food advice, please!

[ColDuTourmalet]

My dog has had a couple of bouts with gastritis over the past few months. For the first one, I took him to my regular vet, who gave him something to soothe his stomach and recommended a bland diet for a few days. He came through fine. This past week, he was having some vomiting issues. My regular vet wasn’t there, so I took him to the vet that shares his office.

The vet asked what I feed. I told her that I feed Nature’s Variety raw patties. She said she’s not a fan of raw food because it’s hard on their stomachs. She gave me three cans of Hill’s “prescription” food (I’m still confused about why it’s prescription), and told me to feed him Royal Canin dry food from now on. They sell Royal Canin at the vet’s office.

Based on what I’ve read, I’m not that excited about putting him on Royal Canin.

So, I’m wondering, what would you do? In your experience, what causes gastritis in dogs? I couldn’t really get a straight answer about the cause – it seems hard to tell. I’m not sure it’s the raw food, because I recently introduced a new dry food. He’s been on the raw for a year, but I thought I would try feeding dry once a day and raw once a day to make it easier when we travel or when he has a housesitter. The dry that I had him on for about a week was Taste of the Wild. I asked the vet about this, and she says she doesn’t have any experience with Taste of the Wild. The only food she has experience with is Royal Canin.

Maybe I should take him off the raw. If I do, though, it seems like there might be some higher quality options out there than Royal Canin.

[OTV]

My guy’s raw fed. I’m a little leery that “it’s hard on their stomachs”. Since starting it, I’ve actually had less problems with digestive upsets than when I fed kibble. Albeit, I don’t usually feed pre-packaged raw patties but rather as a supplement when I want to give him some different protein source. What kind of Nature’s Variety were you using? Some dogs have a harder time digesting pork or beef, and especially offal. Have you tried buying raw meat from the market and feeding that? Does he do better on that?

Personally, the only kibble that came close to giving me the same results as raw feeding is Innova EVO red meat. It’s grain free, high protein, and very calorie dense; I believe it’s 527 calories/cup. My dog and I were walking 3 hours a day, rollerblading or biking for 30 min, and runnning 3 miles a day. On weekends we would go on 8 hour hikes…and he still only needed 2.5 cups to keep weight on (compared to 3 or more cups of Orijen).

Other more moderate grain free kibbles are the new Acana formulas: grasslands, ranchlands and the fish one. Fewer calories, less protein, but my dog didn’t thrive on it like he did the EVO.

If you don’t want a grain-free, I’m in love with Go! or NOW! Petcurean foods. My senior border collie was in a downhill spiral with weak back legs, loss of energy/appetite, and then we switched him to Go! on a vet friend’s recommendation. He perked up and we had another 5 years with him. I’d feed it to my current dog if he didn’t need to be on grain-free (or if he wasn’t raw fed).

Another brand people seem to love is Fromm. I’ve never used it, but I’ve heard it’s a great brand except hard to keep weight on with lean, active dogs. Hope some of that helps - I’d personally never feed my guy Royal Canin or any Hill’s formulas. I regret having my cats on it when I was younger and didn’t know any better.

ETA: Regarding the vomiting, my guy had to go in last year because he was vomiting copious amounts and had uber diarrhea. He was told “gastritis” as well, which is just stomach upset. The vet said it could have been any number of things, but that a doggie flu had been making the rounds and he was pretty sure that’s what it was. So, it could or couldn’t be the food (whether TOTW or raw) that caused it for your guy.

Also, it could be the new kibble. Some dogs don’t do well when transitioning back and forth on kibble and raw. What kind of TOTW was it? He could maybe just not do well on whatever protein source. I can’t feed my guy anything with lamb (raw or processed), or oats or rice in it ot he starts vomiting after a week or two of being on the food. One of the reasons I switched to raw!

[Simkie]

I recently switched all of my critters off of EVO, due to the Proctor and Gamble purchase. I think the food has changed for the worse, although P&G swears they have not done anything. I would have a hard time recommending it now.

I moved the dog to Pinnacle Peak, and it’s been a great food for us.

I don’t know about the raw causing gastritis. Did the dog get into anything at about the same time? I assume you are being careful about raw food safety? Is the place where you’re getting it from really good about keeping it frozen? What did the fecal show?

I did feed a cat Royal Canin kidney diet once, and they recalled it due to too much…Vit D? I think? It caused some stones in her that eventually led to her death. I would feed Hills before I would feed Royal Canin–I think they have better quality control–and then only if I absolutely HAD TOO.

[ColDuTourmalet]

The raw patties that he was getting are Nature’s Variety chicken and beef. I was alternating. It could be the beef he was sensitive to, now that i think about it. The TOTW that I started him on has salmon. I think it was called Pacific Stream, but I’m not at home right now and am not totally sure.

I am careful with the raw. I put it in individual freezer bags the day I bring it home from the store, thaw them in the fridge as needed, wash his bowl after every use, etc. There was nothing in the fecal.

I’ve never done just raw meat from the store. I’d like to, but I want to make sure he’s getting all the nutrients he needs. OTV, what exactly do you feed when you just get it from the grocery?

Thanks for the replies. They’re helpful!

Sorry in advance for typos, posting from iPhone and it’s a bit difficult.

[OTV]

As long as one knows the “rules” of raw, it’s super easy to do it yourself - not to mention way cheaper. How much research did you do before you switched your dog to raw? Also, how long has he been on raw and getting the Nature’s Variety medallions/patties? Last question: is he on a half raw, half kibble diet? I just ask because you mention he’s also on TOTW.

You can PM me for more details or if you want some sources for researching raw - my dog is fed prey model method, not BARF, so my research was mostly prey model based. Decide what you want to do and that’ll help narrow down all the reading. If you’re feeding a combo of kibble and raw, it won’t be as complicated.

The reason I ask how long he’s been on nature’s variety is that raw fed dogs can sometimes develop an intolerance when fed the same protein source for a long time. So if he’s been on chicken and beef medallions for 6 months or more, it’s possible that’s what’s happening. Raw fed dogs (even half raw, half kibble) need to ingest as many different protein sources as possible, once they’ve been introduced to the raw diet. It’s fine to stick with one protein source for the first week or two (to allow the system to adapt) but then new protein sources should be introduced. My dog eats on a monthly basis all of the following: whole mackerel, whole herring, lamb shoulder (because it’s cheapest), any and all sorts of cuts of beef besides weight bearing bones/hearts/tongues/livers, any chicken portions I can get, turkey necks/gizzards/wings/drumsticks/hearts, pork heart/kidneys/livers/lungs (so gross!)/snouts (as a treat)/ham hocks, and whatever prepackaged raw I can get on sale: venison, elk, bison, rabbit, duck, alpaca, etc. He also routinely gets green tripe, whole eggs, sardines, etc. for snacks.

But everything he eats follows a specific formula of how much edible bone, how much muscle meat, and how much offal per week/month depending on his body weight. It’s not quite as simple as buying a pack of meat and tossing it into a bowl (or outside, as I do) for the first little while, but it goes get that easy after a few weeks!
All these proteins were introduced over the course of 3-6 months and are necessary for a healthy, balanced, raw-fed diet and to prevent him developing an intolerance.

Seriously, if you want to PM me for more info - I’d be happy to help. It seems complicated, but it’s not once the basic rules are followed. Honestly I like it way more than prepackaged raw. More options, cheaper, and i have more control over what goes into his diet. Hope your guy is feeling better!