Switching to Blue Buffalo

So I have been doing a little thinking on Lacey’s dry food.And I came across the thought that Lacey could not have fishy food so I searched back on her site & found that it was on of one of the WellnessSuper5Mix Dry Food I had given her that caused soft stools.I checked the ingredients in it and did seems to have a “good” amount of fish but I didn’t try her on any other brand for fish.On the Wellness Dry Food she’d always gets soft stools so I am not even going to try her on the Wellness Core or the Simple Solutions.I might try her on another fishy food with a different brand such as TOTW Pacific or something similar to that.

On Blue Buffalo,doing some research I have found that a lot of poodles do good on the Small Breed which most of the Blue Buffalo dog food that does have grains,usually have 3,being which MOST poodles are doing good on.I am going to slowly transition her over to Blue Buffalo and see how she is medically in the upcoming months.Otherwise it’s going to be mostly grain free for her.So far for her diet,we will be using Blue Buffalo as the primary diet(even if it’s only grain free),TOTW & possibly Earthborn.Can Food:Merricks,Party Animal.Raw:Stella & Chewy Freeze Dried Chicken or Duck(alternating)When the NOW!dog food comes to Hawaii we’ll probably stop the Earthborn if not before that and try the NOW! dog food by PetCurean.So far I am pleased with their customer service on facebook & looking forward to try their products for Lacey..Still looking at other options but that’s where we are for now…

Update May 11 2010:It seems that Lacey can’t handle Stella & Chewy’s freeze dried raw food.She can handle the chicken & beef with good bowels but can not handle the lamb,duck/goose both resulting in soft stools.The beef she doesn’t care for it too much so we will discontinue that…If sometime later a new brand comes out for freeze dried or she will accept ACV in treats if it’s ever used in treats we may get her to eat Primal Frozen but right now it will be the raw treats from Stella & Chewy & Primal for raw treats…
As far as dry food goes Lacey is obviously giving us a very difficult time on transitioning to new food whether it be Blue Buffalo,Earthborn,Taste of the Wild,Nature’s Variety or whatever she’s just not eating…In turn I have cut out most of her treats & table food until she does eat something.I have been giving her an 1/8 cup of Merricks or Party Animal daily(can food) so she’s got something in her tummy.I doubt 1/8 cup of can food will fill her up though.I am waiting for her to eat a few kibble before she gets treats/table food and see what she responds to first..At this point as much as I’d LOVE to feed her high quality dry food I am just trying to get her to eat something whether it’s high quality or cheap.Yes,cheap will cut her years earlier but at least she will be eating.If we try most brands and she won’t respond after sometime I guess we MAY be forced to go back to Halo’s….We will try different brands for the time being ranging from high quality to medium quality to the absolute worst of dry food brands.If she responds to none….back to Halo’s we’ll go..IF ALL ELSE FAILS!

Canidae ALS

We got Lace some samples from naturally pet but she didn’t eat it.like w/natural balance dry/can food & any dry/can food w/limited ingredients.i’d switch her over to 100% grain free if she ate it as well as her Halo’s!Her stool is excellent on TOTW even w/can food.Halo’s is low in grains…eats it close to a daily basis..medically it helps a lot…both Halo/s & TOTW has good variety ingredients which she’s faithful to…So far we tried Science Diet,IAMS,Beneful,Chicken Soup for the pet lover’s soul,prarie,instinct,stella & chewy,solid gold just a wee bit,wellness,canidae,halo’s(current),earthborn(current),totw(current),nature’s best(refused after once),natural balance(refuses can/dry),merricks(will eat sometimes,loves the can food),primal raw,thk ..when we are in pearl city i plan on trying a few different flavors from blue buffalo to see if she’ll eat it..

