Rotating Dog Food Question

danisgoat said:
I am confused....you caught Bacca's hypothyroidism by accident. But I will miss my dog's potential health issues, because I rotate the foods?

When my dog was diagnosed with a Thyroid condition, I noticed it because he was lethargic and his hair got drier. I knew this was not from food because I always rotate around the foods and never had the problem before. So I took him to the vet, and got his blood tests done.

I am going to do what I believe is best for my dog, and never ignore symptoms. For example: Dandie had diarrhea at 6PM on Thursday night. I was on the phone with my vet at 6:10PM.

What symptoms are you worried about me missing in my dog, because I rotate foods? What symptoms did you see in your dogs, that you would have missed if you were rotating between dog foods?

I will repeat my stance above. Rotating foods is not for you because of your unique position.
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Hey Dani

Chill! I'm sorry if I offended you. It was not my intent.

Let me explain: Bacca was a perfectly healthy dog. Good weight, good coat, good energy. One morning, I woke up and the left side of his face was completely swollen and he could not swallow properly. An emergency trip to the vet and they are talking about everything from a tooth abscess to cancer. Instead he goes on anti-biotics and then bloodwork a couple of weeks later. THAT's when he was found to be hypo-thyroid. There were no other symptoms.

Then I transitioned to another food - a high protein food, btw. Suddenly, Bacca started to refuse to eat. I attributed it to food transition. However, awhile later, he went for his next round of bloodwork, and that's when we discovered his ALT and ALS levels severely elevated. Liver problems. Switched out his diet to lower protein, gave him milk thistle and he's back to normal.

All I was saying is that you can easily miss other problems if you are rotating foods and attribute upsets to rotation. If Bacca had not already been scheduled for bloodwork for his hypo, I might have missed the liver thing entirely and gone on an endless cycle of switching foods until I found something he would eat.

Hope that clarifies.
Barb
 
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SheltieChe said:
that is how those companies brainwash you to believe that only they produce truly superior products and you should never attempt to try to figure dog's nutrition on your own because heaven forbid you might realize $$$- profit is the main tool that motivates it and not deep research and care...
I hope common sense will prevail and majority of people are able to read between the lines...
regarding dog being picky... it is touchy subject and I do think providing no medical issues involved it is dog training the owner... I am all for investing in my dogs health by providing various and quality meals but if someone not eating... well, they not eating until they are... healthy dogs are unable to starve themselves, goes against their basic instincts...
and if you really look into it, once you get into decent quality doggie kibble they all just about the same... sure there are few gimmicks here and there... one added probiotics, another avocado, another botanicals from Dead sea...
rotating food- breeder of one of my pups is well educated biologist and by the time her pups are ready for their new homes, they get just about any veggie and meat mixed up in their food straight from a baby food jars.... just like a human baby gets weaned from milk being main source of their nutrition and graduates to chinese takeouts by their teens development of furry babies can and should follow same road...dogs are and always were opportunistic eaters... why would you let some money hungry company tell you otherwise?
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I think you said it perfectly!! The only part I'd disagree with is feeding veggies as I don't think dogs need nor digest those. I can't imagine feeding my dogs the same thing over and over again every day of their lives. For one, what if the dog food is missing something or gets recalled? If you had been giving them a variety of foods they might not be as affected b/c they only had, say, one bag of the effected dog food. Like the recent call with Wellness is a perfect example. I feed my cat (still trying to transition to RAW) kibble and every time I buy a different bag and brand. If I had been feeding her solely Wellness then she could have gotten seriously ill. The bottom line is you should do what makes YOU feel is the best thing for your pet.
 
BarbV said:
Hey Dani

Chill! I'm sorry if I offended you. It what not my intent.

Let me explain: Bacca was a perfectly healthy dog. Good weight, good coat, good energy. One morning, I woke up and the left side of his face was completely swollen and he could not swallow properly. An emergency trip to the vet and they are talking about everything from a tooth abscess to cancer. Instead he goes on anti-biotics and then bloodwork a couple of weeks later. THAT's when he was found to be hypo-thyroid. There were no other symptoms.

