# Switched from Costco brand to Avo Derm, what else??



## Midnight (Jul 4, 2011)

Because of the Diamond dog food recalls I recently changed my little guy from Costco's Diamond brand to Avo Derm Triple Protein. I about blew a gasket over that one, threw the entire bag out and went running for Pet Co, they are closer to me. What was so funny is he didn't go too much for this "slow transitioning stuff". Instead, he instantly picked the Avo Derm Triple Protein kibble out and turned his nose up at the Diamond made dog food sold at CostCo. So, now I have 2 questions here.

How will I know if the Avo Derm kibble is agreeing or not agreeing with his system? Those of you who have had experience with Avo Derm please give me some things to look for. Thank you ahead of time.

Second question: Assuming the Avo Derm agrees with him, what other similar brands can I look for when there are sales. I usually get his food at Pets Mart or Pet Co (a bit more expensive though).

THANK YOU for your time and advice.


----------



## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

The main way of knowing a dog food isn't agreeing with a dog is if it gives them diarrhea. They can also get diarrhea from overfeeding so check to see how the calories compare to the Costco as you may need to feed less of the Avoderm. A good site to compare various dog foods is
Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings

I am switching my mom's dog from 4Health (Tractor Supply's Diamond brand) to Hi-Tek Naturals. It looks to be a decent dry food and it is made by a small family owned company in Georgia. I switched my cats from Diamond's Taste of the Wild to Earthborn Holistic. They also make a good, decent priced dog food.


----------



## Midnight (Jul 4, 2011)

kathylcsw said:


> The main way of knowing a dog food isn't agreeing with a dog is if it gives them diarrhea. They can also get diarrhea from overfeeding so check to see how the calories compare to the Costco as you may need to feed less of the Avoderm. A good site to compare various dog foods is
> Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings
> 
> I am switching my mom's dog from 4Health (Tractor Supply's Diamond brand) to Hi-Tek Naturals. It looks to be a decent dry food and it is made by a small family owned company in Georgia. I switched my cats from Diamond's Taste of the Wild to Earthborn Holistic. They also make a good, decent priced dog food.


Thank You for the ideas. I'll check out all the brands you mentioned. That's a good point you made about possibly not needing to feed as much of the Avoderm as the Kirkland and I thank you. As soon as I read your comments I instantly remembered the person at the pet store saying I wouldn't need as much of the Avoderm.

If I wasn't so worried about salmonilla(sp??) I'd seriously consider switching to raw feeding. These days a person doesn't know what's in all the human food we eat much less raw food for dogs.


----------



## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

Trust me salmonella is no fear in raw feeding. It's much more of a fear in kibble as mutant strains are developed. If you are considering raw I'd say go for it, you won't look back.


----------



## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

Midnight;197101 If I wasn't so worried about salmonilla(sp??) I'd seriously consider switching to raw feeding. These days a person doesn't know what's in all the human food we eat much less raw food for dogs.[/QUOTE said:


> Actually I feed my 2 dogs a raw diet and so far neither my son nor I have gotten sick from it. Since you are using human grade meat it is as safe as the raw meat you handle for your own meals. I have an almost 7 month old Toy Fox Terrier who has been raw fed since I brought him home at 8 weeks old. My JRT is almost a year old and I started her on raw on the weekends when she was 4 months old and slowly worked up to 1/2 raw 1/2 kibble. She went all raw when the new puppy came home. They are both doing great and I won't go back to kibble.


----------



## Midnight (Jul 4, 2011)

*Thank you everyone & cost of raw feeding....*

Thank you for the great advice. I know I'm full of questions but I'm trying to do best by my little guy. I just LOVE having him in my life. 

The only reason I haven't gone to full raw feeding already is the cost on a limited income. If I can somehow overcome that issue I will indeed go to full raw feeding. Any ideas, suggestions, & observations you can offer will be most appreciated. What is the cost of raw feeding compared to a 5 lb bag of kibble costing $15 to $18?? Do you buy the food from grocery stores, online, or where?? 

I know some of these questions may sound odd or even stupid but I never even heard of raw feeding until coming to this forum.


----------



## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

i think you can feed raw for less. i try to feed food that averages out to $1/lb and don't buy much over $2/lb unless it's a special occasion or really great or unusual organs that will last longer since you don't have to feed as much. i use a local buying group, some people have co-ops, others buy stuff when it goes on sale at the grocery store. if you know hunters, people with freezer burned meat, or post on craigslist, you can even get meat for free.

i have not had a problem with salmonella....if the meat I have fed contained it, it would give my dog diarrhea and he would be fine after it left his system. if your are really worried about salmonella, why do you feed kibble? that harbors salmonella in your dog much longer than highly digestible raw foods. have you ever seen your dog puke 4 hours after eating kibble and see that it's still whole and puffy? that means any pathogen in your dogs gut stays there for an extended period of time


----------



## Midnight (Jul 4, 2011)

*Yes, I have seen the whole pucking in Midnight & not so long ago either*



BearMurphy said:


> i think you can feed raw for less. i try to feed food that averages out to $1/lb and don't buy much over $2/lb unless it's a special occasion or really great or unusual organs that will last longer since you don't have to feed as much. i use a local buying group, some people have co-ops, others buy stuff when it goes on sale at the grocery store. if you know hunters, people with freezer burned meat, or post on craigslist, you can even get meat for free.
> 
> i have not had a problem with salmonella....if the meat I have fed contained it, it would give my dog diarrhea and he would be fine after it left his system. if your are really worried about salmonella, why do you feed kibble? that harbors salmonella in your dog much longer than highly digestible raw foods. have you ever seen your dog puke 4 hours after eating kibble and see that it's still whole and puffy? that means any pathogen in your dogs gut stays there for an extended period of time


I could EASILY justify $1 to $2 a lb for Midnight's food, sure beats $4.50 to $6.00 a lb. Someone suggested on another thread that the first step in eventual raw feeding should be to get a bigger freezer than just the one in a refigerator. Been wanting to get a freezer anyway, to take advantage of sales, so this is a great reason to get it done ASAP. Thank you for the comments and observations - makes a whole lot of sense.


