Is Stella and Chewy's the right nutrition for a puppy?

karla215 · Jul 24, 2014

When my puppy didn't care for fromms gold puppy food (would walk away!), I switched to stella and chewy's raw frozen niblet things. Now my vet mentioned/reminded me that it's not puppy food, and she's likely missing out on key nutrients she needs for that first year. I have a big bag of fromms still left, so I am thinking to mix a wet puppy food with the fromms dry to interest her, but I read about alot of ppl on here feeding raw...Is that to puppies too? She LOVES stella and chewys, so I feel bad taking it away - but I want to make sure she's healthy! Thoughts? Thank you in advance!!

Lulu is growing (10.25 lbs at 16 weeks!) and healthy and has so little poo, so I think the food agrees with her - it's just a question of whether it meets the puppy nutrition needs!

Karla

KimB3384 · Jul 24, 2014

Bisou is almost 11 months old now and has been on a diet of Stella & Chewy's and Primal for months now. She does super well on it - it's complete and balanced and is formulated for all life stages. I'm transitioning her over to a real raw diet now because the commercial stuff is too expensive for us, but I'll continue to purchase S&C for when we board her or travel. It's a fabulous food - you shouldn't be worried at all about feeding it to a puppy.

karla215 · Jul 24, 2014

Thank you Kim! I felt like I heard it being fed to puppies, so it must be okay... I think my very is under educated on food options!

bullmama · Jul 24, 2014

I would keep her on it if she's doing good, it really is an excellent food. You could give her a supplement instead.

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karla215 · Jul 24, 2014

A supplement like nuvet ? I had planned to do so and just not taken care of starting the shipments yet! That makes alot of sense. Thanks!

KimB3384 · Jul 24, 2014

Stella & Chewy's contains pretty much all the vitamins and minerals your puppy should need, and also includes probiotics. That said, I also give mine a squirt of salmon oil once a day, except on Wednesdays when I give her a little bit of coconut oil, just to make sure all of our bases are covered. No idea if it's necessary or not, but it doesn't seem to be hurting anything.

I would imagine it's tough to know everything about all topics, so I tend to cut the vets a little bit of slack. Plus, they've got their own opinions, just like we all do. I mean, heck, we don't even know what a complete and balanced diet for humans is! Every day you read a different study contradicting what you read the day before. If Lulu is doing well on the food (poops are normal, no scratching, no stomach distress) then you should feel good about keeping her on it. She's a cutie, btw!

MaplesMommy · Jul 24, 2014

So which nutrients is she missing exactly? This is just one of those vets that are not educated enough on the matter to actually be able to tell you any true facts!
I can tell you what your pup is NOT getting : Dyes, chemical flavours, minimal meat content from diseased,euthanized animals(pretty much anything thats not good for human consumption) and cancer causing toxics.

Sorry guys,not trying to bash any kibble feeder but I get really upset when I hear stuff like that from a VET. Like really? The one person every pet owner should fully trust and be convinced they know what they are talking about. But like I said before ,don't ask your dentist about your flu symptoms. Go to a any pet nutritionist and listen what they tell you.

I hope I didnt offend anybody, I just take stuff like that always way to personal. But this is why I do what Im doing (studying to become a clinical pet nutritionist) so that pet owners have the option to actually talk to somebody thats been educated in this topic.
The trend is clearly going towards a more natural,holistic approach which I am really happy about.

bullmama · Jul 24, 2014

KimB3384 said:
Stella & Chewy's contains pretty much all the vitamins and minerals your puppy should need, and also includes probiotics. That said, I also give mine a squirt of salmon oil once a day, except on Wednesdays when I give her a little bit of coconut oil, just to make sure all of our bases are covered. No idea if it's necessary or not, but it doesn't seem to be hurting anything.

I would imagine it's tough to know everything about all topics, so I tend to cut the vets a little bit of slack. Plus, they've got their own opinions, just like we all do. I mean, heck, we don't even know what a complete and balanced diet for humans is! Every day you read a different study contradicting what you read the day before. If Lulu is doing well on the food (poops are normal, no scratching, no stomach distress) then you should feel good about keeping her on it. She's a cutie, btw!

Ha that is sooooooo true!! I mean seriously, I feed home cooked & Fromm which is a kibble, by why would a dehydrated cooked little biscuit be more healthy for a growing pup that dehydrated fresh ingredients? I do know pups require a good amount of protein for energy and growth but I'm sure s&c has plenty. You got to go with how your pup looks and they should have a nice shiney coat, bright eyes, and lots of energy. I supplement with nuvet, coconut oil and yogurt too as well as home cooked meals, and when I'm lazy about home cooking or run out of any of my supplements it shows in their coat.

IMO dehydrated foods like Stella & Chewys, grandma Lucy's, ect are great foods. Vets don't always have a clue when it comes to what to feed-- look at the junk they sell!

