Nutro, Royal Canin, and Evo not working, what dog food do you use? - Page 1

I am a long time user of Nutro, but decided to make a switch based on the anecdotal evidence I read on the ingredient Menadione.  My male dog's stools were never great on the regular lamb and rice, but did appear to improve on the high energy version (chicken and rice), but were never ideal.

So I decided to try Royal Canin, results steady diarrhea, so I put him on cooked chicken and plain brown rice for a couple of days - results stool firm (ideal).

So over the weekend, I bought a bag of Evo, figured it was most like raw, results - even worse diarrhea than the Royal Canin.

I guess I am a little confused, how can I feed him plain brown rice and chicken and his stools are fine, and when I feed him a chicken and rice food he has diarrhea? What am I missing?

Also, regarding the Evo, for all the raw diet practitioners is it common to get steady diarrhea when you first switch to raw?

Thanks

I have used orijen, now puppy, wellness core ocean. All of them are good the Now puppy has less protein than orijen puppy and is grain free.
Always,
Cee

Sometimes I wonder if all these ultra premium dog foods are just too rich for some individual dogs.

I have to agree with SitasMom.  Until recently, I had not considered feeding a raw diet because of my own lack of knowledge.  But, after trying a number of the "premium" brand kibbles with the resulting loose stools,  I decided to do some research.  What I finally decided on was the Honest Kitchen line of dehydrated raw foods.  I must say that their retail prices are through the roof but they have a very good breeder program with substancial discounts of up to $25 per 10# box.  What I have seen in my dogs is improved coats, stool consistency, energy and overall good health.  I have been using Honest Kitchen for a couple months now and it is working well for my bunch.  It is easy to use, rehydrate with warm water, let set for 10 minutes and feed, and there is not a morsel left in the bowls.  A 10# box will last a 50-60# dog approx. 21 days.  Good luck with your boy!

Yes some of those foods are too rich, this been my belive from day one. My aim is always 24% if protein I don't go higher than that, well sometimes when I add some Orijen to get my dog ripped a bit.

I have never had trouble with Diamond except the premium one. Green bag, yellow stripes.  My girl Willow eats 2/3 lamb/rice and 1/3 puppy.  She is 2 years old but if I take the puppy out she gets thin and less energy.  but if I give her premium she gets the runny poo.  So the lamb/rice and mix in puppy makes her happy and healthy.  She as well get small peices of raw meat daily and an egg every couple days.  My male who is almost 5, and my other 2 girls eat the lamb/rice straight.  and of course the puppies eat the puppy.  They are 5 1/2 weeks and they eat well and love it, nice solid poo already and very healthy happy pups.

Keep one food and add too it.  maybe add rice to his kibble it does help, maybe slowly take it away and he should be fine.

I am using Taste of The Wild high prarie formula. It's a grain free food, but significantly lower protein than Evo and Orijen.  I was using Fromm Whitefish. I had great results with both foods. I switched because the price on Fromm is equal or slightly higher now than TOTW, and since starting it I have fed my dogs 25% LESS food and they look great, so I'm saving money and feeder slightly higher quality. Stool is no problem.

I do agree about the richness of some foods. My boss had his dobes on Evo and they actually lost weight because it went right through them! I tried Wellness large breed puppy and had the same problem.

You have to find what is right for your dog. No kibble, despite what it's label states, is 100% 'lamb & rice' or 'chicken & rice'. I have a friend who breeds GSDs who had the worst time finding a food her young male could tolerate with out digestive or skin issues. She now cooks chicken (she will not trust raw) & rice in huge quantities & freezes it in portions, which she feeds in addition to TOTW prarie for her male, Orijen for 1 female, Evo for another, *sigh*, a veritable cafeteria for her dogs! I feel very lucky that my dogs both like & do well on Evo or Orijen, & I can feed either without losing stool consistency or coat condition. I personally do not trust Diamonds quality control, & since RC is being produced in diamond's facilities, I don't trust RC, & anyway, the brief try I gave it, my dogs did drastically worse, so it's a moot point for me. I will add wild caught pink salmon, easy to come by & relatively inexpensive, (since all canned salmon is wild caught), a little evoo, brown rice, & yoghurt or cottage cheese, a couple of times a week; and an occassional hard boiled egg for a treat. Yes, they are spoiled! But sad as it seems, my daughter has one of my pups, & despite my admonitions, feeds him Purina or Iams, & (just to prove me an idiot in my daughter's eyes), he looks wonderful! So, it's a very individual thing. I certainly do not advocate supermarket brands. One of my other puppy owner's has an EPI dog as well, he feeds strictly raw, & the pup looks great. I wouldn't change foods rapidly, as I'm sure you know. Stick to the rice & chicken as a base, buy the sample sizes, & add small amounts of the new kibble to the chicken & rice, & see what happens. You might want to consider a multivitamin to supplement while your dog is on the chicken & rice....but first DO get stool samples to your vet to check for parasites. Hodie can give you much better advise than I on what to do if your dog continues with runny stools, a trip to the vets may be in order, if the intestinal mucosa is very irritated, the lining begins to shed,& it is much easier for an infection or other pathology (such as intrasusseption), to occur. Good luck! jackie harris