# Expensive "Prescription" Dog Food



## Tann (Dec 18, 2008)

My puupy was put on Medi-Cal (Canadian version of Royal Canin's prescription food) Fibre formula to help with her colitis. It is $100 for a 40 lb. bag. The bag only lasts about 5-6 weeks. I am slowly weaning her off that one and trying Purina (yes, I know many are not a fan of Purina) Healthy Weight Management, as it is the only other food with high fibre. I have done a ton of reading about dog foods and know the bad reputation that Purina uses "fillers", unidentified meat sources and corn. Is my dog worse off on Purina in your opinion, as the Medi-Cal has corn, tons of fibre and makes her poop 5 times/day, asdie from costing over 3x that of Purina. 

The Medi-Cal has max. 16% fibre and the Purina has Max. 12%...everything else out there has 4 or 5% and she clearly needs the fibre.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Well if I were you, I'd switch to a higher quality food like Blue Buffalo Weight Control (7% fiber) or Wellness Healthy Weight (8% fiber), feed a little less of it and add your own fiber to it, like rice or green beans and other veggies. That way your dog is getting a MUCH higher quality food and you're treating the problem a bit more naturally rather than just making your dog poop constantly with low-quality ingredients that aren't helping it. JMO


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I'm not sure why your dog has to have excess fiber? My Lhasa has severe colitis and as long as I control her fat intake and keep her on a normal fiber diet she is fine. If she eats a high fat food she will have a severe bout of colitis but she can eat a food like Wellness venison /sweet potato or California Natural just fine. I'm not sure what the fiber content is on those foods but the fat content is not that high. I agree that you could also add your own fiber like canned pumpkin or squash or rice if you wanted to add additional fiber to your dogs diet and use a better quality food then the purina or the prescription diet. There are a lot of resourses on the internet about dog colitis and what to feed and not to feed if you do a search. Sometimes a little experimenting with tiny amounts on your own dog is needed since each dog is an individual. Some of it can be an allergy, also. My Lhasa cannot handle any olive oil or salmon oil without having a colitis attack. It took some cross referencing with various foods to figure it out but we have finally settled on a good range of high quality foods and some meats for her. Good luck!


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## TippysMom (Oct 3, 2008)

Purina killed my dog - I can't say anything nice about them. Please find something else to feed. Blue Buffalo is good & my dogs love it.


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## Tann (Dec 18, 2008)

What happened??


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## LoveNewfies (Jun 18, 2008)

We have a client with a dog that has IBD - biopsy confirmed. The only thing that has kept this dog problem free is a dehydrated diet and it certainly isn't high in fiber.


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## TippysMom (Oct 3, 2008)

Tann said:


> What happened??


We didn't know any better and believed that Purina was good food. So, he was fed Purina Fit & Trim for years. The vet said it was good food too. In January of 2006 he got sick and vomited blood, they did every test imaginable. He started pooping a mucusy (sp?) bloody stool. More tests. We wouldn't let them do anything too invasive because his health deteriorated too fast and we didn't want him to die in surgery. We started cooking him ground Turkey and rice and he improved for a short while, but then he stopped eating all together. I think it was too late. His kidneys and his liver were already failing.

He was 11 yrs old - and in only 3 months from getting sick, he had to be put down. The vet never said what he thought it was, but had him on meds for Valley Fever - without any improvement - and he had tested negative for that, and the symptoms didn't match.

We found out later what crap is put in Purina, and that they had changed the formula right around the time he got sick. We have no "proof", but just from what I've read from other blogs, and health problems with other dogs eating Purina products (similar symptoms, etc). We fell very strongly that the cause of his illness, and ultimately his demise, was the food.

We still miss him terribly. His picture is my avatar.


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## BoxerMommie (Jun 26, 2008)

I have a dog with colitis and he does much better on a high fiber diet however I use a premium food (Natural Balance Duck and Potato) which is 3% fiber and then add a couple of teaspoons of psyllium per day to his food. The psyllium is $5 a can and it lasts me a couple of months, the food is $45 or so for a 30 pound bag which with 2 65 pound dogs lasts me around 4 weeks. You could also add some 100% pure canned pumpkin to the food if your dog can tolerate pumpkin (mine cannot) which would bring the fiber content up. There are PLENTY of ways to feed a premium food and simply add extra fiber to the food (or anything else as well) that you want that still makes it cost effective plus you won't be filling your dog with poisons and processed crap on a daily basis.


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