Hi everyone , I really need a few words of advice. I have been feeding my Java Purina One Lamb and rice , she has been shedding terriblely and itching flaky skin, scratching to the point where she has gotten scabes. took her to the vet he says she has a allergy and she has gotten a steroid shot for some relief and medicated shampoo to bathe her in. vet says keep her on a lamb and rice but i am concerned that purina one is just not working for her. looking for a good food that the price is not out of site. she is a working dog, about 70lbs when she is carring her full weight......oopps forgot to mention she has lost 9lbs for no apparent reason. think it is the food.....don't really know....vet says all is ok with her no health issues but she is lighter the n she ought to be.
Java is a service/therepy dog so I have to get her back in shape, does anyone have sugestion and approximate cost of food.....appreciate you all with any help I can get here.

I prefer foods that have no corn or at least not listed in first three ingredients

thanks

I've been using Eukanuba sensitive skin on all my dogs for about a year. It has no corn, wheat, or soy. Dogs have great coats, no itching and good weight and muscle. A little pricey though... about 50 dollars for a 28 lb. bag.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

Merrick Wilderness Blend is what my guys are on right now. It's also human grade I think.

I have been feeding Purina ONE lamb and rice since it first came out, but when they changed the label at the bottom of the bag from "Total Nutrition" to "Lamb and Rice Formula", a few months ago, they must have changed the formula. All of a sudden most of my guys have lost weight and are shedding constantly and always hungry. I switched to Exceed Chicken and Rice a few days ago and the scratching has already stopped, and I see an improvement in the weights.

I emailed Purina about the changed formula and finally recieved a message that my question about the change has been sent to "consumer affairs".

I don't think it's right that they change these formulas without notifying us. I have fed Purina since 1962 and I have no choice but to switch to another brand. They used to make good pet food.

You might try the grain-free foods. I'm just starting to try Taste of the Wild on a few dogs - I can get it for $37 for a 30-lb. bag at a local feed store.

Diamond Naturals is also a fairly inexpensive corn/wheat/soy-free food you could try.

You might look at Healthwise by Naturapet. They have a lamb formula. It is quite cost effective at ~ $38-40 for a 35# bag. My dogs do great on Healthwise.

Just curious, have you had the thyroid checked?
We had a similar situation years ago and turned out to be thyroid.

Good luck.

You might want to consider a consultation and allergy testing with a veterinary dermatologist.

haven't had thyroid checked but will talk to my vet, we both seem to think it is the food, stayed up last night researching dog foods and found alot of them have cut back or have low quanities of omega 2 and 3 I think that might be part of the problem. I would like to do diamond but my dogs just don't seem to do well on there food right now , there formula has changed because I have fed that to my male to keep weight on him because of the high energy untill recalls.
I thank you all for your suggestions , problem is getting some of these foods not sure where to go for them but can look them up.

Mine got dry and flaky skin on the Taste of the Wild. Also for some reason they wouldn't always eat it. They would skip a meal here and there. The Diamond Naturals caused major diahrrea and GAS That was only with it mixed 50/50 too! After 2 weeks of that I couldn't take it. The dogs just couldn't adjust to it. So, we went back to Purina ProPlan, but tried the Sensitive Skin and Stomach. Fantastic results. Beautiful coats, no itchies, dandruff, gas or diahrrea. It is $37 for a 37.5lb bag here. Plus with the ProClub points you can get the $7 dog food checks. That brings it down to $30 a bag.

Diamond Naturals line has no corn and they have a Lamb/Rice formula.
All my dogs were on Purina Pro Plan before the shred change and I have not had coat on any of them since spring. My oldest was eating the PP Senior formula and was experiencing the same thing as yours. I put her on a grain free food, Taste Of The Wild, and she quickly improved. They rest all switched to Diamond Nat Chic/Rice and coats are coming back - yet again it is freezing cold here in Michigan! But my boy was blowing all his coat out since early spring and it was just not coming back at all it was only getting worse. While ProPlan said there were no changes to the regular formula something was just not right.

I think that it would be kindest to the dog to get allergy testing done. It might not be the food.

California Natural, Fromm, Raw diet. Make sure she's getting Omg's. Try giving organic raw egg yolks in her food. I've also been giving olive oil. Tuff time of year cold/dry at least where I live.

she has been tested and is alergic to insect bites and late summer had 1 brown flea bite her and she broke out, her food has been tested not allergic to food but the weight loss seems to be because of the food, I am running any food changes past my vet for his opinion

I knew they changed the packaging, but never thought until now that they had changed the product. However, they did change it (changes are denoted by asterisks)...

Old Formula:
Lamb (natural source of glucosamine), brewers rice, *oat meal*, *corn gluten meal*, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), *whole grain corn*, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), *non-fat yogurt*, calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, animal digest, potassium chloride, caramel color, salt, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, *brewers dried yeast*, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

New Formula:
Lamb (natural source of glucosamine), brewers rice, *corn gluten meal*, *whole grain corn*, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), *oat meal*, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), *lamb meal*, animal digest, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, salt, caramel color, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

IMHO, these changes could definately affect how dogs react to the food. I too am not happy that Purina was not more open about these changes. They usually are more proactive in making sure their customers are aware of product changes. When they changed the wording on the bottom of the PP Perf bag, there were info sheets in the bags and it was in several publications. Same thing with the new "shreds". I'm really disappointed in Purina this time. They really dropped the ball.


OP, I'm not sure I can recommend anything without knowing what you're looking for (i.e. ingredients, caloric range, protein/fat ratios, etc.). All I can say is we've currently been feeding Exceed and, so far, it's working great for our girls. Good luck on the food hunt!

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I have been feeding Purina ONE lamb and rice since it first came out, but when they changed the label at the bottom of the bag from "Total Nutrition" to "Lamb and Rice Formula", a few months ago, they must have changed the formula. All of a sudden most of my guys have lost weight and are shedding constantly and always hungry. I switched to Exceed Chicken and Rice a few days ago and the scratching has already stopped, and I see an improvement in the weights.

I emailed Purina about the changed formula and finally recieved a message that my question about the change has been sent to "consumer affairs".

I don't think it's right that they change these formulas without notifying us. I have fed Purina since 1962 and I have no choice but to switch to another brand. They used to make good pet food.