Puppy on "adult" food?
Joey came from the breeder eating Eukanuba small breed puppy food. Ick. Now that he's settled in a bit and eating better, I want to think about putting him on a higher quality food. I am in the process of switching Lucy from Royal Canin Potato and Venison formula to Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Venison formula. According the the Natural Balance website, that food can be fed to puppies but in much larger quantities...A less than 10 pound puppy should get 1 1/3 - 2 cups per day whereas Lucy at 16 pounds should get 1 - 1.5 cups per day. If Joey is over 20 pounds (which I suspect he will be) he should be getting 3 - 4 2/3 cups per day! Right now, if he eats 3/4 of a cup of his food I'm very happy.
What do you guys think about feeding Joey the same food that Lucy is on? It has always been my plan to switch him to it once he gets off puppy food, but now I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and do it now. I am a bit concerned that he won't eat enough, but I suspect that will change as he gets older.
Comments
Im not sure how that would effect his growth. I know that puppy formula's have different nutrients than adult food that is geared towards growth and maintenance of the puppy since the puppy is actively growing. Ninja and Portia always switch bowls...its like a routine, they eat half and then switch, so they get a mix of both puppy and adult. Once Ninja is done with his puppy food, I will be switching him to adult, he should be about 8.5 months then.
If I recall correctly, that's a pretty big debate in the dog world. Some people don't think puppy food is good quality at all. Their thinking is that puppies grow too quickly and cause growth spurts which are particularly distressing to larger breed dogs. The flip side of the coin is that adult food is too high in protein and fat.
I would look and write down the contents of the two types of food your thinking of giving Joey. If the numbers are very, very different. Consult your doctor.
Eukanuba:
Crude Protein not less than
32.00
%
Crude Fat not less than
21.00
%
Crude Fiber not more than
4.00
%
Moisture not more than
10.00
%
Vitamin E not less than
140
IU/kg
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) not less than
0.1
%*
Omega-6 Fatty Acids not less than
3.35
%*
Omega-3 Fatty Acids not less than
0.45
%*
Natural Balance:
Crude
Protein
20.0%
minimum
Crude
Fat
10.0%
minimum
Crude
Fiber
4.0%
maximum
Moisture
10.0%
maximum
Calcium
1.1%
minimum
Phosphorous
0.9%
minimum
Omega
3 Fatty Acids
0.5%
minimum
Omega
6 Fatty Acids
2.0% minimum
----
I guess that settles that one. Any puppy food suggestions?
peteducation.comGood Article....
I forgot to ask what he weighed during his last vet check, but I would estimate six pounds. He is 10 weeks old and I think he is going to be about 25 pounds fully grown.
Thanks Kelly!
2 mons at 6 lbs-500 kcals,
3 mons at 8 lbs-522 kcals,
4 mons at 11 lbs-550 kcals,
6 mons at 13.7 lbs-589 kcals,
9 mons at 16.3 lbs-628 kcals,
12 mons at 18.8 lbs-637 kcals,
12+(Adult) at 20 lbs-653 kcals.
This obviously means kilocalories per day.
I look at the amount of kcals per cup a food has and feed my dogs according to the amount they need based on their weight, as opposed to the feeding guidelines on the back of the bag. I think the most important thing is just feeding a food that has a good quality, digestable protein, and remember meats have the full amino acid profiles that are the building blocks for growth and development in dogs. You can feed a food like Eukanuba for instance that has a high protein content from grains, but the puppy might not be getting all the amino acids it needs like it would from a food that derives it's protein from meats. I don't even know if bags of food list the amino acid amounts in them. Does anyone know of a brand that does off hand?
Puppies need moderate to high levels of protein and fat, it's the high cacium and phosphorus you have to careful of in grain free foods if you have a large breed puppy.
There have been some people that have had issues when they switched their pups to Orijen - Jen & Tommy, Romi [I think], & Huku's dad's brother's Akita (Teddy is his name, if you can even follow what I just wrote.) have all had issues on Orijen.
So, my point is, it seems to be up to the dog... our dogs all have sensitive GI and do great on Orijen, if we switch them to other high quality foods the get sick (yes, we mix it slowly).
