Protein and growth - Q for Burns ?

_Vicky_ · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:21 pm Post subject:

ahhhh isnt it such a dilemma - I now have the task of choosing an adult food for Lily which doesnt have a high level of purines in it as dals cant tolerate them Confused

Eve · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:07 pm Post subject:

A lot of you know what I think of Burns - Neo had huge problems - and although I can;t blame for his allergies (not yet anyway!) - I am sure that Burns made things worse and their nutritional helpline was appalling...

Once Neo went onto Hills ZD, the prescription diet and off Burns - and this was at over 4 he had a growth spurt and put on condition - to the extent that fellow dog walkers are still commenting on it, so it must have been quite noticeable.

He is not fat - but definitely grew once he was off Burns, I would never feed that stuff again....

Eve Neo and Baby Bramble

Fay · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject:

Both my boys have always been fed Burns, from pups Smile

Both are big and chunky and 3 years old.

Harvey is 35kg and Charlie 32kg. Ive never had a problem, they both love it!

Basil · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:27 am Post subject:

Eve - I knew you had issues with burns but it's also interesting to hear neo had a growth spurt after it too. We are also getting comments from other dog walkers ( Embarassed

the same people who I used to defend his leanness to)

Fay - thanks, I really needed to hear it's possible as I've recently being feeling a little guilty that I might have stunted his growth.

I still think Burns is a quality food but maybe it wasn't right for basil in his adolescent phase.

Sonia · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:30 am Post subject:

Finlay was fed on Burns with the others but he just stopped filling out and actually lost 2 kg in a short space of time. As he is still growing this concerned me enough to change his food.

BenLora · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:03 am Post subject:

I also think this is an interesting thread!

My friend fed her dogs exclusively Burns and I feel her lab is very slight and a lot of people have often asked if she was a pure lab. However she is very healthy and fit and her coat gleams! She is apparently much smaller than her mother though. Her mother was fed Burns but only from an adult!

I have fed Ben Burns since I got him at 3 months old, prior to that he was fed Dr Johns. He is pretty strong, 24 inches tall and weighs 37 kilos. However, I have always given him extras, i.e. oily fish etc, whereas my friend stuck ridgedly to Burns guidelines and didn't feed any extras.

Earlier this year I bought a Retriever pup who was weaned on Skinners. My vet commented on what a well grown pup he was and asked what I was going to feed him. When I said Burns she suggested we only feed him the large breed puppy food as she said she was wary of foods that claimed to suit all sizes of dogs.

I have recently changed both dogs to Skinners but too soon to see any difference as I only started introducing it last week. Since Ben just loves food he is happy with anything but I have noticed my retriever is far more keen on Skinners.

Eileen

Eve · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:53 am Post subject:

I would also add (sorry not thinking straight last night! Embarassed

) that in addition to feeding Neo on Burns right from a pup I also changed Sam onto Burns at the same time.

When Sam was started on Burns he was a big chunky boy of 44kg - perhaps a little TOO chunky if I am honest, but not hugely so, at least the vets never ever hinted that a little reduction of the avoirdupois would be in order Laughing

- as soon as he started on Burns he began losing weight - when he died he was around 32kg and definitely too skinny, even the vet had said he should not lose any more weight.

And I was feeding more than the Burns guidelines because I felt that the amount was ridiculously low....

The other thing that another vet had said when I mentioned that the cat was being fed Burns was that they recommended people did NOT feed Burns as they had seen a lot of cats with health issues arising from feeding Burns, some had actually died, apparently the food does not contain all it should for the cats health needs leading to these issues, I can't remember now what she said the problem was. She did say tht she had fed Burns to her cat and had changed it.

Don;t know what they thought about dogs and Burns as we were discussing my cat at the time - and I never thought to ask Embarassed

Eve Neo and Baby Bramble

BBB · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:02 am Post subject:

Scubabe · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:43 am Post subject:

I would never feed Burns to a puppy again, ever.
I had Ozzie on Burns from 12 weeks - 8 months and he was sooooo skinny, you could see his ribs, he was far too lanky for my liking and although I would never say he was "dangerously" skinny, his physique was more like that of a greyhound than a labrador! He was just bones with skin stretched over them, there didn't seem to be any "meat" on those bones.
We changed him over to JWB at around 8 months, it was not a conscious decision on my part, but I was in Australia, the bag of Burns got emptied, and Charlie had no idea where I bought the Burns from Smile

When I came home Ozzie was on JWB.
I noticed a change in him within a few weeks, and by the end of the first month on it I knew we'd done the right thing - he was finally filling out and gaining "substance". His chest broadened, his shoulders filled out, his hips rounded and his legs weren't thin little sticks any more.
Now, I don't know if it was definitely the food which did this, it could have been testosterone kicking in and perhaps he would have filled out at that age anyway... it just seemed like a big coincidence.

Ness

Basil · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:54 am Post subject: