Boubou has eaten sanitary towels...

So, if you can't get hold of Real Nature, you've got Wolfood, which is a brand I really like. They do a low-grain all-fish variety; the only snag is it contains beetroot (between 2 and 5%) as well as poultry fat and liver...

Along those same lines, you’ve got the old Maxima (now Ownat), who do a grain-free hypoallergenic salmon option. It has the same "issues" as the Wolfood one, and the nutritional breakdown is a bit lighter.

The same goes for Nutrivet Atlantic, though it has a tiny bit of chicken in it and is very rich, mind you.

Orijen Six Fish is excellent, but you’ve got lentils AND beetroot in there. On the plus side, the fat source is fish.

Purizon Adult Fish could be a great shout (I’m a big fan of that brand too) – no lentils or beetroot, and no trace of meat as far as I can tell.

Hiya

I’ve just caught up with the news about Minnie...

while waiting for the test results to come back...

it’s certainly going to be more of a struggle without chicken, isn't it? :-(

A transition period to get her back on her feet... poor little thing, she’s really having a tough time of it...

and then maybe she can go back to BARF for more fish and other meats she’s never tried before...

https://www.barfers-wellfood.de/fisch

will it be a bit of a change for her, switching to dry food?

Speak soon

Yeah, I have to admit, saying goodbye to chicken makes the whole thing a right nightmare. Even for raw feeding, it's a struggle to find chicken-free options in smaller sizes (and don't even get me started on travelling with them)!

And on top of all these restrictions, I've got to find something that's actually obtainable: I don't have a pet superstore nearby that stocks Real Nature (at least not one I can get to easily on a regular basis).

There's a shop nearby that sells dry food and I know they stock Acana, so I'm going to pop in and see what they can do for me!

Darn, what a pain, single-source chicken is the most common option for highly digestible food... I’ll have a think and get back to you 💨

We're only cutting out chicken for the time being, but the vet thinks it's possible that meat in general is what's bothering her. That's why we've switched to a fish-based dry food.

Since we don't know exactly what's causing the intolerance yet, we want to avoid recipes with too many different ingredients.

(The test you recommended was sent off on Saturday, so we should know more soon about what actually needs to be excluded!)

EDIT: And yes, the vet doesn't want her having lentils or beetroot. They're bad for plenty of reasons that I can't quite remember now, I must admit.

Right, the analysis is fine, but the ingredients are going to bung her up. For any average dog, I’d tell you it’s rubbish, but if it gets her back on track for now, that’s the main thing. Remind me, which ingredients are you ruling out for her as a matter of course?

PS: something for your vet to note – "Animal fat"... yeah, but from which animal? "Hydrolysate" – of what exactly? It’s no worse than traces of seaweed to me.

Analytical constituents:

Moisture 7.5%

Protein 30%

- Arginine 2.0%

- Lysine 2.0%

- Glycine 1.7%

- Proline 1.50%

Fat content 18%

- Omega-6 fatty acids 2.30%

- Linoleic acid 2%

- Omega-3 fatty acids 2%

- EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) 0.7%

- DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) 0.5%

Carbohydrates 35%

Crude fibre 2.5%

Zinc 270 mg/kg

Vitamin A 20,000 IU/kg

Vitamin E 300 mg/kg

Vitamin C 80 mg/kg

B-group vitamins

- Riboflavin - Vit. B2 12 mg/kg

- Niacin - Vit. B3 145 mg/kg

- Pantothenic acid - Vit. B5 40 mg/kg

- Pyridoxine - Vit. B6 10 mg/kg

- Biotin - Vit. B8 0.10 mg/kg

- Folic acid - Vit. B9 4 mg/kg

- Cobalamin - Vit. B12 0.23 mg/kg

Metabolisable energy (ME)* 3.8 kcal/g

I don't have the ratio of animal protein to plant protein (or maybe I just don't know how to read it on the nutritional breakdown), but I'd imagine it's mostly plant-based—that's probably the main thing that sets it apart from Real Nature!