Questions about Nature's Varaity Instinct LID Lamb dry food - Page 1

 I recently (10 days ago) switched my dogs food to Natures Variety Instinct LID Lamb (dry kibble).  My dog is 70 pounds, 15 months old male GSD.

I was feeding him, up to this point with ACANA Large Breed Puppy (first 3-4 months), ACANA Pacifica and Orijen 6 Fish until recently.
Reason for the switch was the stool inconsistency and not gaining any weight for the last 3 month. His stool would be fine for 3 to 4 weeks and then he would get runny stools for 1-2 days. Obviously he was tested for worms 3-4 times in last 3 months as well as Giardia (flotation and SNAP test) which all came back negative. We also did a blood TLI test just to rule out EPI. His results were in the normal range, so no EPI. 
To make this story short, he was pretty much cold switched to Natures Variety Instinct LID Lamb and his stools since the switch have become rock solid and not large in size.They are mostly looking like little hard nuggets. His bowel movements are usually 2, sometimes 3 times in 24 hours. He is being feed 4 1/4 cups of food once per day. He is an outside living, active dog.

What I did notice beside the positive ( is it positive?) stool improvement is the increased intake of water. Just this morning (without any increased activity) he gulped down almost 2 liters (half a gallon) of water. The weather here is currently around 0 Celsius (32 F).

Now the questions:

If you are feeding Natures Variety Instinct LID (dry kibble) what are you experiences with stools and amount of water intake? Should I be worried about the increased water intake? Should I be worried about rock hard solid dry stools? I notice that the calcium levels in this food are well above 2%, should I be worried about that at this point of my dogs age? What is your experience and what do you think about inclusion of Montmorillonite Clay in the dogs food (listed as the 6th ingredient in this type of food)?
What in general do you think about this food?  http://www.instinctpetfood.com//product/instinct-grain-free-limited-ingredient-kibble-dog-food-lamb

Thank you all.

The water content of montmorillonite is variable and it increases greatly in volume when it absorbs water. Chemically it is hydrated sodium calcium aluminium magnesium silicate hydroxide (Na,Ca)_0.33(Al,Mg)₂(Si₄O₁₀)(OH)₂·nH₂O. Potassium, iron, and other cations are common substitutes, the exact ratio of cations varies with source. It often occurs intermixed with chlorite,muscovite, illite, cookeite, and kaolinite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmorillonite
 

I would say, yes, the increased water consumption is related to the above ingredient!

Hi Beetree and thank you for your answer. I guess your post explains partially the increased water intake of my dog since switching to this type of food.

Anybody else with any comments about this food?
What was/is your dogs experience if you use this food?
What are your comments about ingredients in this food?
 

I have had a 5 year old female on this food for about 2 months now.  She also has small, firm, stool.  I have noticed no increased water intake.  She eats very little (1.5 cups total daily and she is a 70 lb dog) of this food compared to others she has been on.  I love the ingredients in this food and have ingested clay myself for health purposes.  I currently brush my teeth with a toothpaste made of bentonite clay.  Hope that helps!

ETA:  Is there a particular reason why you are only feeding once per day?  4.25 cups all at one time is a lot of food.  I prefer to split my dogs meals into two equal portions daily, morning and evening, about 12 hours apart.  Perhaps you could try that and see if it helps.

Here is a picture taken yesterday when we actually had some sunshine.

↵It would also explain the hard stools. I would not use it! Did you read the link? It is acting as a filler, and probably is responsible for adding calcium content in an analysis. I don't see how this is a benefit? If the Wikipedia information wasn't enough, take a look at this....http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/391037/montmorillonite

These minerals are used as bleaching earths for clarifying water, juices, and liquors and for removing colour from mineral and vegetable oils; they are also used as catalyst supports and absorbents in petroleum refining. Montmorillonites are the principal constituents of bentonite and fuller’s earth. Montmorillonite-saponite originally denoted fuller’s earth, and the term later was applied to the montmorillonite mineral and certain clay deposits that are apparently bentonite and to a greenish variety of halloysite. Montmorillonites are common in clays, shales, soils, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments, and nonmicaceous recent marine sediments. They usually occur in areas of poor drainage.
 

Even more concerning is I was unable to find any internet information saying it is digestable at all! 
 