My vet had to take her dog of Orijen because he developed Struvite Crystals from the high protein content of the food but that is specific to her breed (Beagle & Bassett mix have a genetic predisposition to Struvite Crystals especially on high protein diets).
Everything I have read says Akita do better on higher protein diets - I would think it would be similar for the other Japanese Spitz breeds.
You just need to get a small bag and try it, if it doesn't work switch to something else.
Solid gold gives our dogs horrible gas.
There is really no "perfect" food tho - except maybe BARF or what they would eat in the wild...
we feed Orijen mixed with some RAW and Tripe (switch between them) and have done that for about a year and a half and had no issues.
I can point you to countless articles (like the one in Whole Dog Journal) that say a higher protein diet is better for a dog, old and young... then you can go to a pet shop and hear some guy tell you that you are killing your dog by giving a high protein diet. You will never win.
It's like cars - everyone has an opinion on which car is the best, you never know till you just buy one and see for your self... and even then your opinion may be different than the norm.
get a small bag, try it, if it works keep it, if not get a different bag/brand.
----
Another route maybe to contact this person:
http://www.betterdogcare.com/?page=consultations
Oh crap...somehow I missed Brad's post.
The volume of contradictory and unreliable information out there is just dizzying. I've read a lot and have found myself more confused than I was when I was totally ignorant. One article I read said that low protein diets are bad and high protein diets are ok as long as it is high quality protein. Another article I read said that high protein diets are bad, can lead to improper bone development, loose stool, and digestive problems. I don't know what to believe. And more frustrating, I don't know what food to choose. If I had Lucy on a food that I was happy with, I would just let Joey follow in her footsteps, but Lucy may be having problems with the Natural Balance that I'm switching her to. This, of course, makes it even tougher and more unnerving to choose something for Joey.
Baaaah.
Dave there just is no right food, which sucks. Nemo does great on Orijen, just as Brad's dogs do, however Nemo also does great on Solid Gold's Bark at the Moon, which gives Brad's dogs gas. Nemo does awful on chicken based protiens (runny poops) and almost as bad on EVO Red Meat.
Some of their reactions might also have to do with what supplements you are feeding them besides the food. I think the best thing to do is try and find 2-3 types (not brands) of food with different protiens and rotate them about every 4 months. I have two of my final three, Orijen and Solid Gold and still need to find my third.
I have read about a decent amount of dogs (Shibas and others) that just don't do so hot on the grain free high protien. I think finding what is best for your dog is an evolving process that never really stops.
Thanks for the suggestions. I gave up trying to decipher everything yesterday and just bought a small bag of Orijen puppy to try. He's had three meals with some of it mixed in so far and seems to really like it. He has eaten more than usual in those three meals and if there is anything left, its his old food. So far so good with the stool and gas so I've got my fingers crossed.
Thanks!
Portia was on Science Diet Lamb & Rice Adult and Ninja was on Science Diet Lamb & Rice puppy. I switched them to Orijen Adult and Orijen Puppy about a month after getting Ninja. Their stool started getting very soft and even runny sometimes and they were farting like crazy (and very smelly). I was also mixing in Nature's Variety Canned with the kibble for their dinners. I just recently switched to Evo Red Meat Small Bites Adult kibble and mixing in The Honest Kitchen Verve dehydrated raw with their dinners. It has made a huge difference! Their stools are pretty firm and they seem to really like it alot. They do fart every now and then but they aren't as stinky as before when they were on Orijen.
I agree with Brandon, there really is no right food. You just have to keep trying different one's until you find the perfect match for your dog. Good Luck!
Kuma seems to have got used and comfortable with Acana Large Breed Puppy. His stools are firm and small, and almost don't smell, which is always a plus. He sometimes farts and they're kind of bad, hehehe. Nyx farts less, but makes up for it in power, lol.
I've started to mix the peanut oil in Kuma's food, following Michael's tip. At first he didn't like it much, but now he's pretty much used to it. I wonder if cod liver oil would serve the same purpose, since it might have other advantages.