Dogs > Nutrition
HK vs Farmina
Amber:
First of all, hello everyone! After a long time and much craziness, I am glad to be back. Please excuse any typos, as I STILL don't have internet at my house and am posting from my phone.
River is now at 52lbs (she needs to be 55, but I will get to that in a minute). She still has some filling out to do, I think, but I believe she is going to top out around 60lbs, but I can't be sure, as she has grown very slowly and steadily.
We have been through several brands of "quality" dog food. Every time I put her on something grain free, she drops weight rapidly (and she is already slightly ribby), no matter how much I feed or how many meals I break it into. Its craziness, and I have fought the idea for a long time, because it goes against everything I have believed about dog nutrition for years, but it seems that River really does best with some grain in her diet -headdesk-
The brand that I am most comfortable with that she seems to do well on is the Farmina N&D Ancestral grain line, so I have been rotating her between the chicken, fish, and lamb varieties, but something in the back of my head is still balking at the idea of feeding kibble. While I do believe that Farmina is probably the best kibble out there, Human-grade, GMO-free, dehydrated meat instead of meals, cruelty free, no dangerous chemicals, etc... part of me doesnt' care. It is still kibble. I have thought about switching her to Honest Kitchen. Amber was on the Grace for a bit when I didn't even have time to sleep, let alone make cat food, and she did well, once I figured out that in order for it to be digested properly you have to soak it much longer than 5 minutes. Overnight in the fridge works best. Coat still great, eyes still clear, maintained weight, and litterbox results not much different than raw, suprisingly.
I am fairly impressed with HK because of how well Amber did on it. However, it is still cooked, and it still has a lot of carbs. The protein and fat levels of the ones I am looking at are comparable to the grain-inclusive Farmina, and I could give the Thrive (has quinoa, not really a grain but close enough that I am hoping it counts for her crazy system) for one meal and alternate between Love, Embark, and Zeal for the second, and hope she maintains weight on half grain-free. If not, I am going to rip out my hair and scream a bit.
However I have read some concern about whether or not HK is actually "balanced." I have seen some doubt in a few places, especially when it comes to large breed pups. There are those who believe that it is very badly formulated and not worth the cost. That has come up several times on HK vs (insert high protein grain free kibble here) topics, and part of me might actually agree because Orijen, for example, has more meat. But HK is less processed, actually human grade, and its real food that hasn't been rendered completely to death.
It would cost about twice what I am paying now for her kibble (she gets a lot of fresh add-ins, which I will continue) but if its better I am not too concerned.
I can't do raw for River, not entirely, because one of the conditions of me keeping her was that she would primarily eat "dog food." I thought he would eventually forget about that, but he hasn't. When he does (and when she is no longer a pup, if I am going to be perfectly honest a lack of confidence still has something to do with it) she will just get what the cat eats. It also has to be something he is willing to feed her, because though I am home a lot more now, the new job is going to require some travel in the future, and I may be gone for up to a week at a time, and he will have nothing to do with feeding raw, which is also why I keep a small box of Grace in the pantry now.
Anybody got any input on this one? And feel free to go as off topic as you like on this one, It has been a long time since I have "seen" everyone and I want to "hear" from yall in general :)
-Sent from my Iphone
Pookie:
HI AMBER!!!!! multistars It's so good to "see" you! I'm so glad to hear you have another job, and I hope you've healed (I'm blanking at the moment -- it was your leg or foot?). Are you still substitute teaching?
Ok, to go on topic . . .
--- Quote --- Every time I put her on something grain free, she drops weight rapidly (and she is already slightly ribby), no matter how much I feed or how many meals I break it into.
--- End quote ---
My first thought, since I was reading quickly, was that maybe the grains were preventing her from absorbing the food. Then I re-read it and saw that she's losing weight on grain-free food. :o So there goes that idea. Forgive me for asking, but I'll ask anyway: has she been tested for worms? I'm not an expert on dogs, so maybe worms eat anything and don't care what the host ingests. I just wonder if worms would be really going for the protein and not so much the carbs. :-\ But knowing you, I'm sure she has been tested and is worm-free. :)
Hmmm . . . that is really odd that she loses weight on grain-free. I'd say give even more protein/meat, but it sounds like you've done that and it still didn't help. Maybe she has a high metabolism? I hate to put this out there, but has her thyroid been tested? What are her poops like? I'll try to think more on this, but I'm really hoping our dog-parents have some answers.
Going off-topic again: how do you like the new job? When did you start?
DeeDee:
So great to see you again! Sounds like things are going great with River. I never could get Barkly to eat any of the HK options. I tried samples of them all. I finally found that he'd eat Dr. Harvey's food though, so they get the grain-free version of that for RVing and emergency food held on hand in the storm room. It's got grain-added as well as grain-free options. But your granddad would probably balk at that, b/c the chunks of beef actually look like they're floating in blood after it's sat there in the water for a while.
I also tried some samples of Primal with Barkly too. He didn't like that brand either.
When I tell you I've got the pickiest Corgi that's ever existed, I'm totally serious. Most of them are total food hogs. He's not a fan of kibble either. I've got 2, and only 2, options there (And one was Halo that I absolutely did NOT like.), so that's why I just quit it after I found an emergency food.
I'm STILL not sure if freeze-dried is actually raw. Somehow it seems to me that it's not. Just something in my mind that's rejecting it as actually raw. But then there's that color that comes out of the meat in Dr. Harvey's that kind of contradicts my thoughts.
Then I'm thinking that if she needs more carbs, you could always add a baked potato in her grain-free.
So how's the new job?
Amber:
The job is awesome. It is nice to finally be working in my field. I have been working there for a few weeks now. Still in the probationary period, but long enough that they are trusting me with some stuff.
My broken toe is better, though I doubt the nail will ever be normal again. Not teaching anymore, unfortunately.
As far as River goes, she has been tested for worms other parasites and her bloodwork was normal. Her stools are well formed and a decent consistency on grain inclusive. They are a bit soft on grain free, but not horrible, unless she gets more than 3.5 cups per day. More than that, no matter how much I break it up, and it looks like cow flops and she's miserable. She is HIGHLY active and rarely sits still. Papaw I outside with them most o the day and I am outside with them on weekends and every evening when I get home, so I think she just burns ALOT of calories and can't process enough grain free to keep up. I have tried orijen, farmina, canine caviar, earthborn, instinct, even solid gold.
Pookie:
That's wonderful that you like your new job! multistars
--- Quote --- her bloodwork was normal
--- End quote ---
Yeah, after I logged off I realized if she had a thyroid issue, it wouldn't show up just because she's not getting carbs. :-[ You're probably right about her burning a lot of calories. Maybe try Dee's suggestion of adding a baked potato?
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