----------



## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

Take a look at Fromm. Family owned company out of Wisconsin...that has steered clear of recalls. Love them. You can get some of their basic lines for about $1/pound.

You know the others most of us love... Champion(Acana, Orijen), Wellness...etc...

I've actually heard good things about Avoderm. The lady who wrote the Dog Food Project recommends Avoderm as a good inexpensive alternative.


----------



## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

Midnight said:


> Because of the Diamond dog food recalls I recently changed my little guy from Costco's Diamond brand to Avo Derm Triple Protein. I about blew a gasket over that one, threw the entire bag out and went running for Pet Co, they are closer to me. What was so funny is he didn't go too much for this "slow transitioning stuff". Instead, he instantly picked the Avo Derm Triple Protein kibble out and turned his nose up at the Diamond made dog food sold at CostCo. So, now I have 2 questions here.
> 
> *How will I know if the Avo Derm kibble is agreeing or not agreeing with his system*? Those of you who have had experience with Avo Derm please give me some things to look for. Thank you ahead of time.
> 
> ...


Stool condition is a pretty early sign if a food may work for your dog; but pet companies have spent lot of money on how to manufacture for "the perfect stool". So you need to look beyond that.

Ideally you would keep a dog on a new kibble for three months to more fully know if your dog thrives on it. How is the coat and skin condition? How is your dog's energy level? Can your dog maintain proper weight easily? Are ears clean and free of problems? etc.

Sometimes you know if a new kibble isn't going to work very early on due to significant problems, but most times it takes a while to get the big picture.

If need be, you can also take a look at Innova and Wellness which are both now sold at the big box stores.


----------



## Midnight (Jul 4, 2011)

PDXdogmom said:


> Stool condition is a pretty early sign if a food may work for your dog; but pet companies have spent lot of money on how to manufacture for "the perfect stool". So you need to look beyond that.
> 
> Ideally you would keep a dog on a new kibble for three months to more fully know if your dog thrives on it. How is the coat and skin condition? How is your dog's energy level? Can your dog maintain proper weight easily? Are ears clean and free of problems? etc.
> 
> ...


I've indeed been looking into Wellness and it certainly seems like a good quality kibble/canned. Was considering raw feeding but my concern about raw poultry bones among other things seems to be getting in the way. So I will stick to a good quality kibble and canned food.


----------



## KittyKat (Feb 11, 2011)

Midnight said:


> Thank You for the ideas. I'll check out all the brands you mentioned. That's a good point you made about possibly not needing to feed as much of the Avoderm as the Kirkland and I thank you. As soon as I read your comments I instantly remembered the person at the pet store saying I wouldn't need as much of the Avoderm.
> 
> *If I wasn't so worried about salmonilla(sp??) I'd seriously consider switching to raw feeding.* These days a person doesn't know what's in all the human food we eat much less raw food for dogs.





Midnight said:


> Thank you for the great advice. I know I'm full of questions but I'm trying to do best by my little guy. I just LOVE having him in my life.
> 
> *The only reason I haven't gone to full raw feeding already is the cost on a limited income. * If I can somehow overcome that issue I will indeed go to full raw feeding. Any ideas, suggestions, & observations you can offer will be most appreciated. What is the cost of raw feeding compared to a 5 lb bag of kibble costing $15 to $18?? Do you buy the food from grocery stores, online, or where??
> 
> I know some of these questions may sound odd or even stupid but I never even heard of raw feeding until coming to this forum.





Midnight said:


> I've indeed been looking into Wellness and it certainly seems like a good quality kibble/canned. *Was considering raw feeding but my concern about raw poultry bones among other things seems to be getting in the way.* So I will stick to a good quality kibble and canned food.


You really should just read over what you have written here and ask yourself why you throw up barriers. I highly suspect you rarely take any chances in your life and instead find reasons to not change. Every post is a new "Well I would, but".

If you do take chances in your life, why are you not here? Why are you wallowing in fear? 

All i'm hearing is "but but but"... excuses, that is all they are.

You'll feel a lot better if you grab the situation by the balls and toss your dog a bone.


----------



## Midnight (Jul 4, 2011)

KittyKat said:


> You really should just read over what you have written here and ask yourself why you throw up barriers. I highly suspect you rarely take any chances in your life and instead find reasons to not change. Every post is a new "Well I would, but".
> 
> If you do take chances in your life, why are you not here? Why are you wallowing in fear?
> 
> ...


Looking at this through your eyes and maybe many others on this forum, I can see where you might think I'm throwing up barriers, just for the sake of doing nothing new, however that is not the case at all. I'm one of these people who have to have all the facts, FIRST, before making a major move of any kind. Now, if that, in your view, seems to be reason for rejecting change then so be it. Vets have told pet owners for as long as I can remember NOT to feed dogs poultry bones because they can splinter in the dog's throat. If you think for one second that I want to chance loosing my furry friend to a splintered bone you're sadly mistaken. Second major issue for me is a physical inability, due to a major injury, to stand for very long to prepare even my own meals, much less my dog's meals. This, in a nut shell, is why I'm considering raw feeding as well as a very good quality kibble. When I make my final decision, it will be a decision I will embrass totally and a decision I will stick with from that point on.


----------



## kaliberknl (May 9, 2012)

Please don't be bullied. Anyone here is trying to do the best they can for their dog. You are commended for that. Best wishes.


----------

