Dog food problems

[slleipnir]

I'm having trouble finding food the dogs can eat. I guess one of them (probably Zeke) throws up after eatting his food. Usually over night. I had him on Nutro, which he threw up most days. Then my friend gave me some free Go Natural. No throw up. However, that food is $65! I just can't afford it. She gives me 1/2 bags every now and then. She gets a free bag every month and her dog doesn't eat it all, so she gives it to me. However, it isn't enough. And I don't like asking her for more. I would like to be able to buy my own food when needed. I tried this Pro...something, can't think of the name, but I found some throw up this morning. My pet store is wonderful, because I can take an opened bag of food back for a full refund (even if it's 1/2 gone)...but I don't want to keep doing that. I guess the Go Natural only has salmon and like oatmeal in it, so it's great for dogs with allergies...however, $65 is pushing it....

any ideas? I really don't want to feed raw...It might be good for them, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Well, I was going to say Raw, but I dunno.. I guess you could look around a try a Natural pet food store (if you have one) and see if you could find something there :/

[bckrazy]

For best suggestions, can you list every high quality (like, Nutro-quality and up) brand of kibble that you can get in your area? There a lots of brands that work well with dogs who have sensitive tummies or food allergies. Here's a few brands that I recommend, to begin with... all of these are reasonably priced in the US, with Eagle Pack and Natural Balance probably being the most affordable.

Wellness Fish & Sweet Potato
Wellness Simple Duck
Wellness Simple Venison
California Natural Herring & Sweet Potato (definitely recommend this!)
Eagle Pack Holistic Select Anchovy, Sardine & Salmon Meal with Oatmeal
Eagle Pack Holistic Select Duck & Oatmeal Formula
Natural Balance Potato & Duck Formula for Dogs (avail at Petco in the states)
Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Fish Formula for Dogs
Breeder's Choice Pinnacle Canine Trout & Sweet Potato Formula (we sell this, it's awesome and is supposed to be allergy-free!)
Breeder's Choice Pinnacle Allergy-Free Duck & Potato Dry Formula
Solid Gold Holistique Blendz (has menhaden fish meal, and can be fed alone, but it should be fed along with fresh meat... good as a base food to be fed along with raw, and not very pricey)

[.sarah]

Have you tried feeding him a small meal before bedtime? That usually curbs the night time vomit sessions.

[slleipnir]

gckrazy: I believe we have most of those foods. We only have ONE store that sells quality foods. (besides maybe the vet) I tried mixing Go Natural with his new ProSeries food. See how that goes. If my friend can give me enough Go Natural to mix with something, that should be ok. I'll try for a few days before trying something new...

I think Go Natural is the only food we have really ment for dogs with allergies. She said it only has something like Salmon and oatmeal or something. And that's it. I guess all the other foods have a bunch of different things in it. I would love to feed only Go Natural, but man, too expensive.

Sarah: He only throws up with certain foods. Like the Go Natural, he never throws up. Would a snack still help if it's the food he's allergic to making him throw up?

[bckrazy]

I totally understand, Go Natural is very expensive! It costs $1/lb more than my pre-made Raw :eek:

I do recommend Eagle Pack or Breeder's Choice Pinnacle. Both of those kibbles have fish and other meat-based diets that should have the same good affects as Go Natural. Do you have any idea what he's allergic to? Could it be the grains (rice, wheat?) or Chicken or Beef?

[slleipnir]

I totally understand, Go Natural is very expensive! It costs $1/lb more than my pre-made Raw :eek:

I do recommend Eagle Pack or Breeder's Choice Pinnacle. Both of those kibbles have fish and other meat-based diets that should have the same good affects as Go Natural. Do you have any idea what he's allergic to? Could it be the grains (rice, wheat?) or Chicken or Beef?

No idea what he is allergic too. How can I find that out? I thought it was chicken, so I changed to Nutro lamb and rice or whatever, but he still threw up with that.

[Kfamr]

Gross question, but, when he throw up - what does it look like?

[tonidaly]

i know i need to switch my dogs's diet (not to raw quite yet). they don't have alergies, and seem to do okay on their current food, but after reading up, i now know how horrible iams is for them (and i feel terrible). although, i have been noticing that they have nats around them constantly and i've read foods like iams tend to attract fleas and bugs. innova and authority harvest baked seem to be ranked among the top, so i think i have narrowed it down to choosing between these 2. i would love to hear about any experience or opinions on these. also, i notice there is innova evo and innova dog, and harvest baked lamb or chicken. comments? the harvest bake is cheaper and is available online at petsmart. anyone know if it is available in store as well?
my dogs' are a 1yr old jack russel/beagle mix and 9 mo beagle. THANK YOU.