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eeturk · Jul 24, 2014

Hudson has been on it since he was 6 months old I think. Like someone else mentioned it is formulated for all life stages, and the bag tells you how much to feed for a puppy vs an adult. Hudson didn't like the Fromm puppy either. With how well he is doing on Stella & Chewy he will never eat anything else.

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karla215 · Jul 24, 2014

Thanks everyone! I'm even using the frozen food, so it doesn't go through the dehydrating process. He tried to scare me about listeria, and I did start using paper plates to feed so I'm not allowing raw food germs to possibly infect the next meal... But I am convinced it's great food, and I'll supplement but not change it! She is in great health and poo is always firm and rare given how little of the food isn't used by her body! And she gets sooooo excited to eat every meal!

Love making my puppy that happy, however it happens!

Thanks all!

Karla

davidh · Jul 24, 2014

I would still feed the FROMM Puppy and add the Stella and Chewy's to it. We have done that with the freeze dried Stella and Chewy's and they love it.

karla215 · Jul 24, 2014

Good idea, I'd like to use up the huge bag I have! I'll just have to figure out some metrics on how much of each, and try that out. Thanks!

MaplesMommy · Jul 24, 2014

I would not recommend feeding raw and kibble at the same time. The raw gets digested between 4-6 hours, the kibble takes up to 12 hours. And the digestion itself between those two is totally different from one another. If you absolutely feel like you want to feed kibble as well then feed raw in the morning and kibble at night.

kim · Jul 24, 2014

I only heard of S&C from this forum, I'd never seen it at the pet stores. I had a hard time finding it but a pet shop on the other side of the city offered to bring it in for me. I also use the freeze dried one and Piper loves it.

Calle Roo · Jul 28, 2014

Quella is currently on Orijen Puppy and has no problem at all. I like the 'thought' of raw, but am not fond of handling and preparing or the price. I bought some S&C frozen Duck Duck Goose and would like to incorporate it with her current kibble. Can I provide 1/2 recommended serving S&C in the morning and 1/2 of her recommended serving kibble in the evening and will that be sufficient for her growing body until she gets bigger, then obviously increase the portions? Is frozen or freeze dried recommended? [MENTION=377]MaplesMommy[/MENTION]

XoXo from Quella La Roux and her mommy too!

MaplesMommy said:
I would not recommend feeding raw and kibble at the same time. The raw gets digested between 4-6 hours, the kibble takes up to 12 hours. And the digestion itself between those two is totally different from one another. If you absolutely feel like you want to feed kibble as well then feed raw in the morning and kibble at night.

MaplesMommy · Aug 5, 2014

Calle Roo said:
Quella is currently on Orijen Puppy and has no problem at all. I like the 'thought' of raw, but am not fond of handling and preparing or the price. I bought some S&C frozen Duck Duck Goose and would like to incorporate it with her current kibble. Can I provide 1/2 recommended serving S&C in the morning and 1/2 of her recommended serving kibble in the evening and will that be sufficient for her growing body until she gets bigger, then obviously increase the portions? Is frozen or freeze dried recommended? [MENTION=377]MaplesMommy[/MENTION]

XoXo from Quella La Roux and her mommy too!

I personally like frozen a little better as it is not processed at all. However if you get your food mailed to you I would be a little too worried about the meat thawing. I do have to mention though that I have no idea about raw dog food shipping

.
Freeze dried is still good since all or most of the nutrients are still present in the food, just the moisture was removed.
So really its up to you. If your not a big fan of raw meat maybe go with the freeze dried option.
It is still sooo much better than kibble!
I do believe you can feed half/half, you can also add some Quinoa to the raw if you feel she's still a little hungry. What may happen though is that she gets used to the raw meat and will sooner or later stop eating kibble. If you then at this point still want to continue with the kibble wet it with some chicken or beef broth.

Calle Roo · Aug 5, 2014

Perfect, thanks. Any additional information helps, especially from a 'raw' expert like yourself.

I'll continue to feed her the raw frozen in the morning (the store is local, so it's easy to get) and in the evening, I'll feed kibble (Orijen Puppy). She gets a few snacks, such as yogurt, fruit or veggies throughout the day, so she hasn't shown signs of hunger, but I have quinoa, so I'll definitely try that as a filler as she gets bigger.

Thanks so much MaplesMommy.

-CC

MaplesMommy said:
I personally like frozen a little better as it is not processed at all. However if you get your food mailed to you I would be a little too worried about the meat thawing. I do have to mention though that I have no idea about raw dog food shipping .
Freeze dried is still good since all or most of the nutrients are still present in the food, just the moisture was removed.
So really its up to you. If your not a big fan of raw meat maybe go with the freeze dried option.
It is still sooo much better than kibble!
I do believe you can feed half/half, you can also add some Quinoa to the raw if you feel she's still a little hungry. What may happen though is that she gets used to the raw meat and will sooner or later stop eating kibble. If you then at this point still want to continue with the kibble wet it with some chicken or beef broth.