# Advice Desperately Needed On Alternative to Evo



## robgold (Oct 31, 2009)

My 5 year old Cavalier was on Beneful weight management for several years and loved it, until I bought a puppy and found this forum (the pup is doing great on Wellness Puppy food). Based on everything I read, I decided to get my 5 year old off of Beneful because it is rated so poorly. Over the past month, I gradually switched him to Evo Low Fat, but he hates it. He will only eat it with a little wet food mixed in. 

Unfortunately, he got pretty sick today with a lot of diarreah and vomiting and lethargy. I rushed him to the Emergency Room and his tests are normal, but the vet told me she thinks he is just not tolerating the Evo/wet food very well because it is so rich and high in protein. She told me that Beneful is fine, and if he did well on that we should get him back on it. My partner is now demanding we get him back on Beneful since the dog loves it and seemed to do well on it. Problem is, I can't get it out of my head that everyone who is knowledgeable about dog food seems to think it is cr*p and I don't want to feed my little buddy cr*p. Does anyone have any advice? (BTW, I don't want to switch him to just wet food and raw is not in the cards for us.)

I think what he liked most about Beneful was that it had some soft little bits in it, whereas the Evo is bone dry (he drank like a fish when on Evo). Is there a decent quality food that is not as rich as Evo that has some soft bits? Please let me know if you have any advice!


----------



## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

There is a huge difference between Evo and Beneful in quality, that is true. Another truth is if your dog is not doing well on Evo, it does him no good. Have you thought about trying something in between? Maybe a Chicken Soup for the dog lovers soul or Fromm or California Natural or something? As far as soft bites, does your vet actually recommend that? Usually the hard kibble helps keep teeth cleaner and that is an issue for many dogs, toys especially. 

It seems that one of the biggest problems people have when feeding the rich foods is that they over feed the dog. This causes all kinds of tummy issues and diarrhea. Usually cutting way back on the amount fed will stop that.


----------



## Jordan S (Nov 21, 2009)

Try out regular Innova. That should be a little more tolerable. Beneful is crap. The ingredients are horrific. Trust your common sense.


----------



## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

robgold said:


> I think what he liked most about Beneful was that it had some soft little bits in it, whereas the Evo is bone dry (he drank like a fish when on Evo). Is there a decent quality food that is not as rich as Evo that has some soft bits? Please let me know if you have any advice!


Since Evo has a very high protien contain, the dogs tend to need more water to flush the excess protien out of their kidneys. I would wet the food down with water beofre serving. This will also make it a little softer, and will bring out a bit more flavor. He might actually get a little more excited about eating it this way.

As far as the stomach issues, I agree with Inga that you might be feeding too much. Are you feeding him the same amount of EVo as the benaful?


----------



## robgold (Oct 31, 2009)

We were feeding him 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup in the evening, which is 1/2 cup below the mimimum recommended amount on the Evo lable. He's 22 pounds and I was uncomfortable feeding him less than 1 cup a day, especially since he normally loves to eat! I think I will try Chicken Soup or something similar, maybe with some added warm water for softness and palatability. I still have to deal with my partner, who is skeptical that there is anything wrong with Beneful and insists that Ollie's problems all started when we switched him to premium dog food, which is sort of true.



DobManiac said:


> Since Evo has a very high protien contain, the dogs tend to need more water to flush the excess protien out of their kidneys. I would wet the food down with water beofre serving. This will also make it a little softer, and will bring out a bit more flavor. He might actually get a little more excited about eating it this way.
> 
> As far as the stomach issues, I agree with Inga that you might be feeding too much. Are you feeding him the same amount of EVo as the benaful?


----------



## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

robgold said:


> We were feeding him 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup in the evening, which is 1/2 cup below the mimimum recommended amount on the Evo lable. He's 22 pounds and I was uncomfortable feeding him less than 1 cup a day, especially since he normally loves to eat! I think I will try Chicken Soup or something similar, maybe with some added warm water for softness and palatability. I still have to deal with my partner, who is skeptical that there is anything wrong with Beneful and insists that Ollie's problems all started when we switched him to premium dog food, which is sort of true.


