- Messages
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Violet,
"anal discomfort" - i-e, one or both anal-glands NOT expressing, but they aren't impacted, abscessed, or swollen --- does NOT "require a grain-free diet". // Even if the dog's anal-glands were impacted, abscessed, or swollen, the dog STILL wouldn't "require a grain-free diet".
. They're entirely-separate issues - in fact, a dog who ate only meat & bone would be IME more-likely to have anal-gland issues than one who ate a diet of grains plus meat, or meat plus grains --- b/c meat contains almost no fiber, & bone is also 'fiber-free'; such a diet produces very-dense, low-moisture stools, that are very-likely to cause constipation, & for the same reasons, also likely to cause anal-gland complications.
Dogs with chronic or recurring anal-gland issues require more dietary fiber than dogs whose anal-glands just percolate along, doing their thing without any need of assistance.
Most dogs who have a problem with grain have an intolerance for ONE grain - it might be corn / maize, it might be wheat, it might be oats. But they can eat OTHER grains with no problem; only the one they're intolerant of, can't properly digest or absorb, or are actually allergic to, is the ONE grain they cannot eat. Dogs who cannot eat wheat can eat barley, rice, oats, millet, etc.
Dogs who have anal-gland problems can still eat normal dog-foods, unless there are additional separate issues along WITH the anal-gland problems.
Even dogs with diabetes can eat carbs! - in the form of grains, or potatoes, or what-have-U; they just can't eat loads & loads of them, nor should they eat high-glycemic foods, just like human diabetics; they should eat low-glycemic foods that don't spike their blood-sugar.
grain-free foods for dogs are not automatically balanced nutrition, better nutrition, or "hypoallergenic". Quite a few are overpriced, & merely take advantage of the current fad for "grain-free". Just like the breeders of "Labradoodles" in 2008, they're turning out products to suit a market demand, not because they are "better" products, but b/c they will sell, & for the moment, they can also sell them at a premium price.
So they're making hay while the sun shines, & coining money. ' Twas ever thus.
- terry
.
Violet,
"anal discomfort" - i-e, one or both anal-glands NOT expressing, but they aren't impacted, abscessed, or swollen --- does NOT "require a grain-free diet". // Even if the dog's anal-glands were impacted, abscessed, or swollen, the dog STILL wouldn't "require a grain-free diet".
. They're entirely-separate issues - in fact, a dog who ate only meat & bone would be IME more-likely to have anal-gland issues than one who ate a diet of grains plus meat, or meat plus grains --- b/c meat contains almost no fiber, & bone is also 'fiber-free'; such a diet produces very-dense, low-moisture stools, that are very-likely to cause constipation, & for the same reasons, also likely to cause anal-gland complications.Dogs with chronic or recurring anal-gland issues require more dietary fiber than dogs whose anal-glands just percolate along, doing their thing without any need of assistance.
Most dogs who have a problem with grain have an intolerance for ONE grain - it might be corn / maize, it might be wheat, it might be oats. But they can eat OTHER grains with no problem; only the one they're intolerant of, can't properly digest or absorb, or are actually allergic to, is the ONE grain they cannot eat. Dogs who cannot eat wheat can eat barley, rice, oats, millet, etc.
Dogs who have anal-gland problems can still eat normal dog-foods, unless there are additional separate issues along WITH the anal-gland problems.
Even dogs with diabetes can eat carbs! - in the form of grains, or potatoes, or what-have-U; they just can't eat loads & loads of them, nor should they eat high-glycemic foods, just like human diabetics; they should eat low-glycemic foods that don't spike their blood-sugar.
grain-free foods for dogs are not automatically balanced nutrition, better nutrition, or "hypoallergenic". Quite a few are overpriced, & merely take advantage of the current fad for "grain-free".
Just like the breeders of "Labradoodles" in 2008, they're turning out products to suit a market demand, not because they are "better" products, but b/c they will sell, & for the moment, they can also sell them at a premium price.So they're making hay while the sun shines, & coining money.
' Twas ever thus.- terry
.
