Good Quality Food with Low Protein

Lemlin

I have my dog on orijen and, while I have to say she's looking great, I've noticed her scratching at her hair alot in the evening when she's in her bed. She doesn't have fleas or anything like that because she's been Frontlined.

I've read in some articles and heard from a few people on here that high protein foods can cause this. At the moment, it's the only thing I can think of.

I like the Orijen though and she is doing well on it. I was wondering though are there any other high quality foods with perhaps lower protein that I could move her to?

Or should I just start mixing her Orijen in with a lower quality food so that she isn't eating as much of it?

I was thinking perhaps Arden Grange or Nutro but I think these still have fairly high protein. I've tried James Wellbeloved and she wasn't too fond of it.

andreac

Food can def cause problems and scratching is one of those. My fella got a hot spot on his face recently and im convinced it was the Hills food that i won at dog shows and i had been mixing it in with his own food.

What about Burns? they have a lot of different varieties and are low in protein too. Red Mills is quite good as well and it has a supreme range.

Lemlin

andreac wrote: »

Food can def cause problems and scratching is one of those. My fella got a hot spot on his face recently and im convinced it was the Hills food that i won at dog shows and i had been mixing it in with his own food.

What about Burns? they have a lot of different varieties and are low in protein too. Red Mills is quite good as well and it has a supreme range.

I haven't read any reviews of Red Mills Supreme and the other types (like Racer) get very bad reviews.

Burns is meant to be very like James Wellbeloved. Also, I believe it has alot of grain in it and the reason I went for Orijen was because of its meat content.

andreac

The supreme range is way better than any of the other red mills. They have cheaper options like Star etc but the supreme is a good food, my friend feeds her great danes on it and they are in great condition.

Maybe the high meat content with the protein isnt agreeing then? I havent tried Nutro but heard its a good one too.

Lemlin

andreac wrote: »

The supreme range is way better than any of the other red mills. They have cheaper options like Star etc but the supreme is a good food, my friend feeds her great danes on it and they are in great condition.

Maybe the high meat content with the protein isnt agreeing then? I havent tried Nutro but heard its a good one too.

Maybe but I'd still like to try and keep her on a food with a good amount of meat in it as I'm a firm believer that it is what dogs should be fed on.

I wouldn't like to move onto a full BARF diet (as I couldn't afford it) but I do often give her meat that I get from a local butcher.

andreac

You could do half and half?

i know some people that feed kibble one day and BARF the next, have a look on www.topdog.ie they have great advice for BARF diet.

MoonDancer256

Remember if may be an allergic reaction to something else in the dog's environment; it's not necessarily the Orijen that's causing the itching.

It may even be a specific meat allergy; try the fish version of the Orijen?

Lemlin

MoonDancer256 wrote: »

Remember if may be an allergic reaction to something else in the dog's environment; it's not necessarily the Orijen that's causing the itching.

It may even be a specific meat allergy; try the fish version of the Orijen?

It's the puppy version I have her on at the minute as she's just ten months and I wanted to keep her on puppy food until she is at least 12 months.

MoonDancer256

Lemlin wrote: »

It's the puppy version I have her on at the minute as she's just ten months and I wanted to keep her on puppy food until she is at least 12 months.

The adult version of the Orijen is actually high enough quality that it's okay for puppies as well. Check it with your vet ofc, but I'd say you'd be fine switching her to the adult version now, to see if that makes a difference, rather than changing her to a lower quality food.

Blueprint

I found my dog gets very itchy if I drag him through too much tall grass this time of year, so it's something to keep in mind...

paultf

Lemlin,

I have my dogs on Red Mills Leader and I am thinking of changing them over to Orijen.

Orijen have another dog food available called Acana. Check www.championpetfoods.com They are grain free but lower in protein compared to Orijen. At the moment the only place that I found supplies it in Ireland is www.zooplus.ie

Zooplus don't supply a puppy version (championpetfoods.com on Acana does list a puppy version) but maybe the adult Acana might do. For example Acana Prairie Harvest Dog Food has 32% protein as opposed to 42% in Orijen. Alot of regular puppy foods e.g. Red Mills have around 30% protein.

Hope that helps.