is wellness core to high protien?

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shelly&sara

Forums Regular
hi i was wondering if anyone had any recomendations on how high a protien content is safe for shelties. the current food natural balance is 23% i looked into wellness core and that is like 34% what is a safe protien content and does anyone have experience with this food?
 
I feed Kiara, aka, Kia a mix between Merricks and Wellness core. I also feed her chicken, pork, fish turkey, livers I buy from the butcher. Remember dogs are carnivours, they are meat eaters . So the protien they get as long as its not fat they tolerate it well. the fat they sometimes have problems with and can cause Pancreatitis. Other than that, go, they are meant to eat meat.:wink2:
 
There are some great posts in this Discussion Group (Health) about feeding and protein. If you go back a bit you'll find them. There are many different opinions so it all depends on what works for your dog. Most do well with higher protein, although some vets will tell you that it taxes the kidneys. One of my three has a borderline kidney value so I stick to protein in the low 20's at most.

Do take a look though at the other threads that discuss this and you'll find lots of useful comments! :yes:
 
shelly&sara said:
hi i was wondering if anyone had any recomendations on how high a protien content is safe for shelties. the current food natural balance is 23% i looked into wellness core and that is like 34% what is a safe protien content and does anyone have experience with this food?
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We were feeding Wellness CORE for about a year and a half, but stools were getting softer over time. About two months ago, we switched to Wellness Super 5 Fish Formula (blueish green bag) and they are doing wonderfully on it. I think the protein level is around 23%?

We had trouble with the Wellness Puppy formula and stools being too soft too. I guess some dogs can handle certain formulas, and some can't...and some can for awhile.. We usually add talapia, chicken, steak, roast beef, pumpkin, egg, brocolli, or something else to their meals now and then too. Not all at once though..lol
 
It's the quality of the protein that matters, not the high percentage. Many articles have recommended high protein diets even for older dogs, and for those trying to lose weight.

Here is a great article on the subject entitled "Is Too Much Protein Harmful?":

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=protein_myth

And an excerpt from that article:

"Many people cite old, outdated research that claims high protein percentages in the food are harmful to dogs and do all kinds of damage, especially to the liver. Fact is that these studies were conducted by feeding dogs foods that were made from poor quality, hard to digest protein sources, such as soy, corn, byproducts, blood meal and so on."

Limiting protein in a dog's diet does more harm than good. Just make sure you are giving a good quality protein, and if you are kibble feeding, mix it in with water. I don't think 34% is too high. Wellness Core is a much better food than Natural Balance. I always recommend Orijen, which is 42% protein. It's the best kibble I've found, but if you really want to do the best protein, go raw.
 
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