Any experience with Addiction Venison dog food? Or, other recommendation?

[stahler]

Trying to locate an alternative that is grain-free and limited ingredient that is venison-based. It has been way harder than one may think.

Back story (I believe I have posted about this specific dog before- I am mostly a lurker around these parts!), we have a 20 pound Manchester Terrier that has allergies. We have pinpointed that its mostly environmental, but also may be a little food allergy. So, along with the normal rounds of Benadryl and Claritin this time of year, we have found that a venison LID has helped. Dog was originally on the Royal Canin prescription diet and then we moved him to Natural Balance LLID Venison. He has done OK on the NB, but I be honest I hate it. I hate that potatoes are the main ingredient and also the fact that is it VERY low protein (20%) and fat (10%). Basically its a bag of carbs. In addition, and consequentially, he has to be feed close to 2 cups per day to keep him from being underweight. This also leads to abnormally large stool for his size- which is also a negative. Manchesters are naturally lean dogs with quite a high metabolism, so he does need the extra protein and fat.

So a couple weeks ago, I went on a mission to find something locally that would be an alternative. Went to a “natural” pet store chain and asked for a recommendation. Now normally, I do not generally ask for opinions from a pet store and like to research through friends and professionals and online, but I did it anyway. The manager suggested the California Natural Venison and Green Lentils. A little higher protein, and a littler higher fat (ok… not really. Only 1% each). BUT it does have venison as the first ingredient and recommended feeding was less, so I thought I would give it a try.

So we worked it in slowly as we always do (dog has never had a gastro problem related to food- only skin irritation), and noticed that his stools were becoming loose and you could markedly see in the stools where the CN was (lighter color and very loose) and where the NB was. TMI I am sure. Anyway, I thought that would clear up. Fast forward to two weeks later and strictly on the CN for 1-2 days, there is no improvement. Large, very loose wet stools, and this morning he vomited up the food- 5 times. Done. Never buying CN again.

So, I have been doing more research and the one food that I am coming up with is the Addiction Viva La Venison. Protein/Fat is 26/14, which is quite a bit better, and it has really good reviews. Has anyone fed this? Or, does anyone have a suggestion for a venison based LID food to check out? In addition, are there any good, trustworthy online sources for the Addiction food? There are apparently no retailers in Ohio that sell it.

Thanks!

[Foxtrot_s]

No, never heard of it — BUT I have an infinity supply of ground up elk, moose and deer meat (liver, etc included) and would like to use it, if I knew how. I can get dog complete vitamins from my local pharmacy/pet knowledgeable store.

[SAcres]

Dog Food Advisor gives it 4.5 stars, which would be enough to make me try it. I had never heard of it before though, so I’m guessing it is less popular than some of the main grain free brands.

Amazon currently has it in stock, you can get it in a few days if you have prime!
This place does too.
Pet Food Direct also stocks it.
Hopefully this helps!!

[Simkie]

Third ingredient there is chicken fat–will that set off your dog?

I hate trying to find good limited ingredient diets, especially since Natura Pet sold several years ago. Can he do salmon? I’ve used the Pinnacle foods before and liked them. Their salmon version has no other animal proteins other than the salmon.

If duck, lamb or pork will work, the Acana options are also nice. No other meat proteins other than the “headliner.” I really like the Orijen and Acana kibbles. We feed the duck version at the above link now.

IME, venison is one of the harder specialty proteins to feed, especially if you have a critter that CAN’T do chicken or others–especially if you are looking for dry food! Can you do wet?

[Simkie]

Oh, there’s also Ziwi Peak for venison. Incredibly high quality food, astronomically priced for my 70 lb dogs so I never seriously considered it. But for a 20lb-er? Could be worth investigating?

[stahler]

[QUOTE=Simkie;7664087]
Third ingredient there is chicken fat–will that set off your dog?

I hate trying to find good limited ingredient diets, especially since Natura Pet sold several years ago. Can he do salmon? I’ve used the Pinnacle foods before and liked them. Their salmon version has no other animal proteins other than the salmon.

