EVO Food - Page 1

I have been feeding my dogs TOTW for a long time and they were doing great until the last 3 bags. Their coats are not shinny and have had a lot of loose stools. Been thinking of switching to EVO and wanted to get some of your opinions on the food. I am not sure what formula to use but was thinking of the red meat formula. Please help with making this decision. Thanks in advance.

You know, I read a lot about people using this food and loving it, but every person i actually know who's tired it hates it. They have said to me it goes right through their dogs, loose stools resulting in weight loss. Seems to be too rich for some dogs. I'm using TOTW, which is less protein than Evo or Orijen, and so far my dogs are doing great.

I also feed TOTW - I think it's the best no-grain food and also the lowest price available for the best quality food on the market.  IMO EVO is WAYYYY too high protein level for normal-activity dogs.  45% is the protein level in cat food. 

molly

I agree with Molly. Although EVO looks like a good food, the protein levels is WAY to high. If I was you I would stay on the TOTW. Maybe try another formula and see if that helps.

You might want to investigate Nature's Variety Instinct.  Some dogs don't do well with potatoes.  This product uses tapioca to form the kibble.  There has to be a starch to create a kibble.

www.naturesvariety.com/instinct_dog_kibble


They also make really good canned food.

I kept some for a little variety and for emergency food.  Pharaoh, however, eats raw food and only likes kibble if it is in another dog's food bowl.  Sometimes I use a half can to mix in the scoop full of ShowStopper that he gets every day.

Michele

I use to feed EVO to my male and female.  My male is still on it because after buying 11 bags I finally received the 12th bag free. Whoo hoo.  I've never tried the Red Meat EVO as it was more expensive than the chicken based bag.  My female is on TOTW Pacific Stream Salmon.  I will be transitioning my male to TOTW as well within the next month. 

Like others have mentioned here - I am not a big fan of the 42% protein.  I play ball with my dogs 2x per day and walk them in the evenings so they get normal exercise.  No matter what I tried - my female wouldn't budge from the 83 lb mark.  Since switching her to TOTW - she's lost 7 lbs and is looking and appears to feel much better at 76 lbs.  She hasn't had loose stools and her coat has never looked better.  I willsay the kibble size in my last 2 bags have been slightly different in size but no apparent outward symptoms.

The other main reason that I made the switch was the price of EVO.  TOTW was less expensive but still a good alternate grain free choice. I did look at Orijen but it was very pricey and same issue with the protein level.

Good luck. 

We feed evo to our 4 GSD's with great results.  Small less frequent stools, nice shiny coats, no digestive issues (which was an issue prior to evo), no anal gland issues (which was an issue prior to evo).  I can't complain about the food at all.  We feed much less, our extremely active high drive male gets about 3 cups a day.  We did try switching at one point and all the dogs fell apart, lost their coats, got skin and ear infections so we went back to the evo.  And I don't think for the quality of the food that the price is all that bad, we pay about $42 for a 28.6 lb bag which is roughty $1.50 a lb.  I have also heard of dogs that did poorly but it depends on the dog and you have to make sure to give them a good 2 months to adjust to a new food.  Personally I would never switch to another food at this point as I have only had very good experiences with this food.

Clarification - the label listed with citric acid is for the natures variety dog food, not EVO

I have fed EVO for about 2 years now [chicken, small bites] with no problem - I am actually adding green beans because the stools are a bit too firm though.

I think the large bites are even larger and the size may be part of the problem for digestion - I don't know - always felt smaller would be better for rapid dissolution in the stomach so I never fed the large bites.