Help! Food issues!
Guys, I need your help. I've been feeding Mousse "earthblend" dog food for the past two years and was just told by a friend that the dog food is one of the worst ones I could have picked since it is a one size fits all dog food, per his vet. I'm really worried that maybe she hasn't gotten the right amount of nutrients and may have caused problems with her growth and that she's malnourished. ( she's about half the size of a normal Corgi but doesn't look like skin and bones). Anyone know anything about this food? Any ideas on what I should switch her to?
Also, side note- when she walks I hear a popping noise. Thought it was her nails catching the carpet, but she just had them clipped. Do you think it's her joints already. Any ideas on what to do?
Also, side note- when she walks I hear a popping noise. Thought it was her nails catching the carpet, but she just had them clipped. Do you think it's her joints already. Any ideas on what to do?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I don't know anything about the food you are feeding but don't panic...if it is bad you can switch to a better one! What is the main ingredient and does it have corn in it are my 1st 2 questions. Meat/protien not meal should be the 1st ingredient and NO corn. Why don't you check the bag and write down the 1st 5 ingredients here. There are a few lengthy discussions on here about food that you might be able to look back on also! As for Mousse she may also be a smaller corgi, how much does she weigh?
Also what does your friend mean when he says it's a one size fits all dog food? Is he saying it's from puppy through senior?
Many foods have puppy,ages 1-7 and senior but there are some that are meant to be for all life stages. Without knowing more it's hard to say and I would not always trust a vet as mine only carry 2 kinds and 1 is science diet and I won't feed mine that!
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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Actually, I always look for a some kind of a specified meat meal first, rather than a meat (although, I do not buy foods that say "meat meal" but rather something specfic like "chicken meal" or "lamb meal"). The reason for this is that in order to make the food, all water must be extracted from the meat. Since ingredients are listed by weight, with the water chicken may be number one, but after theyt extract the water, essentially making it a meal anyway, it gets moved down 3-5 places depending. So if the ingedients go: "Chicken, rice, barley," then I know that actually the food is mainly made out of grains, since the chicken would be moved after all the grains once it is processed. That is not to say that having a regular meat is a bad thing, absolutely not, but I still always look for a meat meal before the grains so I know there is a substantial meat content.
Also, I looked up the Earthblend food ingredients and it looks like a very very good food. Keep feeding it if you like it and don't worry about it.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I looked it up and it looks like a good food to me. Chicken meal and turkey meal are 1 and 2 (Jane, are you thinking of by-product meal when you are saying to avoid meal? Meal is simply the dried form of the meat and even dogfoodanalysis, which I think is a bit overly picky, says meal is a truer source of protein; the whole meat (i.e., chicken) has most of its weight by water and therefore actually makes up a much smaller portion of the true ingredients than the meal form..... by-product meal is not so good but a named meat meal is a good protein source, just my opinion!).
Anyway, I googled it and it looks good to me and even dogfoodanalysis lists it as "recommended" and they are very tough. They give it four stars.
As far as not being a "puppy" formula, the main thing if you look at what I consider better-quality foods, their puppy formulas have a bit less protein than the adult formulas, with the theory out there being that too much protein can make puppies grow too fast and predispose them to joint problems. However, this food has a nutrition profile that lists protein at 24%, which is not too high, so it should be fine. :-)
It's listed for "all life stages" so I would not worry. Her size is probably more to do with genes than with food.
Here's the food:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php/pro...
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Permalink Reply by Shepdog on
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Well, as someone who owns a dog-food store, what all life stages is that they meet the qualites for puppy-growth wonderfully and can be fed as a maintenance diet -- but you need to cut back when they're adults most times with the formula or the dog can easily become overweight.
If you flip over the back of your bag, you will see a little line on there somewhere that says, "This product meets the AAFCO regulations for - (growth, Adult maintenance, lactation/gestation or all life stages)" All Life stages can be fed from growth to lactation/gestation. If it is qualified as such, in feeding trials, it has to be be fed sequentially to the same test group.)
Many of the higher end foods are all life stages now -- I feed one too and I've never noticed any detriment to the growth of my dogs, but I do cut back how much I feed if I notice a dog plumping up. I have one tiny little Corgi (she's petite and eats like a pony) - and I've seen all sizes of Corgi come through my shop, from large to small.
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Permalink Reply by shelby geisler on
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Everyone has their idea what to feed.
I'd like to think I prepare balanced meals and all my dogs since 1960 have shared in the bounty. No they don't get scraps but full platters. Meat to include: Beef, chicken, pork, ham, fish They get a spoonfull of veggies to include green beans, carrots, peas, cabbage, etc. They enjoy stir frys, lettuce salads (by the way they don't graze the lawn since they have salads in the house which include tomatoes, cucumbers, crutons, etc. We have eggs about once a week. They eat pasta pizza, lasagna, spagetti, mac & cheese, Fruits are chopped in or offered as treats. They love cantalope. While I'm not big on deserts we occasionally have cake, share a milk shake or ice cream. .