If duck, lamb or pork will work, the Acana options are also nice. No other meat proteins other than the “headliner.” I really like the Orijen and Acana kibbles. We feed the duck version at the above link now.

IME, venison is one of the harder specialty proteins to feed, especially if you have a critter that CAN’T do chicken or others–especially if you are looking for dry food! Can you do wet?[/QUOTE]

It’s been pretty crazy trying to find anything seemingly worthwhile feeding that is venison based…

Although we have narrowed down to a lot of the food issue to poultry, we did try the EVO Salmon & Herring last summer before going strictly to venison, and really didn’t see any results- didn’t get worse, but wasn’t getting better. Haven’t tried lamb, but since a novel protein has been working for us I am hesitant to switch away from it. Although to think of it, he has never been on lamb before- Wellness Core Puppy (Chicken) and then the EVO, then the RC and now the NB Venison.

I have thought about supplementing with a wet food, such as the EVO 95% Venison, but just haven’t gotten to that point yet. Does anyone have a suggestion for a proper mix? Don’t necessarily want to get into heavily supplementing with vitamins, minerals etc since he is sensitive.

RE: Chicken Fat. So, from what I have read and I may be completely off base and would love to hear other opinions about this, but it is my understanding that how the chicken fat is processed it is no longer considered an allergen and is safe to feed in a poultry free LID. Please educate me more on this issue, as I do not claim to be an expert.

[Simkie]

The EVO venison canned is a complete diet, so you don’t need to supplement with anything. You could even just feed the wet and nothing else and be fine. If you use something like one of the Evanger’s “meat only” cans you have to be a little more careful, as they don’t supplement those at all, but it seems dogs are far less touchy on that sort of thing versus cats.

You’ve also got eggs in the Addiction, another potential chicken allergen source. Who knows if the eggs and the fat would set off your dog The Addiction has a nice label otherwise, so it could be worth a try. It totally drives me NUTS, though, how these companies produce a novel protein diet and then load it up will all sorts of vegetable crap. Sure, cranberries and carrots might be great, but for an allergy dog? Sure, let’s just add more things for them to react to! Argh!!

EVO Salmon and Herring does have eggs, btw, which may be why you saw no response. Also possible he was reacting to one of the other ingredients. EVO (dry) is not what I would consider an allergy diet.

FWIW, too, be aware that Proctor & Gamble is producing the Natura Pet lines–EVO, Innova, Cal Nat and Karma, if that’s still on the market. Oh, and Healthwise. I was a HUGE fan of those guys and fed them for years and years, but saw many negative changes in the food after the purchase. I won’t feed them now.

[BuddyRoo]

No experience with the food you’re feeding but I am feeding Fromm Gold and it gets quite high ratings. My dogs have done really well on it with some GI issues. Duck, salmon…not too bad for primary protein sources.

[Simkie]

No salmon in the Fromm Gold around here, just duck and chicken?

http://frommfamily.com/products/gold/dog/dry/adult-gold

The Fromm people really irked me when I was putting together my dog food spreadhseet–they wouldn’t send me the detailed guaranteed analysis. Thought that was very odd.

[stahler]

Thanks for the input. It doesn’t seem that any of the Fromm formulas really tend to be toward the limited ingredient side. They have a couple grain frees, but most have multiple protein sources and look to be veggie protein heavy.

Simkie- Do you have any opinion on pork as a primary source protein? I’m not very familiar with it, but it seems to be popping up in some of the limited ingredient diets. Has it been tied to a lot of allergies?

I may just give the Pinnacle a try, but am also interested in the Acana Pork. I can get both locally pretty easily.

[stahler]

Also, I took a look at the Ziwi Peak… Their feeding recommendation for a 20 pound dog would put the monthly feeding bill between $120-130- yikes!

[Simkie]

I have not used pork as a sole protein source, but I sure wouldn’t be afraid to try it. That was the next step with my IBD kitty, but she’s doing well on rabbit (although, good lord, if you think venison is tough to source–rabbit is worse. Maybe I should try her on pork!!)

The quality on the Pinnacle is excellent, as is the Acana. We feed the Acana duck here.

