Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 3/20/2010

Question
My almost 3 year old yellow Lab appears to have vomited last night.  He woke me up once during the night to go outside and apparently sometime after that he got sick as I found the remnants when I woke up.  The vomit is orange to light red/pink in color (I'm assuming it was vomit as he has never had an accident in the house, it appears to be of a frothy consistency, and there is no stool odor.)  He vomited in multiple spots throughout the house and each spot is about the size of a fist.  I am concerned the light red color is from blood but I can't be sure.  I recently (about 2 weeks ago) changed his diet to cooked and raw human grade food as I have read it is better than dry kibble.  His diet consists mainly of chicken, beef, roast, celery, potatoes, carrots, yogurt, etc.  I'm wondering if this is to blame.  Prior to vomiting he has been acting normal; running, playing, swimming, etc.  This morning he is tired and a bit lethargic but I'm not sure if it is from the vomiting or his busy day yesterday (he played and swam for a good portion of it).  He is refusing food/treats and has not drank anything so far today.  He is up to date on all his vaccinations and I use Frontline and HeartGuard each month.  Thank you for any help you can provide!

Answer
Thank you for being such a great pet owner and having your best friend on heartgard and frontline. But here are some things you should know:

About 100% of dogs that get sick and are malnourished is from eating the kind of diet you have him on. Dogs need to eat the same type of food everyday, and not raw ones. How well would you be if everything you ate was raw, including chicken, beef and fish?
Not very well at all.

Your dog's pancreas is reacting to this inflammatory and unbalanced diet. It is good that is he off his food right now, because he needs a 24 hour break from any food to help his digestive system settle down.

I don't know who told you dry kibble was bad but they are misinformed. Of course it depends on the type and brand you feed. Yes, Old Roy and Purina Dog chow are bad! Yes, Orijen with its out-of-control high protein levels is bad! Nutro, which has almost no nutritive value, is bad! Any diet on the market made with an open-formulation and not trial fed is bad!

Get the picture here? Raw diets are bad as well. You are feeding him an unbalanced diet that is lacking in both nutrients in the proper amounts as well as vitamins and minerals in the proper amounts.

We here advocate, feed and recommend Science Diet foods for both dogs and cats for many reasons.

Science Diet has over 50 yrs of veterinary research behind it and is a fixed formulation food- which means it has been field fed and tested for that long and that the formula doesn't change from batch to batch like all non fixed formulated food does.  Science Diet is the only food left that manufacturers this way and has true life stage formulas for pets. It is also the forerunner that ran a five year study on the effects of calcium/phosphorus on the growth of large breeds. Hills Science Diet was the first company to create wellness foods and the first to create a large breed formula.
Open formulation means that the company buys whatever is cheap on the docks that day so that one day the main protein source is pork and the next day it is chicken. That upsets the dogs balance.This essentially what you have inadvertently done to your dog by feeding him raw, different foods daily.

Science Diet is highly digestible, which means less stool for you to clean up. It is also 'nutrient dense,' which means that after their bodies fill up on the energy they need for about three weeks, their consumption of food drops. This just means that their bodies are being nourished fully and their energy needs are being met.

Science Diet has been researched and fed by veterinarians for over 50 yrs. It is the main food that vets worldwide feed their own pets. Feeding is believing.

Here are some key facts about Science Diet which is why we recommend and feed it and have for over 30 yrs:

Other things you should know about Science Diet is that they provide the following in their diets:
Superior nutrition for lifelong health
Science Diet provides a precise balance of 50 nutrients to keep your pet healthy at every stage of its life. Meeting specific needs through superior nutrition while avoiding excesses and deficiencies.

Clinically proven antioxidants
All of Science Diet products contain a proven, powerful and exclusive antioxidant formula to support a healthy immune system. A healthy immune system is essential to keep pets in peak condition throughout life.

The right product for your pet     
Pets have specific nutritional needs depending on age, size and sensitivity, that's why Hill’s offers the most complete range of nutritional products to help keep your pet at his/her healthy best whatever their life stage or need. They have developed a broad range of products to ensure that every Hill’s puppy or kitten has the best start in life, every adult stays in peak condition, and every mature pet stays vital and alert.

Low cost per day
The cost of feeding your pet Science Diet is less than you might think and works out to be the equivalent of the price of a coffee a day. And, because Science Diet is carefully made with nutritious and digestible ingredients, your pet will benefit from a meal with far more nutritional value than the ordinary bowl of pet food offers. For this reason, it costs less per feeding than other brands and your bag of food lasts much longer.

Great taste
Because they only use the highest quality ingredients, they are able to deliver great tasting products your pet will love. To provide variety, they also offer many of their products in a choice of exciting flavors.

No compromise on quality
At Hill’s they're pet owners too, which is why they appreciate the commitment you make to your pet’s health. That’s why they won’t compromise on their promise to supply you with the finest food, using only the highest quality ingredients.
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed    

They are so confident your pet will love Science Diet that they offer a full money-back guarantee.

Now not many companies can say that!

The point is, the high quality ingredients are what make the food of Science Diet nutrient rich and thus they meet your pets energy needs with much less food intake. This is what translates into lower cost; lower stool volume and thus less clean up for you.

