# Alternative to Blue Buffalo



## stevenham (Oct 7, 2010)

I've been feeding my Jack Russel and Greyhound Blue Buffalo for a while now. I recently had a chat with my vet and she suggested that the food is probably too high in protein. I also remember reading somewhere that greyhounds shouldn't get a lot of protein in their diet as well. She basically said that the average dog doesn't get enough exercise to require that much protein in their diet. My dogs usually get about an hour of running around at a dog park, although it's been too cold to go these past few weeks. She suggested that I stick with a food with around 20% proteins. My Jack has a reaction to some type of grain so I'd prefer to stick with grain free dog food. Does anyone have any suggestions for some quality foods that I can look into that are grain free and around the 20% mark for proteins?


----------



## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Taste of the Wild has two versions (the salmon and the lamb based) which are only 25% protein


----------



## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

One of the main complaints with the LID kibbles is they are low in protein, try any of the NB LID kibbles.

I disagree with average dogs needing less protein. Max is a competing agility dog but not exactly a high energy working dog and needs his strong muscle to enjoy life. It isn't easy chasing a ball for even 5 minutes a day if your joints aren't supported by good muscling. Geriatric Sassy regained strength when I was able to increase the protein from ~22% to ~29%. Here is a study done by IAMS on the subject. http://www.iams.com/pet-health/dog-article/importance-of-animal-based-proteins-in-dog-foods


----------



## BlueChaos (Mar 29, 2010)

Your vet is seriously misguided, theres absolutely nothing wrong with feeding dogs higher protein foods. I've always fed my dog 30% + protein with no issues. Theres an old study that says that high protein affects kidney function, but the study was performed on rats fed plant based high protein food. Theres a huge difference in meat vs. plant protein and dogs need protein to build and retain muscle mass, regulate glucose levels, for energy, prevent obesity just to name a few. 

Anything in the low 20% range is going to be extremely high carb and only detrimental to your dogs health. 

Did the vet tell you why high protein was bad? 

I made this same comment on another post, protein doesent matter, overfeeding does. If you feed high protein (which regular blue buffalo isnt), just cut back on the amount and youre ok.


----------



## Goldens&Labs4Me (Jan 18, 2012)

Honestly, I'd ask myself how my dogs look? Are they soft/shiny? Are they satisfied with the quantity you are feeding? Do they eat with a gusto? Are they in good weight? If you are satisfied with these answers, I wouldn't hesitate to leave it alone. 

I don't know about you, but with my dogs, I do not feed the "required/recommended" amounts of food they suggest on the bags--so in the grand scheme of things--they probably aren't getting "too much" protein at all.


----------

