Will someone explain the advantages of feeding grain free food. (border collie, allergy)
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We adopted our lab-collie-sheltie mix 1 yr. ago. I have been feeding her Fromm Whitefish and Potato Four Star food and she has done really well on that. She went from 44 lbs. to 55 lbs. in a year and she is now the perfect weight for her size. But she developed very itchy skin 3 months ago. She scratches around her neck sometimes making small nicks in her skin. My Vet suggested adding fish oil to her diet. I am also considering changing her food. So I am curious about the reasons to go grain free and whether that might help her skin. Any suggestions will be appreciated!
Unless your dog has a grain allergy, there may be no benefit to it at all. That said, when I feed a kibble (foster dogs), I always feed grain free. I feed raw and am considering switching to kibble (although so far I can’t bring myself to do it), I would only feed grain free.
Having worked with grains for many years as a scientist, I would say there is no benefit. Cereal grains are lower in protein than, say, soybean, but they are higher in protein than potato. They have a lot of starch but also some other complex carbohydrates. Whole grains like cracked corn can supply some valuable nutrients like zeaxanthin and carotenoids that are important for vitA production. Components like wheat germ, part of the wheat seed, is especially healthy. Grains can supply basic feed requirements and are generally safe from animal pathogens, although contaminated corn has on occasion carried mycotoxins--rare, so you have heard about it when it is found.
Why do people prefer no grains? Grains do add carbs, and maybe some people think their dogs are too fat. I actually worry more that non-grain foods may have ingredients that are more likely to spoil. I personally look at a dry food for high protein content and look for a long established dog food company with a good track record in research and dog food trials on actual dogs.
Having worked with grains for many years as a scientist, I would say there is no benefit. Cereal grains are lower in protein than, say, soybean, but they are higher in protein than potato. They have a lot of starch but also some other complex carbohydrates. Whole grains like cracked corn can supply some valuable nutrients like zeaxanthin and carotenoids that are important for vitA production. Components like wheat germ, part of the wheat seed, is especially healthy. Grains can supply basic feed requirements and are generally safe from animal pathogens, although contaminated corn has on occasion carried mycotoxins--rare, so you have heard about it when it is found.
Why do people prefer no grains? Grains do add carbs, and maybe some people think their dogs are too fat. I actually worry more that non-grain foods may have ingredients that are more likely to spoil. I personally look at a dry food for high protein content and look for a long established dog food company with a good track record in research and dog food trials on actual dogs.
I have fed grain vs grain free kibble, using brands as pricey as Wellness (for both grain and grain free) and as affordable as Petsnart brand Source (both grain and grain free).
My dogs start to itch and scratch when they are on the grain diet regardless of brand.
The itching stops when they are switched to grain free regardless of brand.
Another example: my neighbor's dog suffered some sort of allergy where he scratched himself raw. Patches of fur is missing all over his body and the vets could not figure it out how to stop this. That dog suffered since he was 8 weeks old until recently now that he almost 7 years. He was eating Purina dog chow and other grain filled brands. After I suggested Source grain free kibble, a month later, his scratching has stopped completely and his fur is starting to grow back.
1. My dogs stopped having digestive issues and itchy skin issues once I went to grain-free feeds.
2. While this is of zero significance to this thread or this pet section for that matter, my horses have not eaten anything with grain or soy , since 2007. All that grain and gluten is not healthy for horses with metabolic issues, aka insulin resistance which is similar to human Type II diabetes.
Grain is for faster fattening of beef cattle so we humans can pick the choicest cuts of meat in grocery store cooler sooner---------
HWhy do people prefer no grains? Grains do add carbs, and maybe some people think their dogs are too fat. I actually worry more that non-grain foods may have ingredients that are more likely to spoil. I personally look at a dry food for high protein content and look for a long established dog food company with a good track record in research and dog food trials on actual dogs.
The carb factor can be a reason but there are some grain free foods that are actually higher in carbs then grain free so you have to be careful if it is a carb reason you are feeding grain free. ALL kibble will have carbs as without them there is no way to get the ingredients to stick together as kibble. If you are wondering how grain free can in some cases be higher in carbs well some vegetables can be high carb as are potatoes. You can figure out the rough carb content of the kibble ( as if you notice most will not list it as it tends to be quite high) you add the % protein, fat, moisture and ash together and subtract from 100 and you will get a pretty close carb %. If they do not list ash I was told to assume 10%.
I had to do this when looking for a kibble for a dog that needed to be low carb not an easy thing to find in kibble.
I went raw because I do not want my dogs to have so many carbs but I had fed a grain free kibble mixed with wet food or scraps of my food like veggies and meat before going raw.
I'm raising my hand here my chis used to scratch themselves raw could not figure out what was wrong and the vets well we all know what a nightmare that was . So now every dog I own is on grain free and my border collie stays lean on grain free as well . My dogs have severe grain allergies and they would scratch themselves raw if not fed a grain free food .
Feeding her grain free food worked to significantly reduce our chihuahua's scratching. Try it and see. If it works it should be evident in a couple of weeks.
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