Looking back at Lacey’s first year:Health and all

Name:Lacey Princess Maltipoo Akamine
Current Weight at one year old:7.11 pounds according to vet records,7.6 according to home weight
Birth Date:March 13 2009
Born:Kailua,HI
Breed:Maltese/Toy Poodle
Mom:Poodle
Dad:Maltese
Adopted:july 17 2009
Age of adoption:16 weeks old
Found on:Kijiji.com
Price:$600
Name of Vet:Dr John Kaya
Vet Hospital:VCA Animal Hospital aka VCA University Hospital
Weight at first vet visit:4.5 pounds
Dog Food:Science Diet & IAMS,Beneful Prepared Meals till December 2009
Puppy Pad Training:9 weeks
Health Issues:Yeast infection in ear,worms,UTI,Spaying(February 2010)
First Heat:November 2009
First Treats:Nutro Dog Biscuits,Pupperoni,The Goodlife Recipe treats
First Walk:November 2009
Shortest Walk:<<<than 5 minutes
Longest Walk:62 minutes on her birthday
First Time Out: December 2009
First Thanksgiving:Thanksgiving 2009:Family Dinner
First Christmas:Christmas 2009:A new top,Waggin Train
Brands of dog food we tried:Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit,Chicken Soup for the Pet lover's Soul,Wellness Super5Mix Small Breed/Super5Mix Complete Health Chicken,Halo's Spot's Stew
Current Dry Food Brands:Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit,Halo's Spot's Stew(Wholesome Chicken & Wild Salmon flavors),Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural
Brands of Can Food we tried:Natural Balance,NV Instinct & Prairie can food,Wellness Can Food then lost interest,Halo's Spot's Stew Can Food,Merricks
Current Brands of Can Food:Merricks
First introduced to Raw(Freeze Dried):January 2010
Started accepting Freeze Dried Raw:Feburary 2010
Brands we tried:Stella & Chewy till APril 2010 then we'll be switching to Nature's variety Freeze Dried
First Freeze Dried Raw Treat:Primal Pet Turkey Liver(A birthday present)
Organic Treats she's tried:Trader Joe's,Waggin' Train,No Grainers
First Boarding Facilities we considered:Di Ventus Dog Hotel & Spa
First Boarding Facilities we looked at:The Ohana Doggie Day Care,Pets in the city
First Starts understanding people conversations:7-8 months old
First Command:SIT
Commands she knows:sit,stay,don't move,time out,sit & stay,shake paw/hand,"eat",hi5,shake your tail,down aka sit,lay down,kiss,learning roll over,"wait",inside,outside,table manners at the table
Uses Common Sense while walking:About 8-9 months old
Checks for cars like a human(right,left,right,left,center,then walk)about 10 months-1 year old
Goes outside for afternoon poop:December 2009-learned by example of aunty's dogs
Vaccinations:Distemper,Parvo,Lepto
First Carrier:casual Canine
First Crate:Pet Mate Kennel Cab
Characteristics:A definite mix of Maltese/Toy Poodle.Brains of the poodle.Looks of a maltese.eyes are poodle.Loves to play.Loves to sample food
Types of food she tried:Mexican,Italian,Japanese,Chinese
Favorite Fast Food:KFC chicken skin
Shops we shop at:Naturally Pet,Halo’s Purely for Pets,The Pet Spot,Kalihi Pet Store
Misc:Also tried Hartz Oinkies
Able to climb steps:10-11 months old
First Shampoo;Sergent’s Puppy Shampoo
Current Shampoo:Halo’s Cloud Nine Herbal Shampoo/Earthbath Shampoo
Grooming:Cardinal Pet Gold Metal Pets Unicoat Professional Spray

Wellness Super5Mix Complete Wholesome Meal Chicken flavor

Since Lacey is off of her medicine for now I took up her Halo’s and placed 20 pieces of the Wellness Super5Mix Wholesome Meal Chicken flavored in her two bottles for her to try.I am trying to see if she will also have sensitivity to this one or if it’s only the Small Breed due to the amount of fish.If she does our next bet will be that she “won’t be able to handle any of the Wellness dry except canned”,although we could ask for trial bags of a few other options that Wellness has to offer or/and we will order a Castor & Pollux dry food(3 pound bag)online.If we can not find any that will work for her as options are very limited in Hawaii we’ll either do dehydrated raw or do completely homemade cooking which I will have to read up on.I’d hate to take that route but if it must be done as a last resort we’ll look into it.We’ll defiantly see if we can find a good dry food for her.What makes it harder is that majority of the dry food has beet pulp which can cause tear stains in smaller breeds.

Lacey’s medical update:Stool update & yeast infection update

A few weeks ago,we took Lacey to see Dr Kaya for an update on her UTI presumably from Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit(Lots of grains)and we were told she now has a yeast infection.We just got her off the Wellness Super5Mix Small Breed which had too much fish and caused soft stools.around the same time we took her back to Dr Kaya and he prescribed her Ketoconazole 1/8 tablet for 32 days.Meanwhile while she was taking it every day(with a struggle)she was also having soft stools for about a week.After a week of this we called up Dr Kaya to see if it could be the medicine and we switched it to every other day.The days she didn’t take her medicine her stools were better:More firm,consistent,good color.The days she did take it her stools became more soft but a little more firm with rice per Dr Kaya.
When we did call up Dr Kaya today(February 8)he said it is possible if the yeast infection is gone we could stop her medicine rather than continue for the rest of the days.We do have an appt with Dr Kaya on Wednesday February 10 2010 at 830am(HST) to see how she is doing with her yeast infection.Meanwhile,so far on Halo’s there has been no medical complications YET and we are hoping that there will be none!

Dr Kaya calls back on Ketoconazole side effects for Lacey

I called Dr Kaya’s office reporting that she may be having side effects from her medicine.I explained that I tried her on the Wellness Super5Mix Small Breed and she had soft bowels on it after about a 4 day period then I took her off on Monday January 28? which is the same day she went in for a check up with Dr Kaya.Since then I told Dr Kaya I stopped her on the Small Breed and she’s back to her regular diet.Since we have given her the medicine she has had only one good stool.Dr Kaya told us to try give her the Ketoconazole 1/8 tablet every other day and break her diet into four small meals(with her 1/8 cup that she gets daily so divide into four small meals)with rice.

