Hi,

I'm thinking of changing Saskia's food to see if that helps with her
recurrent skin problem and recurrent vaginitis, especially as she seems to
improve with a daily yoghurt-cultures drink.

Her food failed that grading system posted here and there, most recently on
my Great Danes group, miserably. I got it because someone on the Dutch group
recommended it, a breeder I met also recommended it, and it has lower
protein than the one her breeder was feeding. But it is mostly chicken and
corn, and has, I have now seen, "vegetable by-products"--what's that, sticks
and bark??

Anyway, most of the ones people seem to swear by aren't available here.
Chicken Soup, Eagle Pack, Wellness, Canidae, etc. One person recommended
Royal Canin Giant, but it has 35% protein! To get below 25% I'd have to feed
her Royal Canin Medium Breed Senior.

But I have found that I can order Solid Gold. Is this a very good food (it
looks like one), and if so, should I try the flakes (lamb based), the
Mmillennium (beef based), or the one I somehow find myself leaning toward,
the Wolfking (bison based)? What are some other foods I should try to find
instead, if they're better?

Thanks,
Katrina

Solid Gold, if you can get it...is a very good food.

We had a rescue who had horrible food allergies and a horrible horrible skin
condition due to that. She was with us for 6 months.
I had her on raw diet to find out what she was allergic to. She ended up
going to her forever home on SG Millenia. She is gorgeous today with a thick
soft coat.

--
Carol J
Cocker Spaniel Rescue of BC
www.csrbc.org
"White Monkey" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm thinking of changing Saskia's food to see if that helps with her
recurrent skin problem and recurrent vaginitis, especially as she seems to
improve with a daily yoghurt-cultures drink.

Her food failed that grading system posted here and there, most recently
on
my Great Danes group, miserably. I got it because someone on the Dutch
group
recommended it, a breeder I met also recommended it, and it has lower
protein than the one her breeder was feeding. But it is mostly chicken and
corn, and has, I have now seen, "vegetable by-products"--what's that,
sticks
and bark??

Anyway, most of the ones people seem to swear by aren't available here.
Chicken Soup, Eagle Pack, Wellness, Canidae, etc. One person recommended
Royal Canin Giant, but it has 35% protein! To get below 25% I'd have to
feed
her Royal Canin Medium Breed Senior.

But I have found that I can order Solid Gold. Is this a very good food (it
looks like one), and if so, should I try the flakes (lamb based), the
Mmillennium (beef based), or the one I somehow find myself leaning toward,
the Wolfking (bison based)? What are some other foods I should try to find
instead, if they're better?

Thanks,
Katrina

"White Monkey" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm thinking of changing Saskia's food to see if that helps with her
recurrent skin problem and recurrent vaginitis, especially as she seems to
improve with a daily yoghurt-cultures drink.

Her food failed that grading system posted here and there, most recently
on
my Great Danes group, miserably. I got it because someone on the Dutch
group
recommended it, a breeder I met also recommended it, and it has lower
protein than the one her breeder was feeding. But it is mostly chicken and
corn, and has, I have now seen, "vegetable by-products"--what's that,
sticks
and bark??

Anyway, most of the ones people seem to swear by aren't available here.
Chicken Soup, Eagle Pack, Wellness, Canidae, etc. One person recommended
Royal Canin Giant, but it has 35% protein! To get below 25% I'd have to
feed
her Royal Canin Medium Breed Senior.

But I have found that I can order Solid Gold. Is this a very good food (it
looks like one), and if so, should I try the flakes (lamb based), the
Mmillennium (beef based), or the one I somehow find myself leaning toward,
the Wolfking (bison based)? What are some other foods I should try to find
instead, if they're better?

I've used Solid Gold with my own dogs as well as two foster dogs who had
IBS. It worked well for the latter but was too rich for my dogs. Super
hard, solid stools or too-runny stools were a byproduct and one of the dogs
wasn't too keen on the flavor.

I have an 11yo Min. Dachshund who has a very bad skin problem where she
loses hair in large patches still attached to the skin. The skin turns
scaley and peels off, taking the hair with it. She's always extremely itchy
and uncomfortable. I switched both my dogs to Wellness Senior SuperMix
which they both like and haven't had any stomach or stool upset with. For
the Min. Dachshund I tried Salmon Oil and it literally put an end to the
flaky, scaly, balding situation we had. Her itchiness is down to a
tolerable level and she seems to move better. The fish oil is responsible
for the coat/skin transformation and I'd like to think Wellness is
responsible for the seemingly increased mobility with less joint stiffness.

