# Danger of fish based diets?



## cbrookman (Jun 12, 2011)

Really p*ssed of at the mo. Ordered 24kg Fish4dogs yesterday for my flatcoat who has a lot of diet sensitivity issues. After a year of trying to sort out his 'issues' and finally settling with Fish4dogs this has been the ONLY dry commercial food that hasn't caused loose stools, gas etc. He won't tolerate any cereals/grains and even things like peas added to a dry food's ingredients cause loads of gas Anyway took him to vets for annual booster this morning and when I told him he was on Fish4dogs he said be very careful as the recommendations for humans is only 2 portions of oliy fish per week therefore I am overloading the dog with fish and the toxins in the fish can collect in the body and cause problems in later life. This seems pretty logical to me but I was just glad to have found a food that suits my dog. He recommended only feeding Fish4dogs for 1/4 of the dog's food. I have tried Workinghprs Duck and Potato grain free but the dog had really bad wind (also Autarky Salmon, Skinners -no good as both rice based) What I really want is to find a meat based cereal-free food which has no additives other than oils, beet pulp and potato - a meat equivalent of Fish4dogs. Any ideas gratefully appreciated


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

Never heard of this one and I've looked at dog food and nutrition quite a lot.

Ramble time...

There is a microbe in some parasites in some fish (North America to Alaska n not UK), Neoricjettsia helminthoecca which can cause "salmon poisoning" if fed raw. Pet food is not raw

The other thing I am aware of from the raw side of things is lots of tuna is discouraged. Being an top level predator heavy metals may be concentrated in it's flesh if fed in large quantity.

I would be to contact the customer service of Fish4dogs and other fish based food and ask them for reaction. Also ask if they have any studies which counter the vet's comments. Let us know, if you do, the answer.


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

cbrookman said:


> Really p*ssed of at the mo. Ordered 24kg Fish4dogs yesterday for my flatcoat who has a lot of diet sensitivity issues. After a year of trying to sort out his 'issues' and finally settling with Fish4dogs this has been the ONLY dry commercial food that hasn't caused loose stools, gas etc. He won't tolerate any cereals/grains and even things like peas added to a dry food's ingredients cause loads of gas Anyway took him to vets for annual booster this morning and when I told him he was on Fish4dogs he said be very careful as the recommendations for humans is only 2 portions of oliy fish per week therefore I am overloading the dog with fish and the toxins in the fish can collect in the body and cause problems in later life. This seems pretty logical to me but I was just glad to have found a food that suits my dog. He recommended only feeding Fish4dogs for 1/4 of the dog's food. I have tried Workinghprs Duck and Potato grain free but the dog had really bad wind (also Autarky Salmon, Skinners -no good as both rice based) What I really want is to find a meat based cereal-free food which has no additives other than oils, beet pulp and potato - a meat equivalent of Fish4dogs. Any ideas gratefully appreciated


You could try Orijen


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## The Minkey (Feb 6, 2012)

There is certainly concern for humans about eating too much oily fish largely due to our polluted seas and the toxins they accumulate as a result. Having said that, dogs don't live anywhere near as long as we do, so there is less time for a build up of toxins in a dog's body - or so it seems to me..

Is there any reason you are feeding your dog an exclusively dry diet? Bozita do a great range of cereal free wet food - take a look at the compostion - not all are completely cereal/vegetable free but you can check for each flavour here: Great Deals on Bozita Canned Dog Food at Zooplus


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## cbrookman (Jun 12, 2011)

Have just e mailed Fish4dogs for their response to the concerns raised by my vet. Will keep you posted. Also have checked out the Orijen product range and although it appears to be a very high quality range they all have fish in the ingredients alongside the meat. Also at those prices it would cost £40+ per week to feed my 2 dogs compared to the £11 it currently costs with Fish4dogs. Wish I could afford to swap both dogs onto just Orijen and scrap the fish 4 dogs but the price is out of my league!!


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## cbrookman (Jun 12, 2011)

The Minkey said:


> Great Deals on Bozita Canned Dog Food at Zooplus[/URL]


Convenience really I suppose but I always soak the food in cold water for about an hour before feeding whilst I exercise the dogs (stories of bloat risks with dry food swelling up in the guts plus my Golden Retriever just prefers the food when it is moist). I will take a look at this link though
Thanks.


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## PennyGC (Sep 24, 2011)

the only issue I have with high fish is the high phosphorus level in fish, so wouldn't feed to a dog with a kidney problem... other than that I've not heard of an issue over predominantly fish and if it suits your dog then I'd continue feeding it....


