Is Merrick dog food quality still good after Purina's acquisition?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Baluu can definitely switch to adult food at this time. I have seen many healthy cats on Merrick and it appears to be a quality food. I also like and trust Purina as well (my own cat eats Purina). Fancy Feast is considered a slightly lower quality, but I have seen many cats do well on it. As with any diet switch, switch slowly over 3-5 days to prevent stomach upset. Hope this helps and best of luck to you and Baluu!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Both foods are good! Personally I would save the novel protein (trout) for animals with GI or skin disease. My only requirements for food brands for my clients are: the dog likes the food and eats it well, has a good coat, defecates normal stool regularly and isn't too thin or overweight. Most of the dog foods on the market are aimed at making the owner happy and use marketing ploys to get owners to feed foods for incorrect reasons (grain free, listing ingredients on the bag in differnet orders making owners think that it is better than another brand). Expensive food doesn't equal better. I like Purina, Royal Canin and Hill's Science diet. I hope this helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Korbyn. These are all great questions! There are few dogs that are actually allergic to grains. The ones that are tend to be Irish Setters. Grain free diets have developed mainly as a marketing ploy to add a niche market in the pet food department. Now if your individual dog does better on a grain free diet that is great and fine to feed it to him. However, these diets tend to be higher in carbohydrates and will lead to weight gain. Protein source typically a personal preference of the dog. You can see what he likes and how it agrees with him. You need to determine what your goals are for the new diet. Is your puppy experiencing vomiting and diarrhea on his current food? Is he passing large frequent quantities of stool? Does he have a dry brittle hair coat? These are all signs that his diet is not right for him. When transitioning to a new diet, you want to do it gradually and then see if any of these things improve for him. As far as a brand, I recommend using one that has AAFCO certified. You can find this information on the side of the bag or on the company website. This means the diet has undergone testing and proved efficacious. I hope this information helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is not known at this time if grain free diets are actually better than diets with grain. I usually recommend feeding a high quality diet. Purina is an excellent diet but if you do not have access to this diet, there are others that you could consider that are also excellent such as Hill's Science Diet, Royal canin and Iams foods. Grain does not necessarily make dogs gain weight so I would be more focused on the quality and balance of the diet per se. Good luck and have a great day!

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!

The Internet says a lot of things. Petfood is one of those issues that people can have a lot of convictions about. However the question is have those individuals had actual training about pet nutrition. In making choices about pet food, I often look at a history of recalls. Newer pet food companies and boutique brands are more likely to have recall issues because they tend to not have as much quality control in the production of their food. Mistakes do happen and any company can have a recall but that is something to pay very close attention to. The older, more established companies tend to have good protocols in place to catch any errors before their food gets out on the shelves and pets get sick. I believe Nutro does offer a line of pet food that is more holistically-based as well. You should be able to find a lot of variety within the brand and know that it is all high-quality. Most pets who eat Nutro tend to have good coat and stool quality too, this is a good sign. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hello. There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding Purina Dog Chow if your dog is doing well on it. Just because it does not have a fancy name does not make it a bad food & some of the really pricy brands are pretty crappy. Purina, along with Hill's & Royal Canin, are the most respected dog food manufacturers. These companies employ veterinary nutritionists to formulate & test their products on real dogs & this means more to veterinarians than any formula just based on laboratory data. Purina does have a premium line, but I just feed my dogs the Purina One. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.