Doing a little show and tell for you parents who are with me in the Nasty Doggie Booty Club!
My Brown beagle has always had issues with her anal glands (she’s three), to the point of 2-3 times a year infections and a minor surgery. Our vet recommended she go on a hydrolyzed protein diet (that’s the prescription food where the protein is already partially broken down so the dog’s body can’t recognize it as having an allergy to it) but it isn’t a fit for us because (according to the vet) it is a tad useless if the dog eats ANYthing other than the hydrolyzed kibble. Well, she’s a beagle and we have a food-tossing toddler, soooo nope.
We did a bunch of our own food trials and ended up learning that she did well on the Zignature Guinea Fowl formula (as long as we had her glands expressed every 1-2 weeks…eww but no big deal, most people in daycare world learn how to do it well enough to get by and that was a massive improvement from where we were before that).
A few months ago I got in an internet wormhole about a dog’s ability to digest proteins and I learned that EGG is considered an extremely amazing protein for dogs because it is typically 100% digestible (for reference, beef is around 92% digestible, rice protein is around 72%) and great for dogs with anal gland and other digestive issues. So I went further down the wormhole and started searching for dog foods that use egg as one of the main proteins. A couple of the prescription diets and a few of the high-end dog food companies had some, but I got sidetracked (wormhole) and ended up reading about these egg-inclusive foods all landing on the “Best for allergies” dog food lists you can find all over the internet. Anyway, this one food seemed to be a repeater on every list, but I hadn’t heard of it, so I went off into another wormhole about that particular food (yes I take medicine for ADHD) and ended up sending an inquiry through their website letting them know I was doing some research for my own dog but was curious because we get so many customer questions relating to allergies and digestive issues and wanted more detail. Two hours later the president of the company called and told me more about dog food than I ever thought I wanted to know and I decided it was worth a try for my Brown beagle.
That was 6 weeks ago. In that time I’ve gone from anal gland dealings once a week to once TOTAL, and that was only because I thought something had to be wrong because she hadn’t scooted or licked or acted uncomfortable by them in that whole time. When I DID check her glands, the smell was GONE. GONE!!!! GASP!
Anyone who deals with these issues from your dog will know how significant that is. Needless to say we are hooked, and I’m keeping some stock of it at HH in case it might work for anyone else. Warning it’s pricey, but we are able to sell it for less than what’s on their website, and if I’m being honest it pays for itself in the savings from not going to the vet for anal gland issues. AND I found out just last week that Zignature is about to go up on their pricing, so it’s going to end up being comparable to their Kangaroo and Goat anyways.
This is a small company, there are only a few flavors, and it’s recommended for dogs with digestive issues and weight management (it’s low glycemic and no potatoes). It comes straight from the manufacturer (doesn’t sit in a warehouse and come to us from a distributor) in Colorado, and the formula is just DIFFERENT than the other foods I’ve seen. I don’t read dog food labels as a hobby but I do care a lot about them because it’s so important for our boarding dogs at HH to eat their meals (because they’re burning calories in all-day-play) so I guess I do take more of an interest/curiosity in what’s in them than most. This is the first company I’ve seen to include a thorough explanation on each product page of its website not only of the ingredients but what their function is and why they were chosen, even all the way down to the material in the BAG that holds the food! Here’s the biggest thing though – if you dig through the internet about this food, you can’t find anything bad about it. It is featured over and over again in top lists and rave reviews from consumers and pet food reviewers specifically relating to the issues I mentioned.
Learn more about it check out brothersdogfood.com. When you’re clicking around, click the tab on each product’s page that says “Additional Information.” That’s where they explain the ingredients and why they were chosen. Brothers has a 5 Star Rating on Dog Food Advisor and is featured in their Top 10 Foods for Allergies and for Weight Management.
If you want to give it a try, email me at [email protected] – we are giving some good discounts for anyone who wants to try it out and give us some honest feedback!
