Merrick Weight Management Dog Food

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Is Merrick Weight Management a natural alternative to Hills Metabolic?

Hello and thank you for using Boop by Petco. The Merrick food is not the same as the Hill's Metabolic. Merrick weight management will be a limited calorie diet whereas Hill's Metabolic is formulated to help the dog's metabolism for weight loss. Weight loss can still be achieved with a lower calorie food like the Merrick but it may not happen as quickly and you may have to feed significantly less Merrick (in volume) than you are used to feeding with the Hill's Metabolic. Usually An all canned food diet (using a light or low calorie canned food) would help you achieve more weight loss than a kibble or dry dog food. Another option, would be to look at a website like balanceit.com for a home cooked diet recipe as home cooking is a more "natural" way of feeding and can help with weight loss. If you decide to do a home cooked diet you do need to make sure you have a balanced recipe which is why a website like balanceit.com is so helpful. Good luck to you and Douglas!

Should I switch my overweight dog from Merrick to Royal Canin?

Royal Canin is an excellent food, and I highly recommend it. I strongly urge the switch especially if the Merricks is grain free. There is a suspected link between grain free diets and an increase in dilated cardiomyopathy. The FDA is now investigating this link, and it looks like grain free diets are not good for dogs. Grains are good for dogs, and the grain free food is a fad. If you do switch food, you have to do it slowly to avoid GI upset. Start by mixing together 75% old food and 25% new food, and feed that for a couple of days. Then do 50% old and 50% new. Again feed for a couple of days, and then feed them 25% old and 75% old. After feeding that for another couple of days, you can feed them the new food only. In terms of your dog being overweight, feed according to the package instructions on the bag of food, no treats, and exercise daily. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

Natural Balance vs Merrick for inactive Cavalier: protein & calories?

Hi, thanks for using Boop by Petco! I think this all depends on if Chloe is overweight or not. I've attached a body condition scoring chart, review it an let us know if she is overweight. Overweight dogs need less calories compared to an underweight dog or one of ideal body conditions. Also the calories you indicated are they per cup? https://oregonvma.org/files/Purina-Dog-Condition-Chart.pdf Let me know!

My puppy has diarrhea from Merrick dog food. What should I feed him?

From your description, it sounds like the food (Merrick) may be the cause of Sal's diarrhea, especially if it clears up when you stop feeding it to him. I'd recommend switching him to another brand of dog food. If you want to feed him grain free, I recommend Acana or Orijen. Make sure he is on a puppy formulated food to meet his nutritional needs. If you want to try a food that isn't grain free, I recommend Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. I hope this helps!

My dog is overweight. What wet food is best for weight management?

Hello and welcome to Boop by Petco. Firstly, good for you to get on top of Sydney's weight, once you get the weight under control Sydney will feel so much better! There are a few different products made for weight management, some of the best/most effective ones are the prescription diets. I personally like Hill's weight management diet, because the animals feel full but are getting less calories, and it also has joint support products in the food as well. You can try any company weight management food however, as any will work as long as you don't over-feed it. The best trick for this is to get a measuring up that is the amount you need to feed when it is FULL. Therefore you won't be tempted to 'just give a tiny bit more'. Measure the food out, and make sure everyone knows that Sydney is on a diet and doesn't get any treats! Remember, exercise is also important, to protect the knees in the start, try swimming with Sydney, it is great for the muscles and easy on the joints. Regul