I have just started feeding my 1 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier the holistic dog food, Healthy Paws. The problem is, I can’t really find many reviews of it and I was wanting to know how it would rate as a quality dog food.
Previously I fed my dog Orijen puppy or Acana, but I found she was having allergic reactions, so have swapped to Healthy Paws Rabbit and Brown Rice. She is doing fine on it, although she seems to have larger, more frequent bowel movements – however, I have just put this down to the fact she is getting a higher quantity of this food than she was with the previous brands (Healthy Paws, must be lighter, so more food is given?!?).
Below is the ingredients list, I would be extremely grateful if someone would be able to analyse it for me.
Ingredients: Brown Rice (min 30%), Rabbit Meat Meal (min 26%), Oats, Fresh Salmon, Chicken Oil, Lucerne, Whole Rice, Seaweed, Whole Linseed, Fish Oil, Organic Sunflower Oil, Carrot Flakes, Minerals, Vitamins, Dandelion Herb, CLeavers Herb, Dried Cranberry.
Typical Analysis: Protein 27.5%, Oil 15%, Fibre 3%, Ash 4.5%, Vitamin A 20,000 iu/kg, Vitamin D3 1,5000 iu/kg, Vitamin E 160 iu/kg, Copper 18mg/kg.
website: http://healthypaws.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=42
Thanks and kind regards,
Angie
Hello. It’s great to hear someone whose generally concerned about what is in their dog’s food.
The brand you named and the ingredients listed are very poor. Brown rice as the first ingredient is just terrible. Meat should always be the first ingredient.
Orijen is a great food, too bad she had a reaction to it. I would try a different brand… preferably a grain-free brand such as Wellness CORE, Taste Of The Wild or EVO.
EVO has a red meat version of their food and a Chicken Meat version of their food, so if one type of meat doesn’t suit your dog, the other might.
Wellness Core also now offers a Fish Based version of their food called Ocean Recipe, along with their Original.
Taste of The Wild also has several different meat variations, such a fish based bag, a red meat based bag, and a white meat bag.
**** So, firstly, you want to cut out ALL grains from your dog’s diet by going for a grain-free dog kibble. And then, you’ll need to find a meat type that works for her, which will probably be the fish – So, try the fish first by buying either the Wellness’ "Ocean Recipe" or the Taste Of The Wild’s "Pacific Stream" Food. This will take a good bit of trial and error. But, once you find a food that works, it will all be worth it! ****
Make sure you’re not giving the dog any table scraps, too. Or any cheap dog treats which she may have an allergy to. — Also, this website could be a lot of help to you. It rates every dog food brand from 1star to 6stars. 6 stars is the best, highest quality foods. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
Patricia has it right, however if your dog has reacted to a food that has caused allergies, stay away from chicken. Recent research is indicating Chicken can kick up allergies that were previously under good control. Seems Lamb is coming up right behind Chicken. Dogs with food allergies can’t always stick with the same food, as other allergies can show up. Fish seems to be holding its own with little or now reactions being reported, so you might find a kibble with fish as it’s main source of protein. Do, however, make sure whatever you pick has the protein source listed first and the fewer the protein sources the better, in other words, kibbles that have several different proteins are not a good idea with a dog that has food allergies.
I cannot recommend feeding any of the commercial varieties of meat-flavored baked paste with chemicals added. Instead, why not feed your dog actual food? The dog’s natural diet is raw meat on the bone. Try it. The dog will love it, the diet will help him teethe properly, satisfy his need to chew, keep his teeth clean and his feces innocuous.
http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://www.rawfed.com
http://www.rawfeddogs.net
http://www.rawfeeding.net
http://www.barxx.com
http://www.rawlearning.com
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/groups.rawfeeding/
The basic idea is to approximate a wild diet as closely as possible; raw meat on the bone and small amounts of organ meat [liver is most important, but also kidneys, pancreas, spleen, lungs and what is called green tripe]. Amount to feed is calculated as 2-3% of the dog’s ideal adult body weight.
I think the only negative is the amount of rice. That would be why you’re seeing the bigger bowel movements. I understand allergies so if this food works, I have a suggestion. Cut back on the food a little and supplement with some meat protein such as turkey or fish or venison or something. You can try adding a different one, one at a time and see what she reacts to. Another option is to pick a different food. I’m not sure what you have available. In the US, we have Taste of the Wild (Pacific Stream) is a really good one. Some of the others we have such as Natural Balance and California Natural suffer the same issue – low on protein/high on starches..
Also a quick note to consider what else you feed that may be causing issues such as treats or rawhide. I recently found my dog is allergic to rawhide. She was only getting a small piece two or maybe three times a week and it was enough to cause her to scratch to the point of bleeding. And it took almost 8 weeks on a limited diet to "flush" the effects out of her system. Anyway.. good luck!