Beetree... before you go getting the OP all worried over nothing, you need to go do more research on the health benefits of ingesting clay.  I have suffered no ill effects from ingesting clay for health purposes and it was recommended to me by both my holistic MD and my naturopath.  Clay is sold in health food stores for ingestion.  If it was dangerous, I am sure that doctors and stores would not be recommending it for consumption.... and I would not be as healthy as I am today.  And, obviously, my dog is not suffering any ill effects from the ingredient being in the food.

Here are some links that I found just by using google quickly...

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/clay2.htm

http://www.clayremedies.com/Info_About_Edible_Clays.html

 

I was just reading an article today on Canola oil () as I dont think it should be in dogfood. Ill have to go back and see if I can find the article and list here. After reading the article, I'm even more glad I dont feed food with it (right now raw).

I will say that most foods have salt added for flavor. Dogs that are on kibble that come in through rescue drink and drink and drink. If I convert them to raw, the water intake goes down dramatically. I know this is because raw has it's own hydration if you will. Its one of the reason why I absolutely hate kibble and of course all that extra poop I have to pick up....

Here is the info about Canola oil. I found other sad facts about it just to make sure that the info given was broad based and not just one persons opinion.

"The Weston A. Price Foundation, calls Canola ‘The Great Con-ola’. The Great Con-ola - Weston A Price Foundation Authors Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD report that Canola Oil was developed because industry needed a cheap source of monounsaturated oils. In the 1980’s, the world was beginning to learn the health benefits of olive oil, yet for industry, there was not enough olive oil in the world to meet need, and olive oil was too expensive to use in most processed foods.

Rapeseed oil, predominately used in China, Japan and India, was a monounsaturated oil option; however, two-thirds of the fatty acids in rapeseed oil are “erucic acid”, associated with Keshan’s disease causing lesions of the heart. Canadian plant breeders developed a genetic manipulation of rape seed that greatly reduced the erucic acid. The new oil was introduced as LEAR oil, for Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed.

Realizing ‘rape’ nor ‘lear’ would present a healthy image, industry dubbed the new oil Canola for Canadian oil (most of the new genetically modified rapeseed at the time was grown in Canada). Canada’s Canola Council’s initial challenge was rapeseed was not a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) food in the US. FDA GRAS status was granted in 1985 for Canola oil, for which it is rumored, the Canadian government spend $50 million to obtain.

The Weston A. Price Foundation article quotes numerous studies of the effects of Canola oil in animals; “These studies all point in the same direction--that canola oil is definitely not healthy for the cardiovascular system. Like rapeseed oil, its predecessor, canola oil is associated with fibrotic lesions of the heart. It also causes vitamin E deficiency, undesirable changes in the blood platelets and shortened life-span in stroke-prone rats when it was the only oil in the animals' diet. Furthermore, it seems to retard growth, which is why the FDA does not allow the use of canola oil in infant formula.”

 

Good grief. The dog is dying of thirst and is constipated. But by all means, feed him something that is used industrially to plug things up. To each his own.

I might add you are only on this feed for two months? I would put a bowl of clay out and a raw chicken wing, and see which one your dog prefers? That's just me thinking like a dog and not some new age colon cleansing guru! Truly I am glad you think it is working for you, but this dog eats once a day, so I'd give him protein and fat with some bone, not clay.
 

The way I can tell if i should feed a dog food is by moistening the kibble in warm water for half an hour. if it is still hard like concrete after that time, it is not going to be on my list of food to feed. First of all, I would never feed a dry bowl of kibble to any dog. In the wild, canines eat wild animals and that meat is 70% water. For proper digestion to occur you need liquid to break it down. Hopefully, this makes sense. To me, if you don't feed raw, then canned is better than kibble, but as far as I am concerned unaffordable for the good stuff.  You need to find a grain free kibble, when soaked turns mushy when you stir it. This insures the dog is getting enough liquid in order to fully digest the kibble. Feeding dry kibble leaves a dog in a state of constant deyhydration which is why your dog is so thirsty.  The body is telling him to drink because the body needs the water in order to digest the kibble. A perfect meal in my opinion, other than raw, which I don't do, is a grain free kibble that you have soaked in warm water for awhile, a few tablespoons of a good canned food mixed in and it is nice and mushy.

Imagine yourself, sitting down to a bowl of dry cereal every single day every single feeding.   I think I would be craving for my milk after about one spoonful. 
Just my opinion.