thanks for the feedback, took a while to find my way around but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Will try again, never, ever been on Forum before so not sure of what format is or protcol.
Male Chocolate Brown Lab, aged 14+ (was known to be 10 when we got him via local Dog’s Trust was paced by his original owner)
Has arthritis and has a cartrofen injection every 4/52 and is on daily Yumove which really helps (you can tell if he misses it for any reason)
He does not know he is this old and still bounces around, wants his walks, wants to play, wants to swim - he is a typical happy, loving Lab and wonderful of course
Other than arthritis, he’s doing really well.
Anyway my darling boy who at the back end of last year developed nasty tummy, bloody mucus stools etc, had bloods done, stool samples etc campylobactor found and had antibiotics but still upset tum and very bloody diarrhoea - changed from Hills dry (Science Plan) which I put him on when we got him aged 10 from local Dog’s Trust. I have always fed my cats on Hills Science so was happy with product - anyway, as above really, really not himself, coat changed, eyes went dull, he was very lethargic, Hills had seemed to change texture and colour but couldnt find anything to say it had changed, Vet is going to ask Rep when next at Practice, so on a recommendation changed to Natures Best as the only thing I could tempt him with periodically was boiled rice and chicken.
He is now doing much better but as well as expensive he is hungry (not just being a Lab!) and I think needs something more substantial but I wondered if it was low carb I needed as NB is"raw" and when I tried giving him a bit of the Hills dry in with the raw he was ill again so gave up on the Hills completely.
Open to ideas and suggestions.
many thanks.
For a low carb dry food you’re looking towards the 80/20 ranges, ie grain free, high meat content.
these seem initially to be a similar price, maybe even slighty more per bag than than the Nature’s best, but if you use the comparison on the food directory you will see that you are feeding far less per day so the daily cost will be significantly less.
for example (I’m biased here of course) http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/compare-dog-foods/0671-0211/eden-vs-hills for a 30kg dog £1.18 against £1.62 per day, even less for working dog food. Check out the other foodsin the Dog Food Directory, filter them to narrow down your search.
NB Nature’s Best is 50% carbs so by no means low carb
Hello and welcome Foofar, I am glad your boys stomach problems seem to have subsided. I have inserted a template into your original post. If you could edit your post to add the information, it would help others to advise you better.
I know you have already included some information but more would be useful
First of all, hello and welcome to the forum. I am a little confused because you mention Nature’s Best and raw food. I am not familiar with the former so I looked it up and it is dry food with a high carbohydrate content - link. Please could you let us know if this is the one you are giving? If this is the right one then as David has pointed out, it is high carbohydrate. If you are feeding raw meat, could you explain a bit more about that please? Also, is your Labrador now free of campylobacter?
On choosing a new food I would agree with David - go for a better quality food with more meat/protein. As long as his renal function is OK he should do well on such a product. They may look more expensive at the outset but the amount needed is often much lower so they can be very cost effective. Also, if the dog is eating well and thriving there will hopefully be fewer visits to the vet.
There are plenty of good quality kibbles about and you can easily select one from the Dog Food Directory of this website link. Look for something that rates between 4 and 5 stars because that narrows it down somewhat. If you want some suggestions or help with the Directory then please ask.