Switching my dog from raw. Is Acana a good natural dry food choice?

Orijen and Acana are considered "premium" diets. Either is an excellent choice to feed Chloe. If she is eating something different, make the switch gradually (over 7-10 days) to prevent gastrointestinal upset.

I don't recommend Acana because it's grain free, and vets are seeing an increase in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy who are on grain free diets. Here's the thing about the claims of only certain foods being "human grade": They are all human grade! The products come from animals slaughtered in plants that use the meat for human consumption. It comes from the same animal that provides chicken breasts to humans. The brands of food I recommend are the only ones that have veterinary nutritionists on staff, which ensures the food is balanced. They also meet AAFCO standards and run feeding trials. Those brands are Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. I feed my dogs Iams, and they love it. I hope this helps!

I certainly understand your concerns with the ingredients in ProPlan. Personally, I think Acana is a wonderful food. There is a concern with high protein diets in dogs that have existing kidney problems since normally functioning kidneys are necessary to normally process protein in the diet. If Misha does not have any indication of pre-existing kidney problems on her bloodwork, then I would not have any concerns with feeding a 3 year old dog a high protein food like Acana even if she is less active. You will find that many of the more natural food are higher in protein because they have less fillers. Please let me know if that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I agree with you regarding Acana vs Natural balance, it is a better quality food. why not switch her to Acana light & fit, it is a reduced calorie diet, it will contain less calories than the natural balance and you will keep the high quality of the Acana.

Hello, both dog foods are good brands. It may be a difference in ingredients and quality of ingredients which fits better for Chloe. Both formulas are made to meet the AAFCO standards and regulations for pet food, meaning they are both balanced and will provide adequate nutritional support for Chloe. The difference in these two foods mainly has to do with price and brand. Natural Balance is still considered a good brand of food and one of the most used and well known brands of commercial dog food. Chloe can have Natural Balance if she does better on it. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Great question! I personally do not like raw diets. There is absolutely no proof that they are good for dogs, and pose a health risk to both the dog and owner. They are often not nutritionally balanced either. I think it's great you want to feed Dexter a dry dog food, and I recommend that! A dry food diet is much healthier for him, and will be nutritionally balanced. He will need a puppy formulated food, as puppies need higher amounts of protein, calories, and calcium than adult dogs. Brands I recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. Good luck, I hope this helps!

You have a lot of flexibility since she's a young/middle age adult, and I'm assuming she's healthy. Basically any food made by a reputable company is going to be fine for her. There has been more and more evidence coming out recently that grain-free diets aren't healthy for dogs (linked to a particular type of heart failure called Dilated Cardiomyopathy) and raw food also presents risk of salmonella and e.coli to both the dog and family around the dog, so I'd generally recommend staying away from both of those options. The brands I like are Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin because they have veterinary nutritionists on staff, have good quality control, and generally make solid products. I hope that helps a bit!