Then I transitioned to another food - a high protein food, btw. Suddenly, Bacca started to refuse to eat. I attributed it to food transition. However, awhile later, he went for his next round of bloodwork, and that's when we discovered his ALT and ALS levels severely elevated. Liver problems. Switched out his diet to lower protein, gave him milk thistle and he's back to normal.

All I was saying is that you can easily miss other problems if you are rotating foods and attribute upsets to rotation. If Bacca had not already been scheduled for bloodwork for his hypo, I might have missed the liver thing entirely and gone on an endless cycle of switching foods until I found something he would eat.

Hope that clarifies.
Barb
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LOL @ the chill Barb. I am all chilled out, no worries there :razz: Sorry for being blunt...that is how I am.

I actually was very curious. I could not follow your line of thinking at all, and I appreciate your explanation. That is exactly what I was looking for, and asking for. :wink2:

I think that Dr. Shelli's protocol for blood testing is an awesome solution, for both of us :biggrin2:

Also, I think the point that you are not seeing about dogs that are on a rotation, is that they don't get GI upsets, because they are on a rotation. So a GI upset would still be an issue.
 
Bacca gets full bloodwork every 6 months. In fact, he is due soon for his next round.

Each round of blood work costs me hundreds of dollars. Fortunately, I can afford it, and I have no choice because he has the condition.

I certainly get it, but being realistic here: It would be hard to convince most people to do this kind of testing on a yearly basis if their dogs were otherwise healthy.

Maybe if more people understood the "hidden" conditions out there it would help them decide to make the investment. As I may have said in another thread: According to my vet, hypothyroidism can be detected at an early age, but often is not diagnosed until years later, when the symptoms finally start to show.
 
BarbV said:
Bacca gets full bloodwork every 6 months. In fact, he is due soon for his next round.

Each round of blood work costs me hundreds of dollars. Fortunately, I can afford it, and I have no choice because he has the condition.

I certainly get it, but being realistic here: It would be hard to convince most people to do this kind of testing on a yearly basis if their dogs were otherwise healthy.

Maybe if more people understood the "hidden" conditions out there it would help them decide to make the investment. As I may have said in another thread: According to my vet, hypothyroidism can be detected at an early age, but often is not diagnosed until years later, when the symptoms finally start to show.
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And that is a topic for another thread in another section :wink2:

Let's get back to what this thread is about, please.

Someone who wants to know how to go about rotating between different foods.
 
marymrumfelt said:
I think you said it perfectly!! The only part I'd disagree with is feeding veggies as I don't think dogs need nor digest those. I can't imagine feeding my dogs the same thing over and over again every day of their lives. For one, what if the dog food is missing something or gets recalled? If you had been giving them a variety of foods they might not be as affected b/c they only had, say, one bag of the effected dog food. Like the recent call with Wellness is a perfect example. I feed my cat (still trying to transition to RAW) kibble and every time I buy a different bag and brand. If I had been feeding her solely Wellness then she could have gotten seriously ill. The bottom line is you should do what makes YOU feel is the best thing for your pet.
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This is said very well, Mary.

Especially your last line of that we should do what we think is right.
 
Another reason I'd say feeding multiple brands is good b/c you don't really know what is being put it in (they don't have to list on the bag anything that was added to the meat BEFORE it was put in the dog food) it just seems like a good idea not to put your faith all in one brand. They are all out for profit and seem to skimp a bit here and there so by dipping into different brands I feel like it would help make up for what one company might skimp on. Also, just because your dog might get loose stools one or two days doesn't automatically mean he's having issues. Someone said to me once, "Our poop varies daily so why wouldn't your dogs?" And I thought it was a very good point!
 
I heard a switch from 2 , 3 or 4 bags was a good number, Precious's 6 months mark so 2 month mark on the same diet is approaching, I'll use it to slowly try another food.

I narrowed my choices to Acana - Pacifica or Grasslands, TOTW Pacific stream or sierra mountain and the Wellness puppy bag we still have half left of. Thinking of Fromm 4 star chicken duck or pork not sure yet but because a lot of people have said goo things about it too.

Is it bad if most are from fish?? The meats or higher no grains seem to be too high in protein 35-40,40+ so I don't want to have her on something so high yet
 
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