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Old March 7th, 2007, 09:02 PM
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3rd Food Switch, from TO to EVO RM

Just wanted to post a quick update on the latest with Petey's diet. He did GREAT on the TO, but it was very low in protein. I was adding supplemental raw, which he loved, but was concerned about him not losing weight or possibly even gaining more weight. Losing weight is a high priority for Petey right now as he gained 5 pounds in 4 months on the Canidae.

So after help from OG, we've switched away from TO Black Forest and are trying EVO RM now. So he's been on EVO RM for five days now and is doing great as far as switching goes. No gassiness anymore like I had with the Candiae and good poopsies. I'm still doing half and half, but he'll pick out the EVO RM to eat before eating the TO, which I thought was interesting. Apparently it tastes better to him and is worth it to slow down when he normally inhales to pick out the tastier food first.

So he was only on TO for about 2-3weeks, and did very well on it. All the gassiness went away very quickly, and I noticed a huge difference in his coat. He's always been soft, but now he is SOFT! WOW! A huge difference in only a short amount of time! I don't know if that was due to the TO or Nature's Valley Raw Medallions, but whatever it was, I want to keep it!

But unfortunately, first he needs to lose those five pounds. So far so good with the EVO! I'm monitoring his weight closely and his coat as well. I want to see how his coat does on the EVO. If he loses weight, but the softness goes away, I may eventually switch back to the TO/Raw mix. For now though, based upon the advice of others and my vet, a higher protein food is his better option. I'm still going to give him some raw medallions as well. I'm currently doing a mix of 1 1/2 cup EVO and two raw medallions.

As far as cost, for those curious , the EVO with shipping has actually been the most expensive try yet. I found a really good deal for the TO, but that same company doesn't carry EVO. I order online due to a bad back. But it's only a few dollars more, so not bad! Between the Kibble and raw, I'm spending about $80/ month.

But I'm happy to say that on both TO and EVO, his gassiness went away. Must have just been the Canidae for some reason. He loved Canidae, but it didn't settle very well with his tummy, and I think the low protein really hurt him. He was only getting two cups a day and still gained all that weight so quickly.

It's a guessing game, that's for sure! So we'll see how this latest experiment goes.
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Old March 8th, 2007, 12:04 AM
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Good luck!
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Old March 8th, 2007, 12:10 AM
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TO has lots of other formulas that have higher protein levels. I believe the black forest is the lowest at about 22% but the others (elk/salmon, ocean blue, dakota bison, lamb/apples) are all in the 26 - 28% range. They also have a wild & natural grain free formula that is 36%.

You could also consider combining the EVO on a regular basis if it works well for you .
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Old March 15th, 2007, 10:08 PM
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Hmm, Petey's starting to get gassy again on just the EVO, so I'm going to try doing the half and half again. He did very well on the TO. Maybe one of their higher protein foods would be better? I still have half a container of TO and half a container of EVO, so need to finish them both off first. I think I'll try the combo thing again and see how it goes! Can't tell if he's lost any weight yet....the waist seems a little more defined, but the fat rolls on the neck are still there. I need to take him in for a weigh-in!
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Old March 15th, 2007, 11:04 PM
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Maybe the protein is too high for Petey in the EVO RM. You could also try the TO Wild and Natural as the protein is only 36%. I've been mixing it with the Innova regular with good results.
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Old March 15th, 2007, 11:23 PM
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Why did you switch off the TO?
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Old March 16th, 2007, 04:22 PM
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Oh sorry! It was recommended to me to try a higher protein level of food and one with minimal grains since Petey needs to lose weight. He loves the taste of EVO RM (then again, he'll eat ANYTHING if given the opportunity!), but he's starting to get gassy again, like he was on the Canidae. When he was on the TO, the gas completely disappeared. So I think I'll try the half To and half EVO since I now have lots of both to finish up both bags and then try a different formula of the TO. I had tried Black Forest, which of course is the one with the lowest protein of all their formulas. Oops! I was supplementing with the Nature's Valley raw medallions as well, so I'll just up the amount of raw/kibble mix for higher protein I think since that combination REALLY agreed with him. No gas and a coat that was suddenly softer than I've ever felt it before. I had just switched off because I was hoping the EVO RM would be a better choice for weight loss. And it probably still is, but OY, I can't handle that gas. LOL!
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Old March 16th, 2007, 04:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rainbow View Post
Maybe the protein is too high for Petey in the EVO RM. You could also try the TO Wild and Natural as the protein is only 36%. I've been mixing it with the Innova regular with good results.
Oh, thanks for the suggestion! The Black Forest was only like 23% or 26%, something like that. I didn't even think to look at protein levels back when I was choosing between the formulas. I learn something new every time I look at dog food I guess, LOL! But I'll give the Wild and Natural a try once I finish up the EVO and Black Forest. Thanks!
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Old March 16th, 2007, 04:25 PM
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hehe, Petey Bombs!

Well, good luck finding something that works and that you're happy with.
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Old March 16th, 2007, 04:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Prin View Post
hehe, Petey Bombs!

Well, good luck finding something that works and that you're happy with.
LOL! Thanks! Yeah, I'm learning that he seems to have trouble handling too high a protein mix. Not sure what that means exactly, but that's my latest discovery with the gas problem!
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Old March 16th, 2007, 06:19 PM
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Good luck with Petey. Let us know how the TO Wild & Natural works out.
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