Grain Free Dog Food

sb88_2

Hi!

We've recently adopted a dog from the rescue center, and have found that she has an alergy to cereal and other forms of grain, rice etc. After alot of trial and error. She is currently on a home made dog food, but i'd like to switch her to kibble. She was also underweight when we rescued her and needs building up. Other than that she is a wonderful dog that has settled in well.

Can anyone suggest a potato based rather than cereal based dog food that isn't too expensive?


Thanks!

Sarah

bikelesschick

I know Arden Grange has some. I know you asked for something that isn't expensive and AG may sound expensive but you don't need as much as you would with some other brands. Also, if you shop around, you'll find cheaper online than on their website so very MSE. How big is your dog? Do you know its weight?

E.g. my 14kg staffie needs 200g per day so a 15kg bag lasts me about 3 mths (these are approximate as I've found a cup of the right size so I just feed her using that). I think I paid £38 for mine (a standard chicken and rice) so it works out just over £10 a month. Before switching, I'd worked out that if I'd stayed with her PAH canned food and pedigree mixer, I'd be paying £15-20 per month and their not as high quality;).

If you can't fork out the initial cost, you can get the smaller 2.5kg bags from waitrose for £8 or look online again (vet uk, zoo plus, berriewoods are some of the cheaper sellers).

sb88_2

Ooh, I should really have mentioned, we tried her on a chicken and rice dog food, no wheat no soya etc, and this seemed to go striaght through her aswell

But, I think that company have been having some manufacturing problems, s o cant be sure if the right dog food was in that bag!!

Our girl is 25Kgs at the moment ,but really needs to be 30kgs, or more

krlyr

Fish4Dogs, perhaps? Remember that some of the premium foods can look quite expensive but the better quality ingredients result in food that is more calorie dense and better digested, so you feed less.
CSJ have started making a food called No-Grainer that's grain-free, not sure on the price of it but they make quite a few half decent low-budget foods.
If she can tolerate oats and rice, Skinners do a turkey & rice, salmon & rice food and a duck & rice food that look to be pretty OK ingredients

Katiehound

Sorry don't know the *price but there is Wafcol Salmon & Potato which says it contains no grains whatsoever- developed for very sensitive stomachs.
http://www.wafcol.co.uk/wafcol-adult-dog-food-range.php#1

When I googled it there seemed to be a list of good reviews. Worth a look.

* Oops the price...have had a look about £44+ for £12kg bag or £35 for senior/lite 15kg

Fire_Fox

How do you know your dog is allergic to grains including rice? Allergies are generally to proteins, commonly gluten which is not found in rice only wheat, rice, barley and oats. Are you sure it is not an intolerance to high carb foods or an allergy to a meat protein? Have you been switching from a high carb/ low meat to a low carb/ high meat food slowly or chopping and changing? Have you tried a probiotic (friendly bacteria) supplement?

Welshwoofs

There are quite a few - in my experience the imported ones are more likely to be grain-free. Such as:

Taste of the Wild - that's bison, venison, sweet potato and veggies
Orijen - from Canada is totally grain free; it uses fruit, vegetables, seaweed and herbs on top of the meat
Acana - again, Canadian grain-free
Lupo - uses potato starch as its bulker so IMO not as good as the 3 above


If you stick with wet food, I recommend Natural Instinct which is 500g tubs of human grade meat mixed with vegetables, fruit and seaweed and they price around £3 a tub.

moomin5

fish4dogs is good potato based food (£44/12kg at vetuk or the working dog type from F4D) my dog needed less than RDA & usually i have to feed more to keep a good weight. I would work out cost per day rather than just comparing bag price as quantity you need to feed varies so a cheaper bag can work out more expensive.

sb88_2

Thanks for all your suggestions!

I am trying her on a prebiotic at the moment.

The rescue centerhad her on a dog food with cereal, and this was no good for her, so I had her on a hypoallergentic chicken and rice dog food, but this also didnt suit. She has tried two different sensative dog foods but they both contaned a grain of some form.

I have been feeding her dog food from a large butchers nearby that is only meat and vegetables, (it is wet dog food made on site) and this has suited her stomach, and I've added potatoe to it aswell, which she is fine on. But I would like to put her on a dry kibble, to ensure she is getting everything she needs.

I'll have alook through all your links! I found one in pets at home but it seemed a bit expensive.

absolutebounder

Fire_Fox wrote: »

How do you know your dog is allergic to grains including rice?

He farts a lot

Fire_Fox

sb88 wrote: »

Thanks for all your suggestions!

I am trying her on a prebiotic at the moment.

The rescue centerhad her on a dog food with cereal, and this was no good for her, so I had her on a hypoallergentic chicken and rice dog food, but this also didnt suit. She has tried two different sensative dog foods but they both contaned a grain of some form.

I have been feeding her dog food from a large butchers nearby that is only meat and vegetables, (it is wet dog food made on site) and this has suited her stomach, and I've added potatoe to it aswell, which she is fine on. But I would like to put her on a dry kibble, to ensure she is getting everything she needs.

I'll have alook through all your links! I found one in pets at home but it seemed a bit expensive.

So you haven't had any allergy tests or done an exclusion diet? If not you cannot determine this is an allergy nor what to because all dry foods have multiple ingredients. Have you been swapping from high to low meat slowly? Is the butchers mix raw or cooked? Why have you added potato, that can potentially increase systemic inflammation, was it to replicate the carb content of the dry food?

Prebiotics are food for the beneficial bacteria which is for maintenance of a healthy gut flora; a freeze dried probiotic bacteria is indicated when there has been diarrhoea or antibiotics.