Food Question...

Megansmom

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#1
I've noticed a lot of people rotate their food. Is it necessary or healthy for the dog? Meg has been on the same kibble (EVO small bites) for the last three years and has done wonderfully. We free feed her every day and she's maintained a healthy weight (between 7 and 7.5 lbs.) The vet said he sees a lot of overweight paps in the area and that she looks great. We do give her supplemental food (eggs, meat...etc) maybe once or twice a week.

Soooo...is there any reason (beside boredom on my part) to switch foods? I feel guilty since it looks like a lot of owners took their dogs off EVO when they sold to P&G. If there was a change in formula it doesn't look like she noticed.

BTW, I need to get recent pics...lol. All of these are puppy pics.
 

CaliTerp07

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#2
I asked the people at my local pet store (who are really great, educated employees) that same question. I was terrified of their answer, because it took us a dozen foods to find one that sat well with Lucy. Both employees there that day were pretty adamant that if it's not broken, don't fix it. They said I might want to have a second protein in the mix in case one day she couldn't tolerate the fish anymore, but after trying chicken/lamb/beef/buffalo/turkey/rabbit without success, I gave up and am just praying the salmon is good for her until she goes!
 

Kilter

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#3
I would just for the sake of being able to do it, and keeping the digestive system working well. I think it helps prevent digestive upset if their system is used to some changes, and it doesn't hurt to change the ingredients too.

With the cats they get a rotation of raw ground, canned and kibble once in a while, depending. I'd just do canned since they like that, but then I have to clean up hairballs, so I do the raw a few times a week because even though one cat won't eat as much, it helps him not puke up hairballs. Kibble because we have a bag of it and it's not a bad calorie boost for the one cat and the other one gets loopy if she doesn't have that kibble fix here and there.

The dogs get a variety of raw because I've seen too many people feed just chicken/beef then suddenly the dog can't tolerate it and they have to scramble.... Storee comes from a line of dogs with poultry issues so I am leery - her grandma can't do any poultry, not even emu....
 

naturalfeddogs

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#4
I would just for the sake of being able to do it, and keeping the digestive system working well. I think it helps prevent digestive upset if their system is used to some changes, and it doesn't hurt to change the ingredients too.

With the cats they get a rotation of raw ground, canned and kibble once in a while, depending. I'd just do canned since they like that, but then I have to clean up hairballs, so I do the raw a few times a week because even though one cat won't eat as much, it helps him not puke up hairballs. Kibble because we have a bag of it and it's not a bad calorie boost for the one cat and the other one gets loopy if she doesn't have that kibble fix here and there.

The dogs get a variety of raw because I've seen too many people feed just chicken/beef then suddenly the dog can't tolerate it and they have to scramble.... Storee comes from a line of dogs with poultry issues so I am leery - her grandma can't do any poultry, not even emu....
Dogs on raw should always get a wide range of variety in order to get all the needed nutrients, not just one or two. I don't see them just suddenly "not tolerating" raw. It sounds more like someone who just wasn't feeding raw correctly.
 

Emily

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#5
Dogs on raw should always get a wide range of variety in order to get all the needed nutrients, not just one or two. I don't see them just suddenly "not tolerating" raw. It sounds more like someone who just wasn't feeding raw correctly.
Did you read her post? That's exactly what she JUST wrote. She said that dogs on raw who are fed nothing but beef/chicken can suddenly become intolerant, so she's careful to feed a wide variety so that isn't an issue.
 

JessLough

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#7
Feeding the same protein source for forever can cause allergies in some dogs, and it's always nice if you have a dog that has a picky system to find another food they can eat in case one formula becomes unavailable. It's not a neccessity though, and I don't rotate with the dog.

As far as becoming unable to tolerate raw, it's not the norm, no, but as somebody who's had it happen, it is possible ;) you can become intolerant to *anything*
 

Megansmom

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#9
If we do start to rotate...would be go to another grain free food?

How fast do you transition?

Since she's on turkey and chicken right now should I try to find a red meat or fish based food? Any suggestions?

I'm nervous to mess up such an easy thing, but I don't want it to hurt her down the road.
 

JessLough

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#10
If we do start to rotate...would be go to another grain free food?

How fast do you transition?

Since she's on turkey and chicken right now should I try to find a red meat or fish based food? Any suggestions?

I'm nervous to mess up such an easy thing, but I don't want it to hurt her down the road.
Generally it's the same brand different formula... So another EVO. Within the same brand won't cause stomach upset
 

Megansmom

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#11
Generally it's the same brand different formula... So another EVO. Within the same brand won't cause stomach upset
I know they have a red meat small bites as well, so maybe I'll try to rotate that in. I know we tried it once before, years ago, and I don't remember there being an issue. Thanks.
 

Kilter

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#12
What you can do is when you're a week away from needing more food, get a new bag, and either measure and slowly switch, or open the new bag and put the rest of the old on top. I know lots of people who do that without an issue, the food mixes as you go.

Different companies use different vitamin and supplement formulas so it's well worth it to go outside of a set brand if you can - rather than going from lamb and rice to chicken and rice, you could go to salmon and sweet potato for example. Just as an example. Not saying you must do that or I'm the only right person online (really I am but I'm ok with not bragging), or that if you do have issues it's anyone's fault. Just a disclaimer.
 

Saeleofu

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#13
Within the same brand won't cause stomach upset
Yes, it most definitely can.

For the longest time Logan could *only* handle TOTW Wetlands. None of the other formulas.

There are plenty of dogs who can handle one formula of one brand, and not another formula within the same brand. Different formulas have different protein and carbohydrate sources, and that change is what a dog reacts to. Switching a dog from for example a chicken based food to a beef based food probably *will* cause stomach upset if the dog's not used to change. Same goes for switching carb sources, for example white potato to sweet potato or oatmeal.

The formulas aren't just the same food with "beef flavour" or "fish flavour" added, or at least they shouldn't be (with some of the crappy brands, I can definitely see that happening, since some foods seem to be mostly color and flavor with little actual meat)
 

JessLough

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#14
Yes, it most definitely can.

For the longest time Logan could *only* handle TOTW Wetlands. None of the other formulas.

There are plenty of dogs who can handle one formula of one brand, and not another formula within the same brand. Different formulas have different protein and carbohydrate sources, and that change is what a dog reacts to. Switching a dog from for example a chicken based food to a beef based food probably *will* cause stomach upset if the dog's not used to change. Same goes for switching carb sources, for example white potato to sweet potato or oatmeal.

The formulas aren't just the same food with "beef flavour" or "fish flavour" added, or at least they shouldn't be (with some of the crappy brands, I can definitely see that happening, since some foods seem to be mostly color and flavor with little actual meat)
Well they can, but it's more likely not to than switching to a completely different brand, I've found (and I have a dog that has a hard stomach and doesn't get sick off stuff).

I tend to short-answer while at work on the iPod when I should be... working :p

ETA: A lot of companies keep in mind now the whole idea of rotating and try to make it easier for the dog
 

CharlieDog

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#15
Knox can't have ANY TOTW but Pacific Stream. Dunno WHY, but the High Prairie KILLS his stomach. Gas and runny poops forever. I haven't tried Wetlands, because the HP scared me off of switching his food around. He's been on a Chicken and Oatmeal before, and did fine, but had yeasty ears, so I switched to grain free.
 

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