Q: My dog Inuki (4 1/2 year old German Shepherd-Pharoah Cattle Dog mix) has always eaten many foods without any issues or allergies. We have been searching for the “perfect” healthy food. He has previously been on Flint River Ranch, Nutro, Innova, Dogswell, raw diet, and then a home-cooked diet with veggies, meat, grains, and multi-vitamins. Eventually I switched him to Honest Kitchen because it was too much to cook myself. I actually will go back to home cooking if I have the right recipes, but I had a very hard time understanding what ingredients and how much to feed (despite reading Dr Strombecks Home-Cooked Diets For Cats and Dogs!). Now, for the last month my dog and 2 cats have been on the Honest Kitchen’s Prowl and Force. my cats love their Prowl and do great on it, but my dog, while he likes the food, his pooping has increased big time. He used to have maybe one to 2 poops a day and they were small and firm, now he poops 3 to 4 times and the poop is large andsoft, but not runny. I just really would like to find a food that he can stick with that will keep him very healthy for years and years to come. Any recommendations?

A: Thanks for writing in. Sounds like you have been dabbling in the (sometimes) frustrating world of dog nutrition for quite some time! I think the first thing you need to decide is whether you want to cook for your dog or if you are looking for a commercially available diet.

If you are selecting a commercially available diet, select one that is “natural” or “organic”. By definition and AAFCO regulation, a “natural” pet food may have ingredients from ONLY plant, animal or mined sources. These foods cannot be highly processed or contain chemically synthetic ingredients, such as artificial flavors, preservatives or colorings. Look for foods that do not contain inferior by-products or meals. Meat meals (such as chicken meal or lamb meal) are made through a process of rendering. Any product that has been rendered is considered unfit for human consumption…so in my mind, that means unfit for our beloved pets as well. Look for RECOGNIZABLE ingredients on the label. You should be able to identify meats, grains, vegetables and not just chemical additives. If you are interested in reading more about pet foods and labels, read my article Pet Food – What You Need to Know – For Your Pet’s Sake. Halo natural dog foods would be an excellent choice for Inuki!

If you are choosing to home-cook, you absolutely need to work with a veterinary nutritionist to get recipes that are balanced for your dog and his daily requirements. There are many websites you can use, including www.petdiets.com and www.balanceit.com. I would recommend that you request a consultation specific to Inuki so he isn’t lacking anything. You can also visit the Halo website at Homemade Dog Food Recipes for excellent homemade recipes.

Good Luck.
Dr. Donna Spector

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Ask a Vet, Dr Donna Spector, Pet Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.