Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Mystery and Science of Dog Food




Who knew that buying dog food could be so difficult. At 2 years old we have yet to find an adult food formula that Cadie will eat, and not give her digestive issues. When Cadie was a puppy she was on a chicken-based kibble diet, and life was good, she ate happily, and had good health. Since then we’ve experimented with 3 possible adult formulas, one beef-based kibble, one chicken, and finally, a neighbor gave me a sample of a lamb-based kibble.

My vet explained to me, when we were first trying to switch Cadie to an adult formula that the trick is to make sure that the kibble has the same meat base as their puppy formula. I thought this was a breakthrough, so I headed back to the pet store and immediately replaced the beef-based with the more familiar chicken base. This made it more palatable to her, and I didn’t have as much trouble getting her to eat, but I still wasn’t entirely happy with the final product.

Then a couple of weeks ago a neighbor gave me that sample, and I was thrilled. Cadie loved it. She stoof beside me licking her lips and wagging her tail while I was making her dinner. The digestive issues cleared up. I was convinced. So as a final sign off only I called my vet to tell her about the change to her diet.

Well…lamb alone, my vet tells me, does not have enough nutrients for a dog, and can cause heart issues. No problem, I decided that I would mix the lanb-based kibble with the wet chicken food. It’s delicious, Cadie loves it, I can’t keep it in the bowl. So far though, the end result is not encouraging. I might just be 3 for 3. What do you feed a dog like this?

It may not be ideal, but she is going to eat a little more of this food, probably until I speak with my vet, hopefully she can make some good suggestions, and finally get Cadie onto an adult dog food that will do her body good. As it is as soon as I get up from my chair she's sniffing around trying to get at my dinner

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