Olivia Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Due to having just lost my job my dogs have been transferred from Canidae to Purina Pro Plan shreds formula. I know it's not ideal but right now it's more important that we have a roof over our heads. The strange thing I've noticed is that their breath has all of a sudden gotten really bad. I mean really bad... I thought Griffin had bad gas until I noticed that he was panting and it was his breath!! Has anyone else tried this food and had this problem? I did consider that it might be the teeth but it's all three dogs and they have minimal to no tarter on their teeth. My canine dentist is going to take a look to make sure Griffin (the worst of the three) doesn't have any pockets under his gums but I doubt it since all three have the same smelling breath. Olivia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Maybe consider another less-costly food. I have been feeding Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice. I used to feed Canidae but this is about half the cost per pound. Also, I give them bones several times a week, and I really think the bones are a huge help. I've never had dogs with such good breath in all my life as these have. If you wanted to feed chicken that you got on sale for the bone/chew value, you might want to consider freezing it so the dogs get more chewing and more abrasion on their teeth for the same cost. I hope you are able to get this solved. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivia Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Thanks Sue! I was wondering about Diamond foods. I've heard good things about them and that they are reasonably priced. I have probably 30 lbs of the pro plan left but I think I'm going to give it away and go track down some Diamond. As far as bones go... where do you get them? Do you use chicken backs or marrow type bones? I've looked for the marrow type ones but they are soooo expensive. About $5-7 per bone at the pet stores. Olivia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 I agree with Sue about trying a different type of food. I feed Diamond Naturals to Kipp - it's very cost effective and he does great on it. ETA - for bones, I just buy beef rib sections at Wal-Mart and give them each a rib to chew on. It costs $6-$8 for a section of about 6 ribs. And they get ALOT of chewing out of a rib. They're not as hard as marrow bones so they will consume the bone bit by bit, but it takes my dog a long time to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Don't use a pet store for bones - very pricey! Check at your supermarket. I know a butcher at one Kroger, where they have 50# boxes of marrow/knuckle bones for $1 per pound. He'll cut them up in 3" segments for me so there's a lot of chewing, less "overdosing" on marrow, and months of clean teeth for $50. Many people don't feed weight-bearing bones (especially beef) because they are so hard. I do but, like Maralynn does, if I could get rib bones as economically, I'd prefer them. They are great chews, the dogs can consume more of the bone, and they are more teeth-safe. I feed bones from our own cattle mostly, and so I feed what I have. But chicken can be gotten cheaply, frozen, and fed in smallish (not too small as many dogs will gulp) portions, plus you get the benefits of feeding some raw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivia Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 I guess I will try to track down some beef rib bones. I would rather not do chicken as I have one dog who is a major gulper. I fed a couple of pork necks one day and he pretty much swallowed his whole. He even had trouble pooping the next few days since he was trying to poop large pieces of bone. Scared the heck out of me! The grocery stores down here told me that they now get their meat pre-packaged and no longer do cuts so they don't get bones anymore. There are a few small farms around that sell their meat custom cut so maybe they would be willing to sell me the marrow bones. Olivia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLloydJones Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Right now I am feeding Kirkland Lamb and Rice; it's actually made by Diamond and is quite similar to the Diamond Naturals. At around $23 a bag, it's a pretty reasonable food and Senneca and Rhys are doing well on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 The grocery stores down here told me that they now get their meat pre-packaged and no longer do cuts so they don't get bones anymore. There are a few small farms around that sell their meat custom cut so maybe they would be willing to sell me the marrow bones.Olivia Find out where the farms have their meat processed, and see if that butcher will sell you unwanted bones and cut them. The bits of adhering fat (within reason) are nice supplements to kibble, which is usually low in fat compared to protein. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivia Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 I've thought about Kirklands but we don't have a Costco around here. We have Sam's instead. Otherwise I would be all over that! Olivia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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