Hello all,
I have three large breed dogs- An 11 year old Great Pyrenees mix, an 8 year old Golden Retriever, and a 3 year old Curly Coated Retriever. They have been on Farmina N&D Ocean Codfish/Orange for 5-6 years now and have all been in great health with no issues. We went with this brand and variety because they seemed to conduct their own research with veterinary nutritionists (I know the validity of that is debated on this sub) and were reputed to have higher manufacturing and quality control standards than brands produced in U.S. or elsewhere.
In the past month, our golden has developed some rashes/hot spots on her belly, rear, and nose. Nothing on her paws, so I was thinking it may be a food allergy reaction. She will be going to the vet to get a professional opinion. I know dogs can develop allergies later in life, and she also had a tick at the time the rash was discovered so I'm not sure it was food. I picked up a different bag of food at the feed store anyway and have been transitioning her to that in the last couple days but have not yet seen significant improvement.
Last week, my Curly had a really bad runny poop at daycare. They have a fenced yard so I'm not sure if that's been an ongoing problem since I don't see every poop, but I will try to monitor her. She is a counter surfer and serial chicken manure thief so it's not impossible that she got a hold of something else that upset her stomach. Then last night, my Pyrenees was up all night with bad diarrhea. She definitely didn't eat anything other than her kibble dinner.
When our golden had issues, I first thought that maybe the food had gone bad since it had been forgotten in my car for several days and may have been exposed to high/low temps, but these potential issues are persisting on "new" bags.
I say "new" because upon inspection, I noticed that all the bags I've received from January to now are from the same batch produced in September. I think the best-by date is in 2025 so it shouldn't be expired- but I am curious to hear from others about that- how old is too old for kibble?
I definitely felt disappointed in that given the price point. We do an auto ship through Chewy, so I have been thinking about reaching out to them about the issue. I am also considering reaching out to Farmina directly. I also learned that my local feed store can special order Farmina for me, so I may do that in the future if we stick with Farmina in order to get fresher food and support local business.
I was also shocked to learn that they are now producing in Serbia. I'm very disappointed in that given the price point and price increases throughout this period. I justified the cost by the peace of mind brought by high manufacturing standards, but now I feel like I'm not getting what I paid for.
I'm not sure how to proceed after last night's diarrhea episode. I will probably feed her egg/rice/pumpkin to settle her stomach today. How do I go about confirming that the food is the issue- should I try to reintroduce it or is it not worth it?
I have been thinking about switching their food in general due to budget constraints but wasn't willing to when they were all thriving on it. I am open to any alternatives people may recommend. I prefer food that is formulated by nutritionists (I know that can be a controversial topic) but am concerned about the manufacturing, ingredient quality, and quality control of the big brands like Purina Pro Plan.
Thanks in advance for any advice or input! Dog food research is so overwhelming.
I have three large breed dogs- An 11 year old Great Pyrenees mix, an 8 year old Golden Retriever, and a 3 year old Curly Coated Retriever. They have been on Farmina N&D Ocean Codfish/Orange for 5-6 years now and have all been in great health with no issues. We went with this brand and variety because they seemed to conduct their own research with veterinary nutritionists (I know the validity of that is debated on this sub) and were reputed to have higher manufacturing and quality control standards than brands produced in U.S. or elsewhere.
In the past month, our golden has developed some rashes/hot spots on her belly, rear, and nose. Nothing on her paws, so I was thinking it may be a food allergy reaction. She will be going to the vet to get a professional opinion. I know dogs can develop allergies later in life, and she also had a tick at the time the rash was discovered so I'm not sure it was food. I picked up a different bag of food at the feed store anyway and have been transitioning her to that in the last couple days but have not yet seen significant improvement.
Last week, my Curly had a really bad runny poop at daycare. They have a fenced yard so I'm not sure if that's been an ongoing problem since I don't see every poop, but I will try to monitor her. She is a counter surfer and serial chicken manure thief so it's not impossible that she got a hold of something else that upset her stomach. Then last night, my Pyrenees was up all night with bad diarrhea. She definitely didn't eat anything other than her kibble dinner.
When our golden had issues, I first thought that maybe the food had gone bad since it had been forgotten in my car for several days and may have been exposed to high/low temps, but these potential issues are persisting on "new" bags.
I say "new" because upon inspection, I noticed that all the bags I've received from January to now are from the same batch produced in September. I think the best-by date is in 2025 so it shouldn't be expired- but I am curious to hear from others about that- how old is too old for kibble?
I definitely felt disappointed in that given the price point. We do an auto ship through Chewy, so I have been thinking about reaching out to them about the issue. I am also considering reaching out to Farmina directly. I also learned that my local feed store can special order Farmina for me, so I may do that in the future if we stick with Farmina in order to get fresher food and support local business.
I was also shocked to learn that they are now producing in Serbia. I'm very disappointed in that given the price point and price increases throughout this period. I justified the cost by the peace of mind brought by high manufacturing standards, but now I feel like I'm not getting what I paid for.
I'm not sure how to proceed after last night's diarrhea episode. I will probably feed her egg/rice/pumpkin to settle her stomach today. How do I go about confirming that the food is the issue- should I try to reintroduce it or is it not worth it?
I have been thinking about switching their food in general due to budget constraints but wasn't willing to when they were all thriving on it. I am open to any alternatives people may recommend. I prefer food that is formulated by nutritionists (I know that can be a controversial topic) but am concerned about the manufacturing, ingredient quality, and quality control of the big brands like Purina Pro Plan.
Thanks in advance for any advice or input! Dog food research is so overwhelming.