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

PennyGC said:


> the only issue I have with high fish is the high phosphorus level in fish


My understanding is that for a food to be considered "complete" in the EU it has to match the F.E.D.I.A.F. Nutritional Guidelines for Complete and Complementary Pet Food Calcium and Phosphorous have to be maintained in a specific ratio and a maximum for both is included. Care must be taken however as this is only an advisory level which shouldn't be exceeded.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Surprised it isn't discussed more often here as it crops up all of the time over in cat. Here is my stock response when that crops up, which you might also find useful. 

First things first, I absolutely agree that a fish-only diet is not the best diet for a cat or dog (but than again I don't think that a diet of any one protein source is a balanced diet or indeed a diet from just one brand) and that a diet that contains a high proportion of "raw" or human-grade "cooked" fish is an absolutely no-no for many of the reasons listed here: PROVET HEALTHCARE INFORMATION - Fish as Cat Food. With high proportion I personally mean it being fed more often than once a week at the very most.

But there are a few reasons why I personally think there is some misinformation about commercially produced cat food that is fish-based.

It is often said that fish-flavoured cat food is high in phosphorus and magnesium, which can create a problem in cats that have a history of UTIs or kidney disease.

However, fish-based cat food doesnt, as a rule, contain more calcium, more phosphorus or more magnesium than meat-based cat food  at least not in the foods that I have looked at. That holds true for both wet food as well as dry food (a few of us have compared over 150 dry foods available in the UK and the ones with the highest mineral load arent fish-based ones).

It may be worth keeping in mind that many of the foods that are marketed as fish-flavoured food are just that;* fish-flavoured*. The actual fish content within that food is quite low and typically the food is packed with other (cheaper) protein-sources. So, TM, if you look at your Felix Tuna you will probably find that the first ingredient in the composition list is some meat followed perhaps by something else and then your fish-flavour. The same holds true for a lot of available fish foods (with the exception of treat foods, which tend to be just fish and some of the available fish pots) inc Bozita.

Re the heavy metals; there are guidelines for heavy metals in their food. For a report on the issue from 2008 see here: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/fr/scdocs/doc/CONTAM_op_ej654_mercury_en.pdf. It has this to say about complete cat and dog food and mercury (however, based on just a spot survey and information from one country...)



> Complete feed for dogs and cats
> Mercury concentrations in 126 samples of pet food were provided. The highest reported concentration in this category was 0.18 mg/kg in a sample of compound feedingstuff for cats.This was well below the maximum permitted level of 0.4 mg/kg in this category. The majority of samples were simply designated Complete feed  dogs and cats and so it was not possible to calculate average and median values for each species. Furthermore, since 80% of the samples analysed originated from one country (Hungary), it is not clear to what extent these results are representative of the EU as a whole. In addition to the information obtained from the European feed authorities, FEDIAF also provided data on 78 samples of canned pet food and 119 of dried pet food analysed in the period 2003-2006. The average (and maximum) concentrations were 0.021 (0.026) and 0.033 (0.110) mg/kg for the canned and dry pet foods, respectively (12% moisture basis).


HTH


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## bluegirl (May 7, 2012)

I know I'm going to sound loopy here, but giving parsley with the diet, either fresh or died is very good at protecting the kidneys, as in all dogs protein rich diets may come at a price later in life. 

I use quite a few herbs with my dogs and their diets, but I do use parsley daily as a preventative measure for kidney disease. It may be something to look into especially since your dog has a delicate digestive system.


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## mollymo (Oct 31, 2009)

My GRs are both on Vitalin Maintenance Cereal Free chicken and potato due to food intolerance (colitis ) and its been excellent for them both and I have tried many quality completes but this suits them very well.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

I doubt that given a choice, they would choose to eat fish all the time and the way I see it, in the wild they would probably have the occasional fish but would be eating mostly meat. For that reason, I am happy for Heidi to have fish occasionally but if I had to choose one protein, it wouldnt be fish.

I'm one for a variety of proteins where possible. I've been a bit restricted with Heidi because she has a sensitive tum but since dropping kibble other than treats, I've been able to give her more. Kibble is harder for them to digest. Even a mix of kibble and wet upsets Heidi over a period of time. 100% wet is the way for us. 

If you're considering zooplus brands, have a look at Rocco Classic and Rinti, they're all meat/offal and cereal free.

