# Need grain free and low fat



## samsmom (Jun 23, 2011)

Hello Everyone!!

I have an 8 year old Schnoodle (Sam) and a 7 year old cat (Marley) who are both on Natural Balance Alpha (Grain free). They get soft food in the morning and kibble throughout the day. I feel that I need to switch their food due to the recent changes with the company. 

Both Sam and Marley need to be on grain free diets due to certain health conditions and Sam also needs to be on a low fat diet due to his recent bout with pancreatitis, I think I read somewhere where they suggested no more than 13% fat content. Since switching them to Natural Balance, Sam's recurring ear infections have cleared up and hasn't had any problems since. Marley had digestive problems prior to switching and his bowel movements have gotten much better. They could both lose some weight, though.  My vet wants them to be on Science diet, but I don't feel that Science diet is a very high quality food. I would also like to add that I want to stick with more of a moderate amount of meat content instead of the higher amount of meat content.

Any suggestions would be helpful! Thank you!


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

Annamaet grain free lean may be something to take a look at.


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## domika (Jul 15, 2012)

A few that might work:
Lotus Wholesome Grain Free Duck - 27% protein and 12% fat
Wellness Simple Grain Free Turkey and Potato - 26% protein 12% fat
Wellness Simple Grain Free Salmon and Potato - 25% protein 12% fat
Now Grain Free Senior - 24% protein 10% fat
Blue Buffalo Basics Grain Free Turkey and Potato - 22% protein 12% fat

I've heard pretty good things about the Wellness CORE Reduced Fat formula for weight loss, but it has 33% protein :/

Hope you can find something that works!!


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## Jace (Oct 3, 2012)

The NOW Senior is a great option, as it is low fat, but it also uses Coconut Oil, which is the best fat for pancreatic dogs. The structure does not require the pancreas to produce lipase to break it down, it is absorbed through the intestinal wall


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## samsmom (Jun 23, 2011)

I would like to try the NOW Senior. I've heard it mentioned before for pancreatic dogs, but I don't know if I can find it in my area. Does anybody buy it online? Otherwise I think my other choice would be the Blue Buffalo. I think Petco in my area sells it. I will keep looking for NOW though.


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## domika (Jul 15, 2012)

If you have any specialty pet stores around they might be able to order the NOW for you. Otherwise I just checked chewy.com and they have it as well.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

you can try holistic select grain free, its 28% protein and 13% fat


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## SpinRetrievers (Jun 1, 2013)

samsmom said:


> Hello Everyone!!
> 
> I have an 8 year old Schnoodle (Sam) and a 7 year old cat (Marley) who are both on Natural Balance Alpha (Grain free). They get soft food in the morning and kibble throughout the day. I feel that I need to switch their food due to the recent changes with the company.
> 
> ...



You are fighting genetics. Use a food with fat below 10%. For a dog predisposed to pancreatitis, the difference between 8,9,10% and 13% is huge. The maintenance level for fat I believe is 5% and 8% for growth.


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## Jace (Oct 3, 2012)

> You are fighting genetics. Use a food with fat below 10%. For a dog predisposed to pancreatitis, the difference between 8,9,10% and 13% is huge. The maintenance level for fat I believe is 5% and 8% for growth.


I would have to disagree on this, as the reality is that using a percentage in a guaranteed analysis or in a nutrient profile is by no means accurate. The best way to look at it, is based on ingestion, or how much the dog consumes. Using grams per calories tells you EXACTLY how much the dog is getting per feeding, a percentage does not do this.
In this case manufacturers have the "grams per 100 kcals, or mg per 100 kcals"
To show how the % doesn't work, the Go Chicken has 14% fat, yet has 3.49 grams fat per 100 kcals, the NOW Sr has 11% and is 3.75 grams per 100 kcals, so more fat than the 14% food.
Purina EN, which is a prescription diet for pancreatitis, is low fat at 10.5% and also has 3.5 grams fat per 100 kcals.

The other important factor is the structure of the oil, in this case Coconut Oil is a medium chain triglyceride, so the molecular structure is more "broken down" allowing absorption to occur without the use of the pancreas.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

Look at Wellness Core reduced fat.


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## SpinRetrievers (Jun 1, 2013)

Jace said:


> I would have to disagree on this, as the reality is that using a percentage in a guaranteed analysis or in a nutrient profile is by no means accurate. The best way to look at it, is based on ingestion, or how much the dog consumes. Using grams per calories tells you EXACTLY how much the dog is getting per feeding, a percentage does not do this.
> In this case manufacturers have the "grams per 100 kcals, or mg per 100 kcals"
> To show how the % doesn't work, the Go Chicken has 14% fat, yet has 3.49 grams fat per 100 kcals, the NOW Sr has 11% and is 3.75 grams per 100 kcals, so more fat than the 14% food.
> Purina EN, which is a prescription diet for pancreatitis, is low fat at 10.5% and also has 3.5 grams fat per 100 kcals.
> ...


Thank you but you are incorrect. Purina EN is 2.9 grams per 100 calories. That is 18% less than you stated and is a huge difference for a dog with issues. The Hills Diet with 6% fat is 2 grams per 100 calories.

There is no reason to confuse people with gram/calories. The experts have determined that a food with 5% fat is the minimum required for adult dogs.


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## Jace (Oct 3, 2012)

> Thank you but you are incorrect. Purina EN is 2.9 grams per 100 calories. That is 18% less than you stated and is a huge difference for a dog with issues. The Hills Diet with 6% fat is 2 grams per 100 calories.



Where did you get that number, I got mine out of the Purina book, but maybe mine is old? I still think that using the % is not as accurate, due to the caloric densities of food being different. Maybe it is easier, but I don't believe it's as accurate as I would like (for me)


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## SpinRetrievers (Jun 1, 2013)

Jace said:


> Where did you get that number, I got mine out of the Purina book, but maybe mine is old? I still think that using the % is not as accurate, due to the caloric densities of food being different. Maybe it is easier, but I don't believe it's as accurate as I would like (for me)


I asked my secretary to call Purina and Hill's. She has 6 cats and knows quite a bit. The Purina food is not as specific to pancreatitis as the Hill's formula, which has fat pretty much in line with AAFCO and the NRC for normal adult dogs.

What you assume is that there will be a need to feed so much more that the amount of fat consumed is about the same. However, this is generally not the case and calories on paper don't mean much in real life.

There is no way to deny that if the dog eats a food with a lower percentage of fat it will eat less fat overall. Just common sense.


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## flashyfawn (Mar 8, 2012)

Samsmom, This is a link that I found really helpful DogAware.com Articles: Pancreatitis in Dogs

If you scroll down just a bit there is a link for low fat diets, and on that page they list some food suggestions. I'm sure there are other foods out there now that would work, but looking at this list should give you a good starting point. 13% fat sounds high to me, I think you want to look for 10% or less and also take into account whatever treats he's eating. 

I regularly order food from Chewy and have also ordered from Petflow. I've never had any issues with either of them and always get the food the day after it ships. But I'm sure it depends a bit on where you live.


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## domika (Jul 15, 2012)

You had your secretary call Purina / Hills? Over a forum question..............


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## NutroGeoff (May 15, 2013)

You might take a look at Nutro Natural Choice dog and cat food. There are Grain Free formulas in both the dog and cat lines and they aren't as high protein as some of the other foods out there. I have had a lot of success recommending this to people and have had a customer who fed the Grain Free cat formula tell me how well the food was working for her cat with allergies.


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