other foods I've been using, I'm more than happy to save $50 every now and then.

Etsuko

I m feeding Orijen. Before that, they getting BARF diet. My dogs getting no problems with this kind of food. The growth of my 7,5 month old Etsuko is also perfect. At the moment there is no reason for me to switch to an other kind of food.

jellyfish

@etsuko why did you switch from "barf" to orijen?

Etsuko

@jellyfart

The only reason was that to BARF is much more effort than feeding dry food. Specially when you got puppies. You need to adapt and calculate the amount of food, vitamins, nutrients, etc. very often. More preparation. Sayuri getting BARF for over a year as she came to us. It was perfect for her.

But I think Orijen is an equivalent alternative to BARF.

Etsuko getting Orijen since the first day he came to us. Now he is 7,5 month old with a weight of athletic 29 kg, and a height of around 61 cm. He doing very well, and his construction is also very good.

jellyfish

@etsuko Good to know! I've always wanted to do BARF or raw, (and I always say that), but I do agree that the convenience of kibble is nice. I love what is in Orijen and I don't think I could ever go to a kibble that wasn't high protein after this.

I've switched Toki over to the 6-fish by Orijin and he aboslutly loves it. I didn't have any problems switching him over to a different flavorer either.

He was kind of itchy here a while back, and I honestly don't know why. The itching didn't appear until a month after I started feeding him the red meat Orijen, so I'm hesitant to say it was a food allergy. Anyway, when I switched him to the 6 fish and gave him a fish oil capsule, he started to do much better and doesn't itch anymore.

Saya

That is one reason I prefer prey model raw it's bit more lax on things in terms of prep..

I don't need to prep veggies or fruit just portion things in ziplock and let it freeze so the items are frozen individually and easy to take one chicken thigh out, or boneless beef, pork or liver, kidneys etc..

Saya does get joint supplements and She gets coconut oil every now and again.

She isn't fan of veggies, but does like fruit as a treat.

I do give her honest kitchen dehydrated food it has veggies.. Coarse she only gets it as a small snack two or so times a week or sometimes none at all.

Since she does good on it I keep it on hand in case we go camping or anything easy to feed let soak and water and feed. Though it's pretty expensive. $100 for 10lb box of the love..

This diet works for Saya and she has some health issues which I seen improvement in health with her being on raw. Coarse it's not a cure all diet, but it works for Saya.

I'm able to get grass fed/free ranged organs and bit of meat, and bone in items like lamb or pork ribs for decent price.

Glad Orijen works for your dog no store by me sells it and it's bit pricey.. I don't spend as much on raw since I have chest freezer so I can stock up on deals or when farmer's have special discounts on stuff. One gives be nice deal on heart, tongue, liver, kidneys since I buy a lot.

meat processor near me sells beef thymus for $1.49lb which is pretty good price I've read..

Coarse my life is a bit slower pace so I have time to do prep and make sure Saya gets enough red, white meat, and right amount of bone and organs..

Luckily I don't have to do a ton of meat prep since I have stuff in freezer if something is close to getting low I go buy enough to last Saya and Bella for few weeks or month and then the fun time of weighing items into meal sizes for Saya and Bella. It's bit of a pain to do it my way, but it's worth it for Saya.

Raw isn't end all of dog food or whatever feeding what works for you and your dog is best thing.

Bella does well on wellness core ocean I rotate between that and fromm pork, beef or duck. I've given her Totw, but after the recall I don't think I'll do it.

I might try earth born holistic after she gets done with the Merrick food I gotten her.

She also gets cooked meat for kibble topper, egg, caned sardines, mackerel, salmon and and sometimes turkey or chicken foot and once or four times a week she gets chicken quarter or pork ribs plus some boneless and little bit of liver as dinner instead of kibble.

So far rotating kibble seems work for her.

Not all dogs do well with rotation type diet.

Either way long as the diet is balanced and has good ingredients I don't see issue with kibble, dehydrated food, home cook, freeze dried, fresh pet type food, or raw.

Some dogs do fine on wellness kibble some have issues.

kinda hard to recommend someone one kibble over another as it is know thy dog type of thing if the dog has turkey or beef sensitivity then the kibble needs to not have any of it..

Can be hard as most kibble has chicken meal in it somewhere some don't.