# Best diet for Vizsla



## fosterlisa (Jun 30, 2016)

Hi-I am overwhelmingly confused about what the best dry food diet is for our beautiful 3 year old Lucy. She has grown up on Fromm gold which is grain free, now with all of the controversy grain free does not sound like it should be an option.
Lucy is active, runs with me, enjoys life......what should I feed her?


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## tegee26 (Apr 25, 2018)

All of our dogs have been on Annameat for 10+ years and been extremely pleased with their product line. They literally have a product that can fit every need if you peruse their web site. We have both our V's (one 2-yr old and one 4-months old) on a high fat and high protein based chicken blend. The way it's been explained to me, from their CS team, is that although it's not "grain-free", it is corn, wheat and soy free which is a huge benefit. Annameat may be hardier to find in your area? But is it a very good locally sourced food out of Pennsylvania. It's not big box manufactured FWIW.

We've bounced back and forth between these two since we got our puppy in July. The Ultra has much higher protein and fat, I think 50 calories higher then the Extra. Both are identical in their main ingredients, so switching between the two is a non issue. Hope this helps........

http://www.annamaet.com/products/Extra_Formula
http://www.annamaet.com/products/Ultra_Formula


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

+1 for Annamaet, really high quality, small batch food. Used it, loved it. It's what my breeder who I trust and adore starts them on and is part of her food rotation. Am now using Natures Variety Instinct b/c it's a meat based kibble and I'd put us in the "extremely active" category, spending most of the day outside doing hard hiking and the like, so I wanted a higher meat protein diet.

The whole GF thing is very scary, but there's no smoking gun here that directly links GF to cardiomyopathy..if that were the case, we'd expect so many more (if not all) dogs to suffer from it as a result, That some (and only few, btw) do suggests that there are other mitigating (and still unknown) factors involved here, this is a complex issue and not as clear as the news makes it seem. 

What I've found from reading the studies themselves (aside from the above) is that most GF foods substitute peas for grains, and the legumes (peas) apparently interfere with the absorption of an amino acid called taurine. Taurine is essential for heart health. Those facts aren't in dispute. What is unclear and frankly more important is why, given the same diet, some succumb while most do not. I spend more time worrying about my Vizsla generally and certainly his health and well being than I probably should, and I also spend more time researching and reading anything and everything that effects him then I should as well, and for me, the most important thing is to fed a high quality, high meat protein diet...I add fresh beef, but also salmon and chicken as a supplement, with no worries. Kinda... When I bring him in for his annual physical, I'll get a taurine level as well just to make sure.

But until they really determine the actual vulnerability in those dogs that succumb, I keep a watchful eye out and feed GF with added meat. You can rotate a high quality traditional grained kibble, there's no reason you can not give that at regular intervals. There's nothing "Wrong" with those foods, I just find that when they add grains and cereals, it's higher up on the ingredient list at the expense of meats, which are really what they needs and thrive on most.


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