Pet Lovers

[Deree]

Hi. I know this will be like a shot in the dark but I need particular dog food recs. I just spent hours researching  both dry and wet food because I mix them for the following specs:

Small breed

Senior

Chicken allergy (so no chicken) but would like at least 2-3 flavors for variety

I've been feeding him Natural Balance L.I.D. which is grain free but the vet doesn't want him on grain free. I've already looked at Wellness Core, Canidae, Orijen, Purina Pro Plan, Royal Canin. A guy at my local Petco recommended Wholehearted. He said that's what his dog eats but he didn't tell me that Wholehearted was a Petco brand so I don't know if that was just a sales pitch.  I'd  also like to be able to order from Chewy.  TIA.

[KingstonsMom]

You may want to check out Fromm pet foods, based in Wisconsin since 1904 and has never had a recall.

They only use ingredients sourced here in the good ol' USA, nothing 'imported' from other questionable countries.

They have many choices, our boy loves it!

https://frommfamily.com/

[Deree]

@KingstonsMom  Thanks but Chewy doesn't carry it.

[KingstonsMom]

@Deree 

Bummer!

I used their store locator on the link I sent you and found a couple of pet stores in my area that carry it.

I was really tired of all of the constant pet food recalls including many well known brands, it would destroy me if I unknowingly was feeding ours something that could actually harm him.

[NickNack]

I would recommend Wellness Complete Health Small Breed.  It comes in several varieties that don't include chicken.  Wellness Core is grain-free, as I assume you discovered.

[goldensrbest]

I have goldens,and after all the news on grain free,and lack of tarurine in food, i changed to farmina with grains,made in italy, my dogs are doing good on it ,i agree with vet ,no grain free.

[Deree]

@Nicknack   Unfortunately none of the Wellness Complete Wet Foods are chicken-free even if they say another flavor on the package which is why I've spent so much time reading the ingredients lists.  Some of the Dry Foods also contain chicken fat for flavor.

Wellness Core says grain free but what they don't advertise that they should is that they add taurine which is what's missing in grain free foods.  Still the same problem with added chicken.

I know it gets complicated for my dog. 

[NickNack]

@Deree   I'm pretty sure all of the grain-free foods have taurine.  They just don't have enough apparently.  Taurine isn't the only problem with grain-free.  It's the peas and legumes that can cause heart problems as I understand it.

[Scorpio1971]

@Deree 

I would suggest doing some research on the web site dogfoodadvisor.com

They have analyzed the ingredients of hundreds & hundreds of dog foods...from A to Z...wet, dry, grain free, non grain free, raw frozen, cooked frozen, dehydrated frozen...canned, pouched, bagged...you name it.  All broken down by name of brand.

They do not analyze the product itself.  It is a public service web site, not affiliated with any dog food companies and they analyze the product's nutritional content based on the ingredient list supplied by the company as this statement on their info page states..."We know how to read labels…and how to correctly interpret a recipe’s nutritional content. We also know how to find out where the ingredients come from, which additives are safe and which ones are toxic…"

They list ingredients...not in all of the mixed formulas by that manufacturer, but they usually choose 1-2 from a line (because some companies have many flavors...i.e. chicken, fish, beef, venison, salmon, buffalo, etc.) so they will pick 1-2 out of that group, and list them but you can get an idea of other foods in that line from what they specify in the ones they choose to analyze.

They also notify you of RECALL ALERTS if you sign up via email, and also have a Facebook page that you can also 'LIKE' to get more info when they post. 

Please check out this web site as I believe it will help you find more info you need and their analyzing of the ingredients lists can give you some eye opening info into some ingredients & additives added to pet foods that are of no nutritional value to your pet.  Hope this will be a valuable tool for you & helps you in searching & making decisions.

Good luck! 🐾🐾😊

[goldensrbest]

My understanding is that dog food companies started using peas,and legumes ,to add protein, and save money,instead of real animal protein,so much info.on this,  but  i decided to do food with grains,i always have added real protein to my dogs, be it beef, chicken,eggs,canned salmon, and veggies, i would had thought by now ,these companies would had chaned to foods with grains by now,but as one can see  still mostly grain free,i give my dogs a taurine supplement also.