Re the HPRS duck and potato. The wind could be due to the change and poss given time would settle?????

Hope F4D can give you an answer you will be happy with and you've no need to look any further


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## Bobbie (May 3, 2008)

Oh I will be pleased to know what Fish4dogs say as Bracken has a very delicate tum and he is on a fish base diet which I thought was the best for him now I wonder.


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## Strawberryearth (Apr 5, 2012)

cbrookman said:


> Really p*ssed of at the mo. Ordered 24kg Fish4dogs yesterday for my flatcoat who has a lot of diet sensitivity issues. After a year of trying to sort out his 'issues' and finally settling with Fish4dogs this has been the ONLY dry commercial food that hasn't caused loose stools, gas etc. He won't tolerate any cereals/grains and even things like peas added to a dry food's ingredients cause loads of gas Anyway took him to vets for annual booster this morning and when I told him he was on Fish4dogs he said be very careful as the recommendations for humans is only 2 portions of oliy fish per week therefore I am overloading the dog with fish and the toxins in the fish can collect in the body and cause problems in later life. This seems pretty logical to me but I was just glad to have found a food that suits my dog. He recommended only feeding Fish4dogs for 1/4 of the dog's food. I have tried Workinghprs Duck and Potato grain free but the dog had really bad wind (also Autarky Salmon, Skinners -no good as both rice based) What I really want is to find a meat based cereal-free food which has no additives other than oils, beet pulp and potato - a meat equivalent of Fish4dogs. Any ideas gratefully appreciated


This had me really concerned for a while as I feed my pup on Fish4dogs, and this is what she has always eaten.

I do agree that there should be different sources of protein however when sensitivity occurs I am sure the main thing is finding something that agrees with your dog.

To be honest, I disagree with the vet on the basis that, yes humans should eat 2 portions of oily fish a week, however fish4dogs complete food is cod...isn't it? The last time I checked cod wasn't classed as an oily fish. I know they sell salmon oil and salmon oil infused treats but these are not supposed to form a major part of their diet.

Happy to hear more about this though, especially feedback from fish4dogs themselves, would hate to have to switch food!


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## YellowLab (Jul 18, 2011)

Im not that clued up on dog foods but I have heard that as soon as a fish dies it starts to build up histamine. The longer it takes to get the fish into the dog food the more it builds up. Apparently dogs can become itchy and such on fish based diets because of all the histamine in the food.

Like I said I have no idea if this is true  but its what I read somewhere


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## Coffee (Jul 31, 2011)

I have nothing particularly helpful to add to this thread  but I just wanted to say, if you don't get a reply from F4D via email then give them a call. I had to ring them a while ago as I wanted to know if F4D was suitable for my Dalmatian (it isn't) and they were incredibly helpful and informative and impressed me with their honesty by telling me it wasn't a suitable food for the breed.

Good luck.


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## DoodlesRule (Jul 7, 2011)

Coffee said:


> I have nothing particularly helpful to add to this thread  but I just wanted to say, if you don't get a reply from F4D via email then give them a call. I had to ring them a while ago as I wanted to know if F4D was suitable for my Dalmatian (it isn't) and they were incredibly helpful and informative and impressed me with their honesty by telling me it wasn't a suitable food for the breed.
> 
> Good luck.


sorry for sidetracking your thread, just wondered why its not suitable for dalmatians?


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

DoodlesRule said:


> sorry for sidetracking your thread, just wondered why its not suitable for dalmatians?


A high level of purines I should imagine. I am sure Coffee will correct me if I am wrong.


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## lola belle (Mar 17, 2011)

I have to agree with Mum2Heidi on this one, absolutely spot on. Always informative responses. I used to use Fish4Dogs dry food, and although an excellent product, not for long term use. That's just my opinion and experience, and there will be plenty of people on here disagree.


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## Coffee (Jul 31, 2011)

DoodlesRule said:


> sorry for sidetracking your thread, just wondered why its not suitable for dalmatians?





hobbs2004 said:


> A high level of purines I should imagine. I am sure Coffee will correct me if I am wrong.


That's right hoobs2004 

Dalmatians are the only breed that cannot break down purines (a type of protein) so the build up of these can cause urate crystals which can then turn into kidney and bladder stones, which can prove fatal  Some foods are more naturally high in purines than others and a couple of the key ingrediants in F4D were on the 'red' (pretty much 'banned' foods) list - brewers yeast was one of them and I think the other was fish oil.