EVO can be just too rich for some dogs. I think chicken soup is a good choice for your situation. It still has great ingredients but should be a bit easier on his stomach.


----------



## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

1/2 cup of EVO is actually a LOT of food. You might be overfeeding a bit and causing loose stool?

The first thing to try is to reduce the EVO to 3/4 cup. (3/8 cup per meal) and how much exercise does he get?

Our 20 lbs very active (4 hrs jogging/walking in the park a day) Cavalier only gets a cup a day... we're feeding Orijen which is very very similar to EVO.

You know a user on this forum has a dog called Kobe and he only eats 1ish cup of EVO a day, he's 90 lbs! If you really don't want to decrease the amount of food then you should probably go with a different lower calorie food.

Chicken soup would be a good place to start.

Some dogs truly don't do well on EVO though. We tried Orijen and it worked the best for us. Try a couple of different brands and see what works.


----------



## Jordan S (Nov 21, 2009)

if you are overfeeding it that could be the issue. EVO is rich and is not to be treated as dog Chow. Feed half the amount you would a low food like beneful. I feed my 25 lb dog 1/2 cup a day.


----------



## CorgiKarma (Feb 10, 2009)

Like others have said, EVO is just too rich for some dogs. Bailey (who normally has no issues with food) developed runny, bloody stool after switching to EVO. Our holistic vet thinks that it was simply too rich for her. She has done wonderfully on Wellness CORE, though.


----------



## Jordan S (Nov 21, 2009)

CorgiKarma said:


> Like others have said, EVO is just too rich for some dogs. Bailey (who normally has no issues with food) developed runny, bloody stool after witching to EVO. Our holistic vet thinks that it was simply too rich for her. She has done wonderfully on Wellness CORE, though.


Oh yeah CORE is great as well! It has a higher but not extreme protein level. (33-34%). On the CORE reduced fat food, it took more food for him to get fat then EVO. So CORE is also something i would reccomend.


----------



## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

It sounds like you're overfeeding, for one. Also, Evo can be pretty rich for some dogs. The same with Innova. Maybe you should look into a lower protein grainfree food, such as Taste of the Wild or one of the Natural balances. If you can find Orijen, it's lower in protein. Same with Wellness Core


----------



## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

InkedMarie said:


> It sounds like you're overfeeding, for one. Also, Evo can be pretty rich for some dogs. The same with Innova. Maybe you should look into a lower protein grainfree food, such as Taste of the Wild or one of the Natural balances. If you can find Orijen, it's lower in protein. Same with Wellness Core


Orijen is pretty much the same protein level as EVO. Around 40%


----------



## Angelwing (Jan 2, 2008)

Inga said:


> Usually the hard kibble helps keep teeth cleaner and that is an issue for many dogs, toys especially.


This is a myth. Dry kibble does NOT help clean teeth.

OP, try another brand without grain such as Merrick or Wellness. I feed my dog Orijen but it has a high protein content.


----------



## robgold (Oct 31, 2009)

Angelwing said:


> This is a myth. Dry kibble does NOT help clean teeth.
> 
> OP, try another brand without grain such as Merrick or Wellness. I feed my dog Orijen but it has a high protein content.


Thanks to everyone for all the advice! If 1/2 a cup of Evo at each meal is too much, then it is definitely not the right food for Ollie, since he loves to eat (although he never seemed to like Evo much in any case). I have decided to switch to Merrick. Ollie is temporarily on a vet prescribed diet of Iam's Low Residue canned food and is doing so much better now. Once he finishes that off, I am going to very gradually switch him to Merrick. If that doesn't work, we'll go back to the Beneful which he did well on.


