Hi All,
I’m hoping I may be able to get some advice on a good quality dog food to feed our (nearly) 9 month old Cavalier King Charles pup, after I finally found the perfect food for him but it has been discontinued sob.
I’ll try and give you some background information as briefly as possible! Since our pup came to us at 11 weeks he was scooting and obviously had issues with his anal glands (he’s had them drained by the vet once). The breeder had the pups on a mixture of (dry) Canagan, (dry) Royal Canin and (wet) Natures Menu pouches which I carried on feeding for a few weeks. He loved Natures Menu but it was causing terrible wind and seemed too rich for him, so I stopped that but I wanted to also stop the Royal Canin since I know it’s not a good food, trouble is our pup did like it but turned his nose up at Canagan on its own. Long story short, over the months which followed I tried to find a good food which firmed up his poops (they always tended to be Mr Whippy-ish) but also one which he liked (he’s fussy). I tried him on Ava, Scrumbles, Harringtons, Barking Heads and Canine Choice all of which he wasn’t keen on and would only eat if we hand fed, plus they only improved his poop slightly. I tried wet foods like Lily’s Kitchen and James Wellbeloved - adding it to the dry food - he showed more interest but would still only eat it if hand fed, plus the Lily’s kitchen seemed to upset his system even though I introduced it very gradually like I do with all new foods. I bought (dry) Simpsons Puppy Sensitive after it was recommended on this website, but he would not go near it even if we tried to hand feed it - he seemed utterly repulsed by it, so obviously not a salmon fan! Then finally… Eureeka moment! After months of trying different things I finally found a food which firms up his poops perfectly - wet Forthglade Turkey, brown rice and vegetables and dry cold pressed Forthglade Turkey, rice and veg. Now the problem is he will only eat the wet food if we hand feed it him, however the dry food he loves and spins around in excitement waiting for it, but - would you credit it - it’s now been discontinued, so I am back to square one 
Most foods seem to contain chicken and I have an inkling chicken doesn’t agree with him, I think the rice in the Forthglade is what is firming up his poop so am not keen on trying their grain free alternatives, although it could be the fact turkey is used instead of chicken making his poop good???
So I am looking for suggestions on what to try next. I have already wasted a lot of money on foods which are either not suitable, he doesn’t like or both. I am a vegetarian so would struggle with raw feeding and he has been doing very well on the Forthglade - he’s healthy, energetic, has bright eyes and a super shiny coat. Would you look at other sensitive foods or stick with Turkey, veg and rice as main ingredients? He only gets fed natural treats, like rabbits ears (once in a while not daily), a bit of raw carrot, apple and cucumber, plus a priobiotic treat - Feelwell’s puppy lamb & rice. Oh and he has daily Verm-X crunchies to prevent worms and Dorwest Garlic and Fenugreek herbal tablets to prevent external parasites, both of which he considers treats and don’t have any adverse effects on his digestive system. I wanted to go the more natural route regards parasite prevention.
I’ll also add he is quite a small Cavalier, and weighs between 5 and 6kg, but I don’t think he’s too skinny and if we feed more food he just poops out more!
Many thanks in advance!
Tracey
