is there a hierarchy among the wsava 5?

[tumrub]

Between the main brands, is there some sort of quality hierarchy making Pro Plan the best & the rest not quite as ideal? Or are they all literally comparable, just depends on what your specific dog tolerates/needs most?

My Havanese puppy is doing fine on Hill’s Science Diet small breed puppy since switching, but my Cavalier King Charles isn’t tolerating on the small breed adult quite as well-nothing major, just poop has changed for the worse (not that it’s been ideal most of his 2 years of life but I’m figuring it out). I was hoping that by using the mainstream brands I’d be able to get them at our local Pet Supplies Plus, but their selection for small breeds in the Pro Plan is lacking, so I’d be ordering off Chewy or going to Petsmart for the food it seems. Now is there a clear benefit to going to Pro Plan vs Purina One vs Iams? He’s 15lbs and could stand to gain a bit of weight, so idk if he really needs the small breed kibble size but the brands all say that small breed food has different nutrient balance “especially for small dogs”.
Just trying to decide what to try next for him.
Thanks!

 

[othersteeve]

@tumrub Smaller dogs have a higher metabolism than larger dogs so size specific food accounts for that. If you can its best to feed food designed for your dog's size/weight.

There's no "right" brand to feed among them. Whatever works best for your dog is fine, every dog is different

 

[planter]

@tumrub Not from what I can tell. For my next dog I'll probably go for the most affordable kibble from the WSAVA 5 that makes sense for my breed and switch if they don't tolerate it. Eukanuba was started by Paul F. Iams (the founder of IAMS) to be marketed as the kibble for athletes/performance dogs, and so you might notice that Iam's doesn't have a blend specifically designed for performance, whereas Eukanuba doesn't have specialty blends for GI issues, skin and coat issues, joint support, etc. Iam's fills this niche.

PPP has formulas for performance and for health categories, Royal Canin and Hill's are both known for their wide array of formulas to select from (anything from breed specific to special health categories). It doesn't hurt to browse, but I recommend either continuing the diet they are on when you get them if it's WSAVA compliant, or choosing the most affordable WSAVA formula that makes sense for your breed and its lifestyle and seeing if they tolerate it.

There are definitely breeds that getting a breed specific food wouldn't hurt for. My wife has an affinity for Dachshunds. If we ever get one I will definitely look into Royal Canin's breed specific formula for them. I know they're prone to becoming overweight, so I'd imagine their adult kibble is small and not as caloric dense as another small breed kibble would be (but I'd do that research when the time comes). These are the kinds of considerations it would behoove you to have when choosing a formula that makes sense to start your pup on.

 

[tumrub]

@planter Thank you for the very thorough reply! You helped clarify each brand & their benefits/specialties.

My husband brought home some small breed IAMS for our Cavalier to try (the store he was at was out of any small breed Purina one or pro plan). Would be nice if that worked - IAMS is super affordable, but honestly any of these foods are more affordable than the raw we did with him for a while… so whichever route we go, it’ll be an improvement.
He was eating grass like a salad any chance he got and had mush poo on the Hill’s small breed.

I told my husband it would be pretty funny if we landed on Pro Plan with him …. That’s what the breeder sent us home with, but we switched off asap because we thought we knew better than to feed him that “junk”. live & learn.

Royal Canin has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel formula, but it’s partly for weight maintenance (which he has no need for at this point- he’s super active and young still) & they don’t sell small bags or samples so we’d have to buy a $60 bag & hope for the best or be stuck returning it.
If IAMS or Pro Plan don’t work, that would be next on the list. If that doesn’t work then I don’t know what we’d do. I guess experiment with the more specialty foods of each brand - sensitive stomach or whatever else there is. It’s so ridiculous because he eats trash if he can sneak it before it shuts and the kids’ food crumbs with no issue, but actual dog food will mess him up.

We’re in the process of choosing a new vet. Once we do, I’ll ask their advice on foods as well if we haven’t figured it out on our own yet.

 

[sevilodorf]

@tumrub Not really. There are certainly specialty diets that some dogs will do better on than others. There is no clear nutritional or health benefit writ large between pro plan, Purina one, Iams etc.

Small breed adult kibble is really just about the size of the pieces, it’s not meaningfully less calorically dense.

 

[tumrub]

@sevilodorf Ok cool. Thanks. The small breed food descriptions keep saying things like “meeting the higher caloric/protein needs of small breeds” so it makes it sound like there’s a clear benefit to use them.

Do you think it’s important to stick with the same brand for the canned & dry food (I mix them) or does it not matter as long as it’s quality food & they’re not being over fed?

 

[sevilodorf]

@tumrub I think it’s generally less risky in terms of nutrient balance to use the same brands but the likelihood of mixing two science-backed brands appropriate for the dogs age causing any issues is super low.