Sorry OP for the slight de-railing of your thread


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## catseyes (Sep 10, 2010)

It def concerning and i would like to hear what f4d say as i have recently changed grizzler onto this after a lot of research believing its a high quality dog food.


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## PennyGC (Sep 24, 2011)

It is a high quality dog food and doesn't contain merely fish 'flavour' but whole fish... I wouldn't feed it to a dog with kidney issues, but then it would merely be one food amongst many (including a raw diet) that I wouldn't feed .... I agree that it's best not to feed one source of protein for life, so like to give some variety...in answer to another post about cod/oily fish, they offer both - salmon (oily) and other fish (not like cod).


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## lola belle (Mar 17, 2011)

It's a high quality food, whether it should be feed "exclusively and indefinitely" is another matter entirely. It will be interesting to find out what the company response is.


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## TabithaJ (Apr 18, 2010)

If Fish For Dogs isn't suitable for Dalmations, shouldn't it state that somewhere on the packaging and/or the website....?

I used to use this brand and don't recall it ever stating this anywhere; just thinking that there may be some Dalmation owners out there who don't realise it's not healthy for their dogs and thus use it!

Dex (Lab) ate F4D for a while, then refused to touch it, ditto with all other dry foods.


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

TabithaJ said:


> If Fish For Dogs isn't suitable for Dalmations, shouldn't it state that somewhere on the packaging and/or the website....?
> 
> I used to use this brand and don't recall it ever stating this anywhere; just thinking that there may be some Dalmation owners out there who don't realise it's not healthy for their dogs and thus use it!


Please... don't have to shout 

Playing devils advocate and making assumption about reasoning why not dalmations:

The question you have to ask is what is different about dalmations to other dogs. It's not the fact that they are generally different from other dogs, it's a problem that a high majority suffer from urinary stones due to the way they have been bred in the past. If people actually researched the breed they would learn purines levels may influence this and make decisions on food relating to this. If you have a healthy dalmation without this condition the food would be fine. What you are potentially saying is you want labels such as can't feed X food if you have A,B,C... Y medical conditions. Can you imagine the label size in this case?

Should also be noted that prey model raw is not recommended for a lot of dalmations due to high purine levels in offal. Vegetable alternatives are recommended using a specific BARF diet which I am sure if people are interested they can find on dalmation forums. It's not something I've actually looked up personally.


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## TabithaJ (Apr 18, 2010)

Goblin said:


> *Please... don't have to shout *
> 
> Playing devils advocate and making assumption about reasoning why not dalmations:
> 
> ...


I did not 'shout' 

I always write in this size.

I do take your point about the label size, good point


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## catseyes (Sep 10, 2010)

has there been any response from f4d at all yet??


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## cbrookman (Jun 12, 2011)

Must say how impressed I have been by the two quick responses I got from the CEO of Fish4Dogs!
I have pasted them both below:
"I would like to connect your vet with ours so she can allay your vets fears. Can you forward his contact details to me please?

Ill also ask her for her direct comments so I can pass these onto you. However, as our source of salmon is Norwegian farmed salmon who are fed on very controlled diets I doubt this is a concern.

Normally vets are important opinion formers and drive people to Fish4Dogs rather than away  realising fish protein is superior to meat, potato a great alternative to cereal based carbohydrates and not forgetting the major benefits of omega 3 oils.

Ill be back in touch.

Kind regards,

Graham"

"Our vet (from our Norwegian parent company) has provided an answer to your query which I paste below:

Dear Graham,

Thanks for your mail. As you know, this is quite a controversial topic not only in animal health but also in human health. The main message here is that Health benefits of eating fish far outweighs risks from contaminants:

If you take in consideration studies on risks and benefits of fish consumption, the first impression without any formal analyses, is that on average benefits far exceed risks (main benefits on prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, neurologic development and degenerative diseases, among many others like chronic inflammatory diseases)
EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority, 2005) noted that by eating, for example, meat instead of fish, will not necessarily lead to decreased exposure of dioxin-like compounds. This is an important point, and rarely has it been considered what would be the risks of an alternative food item, and what would be the recommendation to, e.g meat if the same intake of contaminant were set. There are a number of studies like Mozaffarian and Rimm (2006), in which the observed levels of PCBs and dioxins were similar in salmon to those in many other foods, and in which the risks for cardiovascular disease and cancer were significantly lower in individuals consuming fish. It is quite difficult to run a risk assessment study of benefits and risks of fish consume, because many of the positive effects are difficult to quantify. However, benefits are far outweighing any potential health risk related to contamination. If you consider vegetable raw materials, you will find in addition the accumulative effect of pesticides. Pollutants are present in all parts of the food chain and in different environments.