You can get any of the brands you mentioned in a local upscale pet store or
online. Granted, you pay shipping when you buy online but if it works well
for your dog you may find the shipping to be a necessary evil.

--
Tara

In article ,
Tee wrote:
I've used Solid Gold with my own dogs as well as two foster dogs who had
IBS. It worked well for the latter but was too rich for my dogs. Super
hard, solid stools or too-runny stools were a byproduct and one of the dogs
wasn't too keen on the flavor.

I ran into that, too, and the other thing that I encountered
with Solid Gold was that their coats dried out a bit. But
even though it's not for every dog (and what food is?) it is
a good feed and certainly worth trying if it sounds like a
good match for the dog.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

In 1978, George Bush was warning that Social Security
would go broke in 10 years

White Monkey wrote:

But I have found that I can order Solid Gold. Is this a very good food (it
looks like one), and if so, should I try the flakes (lamb based), the
Mmillennium (beef based), or the one I somehow find myself leaning toward,
the Wolfking (bison based)? What are some other foods I should try to find
instead, if they're better?

Katrina, I switched my two from Canidae to WolfKing a few months back,
and am quite happy with the results. The only freakishly weird thing
about it is that it expands to like 10 times its original size when
soaked. Since I was going for something with less oomph (fewer calories
than Canidae, Cal. Nat. and Innova), the lower calorie/fat counts aren't
a problem for me. So far, the dogs have not had any poop/coat problems
either.

And FWIW, the rating on this one based on the rating at the Dane forum
is something like 111, IIRC.

Suja

"Tee" wrote in message
...

You can get any of the brands you mentioned in a local upscale pet store
or online. Granted, you pay shipping when you buy online but if it works
well for your dog you may find the shipping to be a necessary evil.

i think the OP is in the Netherlands. not sure most US pet food suppliers
ship overseas...

-kelly

"White Monkey" wrote in message
...
Hi,

But I have found that I can order Solid Gold. Is this a very good food (it
looks like one), and if so, should I try the flakes (lamb based), the
Mmillennium (beef based), or the one I somehow find myself leaning toward,
the Wolfking (bison based)? What are some other foods I should try to find
instead, if they're better?

i think the Wolfking is aimed at large and giant breeds, so that's probably
what i'd go for. Solid Gold has an excellent reputation for making very
high quality food. i don't think you can go wrong which ever line you pick.

i use their wet food to mix with my dogs' kibble, and they love it.

-kelly

"culprit" wrote in message
...

"Tee" wrote in message
...

You can get any of the brands you mentioned in a local upscale pet store
or online. Granted, you pay shipping when you buy online but if it
works
well for your dog you may find the shipping to be a necessary evil.

i think the OP is in the Netherlands. not sure most US pet food suppliers
ship overseas...

-kelly


That's right. The only one off the list I've been able to find that I can
order is the Solid Gold, and that's from a Dutch supplier who will deliver.
All of the pet stores here are, to boot, very small compared to a US one,
and there are no chain stores. Except for the "big brands" like ProPlan and
Iams and Science Plan, they all stock different brands and lines. By calling
around all of them individually and asking what they stock I may be able to
find a local equivalent, but I think we'll just go with the Solid Gold.
--Katrina

"Suja" wrote in message
news:e2WJd.63907$Tf5.54994@lakeread03...
White Monkey wrote:

But I have found that I can order Solid Gold. Is this a very good food
(it
looks like one), and if so, should I try the flakes (lamb based), the
Mmillennium (beef based), or the one I somehow find myself leaning
toward,
the Wolfking (bison based)? What are some other foods I should try to
find
instead, if they're better?

Katrina, I switched my two from Canidae to WolfKing a few months back,
and am quite happy with the results. The only freakishly weird thing
about it is that it expands to like 10 times its original size when
soaked. Since I was going for something with less oomph (fewer calories
than Canidae, Cal. Nat. and Innova), the lower calorie/fat counts aren't
a problem for me. So far, the dogs have not had any poop/coat problems
either.

And FWIW, the rating on this one based on the rating at the Dane forum
is something like 111, IIRC.

Suja


Thanks! The Fokker Plus she's eating scored a 59, and I was trying to treat
it generously, since it's considered a good food here.

Thanks everyone else, too.

Looks like we'll order a bag of Wolfking and see how she likes it.

--Katrina