[sarah]

Milly is on California Naturals. She has been since we switched her at 10 months of age. She does well on it, no eye gunk and nice coat. No bad breath or gas problems etc...

She is now 14months and we have about 3 weeks left of her current kibble.

So my question (seems to be one I ask every 6 months or so!) Is 15months too young for grain-free? I know the idea of if she does well on a food why switch her but I'd really like to see what grain-free can do for her.

If the grain-free is too much for her at 15mo then I'll stay on California Naturals but still wanted to ask the question

Cheers
Sarah

 

[justine]

I had Abbey on grain-free before she was even a year old. But honestly, I wouldn't change it if it works for her...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

I'm not sure how expensive California Naturals is, but I know in general grain-free is more expensive, too.

 

[sarah]

I had Abbey on grain-free before she was even a year old. But honestly, I wouldn't change it if it works for her...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

I'm not sure how expensive California Naturals is, but I know in general grain-free is more expensive, too.

there isn't too much difference in the cost here in Australia Justine. I was going to switch her late last year but Labby and a few others mentioned that the high calcium wasn't ideal for a dog under 18months. So yeah...

 

[Anne]

For what it's worth, I switched everyone (Piper @ 15 months included) over to a grain-free kibble.

Having said that, if Milly is doing well on the Cal Natural, why switch? I loved Cal Natural and would still be using it save that it gave one of my guys loose-ish stools.

 

[cinderbay]

Cal Nat is pretty much as minimal ingredient as you can get. If she is doing well...don't switch. I wouldn't.

 

[kelli]

Yeah, i tend to agree, Sarah.. don't jinx yourself.. finding a food that works is hard enough.. if you find one, don't go looking for better.

 

[YellowJakesMom]

Another vote to stick with the CN - it's really not that high in grain that I can see - brown rice is the only one, it's not like it's overflowing with corn or wheat or white rice

 

[ObedienceLabs4Me]

California Natural, Evo, Orijen, Innova are all very good, quality foods. If she is doing well on it, why switch. The holistic vet I take my boys to sells Evo, Innova and CA Natural and recommends them all depending on what works for the individual dog. If she's doing well, I would personally switch.

 

[amazongold]

I am just going to chime in with another vote for sticking with what works. When you get on the food roller coaster it can be hell trying to find the one that works well for your pup. You're already there, so why mess things up?

 

[Kinderwood]

I just switched two of ours to EVO. Reba was 14 months when we made the switch and I think that's right around the minimum age they recommend for grain-free. I know I personally wouldn't feel comfortable switching to grain-free much earlier than that. Have to agree that if she's doing great on the CN, I probably wouldn't switch. Good luck!

 

[hiyaall]

Hi I was just cruising through the site to get some info for my brothers Lab when I came across this post, anyway just wanted to add that changing kibble and more importantly the protein source in the kibble is very important to avoid allergies arrising from being repetedly fed the same thing. You don't necessarily need to change the brand but changing from say Chicken to Lamb of the same (or different) brand is what you should be doing. There is a great site called Dog Food Analysis (it is non profit and gets no cut backs from any dog food companies) and it will give you a wealth of info on choosing a good commercial dog food (they rate all the dog foods and explain the ingredients in simple terms for you to understand the quality differences) and I'm sure there is an article on changing dog foods regularly (I think every 3 months is recommended) and the hows and whys.
Thought this info might help if not no harm done!



Thought I'd come back and add the link to the article for you.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/how-often-should-i-change-foods.html