Switching Foods

[fstybrat]

Currently I feed Royal Canin mini puppy to CJ, my 4 month old pomeranian. However, I have been noticing lately that he seems to be deveoping some dry skin issues. I am strongly thinking about switching foods - but need some educated help.

I am switching to either Innova, Evo , or Solid Gold ...

I will NOT feed a food with by-products in it & these 3 foods seems to be highly recommended. I would like your opinions on the above foods & would like for you to tell me how you formed that opinion (ie: you have tried the food on your pet, reasons that back up why you do/don't like one or more of the brands, etc.)

I truly appreciate your help!!

[fstybrat]

I also wanted to add that I knowo food threads can become heated debates of which food is better & why ... that is NOT what I am after - I am just trying to form a good educated decision before switching foods ... We all have (& are entitled to) our own opinions, so please let everyone speak freely without criticizing or putting someone down because you may not agree with them

Again ... thanks for your help!

[Mel]

I think any of the three you mentioned would be fine. I feed Solid Gold, personally, but I like both other brands. I was feeding Innova to the cat, but now he's on Rx food....which stinks.

I used to feed Royal Canin to the cat, but he gained a TON of weight, so we switched. He liked it though.

[Leo]

Do any of them offer a formula that has fish as the main source of protein? Fish is great for dogs with dry skin or skin issues in general ... it is also good for dogs with stomach issues.

All of those brands seem good to me though. I would ask your vet before switching him though. Picking a food that you know you will be able to have regular access to is also an issue I consider when picking a food.

Also I switched Leo (Pomeranian) over to an adult fish based formula at 6 months of age (under the direction of my vet), so maybe you could wait until he is that age to switch. I would not recommend switching brands or what not unless this is really a major issue, because of the breeds tendency toward being picky eaters (the less food choices (including treats) you give him from a young age the less picky he will be as an adult).

I also have to tell you that between 4 months and a year Pomeranians go through a stage called the Pom Uglies... their coat looks horrible... I'm wondering if this is what you are experiencing... his hair will seriously look horrible (dry) and he will go through a stage where you think you were ripped off and they gave you a long haired Chi and not a Pomeranian (people will tell you this). Basically this stage is when they are getting rid of their puppy coat and starting to get their adult coat. It took Leo until he was almost 1 to get his adult coat in. I wasn't sure if your breeder told you this or not, some do others don't.

[HappyDancer]

my dogs are on avoderm and are loving it...it has avacados in it to help with the skin and since we switched Puppers fur is looking great...him and Lady are on the senior one and the puppies are on the puppy formula of course...

The senor one is good cause it has glucosimen (sp) in it for the joints and since pup was so allergic to the RX joint one from the vet she said this one was good as well, not as good but good lol...alls I know is his skin is no longer flaky, his fur is shiny and he loves it...we also bought them the Avoderm dog treats they are blueberry and carrots and man do the dogs love them lol

[Mel]

My Solid Gold is bison & salmon based. The cat even likes it!

[Rocheal]

All three sounds great! I have only personally known someone that fed Solid Gold and he seemed to LOVE it. He tried to get me to switch and I would have but I'm poor!

By-products, wheat, corn... those are the things to stay away from and typically anything that has none of those three things is a good food. Those are very cheapo alternatives to the healthy stuff.

[kathydip]

I switched my guys to Newman's Own. They use organic foods. They use free range chickens and they give money back to animal charities.
The dogs were fine with the switch but I had to switch the cats back because Tyler had a food allergy to it.

[Rocheal]

That's neat!!