If your dog will tolerate the proteins in either the Acana or the Pinnacle, I think you’ll be very happy. They’re both excellent kibbles

Best of luck! Dealing with an allergy animal is just a bloody nightmare, especially since Natura Pet sold to P&G. The last dog I had that really had allergy issues did very well on their lamb and rice through her lifetime and it makes me sad to say that I think the brand has really declined.

If you really strike out, you may be able to hook up with a deer hunter to source venison. Dogs are pretty easy, relatively, to raw feed. At 20 lbs, you might also be able to do something like this without totally breaking the bank. Although, again, COME ON! Why all the vegetable matter?! Quite some time ago, I found a raw supplier that was really just meat and vitamins to balance. I’ll try to dig that up again. They were pretty reasonable pricewise, too!

[GraceLikeRain]

I LOVE Addiction. I fed their Kangaroo and Lentil (or maybe it was pea?) kibble with their dehydrated raw Brushtail (glorified foreign possum). My dog loved it and it was one of the few foods he ate that he both liked and could tolerate.

[bdj]

I’ve used the Addiction freeze dried formulas before, and didn’t have any issues with my crew (but they’re a pretty hale and hearty bunch). Love the idea of the Orijen/Acana, but noticed we had some minor poop issues while the girls were on it, so it’s out of the rotation.
If you’re looking for high protein and pork based, you might try Back to Basics - no grain, 38% protein and since they’re in PA, might be easier for you to find: http://www.backtobasicspetfood.com/high-protein-dry-dog-food
The pork formula does have menhaden oil in it, but that’s the only non-pork animal product, I think. They also have an “Open Range” formula that has beef, venison and pork, but the duck and turkey varieties do have chicken meal and dried whole eggs.

[Simkie]

Beneful is trash. We all know that and you’ve been reported.

[jen-s]

[QUOTE=benefulbrand;8140842]
Dog Food is a different formula of ingredients that is used in dog food. Beneful is the brand of dog food which gives the quality and best taste with different flavors.[/QUOTE]

Quoting for posterity. Totally agree with Simkie. Beneful most defintely has a brilliant marketing team, but the quality of food is on par with McDonald’s!

[Casey09]

Addiction is certainly a quality food that I would not hesitate to try. Dog food is so difficult because every dog is an individual and responds to each type of food differently.

[french_fry]

I am in the exact same position with my cat and the Natural Balance venison canned food. My cat needs poultry free, grain free, limited ingredient (in that order of importance.)

Do I love the NB? No. But my cat is no longer having life-threatening allergy issues and, as you mentioned, it’s really hard to find poultry-free venison alternatives. So I’m sticking with it.

Personally, I wouldn’t chance it with something with chicken fat, but it sounds like your dog’s issues are skin-based whereas my cat’s allergies affect her breathing so I’m much more cautious than the average person.

Following this thread in case there are suggestions for brands I haven’t heard of, though!

[Where_sMyWhite]

Maybe try this? https://www.sojos.com/almond-bran/sojos-wild%E2%84%A2-venison .

I feed Fromm’s Gold Small Breed and will be, in the next few weeks, trying the Sojo’s Beef… Fromm’s kibble in the am, Sojo’s in the pm.

Dog Food Advisor seems to give decent reviews to Sojos.

I also looked at Primal Freeze Dried (no venison). Highly rated by DFA but I thought it smelled nasty (to me) and my dog wasn’t as thrilled with it as he was with the Sojos.

http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/list/c/14

[SC90]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;7664065]
No, never heard of it — BUT I have an infinity supply of ground up elk, moose and deer meat (liver, etc included) and would like to use it, if I knew how. I can get dog complete vitamins from my local pharmacy/pet knowledgeable store.[/QUOTE]

Lucky you! I’m jealous! I feed raw, so if you have any questions about feeding elk or venison, just let me know. I got an elk from a hunter in PA this past Fall, and my dogs absolutely loved it!

I also help to run a Raw Feeders coop in SW Pennsylvania. If anyone is in that area, please let me know and I will add your name to our mailing list. We find good buys for meat at wholesale prices since we pool our resources together.