Their coats glitter. These last 3 are the only ones I ever gave supplements. Lucy is my kitchen helper, Cory nope he want's nothing to do with food prep call me when it's ready I'm going downstairs, Joey waits under the table. . .
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Permalink Reply by Joanna Kimball on
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with an all-life-stages dog food; I don't know whether he misunderstood his vet or his vet is crazy, but some of the best kibbles are all-life-stages and we commonly tell puppy owners to look for that type of food rather than feeding puppy food.
I'd have to see pictures and video of her to tell whether she's genuinely too thin/malnourished, but if she is it's not because of the brand of food. If you're worried that she's too thin, just feed more or add table scraps. I am a huge believer in table scraps as long as they're healthy (use veggies and meat, not bread or sweets) and the meat is fed raw rather than cooked.
If her nails were clipped rather than dremeled they could still be catching carpet, but watch her closely and see what's causing it. If you're worried, check with the vet. In my experience joint problems don't cause any kind of audible noise, so I'd look at something else before that.
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Could it be because they sell dog food. I've sat in the waiting room watching folks come in for food like $40. a case.
Even the lady at the health food store smiled and patted me on the back when one day I said we are going home to a stir fry, yea with peppers in it. One thing they don't like is mushrooms. They will pick them out and leave them aside the dish.
Oddly enough the rescues I've had are chow hounds. The ones I've raised from pups always leave some in their bowls. My first corgi Pageant 1960-1976 was by far the picky one. Many times I'd offer him 3 platters and he'd turn his nose up at everything. When he was outdoors to eat his bowls disappeared. One day Dad caught him burying his dinner bowl and all.
Lucy is a big girl, a rescue she weighed 47 lbs so we worked and worked to get weight off her. She hated green beans. She did lose weight finally which turned out to be a bad thing for her as then she couldn't walk. I noticed her structure shortly after I got her, questioned the various vets, the dog trainer, etc. After a few thousand dollars finally the neurologist said "she's been towing her rear end along perhaps since birth, it's like a body builder who only exercises the upper torso". She is thick around her neck and very muscular in the shoulder area. I had to put the weight back on her. I get snide comments about her weight which is like salt on an open wound & I could scream when I hear it but this girl needs her weight otherwise she can not walk, in fact she didn't walk for 9 months.
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Lucy was 7 years old when it started. in July 2007 We had just come out of the pool and the left rear leg went down. Knowing what consumated now I know when we'd go for those 4 mile walks I had a theory one of two things. On the way out she was leader of the pack. On the way back she was dragging far behind. Either she didn't want to go home or she was tired. I also remember when I'd get her out of the car there were times her rear legs just sank like rubber. By Christmas yes I did pull out the wheel carts knowing full well I'd have to tear them apart as my DM boy weighed in at 23lbs.
With Lucy we saw somewhere between 6 & 10 vets. Lucy had every test imaginable some 3 times. I found acupuncture via Chi Institute and he told me straight up I don't know if this will work. The neurologist wanted to operate both shoulders, a disk in the back, a joint in the left rear leg and maybe a ligament. I decided against it, we went right back to acupuncture and I had in my head if anything would heal this girl it would be pau-d-arco as I had Lyme Disease and I didn't walk for 3 months. Little by little she first was able to get up and the first time I saw her try to scoot her one foot after relieving herself I was estatic. We continued with the acupuncture and the pau-d-arco and by Easter I was able to take the runner rugs up, she was walking not well but walking.
I got a double stroller, Cory is a ham and just likes to ride. Lucy never enjoyed the stroller until she couldn't walk. Now I had 2 in the baby stroller.
Putting weight back on her was easy. I had to rebuild her muscle mass in the rear as she had lost quite a bit. She's 9 years old now she was a BC with sheep but she'll never herd again. That's ok she's walking, running, frapping with the other two. She.does stairs full flights, wish she'd stay off the stairs and many times she will summon me but with 3 of them racing around gates are cumbersome.
Wish I knew how to post pictures. I'm just feeling my way with the site.
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WOW that is a story! Glad you stuck to your gut instinct with the acupuncture!
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Permalink Reply by Laura Smith & Balthier on
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I met my boys parents and they were both full corgis, and my boy Balthier is just a little small. He's only 20lbs but he's perfectly healthy - I asked my vet about his weight - because I expected him to get larger - standard corgi size - and he said that every dog is different and that he didn't expect Balthier to ever get even close to 30lbs.
If you're concerned just ask a vet - I mean - the internet is a scary place sometimes.
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Ok I'll try a picture Lucy on the left (the red head tri) Cory the ham on the right. Both are rescues.
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