Lacey just made a bowel and it does seem more firm but still soft looking.It wasn’t splattered like yesterday(Wednesday) so that’s a step forward in the right direction for her.

We also got the Wellness Super5Mix Complete Health Chicken Recipe yesterday but I don’t want the results to conflict so I am holding off on that for a while.Also going to try not giving her any canned food to see if that also makes a difference.I know normally it would make her bowels slightly soft but that’s not our focus though.

Lacey’s possible sensitivity to Wellness Super5Mix Small Breed

Last year I blogged that it was too much sweet potatoes that was in the Super5Mix Small Breed but now I take that back.She’s done fine with other brands of dog food that had sweet potatoes so I doubt that’s the reason.

Just like with Solid Gold Berry Balance it’s weird that she had soft bowels on it.When I give her dried cranberries she does good with her bowels but I never tried giving her directly blueberries.I did notice that it is the second ingredient on the Berry Balance which means there’s quite a bit of Blueberries in it.Exactly how many I am not sure but for Lacey it must be “quite a bit”.Her dry foods does have blueberries as well as fish and she seems to show no signs of sensitivity prior to giving it to her “full” without transition.

Email Response from Castor & Pollux

We have received an email response from Castor & Pollux regarding “Samples of dog food”.Here’s what they said:
We have two unique lines of dog foods – Organix, our certified organic line of dry and canned food and treats that’s made in compliance with the USDA’s National Organic Program, and Natural Ultramix, our natural option that features a minimum of five meat-based protein sources and real fruits/veggies blended with the kibble. All of our formulas are developed by our PhD Animal Nutritionist to be complete and balanced. They taste great too!

Organix offers the benefits of being a certified organic food along with outstanding palatability and digestibility. In fact, the #1 ingredient in Organix dry formulas is certified organic, free range chicken – the same that you’d buy for yourself at your local natural food store! Under the USDA’s National Organic Program, each and every ingredient in Organix must be reviewed and approved by the organic certifying agency for inclusion in Organix. From the field and farm through to the handling, processing and manufacturing of Organix, each step must be certified organic. This extremely rigorous regulatory program is not applicable to pet foods that are natural, holistic or human grade. For more information on what it means to be certified organic, please visit our website (www.castorpolluxpet.com) and click on Your Questions to be taken to the link.

Natural Ultramix is our natural option for pet parents who are not quite ready to go organic. Natural Ultramix provides a high meat-based protein diet that’s highly bioavailable along with the natural benefits of real pieces of fruits and veggies blended with the kibble. From a product safety standpoint, ALL of our Natural Ultramix and Organix products are tested for melamine and cyanuric acid, salmonella and other toxins BEFORE they are released for sale.

I do apologize we do not have samples of our dog formulas at this time, but here’s how easy it is to try Organix and Natural Ultramix – all of our products are unconditionally guaranteed. If you or your dog are not entirely satisfied, just call or e-mail us. We’ll refund your purchase or send you a replacement product right away – you don’t need to go back to the store! I can send coupons to you too; if you would like to provide me with your address information, we’ll put them in the mail right away!

Thank you for being such a wonderful pet parent! We are a small, family company that is committed to providing safe, healthy, natural and organic products for dogs and cats. We’re all pet parents ourselves and take this commitment very, very seriously.

I have emailed them for coupons of the dog food just in case we need a back up for Lacey.I mentioned right now we are between trying different brands for Lacey and it would be helpful if we got a coupon as a back up.
Note:So far Castor & Pollux is the only other line I have okayed besides Halo’s & Wellness.I will consider other options but would like to try Wellness first & then Castor & Pollux even if it means ordering it online.I did get a response from Wellness and am considering calling them tomorrow just to see what their input is before we return the bag to try the Lamb,Barley and Salmon from their Super5Mix line.
Update:regretfully,we couldn’t find the receipt for The Pet Spot where we got Wellness Super5Mix Small Breed but I do believe it is the amount of fish that was causing her soft bowels.I am very sad to give up on the Wellness Super5Mix Small Breed but I have to do what is best for Lacey not myself.After all,she is the one eating the dog food not me!

Emailed Wellness about soft stool on Super5Mix

I contacted Wellness about Lacey being on Super5Mix while having soft stools.They should be responding within a day or so.I am curious to see what they have to say or recommend but I know Wellness from previously contacting them before,that they are very good when it comes to customer service and the well being of a cat or dog & usually respond fairly quickly through email or phone.

Lacey on Wellness Super5mix

So far,Lacey has had very little of the Wellness Super5Mix and still resulting in soft poo.However,we won’t stop giving her the Super5mix yet…to see if her tummy improves within time maybe a couple weeks..and if it doesn’t try giving her some canned pumpkin…if that still doesn’t work maybe she can’t tolerate the Super5mix and we should try Wellness Core.More updates on Lacey success to the Wellness Super5Mix as time goes on..This is the latest update..