Farmed fish are controlled (from farm to fork) in regards to both quality and safety in order of ensure the consumer safe and healthy food. Salmon is the most common farmed specie in aquaculture, they have the advantage of containing high concentrations of PUFA but low concentrations of methyl mercury, which may represent a health risk if accumulates in tissues. There are at present strict policies and regulations for controlling contaminants in farmed fish, and these are strictly followed by the raw material suppliers for Fish for Dogs recipes.
-	Regulations on fish feed quality: The main risks for feed contamination are environmental pollutants like PCBs, dioxins and heavy metals which can be found as trace amounts in most food and feed . Nowadays, the main fish feed producers follow strict legislative requirements, internal control and monitoring of contaminant programs for ensuring that undesired substances are not transferred to farmed fish. EU regulations on polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) in fish feed were introduced in 2002; the plan of including dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in the regulations will contribute to reduce levels of these contaminants in farmed fish. 
-	Partial replacement of fish oil by vegetable oil has been shown to be an effective approach to reduce both levels of dioxins and PCBs in fish feed (Berntssen et al. 2005)
-	Monitoring of water quality for minimizing the risk of chemical contaminants.
-	Minimize the use of medicine in farming. In cases were low amount of medicine are used, specified withdrawal periods are followed and residues are checked before harvest.

With respect to wild fish, it is not possible to control their diet but there are regional differences in the amount of contaminants, e.g. in the Baltic Sea (higher pollution). The suppliers for our raw materials (which are destined for human consumption) follow up important controls for chemical contaminants in their catch.

I would like to suggest a relevant book to address all these issues. Improving farmed fish quality and safety (2008) Ed. Øyvind Lie. Woodhead Publishing Limited ISBN 978-1-84569-299-5. 
Absolutely worth to read it to get a complete overview of risks and benefits of farmed fish consumption!

Please, let me know if you need any related information,

Kind regards,

Laura Gil Martens, Med. Vet., PhD
Chief Nutritionist
AM Nutrition AS, Stavanger, Norway
E-mail: [email protected]
Mobile +47 91 24 59 09
Graham C. Smith"
CEO

Not so sure about forwarding vet's details though as I don't want to "get him into trouble." What do others think? 
Cheers all who have replied to my original post and hope the info provided helps you to make a better informed decision about feeding your dogs


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## lola belle (Mar 17, 2011)

A very detailed response......however, for my dogs, i think rotation and variation
Is the way for them. Personally, I don't think any one dry feed should be fed exclusively. The raw and "wet" fed are the best fed, thats just my opinion, and ere will be plenty who will disagree!!


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

cbrookman said:


> Not so sure about forwarding vet's details though as I don't want to "get him into trouble." What do others think?


You could always change it the other way round and ask the vet to contact the fish4dogs one rather than the other way around. Ball is then in his court.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

lola belle said:


> A very detailed response......however, for my dogs, i think rotation and variation
> Is the way for them. Personally, I don't think any one dry feed should be fed exclusively. The raw and "wet" fed are the best fed, thats just my opinion, and ere will be plenty who will disagree!!


Completely agree!


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

This is one of the reasons I went raw (not suggesting anyone change her, just my opinion).

There are so many do's, don'ts and contradictions in commercial food. It is truly a minefield.

It got to the point I was worrying too much about stuff bebg in it.

Now I know exactly what goes in their food, because I decide what makes their meals up lol.


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

Lyceum said:


> This is one of the reasons I went raw (not suggesting anyone change her, just my opinion).
> 
> I know exactly what goes in their food, because I decide what makes their meals up lol.


Totally agree and would only trust myself with my dogs nutrition - never looked back!


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## henry (Mar 16, 2009)

I agree that variety is good too. I personally wouldn't feed a totally dry diet, especially one type/brand.

For us, it's various wet foods (Naturediet, Natures Harvest, etc) plus raw complete blocks several times a week (currently Natures Menu frozen raw). 

Treats add a bit more variety - tripe sticks, Fish4Dogs treats, the odd biscuit and bits of carrots and banana.