----------



## StellaLucyDesi (Jun 19, 2008)

In the end, you do have to do what is working for your dog....however, please don't give up too soon...beneful's ingredients are just not good! I have 2 cavaliers (one is almost 9 years old and the other 2 years old). They both weigh 16-17 lbs. I will tell you that EVO has not been a good food for any of my dogs...I have 2 other mix breeds, as well. It seems to be too rich for them. Anyway, my crew have tried LOTS of different foods (part of that could be that I work in a pet specialty store and have access to lots of different foods LOL). They did fine on quite a few foods we've tried. There are alot of good ingredient foods on the market that you could try that would be sooooo much better for your dog than Beneful. Right now mine are eating Nature's Variety. They have lots of different flavors and formulas that satisfy the dogs and my need to rotate often haha. They are doing great on this brand and we will stay with it as long as it works. Stella, the oldest cavalier, gets Prairie dry (it has grains). Lucy, one of my mix breeds, gets a mix of Prairie and Instinct (grain-free) dry. Hazel, my young cavalier, gets Instinct dry. Desi, my male mix breed, is actually getting Wellness CORE RF dry because he is on a diet. They all get Instinct can mixed in with their dry and I add some water. For their evening meal, they all get Nature's Variety raw medallions. This is working out great for us. All I ask, is please don't give up too soon on finding a better quality food for your dog.


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

robgold said:


> If that doesn't work, we'll go back to the Beneful which he did well on.


Seriously, Beneful is pretty bad. Neon colors, added sugar, and all that. Try regular Dog Chow (some coloring, though less than Beneful, but no sugar) or Purina ONE (no coloring or sugar) first, if he really can't tolerate the higher-quality foods. Beneful is also rather overpriced, especially for the poor quality.


----------



## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

robgold said:


> We were feeding him 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup in the evening, which is 1/2 cup below the mimimum recommended amount on the Evo lable. He's 22 pounds and I was uncomfortable feeding him less than 1 cup a day, especially since he normally loves to eat! I think I will try Chicken Soup or something similar, maybe with some added warm water for softness and palatability. I still have to deal with my partner, who is skeptical that there is anything wrong with Beneful and insists that Ollie's problems all started when we switched him to premium dog food, which is sort of true.


Tell your partner that beneful ranks as one of the worst foods ever. How can artificial colouring be good for a dog let alone a human? Just because you tried one premium brand doesn't mean another brand won';t work. I would go for a food that is less rich (not as much fat and protein as EVO) like Innova as a previous poster suggested. Plus, when you switch from a food like Beneful to EVO, the switch should be very slow ( at least over 2 weeks as opposed to the regular 7 days). 

Unfortunately, choosing a good dog food is trial and error; lots of bags of food! Here are some other brands to consider:

Eagle Pack Holistic Selects (only the Holistic Selects not their other line)
Wellness (they also make Wellness Core which is grain-free like EVO but it has a more balanced protein content)
Now! Naturals (made by Petcurean)
Nature's Variety Prairie line (they have an Instincts line which is grain-free but a high protein content)


----------



## Active Dog (Jan 18, 2010)

A site I find very useful is dog food analysis, it is a good place to start. It has a rating system of 1-6 stars on dog foods. You must keep in mind though that the top rated ones like EVO (6 stars on the site) are high in protein, the more meat and less grain the higher the stars. If that doesn't work for your dog, then 4-5 stars are still great foods! Hope that helps some, and good luck!

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/


----------



## mrslloyd09 (Jul 12, 2009)

My girls are both on Wellness (Core and Puppy). Mandie is roughly twenty-five lbs (although she feels like a heifer some days). She's not overweight, though, and I feed her a cup a day (1/2 cup at each meal). However, on days when I know she's going to be less active (right now she's still asleep and if it's still boring down rain tonight, no walk), I cut back because I did have her chunk up when I first started feeding her Core. Her stomach handled it well but mainly because I couldn't get her to touch her old food (Nutro Ultra I think it was).


----------



## robgold (Oct 31, 2009)

Well it looks like Merrick is a winner! I mix the Grammy Pot Pie kibble with a little warm water and Ollie devours it!! His stool is normal and he has had no stomach issues. Thanks again to everyone for their advice and encouragement.

Now, if I can only get my finicky puppy to eat kibble, since the only food I have been able to get him to eat is Wellness Just for Puppies canned food. At least it is something he likes. It's funny I am having these food issues, as my first Cavalier would literally eat whatever I put in front of him.


----------



## StellaLucyDesi (Jun 19, 2008)

So glad you finally found a good food for your Cavalier! Merrick is a hit at our house, too. It's one of the foods that mine did fine on and actually liked.


----------