Ingredient Splitting:
Other diets may say that they have 'whole ingredients' but you need to be aware of ingredient splitting and other sly ways of not telling the truth about what is on your label.

Ingredient splitting is when you see whole chicken first on the label and you are led to believe that that must be the best and the largest ingredient in the food- since it does say it has whole chicken right?

Wrong. If the next five ingredients or even the next three are grains, then by weight, they will be the LARGEST amount of ingredients in the formula. There may be whole chicken in it, but if there is one pound of chicken and two pounds of grain by volume, what is the largest ingredient? It's the grain.

Feeding-Trials:
That is just one way that companies trick people. Other ways are by not having a fixed formulation or by not having feeding trails on their foods. (something you said you didn't understand)

Feeding trials are when a food is formulated and fed over a period of time to a select group of target animals (with a control group) to verify the nutritional efficacy, digestibility, palatability and other key information about the food. This is how Hill's creates their life stages of food also. Over time (50 yrs and counting) Hill's has refined their foods to create true life-style stages for their wellness and prescription diets.

Feeding trials are essential for producing high quality, nutritious and healthy food. Most foods on the market now are NOT trial fed, but formulated to 'meet' the AAFCO standards for pet foods in the USA. What the means is that you can create the same nutritional profile with a pair of leather shoes, a can of oil, some weeds and some paper. Is that what you want your dog to eat?
Fixed-Formulation:
Fixed-formulation means that the company makes the same food the same way each time, without changing any of the ingredients in it. In other words, they use the same quality, quantity and ingredients from batch to batch. What this means is that your dog gets the same quality of food with each bag. Of late many dogs that eat other foods (such as Iams) have been getting sick from bag to bag because the ingredients are not being formulated the same so it's like giving a dog a new food very abruptly, which causes digestive upsets.
Life-stage foods:
Life stage foods are also very important. Smaller to medium breeds are usually okay with the average formulation of proteins, calcium, etc. However, large breed puppies are not. An incorrect calcium to phosphorus ratio has been shown to create a multitude of growth and bone problems in large to giant breeds. The proper balancing of these nutrients with a corrected ratio of fats and proteins has been proven to prevent these problems. Hill's was the first pet food manufacturer that created large breed puppy growth and adult maintenance foods after doing an exhaustive 4- yr study on the issue.

Most dog foods labeled 'for all life stages' are formulated for puppies in the ranges of proteins and nutrients. What that does to adult dogs is create many excesses of these nutrients that can lead to organ problems and other health issues over the long haul.
So life-stage formulas are very important to maintain your pet's health. Small breeds also benefit from the 50 essential nutrients that Hill's always puts into every formula.

Nature's Best

On top of all that, Hill's also has a true Natural food, Nature's Best. No artificial dyes or colors, no pesticides. It is made with whole natural foods without ingredient splitting. If you lean toward a natural diet then try Nature's Best.
From the site:
The unique combination of natural ingredients with added vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients helps to ensure that your pet receives the right balance of nutrients to keep him/her healthy and active.

Hill's Nature’s Best is a perfect balance of Wholesome Natural ingredients. Clinically proven antioxidants supporting a healthy immune system.

   * Natural ingredients*
   * Provides naturally healthy, superior complete nutrition
   * No added artificial preservatives, flavours or colourants
   * No wheat, soya or cheap fillers, no egg or dairy products
   * An effective antioxidant bundle for a healthy immune system
   * Made with high quality ingredients for great taste – 100% guaranteed

http://www.hillspet.co.uk/naturesbest/Ingredients.aspx
So those are the things you want to think about when you are comparing dog foods.
1. History of the company (yes it matters a great deal!)
2. Quality ingredients and nutrients without excessive nutrients or deficiencies.
3. Fixed-formulation and beware of ingredient splitting.
4. Feeding trails and results.
5. True life stage formulas.

Having said all of that, you might want to know if I recommend Blue Buffalo,Inovvva, Avoderm, etc. I would if they met all the same criteria that SD does. But I have researched all these foods and have found these thing about them:

They are open formulation.
They use ingredient splitting to deceive the customers (more money for them).
They do not use trial feeding so they have no clue if the food really supports a dog for the long run.
In way too many of them the protein levels are much too high, as are the calcium/phosphorus levels. These are one of the many contributors to hip dysplasia.

So the rest is up to you Ricqui. If this were my dog I would put him very slowly onto Science Diet large breed adult food. I would mix some boiled, cooled rice into the new food and give him that slowly adding in more new food daily until he is eating what is on the bag as the recommended amount. It will be less than most dry foods due to the nutrient density of the food.

So keep him off the food for 24 hours, give him some Pepto Bismol if he keeps vomiting and call your vet on Monday if he is still sick by then. If he vomits greenish yellow his pancreas is really inflamed and is starting to digest itself, so call the vet right away. This is very serious and can be fatal.

I hope this helps you. Go to the Hill's site and check it out for yourself. Try it for three weeks or take the 3 bag challenge here:

http://www.feedingisbelieving.com/believe/3BagChallengeForm.jsp

Please let me know how he is doing.