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## Strawberryearth (Apr 5, 2012)

Thanks for posting their response. As a F4D's customer I am satisfied with their response as it appears they have investigated this thoroughly and the benefits far outweigh the risks, like with most things there will be a certain amount of risk/benefits to overcome! 

I don't think I will exclusively feed F4Ds for life, however I find it a good "base" food, my pup loves it and her coat is so shiny it glistens!

I really do appreciate the debate, it is something I hadn't considered and now it is something I am a lot more mindful of, in addition to a varied diet in general. 

Cheers!


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I have been researching pigmentation and how our bodies makes it (and for dogs). I found Salmon, trout & sardines are highest in omega 3 & 6 naturally. I have not found a dog food with all three in. Closest has been Green dog Salmon & Trout which I got a 2kg bag of and my dog is doing well on it.. His eyes have cleared up completely no gungy eye every morning and running through day and his stools are smaller and firmer.

I also looked at F4D adult superior food that has Border Collie on the front. I emailed them to ask about that and they were very helpful to me also.

_
"Thank you for your interest in Fish4Dogs. I can confirm that with the exception of our Sea biscuit treat(which contains 5% rice) ALL our complete food & treats are totally free of all grains, are hypoallergenic & wheat/gluten free.

The inclusion of pea flour in our foods is as a primarily source of carbohydrate, but does also contain small quantities of protein and fibre. It is produced by grinding whole, yellow peas to a fine powder (generally recognised as Pea flour), after which the majority of the protein and fibre is removed by air separation.
The addition of a lower GI carb, such as pea added to the potato establishes a very balanced glycemic index. As mentioned, pea does also contain a small quantity of protein, which has an amino acid profile that complements fish very well. Whilst it contains good levels of the primary limiting amino acids, methionine, lysine, and threonine, it also contains high levels of arginine and phenylalanine, which are often lacking in animal proteins.

If you would like to forward me your address details I would be happy to send you some samples for your dog to try?"_

Arginine is used for treating canine cancer so maybe in food it may help prevent it before dog has it? (I'm not sure I'm asking?)

Phenylalanine is used to treat canine vitiligo sometimes and other pigment conditions in dogs.

Speaking of the more expensive foods that claim to have wild salmon etc such as Orijen & TOTW and are based in the US... aren't they going to be at more risk of causing poisoning or something as someone said you can't control what wild fish eat? They have all kinds of wild fish like herring, flounder, pollock, northern pike etc all together in one food (6 fish variety) caught, I assume.. in the waters around the US & Canada?


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2013)

Surely there are dangers and risks in most diets?

Anyway, hows JJ's pink patch Inca? Still there causing distress?


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

LurcherOwner said:


> Surely there are dangers and risks in most diets?
> 
> Anyway, hows JJ's pink patch Inca? Still there causing distress?


Yeah... I'm sure it just looks bigger as his skin stretching cos face growing. I found a doggy sunscreen as he's an outdoorsy dog and just not happy playing inside when the sun is out. It protects him from getting burnt.

I thought if I research which foods help pigmentation and add those that are dog-safe into his diet then hopefully it would help his adult coat come in better, even if its just less noticeable by the time he is fully grown and a smaller patch.

I was told coconut oil helps too (both added to food and applied topically) the hairs are bit more visible and seems to be a few more of them in that area.

F4D also suggested a diet rich in fish may help with this issue. He will get some meat too though just to balance things! They had turkey mince the other day and got them some chicken livers. He likes sausage too! (gluten free so no breadcrumbs/wheat in) .. but his daily kibble will be fish based I think for now anyway.. if it doesn't work.. it doesn't work a least his diet is healthy.. and finally found something that works on his runny eyes!


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## Hanlou (Oct 29, 2012)

Bear in mind that this is a year old thread. 

Fish4Dogs have changed their ingredients since this thread was posted.


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## Renata (Mar 18, 2013)

Vitalin Adult Maintenance.
Ingredients: 

Chicken Meat Meal (min 26%), Potato (min 26%), Refined Chicken Fat, Sugar Beet Pulp, Peas, Carrots, Yeasts, Fish Meal, Minerals, Vitamins, Glucosamine, Chondroitin and Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), Yucca, Prebiotic Micro-FOS.

My dogs are doing well on this food.


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## cinnamontoast (Oct 24, 2010)

That, IMO, is really poor quality food ^^


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## soulful dog (Nov 6, 2011)

cinammontoast said:


> That, IMO, is really poor quality food ^^


The Vitalin Maintenance? It's not brilliant, but it's far from "really poor quality"!


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