Is "Veterinary Formula" dog food worth while??

[AussieAirlie]

I have a 2 year old Aussie that has struggled with bouts of diarrhea anytime she has a slight change in diet. Her food has remained the same since she was 1 but new treats or even drinking different water has caused her to have loose stool. My vet has recommended that we try Iams Veterinary formula Low Residue food. Is this a good quality food or does the vet just make more money by selling me this food? Dogfoodanalysis.com rates this vet formula 1 star where as the food she was eating before was a 4 star food.

[rainbow]

I agree with the dogfoodanalysis rating and would not feed any of the vet recommended brands. Check out the Food forum here for some good information. Also www.dogfoodproject.com and www.dogaware.com have excellent information ....click on all the links.

What were you feeding her? Have you tried giving her probiotics?

[BMDLuver]

My thoughts exactly Rainbow......... probiotics makes more sense to me than switching a food that works.

[kandy]

IMO vet prescribed food is generally poor quality food. I know that for certain conditions, the food seems to work, but I think that has more to do with the additives than the food itself. My personal thought would be that you might see a slight improvement in the stools but it would be because the food would have additives for stool hardners in it, not because you'd solved the problem of why she gets diarrhea to begin with.

I'd add a probiotic to her diet and perhaps pure pumpkin (not pie filling) if she can handle that. You could also try a digestive enzyme supplement to see if that helps.

[AussieAirlie]

Thanks for the reply. My dog has been eating Performatrin Ultra Lamb and Rice and I have been happy with it. I have never tried probiotics. What would you recommend I supplement her food with?

[BMDLuver]

I have used fortiflora with good results....

[rainbow]

Here are the ingredients for Performatrin Ultra Lamb & Rice ....

http://www.performatrinultra.com/dog/ddi_lamb.htm

Although your dog is doing well on it, I just thought I would mention that they use menadione sodium bisulfite complex as an ingredient which is banned for human consumption and believed to be linked to cancer.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=menadione

It also has way too many grains imo. And, the menhaden fish meal could very well be preserved with ethoxyquin.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index....badingredients



I have never had to use probiotics but have read that many people just use the brands that you can get at the drug store.