The kibble my lovely black lab/ Pyrenees mix has been on since her CCL surgery 3 years ago is no longer being made (Visionary Pet - the kibble not the Pattie’s). I was unaware they had discontinued the line (the customer service is TERRIBLE) and picked up a bag of Orijen Fit and Trim to tide us over. Im hoping the COTH collective mind will help me come up with something closer to what she was on before. I’m so nervous to go back to “regular” (vs keto) kibble as she lost 20+lbs on the Visionary Pet and has kept it off, she acts like a puppy, and the vet is always astonished at her blood work. She is a senior (10) and moderately active.
Looking for something very low carb, high protein, moderate/ high fat (Orijen mostly lines up but it has more carbs). Oh and LOW/ NO peas/ pea protein (no higher than 7th on the list) I’d LOVE to find something that is 99% meat + vitamins and minerals as that was pretty much what the Visionary Pet was. She does get some raw, but we currently prefer the convenience of kibble as we travel and she eats 4-5 times a day as she gets the hunger pukes if her meals are too spread out.
I am sorry to hear your dog gets the hunger pukes. My old man used to get those too. Until I went completely off kibble and fed him only raw freeze dried foods. I love Primal and K9 Naturals. I get both on Chewy via autoship.
I like to give dehydrated chicken hearts as snacks. Vital Essentials is the brand I use. They have other items too, but the hearts are a huge it.
Acana is Orijin’s “sister” formula. The protein is a bit lower than Orijin.
When I was feeding kibble, I liked: Earthborn Holistics, (they have lots of options) Zignature (but it has peas) there is also: Stella and Chewy’sraw kibble blend, Instinct (has peas, but it is a good food) as possibilites.
When I was on Chewy, you can click “pea free” as a special diet option.
The issue with going by where an ingredient is on the list is that they’re all relative to each other and it doesn’t really tell you how much is in there. Something that’s “chicken, peas, etc” could be 30% chicken and 29% peas, or it could be 80% chicken and 2% peas.
I fed Orijen and am very pleased with it. I’ve used 6 Fish for quite awhile now, but have also used Regional Red.
Orijen actually lists their calorie source (protein/carb/fat) which not many do.
This is a vaild point because ingredients are listed based on weight, BUT Dogfoodadvisor.com will tell you that the companies list chicken but then you have to factor in that it is deboned, dehydrated, and then added to the mix. They want you to think that chicken is the first ingredient, but in hindsight it could be lower down the list. (and now I can’t find the article)
The most important ingredients are the ones listed before the fat. In most cases chicken fat. (I know there are execptions). For this example I picked Earthborn Holistics Unrefined; Turkey
See how there is turkey listed first and then turkey meal listed further down, … that is because there is not enough turkey once they debone and dehydrate it for kibble and by AAFCO standards, there has to be at least 20% turkey in the kibble.
now compare it to a freeze dried food K9 Naturals Beef: Beef, Beef Liver, Beef Tripe, Beef Kidney, Beef Heart, Beef Blood, Eggs, Beef Spleen, Ground Beef Bone, Sunflower Oil, Flaxseed Flakes, Brown Kelp, New Zealand Green Mussel, Pumpkin, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Potassium Sulphate, Dried Kelp, Apples, Pears, Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Magnesium Oxide, Selenium Yeast, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Beta-Carotene, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement.
See all the named parts?. that is what you want to see.
Please keep me updated on what you end up switching to! This dog was on several different diet foods (all highly rated) and strictly controlled diet (no treats, scraps, very measured portions of kibble) and was still nearly 25lbs overweight which is insane for a dog who’s healthy weight is about 60lbs.
I’m shocked they discontinued it - there was no communication from them (a running theme with their terrible customer service that I put up with for the doggos benefit) and we have maybe a few days of food left.
Pupper seems to like the Orijen Original just fine (but she’s not picky) but I am concerned about it still. The Sport Dog foods weren’t very high in protein (comparatively). I’ve also been looking at Wysong, their “90” formula but am concerned about the protein at 65%.
I rely on DogFoodAdvisor heavily - admittedly, I know very little about dog food compared to horse nutrition. My ideal dog food is the equivalent of a vit/min supp + hay pellets but for dogs (no fillers or highly processed items, ensuring doggo gets the necessary vit/ min).
I ordered some Wysong Epigen (not the Epigen 90 - I’m not 100% certain the difference between the 2 except price and potato protein) to try. It has higher protein and fewer carbs than the Orijen and is cheaper than the Orijen. Hopefully the dog likes it and can maintain her weight well on it.
Just started the Epigen on Sunday after finishing out the Orijen. I swear doggo has already gained a few lbs (despite getting the same amount of food with the Orijen and previous Keto Kibble and Orijen being less cals) and she seems low energy/ just off, to the point that the SO even noted that she seemed weird. Not sickly just not as enthusiastic as she was just a few weeks ago. She has a wellness exam scheduled for 11/6 (soonest they could do anyway) and I plan to use that as a way to compare how she’s doing on the Epigen vs the Keto Kibble. If the low energy persists (I’m thinking/ hoping it’s a carry over from the Orijen since we’re only on day 3 for Epigen) I’ll be looking at raw.
There is no Taurine listed in the ingredient list of Wysong.
I know that Taurine can be found in organs of meat protein, but the Epigen lists; chicken (which then needs to be deboned, dehydrated before it can be used in kibble) then chicken and turkey meal, (may or may not have organs, and them meat protein isolate. What is in that? Is there enough meat protein found in the meal?
Taurine is necessary for heart health. (yes, I know more so in cats, but its still important for dogs)
