2 Strikes for Canidae...

[Stubby]

3 months ago my GSD X was having a lot of problems with her digestion, lots of gas, diahrea, throwing up etc. I thought at first that it may be the fact that she was a fusy GSD (as you may know, some GSD's have interesting digestive habits).
My vet could find nothing wrong, he suggested we switch foods (Canidae) to see if it was the cause. We switched her to Eagle Pack and the problem DISAPPEARED...

Last night, my rescue Rotti, Aussie, who has been on Canidae for about three weeks, began with the same symptoms. Gas, diahrea, kept me up all night....

The only thing I can think of is the Canidae..

I am going to immediately begin cutting him over to Eagle Pack and see if this is the case. But, it begins to make me think that Canidae, for all that this forum says it is good, is not so good after all... :(

Has anyone else here experienced these effects from feeding Canidae??

[RottiMomCT]

Canidae is not the best food for ALL dogs...several forum members feed it and their dogs do great...doesn't mean ALL dogs will do great on it.

Eagle Pack is a great food too - just keep my dogs away from it! They had the same problems that your dogs had when you fed Canidae...;) .

I feed Royal Canin Sensible Choice Natural Blend Holistic Formula...works for all dogs, no diarrhea, a bit of gas but not bad, and coats look great...

[KRISSIE]

Hi I feed both of my Rotts Canidae and they do fabulous on it, maybe Canidae as RottimomCt said is not the best choice for every dog , but it is still a great dog food . I hope they do better on the Eagle Pack. Good luck and let us know how it goes. ;)

[Stubby]

I'm just a little disheartened that it seems to have caused issues with two of my dogs now. :(
I did quite a bit of research on what food to feed my kids when I decided to get a dog, and Canidae was THE top food as far as I could make out. Now that it hasn't worked on two dogs, I don't think I'll give it another try. I'll just stick with eagle pack...

[Homerhomer]

Originally posted by Stubby
I'm just a little disheartened that it seems to have caused issues with two of my dogs now. :(
I did quite a bit of research on what food to feed my kids when I decided to get a dog, and Canidae was THE top food as far as I could make out. Now that it hasn't worked on two dogs, I don't think I'll give it another try. I'll just stick with eagle pack...

I can understand how you feel, but having said that canidae is not the only good food out there, there are plenty of other options. I think that canidae doesn't agree with some dogs because it has many different sources of meat proteins and for some dogs food with one source may be better.

[Stubby]

HomerHomer, that was my thinking.. Eagle pack is only 3 sources of protein, and that is probably what is making the difference..

[KRISSIE]

canidae is not the only good food out there, there are plenty of other options

I agree...there are other dog foods out there that are just as good as Canidae , you just have to find the one that is best for your dog. :) The Barf diet is supposed to be wonderful too, I don't use it on mine but I have heard people on this Forum and elsewhere speak very highly of it. Thats another option if you don't find a dog food that you and your dogs are comfortable with. ;)

[frontierrots]

There are several top quality brands of food. BUT no one food will work for EVERY dog.

Innova works really well for many dogs and even for SOME of my dogs but not all of them so I feed a food that works for all of them instead- Healthwise. But Healthwise might not work for your dog!

Just like with humans some dogs can be sensitive-not allergic- to different things. Like my husband LOVES clams but they make him very ill. I like onion rings but onions make me very ill. :) If we both ate the same food we would probably not both do well :p

Research your brands and formulas and feed what works best for YOUR dog (s)

[MAL]

How can you tell when a food doesn't suit a dog well? I've seen mention of coat condition, diarrhea, and gas. Should I assume that if their coat looks okay and their bowls don't speak out that the food is fine for them? How long do you give them on a food before assessing its effects?
Our rottie cross seems to be doing well on Canidae but might be thinner (and he should be thickening up at his age - almost 2), while I don't think our lab/chessie is taking to it as well. And, due to their eating habits, we've got almost no choice but to feed them the same thing.

[frontierrots]

you look at stool quality- are they formed and semi firm to firm or are they cowpies?

coat condition, gas, tummy rumbling, vomiting, lasck of weight gains etc..

Your dogs should each be eating out of separate bowls, measured amounts per feeding so it should be no trouble to feed them different foods. If 1 is a slow eater pick it up after 10 minutes or crate one of the dogs to feed. YOU should not be a slave to your dogs eating habits :)

Also many many Rotts and mixes do not start to fill until after 2 or even 3 years so yours may not be ready to yet

[shybird]

How long was the first dog on the Canadae? You said the second dog was on it for 3 weeks before it got the upset tummy and gas. This was after the first was sick and you switched foods. I was wondering if it could be a "doggie bug"? Like people get sick and have the Bathoom Blues and a few days later they are fine and then the next person in the house gets it. I just had the three of mine get sick within a few days of each other. Then they were fine. Wasn't the food, it was some kind of "doggie bug." And I remember another member saying her dogs got sick one on top of the other. So could it be an illness, and not the food at all? I am not trying to sway your opinion of the food either way, just suggesting a possibility.

[Stubby]

Actually I switched Bear off the Canidae a couple of months BEFORE I got Aussie.
So, they never had the chance to see anything happen that would cause "doggie bug"
He's had runny stool for almost 2 days now, but I just spoke to the wife unit and she tells me things are beggining to firm up.
I'm going to simply move the both of them onto Eagle pack. I'm half and halfing with Eagle and Canidae now for Aussie. Hopefully he will be back in the game by Sunday.

[DixieGrl113]

Eagle pack is only 3 sources of protein, and that is probably what is making the difference..

I woud compare the labels of the 2 foods and see which protein source Canidae has that Eagle doesn't and any other ingredients that may be in canidae and not in Eagle. That would give you a starting point to narrowing down what is is exactly that could be causing the probelm. It may come in handy if you have to switch foods again or if for some reason Eagle isn't available. Then you'll know what ingredients to stay away from in a different brand.

In the meantime try feeding a tablespoon or 2 of pure canned pumpkin. It will firm up the runny stools. Makes life a lot more pleasant when dealing with a dog with an upset tummy. Gets rid of gas too! :)

[Stubby]

Thanks for that advice Dixiegirl! Thats a great idea. I'll give the Pumpkin a shoot today as well.