# Very frustrated...ready to pull out my hair!



## DDBsR4Me (Jan 23, 2012)

Ok, well it's been a rough past few weeks. 

If you've caught my other threads you'll know that I tried EVO Red Meat (gave my boy diarrhea), then the pet store gave me Holistic Blend (made my boy vomit) and now most recently he's been on NV Instinct salmon. 

After the Holistic Blend I put him on a bland diet of riced and boiled hamburger to settle his stomach. He hasn't had any issues with that. 

I've slowly started to introduce the Instinct, and he's been on it for about a week and a half, and I can't get him past a half cup per meal. 

He ended up having loose stool once I started increasing the amount of NV and decreasing the rice/beef, so I started over and now he's getting the rice and 1/2 cup of NV per meal. 

No more loose stool, but he's been regurgitating soon after eating - while regurgitation isn't totally abnormal, it isn't something that he's ever really done frequently. 

Maybe I'm giving him too much? Or it's the NV. 

Either way, I think I need to find another kibble for him (ugh). 

I am really thinking about going back to Acana Grasslands if my store has an "old" bag without the new ingredients, but then I'd just have to switch him again when they do get the new bags in. 

What should I do? I could use some good kibble recommendations too!


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

I've done of a fair amount of kibble rotation with my dogs along with some home-cooking. It's a long list of kibbles I've tried for at least one bag or ones that actually made it into a rotation.

I have to say that their current kibble (into our 2nd large bag at this point) of Earthborn Coastal Catch has been one of the easiest ones to transition to. It's grain-free with moderate protein and fat. It's carbohydrate combination of peas, potatoes and tapioca seems to agree with my dogs. It has lower ash than any of the NV Instinct formulas which is a good thing in my book. It also has a good amount of fermentation products which I think helps the transition. I plan on trying the Earthborn Meadow Feast (lamb) sometime soon.


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

I'm really sorry to hear you are having such a hard time 

How long have you been feeding the ground beef and rice? I've always been told to not feed it more than a few days because it's not nutritionally balanced. 

If he seems to be doing better on the ground beef/rice mix, have you thought about home cooking or even maybe PMR? (Not pushing, just suggesting since he is eating the ground/rice and keeping it down and regular)

When dog food companies switch ingredients, it sucks. Does he have issue with these new ingredients? Does he have any sensitivities? Do you think maybe he has issues with the processing in the kibble? Or certain ingredients?

I'm not much for one of recommending kibbles, but I feel for you. I was doing the kibble hop before going to PMR and nothing was agreeing with my pups. I hope you can figure out something soon..


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## DDBsR4Me (Jan 23, 2012)

Up until recently, he'd been eating lamb based kibble pretty much his whole life ...so maybe that is the difference as the Holistic Blend was turkey (I think) and the NV is the salmon version. 

Maybe I just need to get him back on lamb. 

I haven't had him on Acana since they switched ingredients. The last time I was at the pet food store they hadn't gotten any of the new bags in, but I don't want to feed the new version since they're adding lentils and another thread talked about them being high on the gmo list.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

It could just be a certain ingredient or two in each of these foods that he is reacting to and you just haven't found out what it is yet. With my little dog Chelsy that we lost in November, it took us 11 years to finally find out what she was reacting to in foods. She would either vomit, turn bright red and scratch horribly, or get horrendous bloody diarrhea from so many foods that I could hardly find one she could eat. 

We had to list all the ingredients in everything she ate and got sick on. Then cross reference them with the ingredients in the ones that she ate and did okay on. It ended up that salmon, salmon oil, olive oil, and flaxseed were the big things that would make her horrendously sick and it only had to be a small amount. She could tolerate some berries, but not many so I tried to avoid foods with all the fruits and berries added, also. 

Rocky is much that same way. Flaxseed and certain oils and fruits will make his skin flare up and give him the runs and vomit. These are usually the things found further down the list on the ingredient panel, but they still affect my my dogs badly. 

So, you may have some experimenting to do, not necessarily with the brand but with the layers of ingredients. I try to avoid any brand with a long list of ingredients for dogs that react to a lot of things. I keep the food as simple as possible. When I bought kibble, it was just meat based with no long list of extra ingredients that would set my dogs off. Canned food was 100% or 95% meat only. No extra ingredients. Chelsy finally spent her last years completely free of colitis and vomiting by doing that.


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## Sapphire-Light (Aug 8, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your troubles.




chowder said:


> It could just be a certain ingredient or two in each of these foods that he is reacting to and you just haven't found out what it is yet. With my little dog Chelsy that we lost in November, it took us 11 years to finally find out what she was reacting to in foods. She would either vomit, turn bright red and scratch horribly, or get horrendous bloody diarrhea from so many foods that I could hardly find one she could eat.
> 
> We had to list all the ingredients in everything she ate and got sick on. Then cross reference them with the ingredients in the ones that she ate and did okay on. It ended up that salmon, salmon oil, olive oil, and flaxseed were the big things that would make her horrendously sick and it only had to be a small amount. She could tolerate some berries, but not many so I tried to avoid foods with all the fruits and berries added, also.
> 
> ...


I agree with Chowder, try a low ingredient food like the simple foods from wellness , lid from natural balance and similar brands.


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## DDBsR4Me (Jan 23, 2012)

Well I'm hoping I spoke too soon. 

I think I was maybe feeding him too much - I was being bad and just eyeballing the amount and not measuring it. 

So tonight I measured out 1 1/2cups of rice/beef and mixed in some canned dog food - and no regurgitation!!!

Now tomorrow morning I'm going to try 1/4 of kibble with 1 1/2 cups rice/beef and see if he keeps that down....fingers are crossed!


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## riddick4811 (Nov 2, 2011)

My Dogo also has a very sensitive stomach. He is eating Earthborn Meadows Feast and doing really well. It is lamb based. 

Other suggestion- maybe try a grain inclusive food. If he is doing well on the beef/rice, then try a food that used rice, maybe a lamb/rice kibble. I fed Native Level 1 with good results to my dogs before. Eagle Pack Holistic Select Lamb also did well in the past. Nutrisource also makes a lamb and rice kibble and a grain free lamb based kibble. I bought some of the Nutrisource Lamb grain free and my dogs went nuts. I ordered from Wag.com and just brought the food in in the box it was shipped in. It was sitting down the hallway and I heard the dogs start growling. Circe was in the box and had chewed a hole in the bag and Casper wanted it! They have never messed with any other food and I leave the unopened bags on the kitchen floor.


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