Hill's Science Diet is a very poor food. Vets sell it so  they prescribe it too. If she has both kinds of stones you need a food that fits best. You have to read labels. If she has skin allergies the recommended protein is lamb or duck as a lot of dogs have a problem with chicken. You want a food with the fewest ingredients and something with probiotics. It is all the grains and by products and chemicals which cause the problems with runny stools and allergies. Evo is an excellent kibble but make sure you read the label to see it fits the needs of a dog with stones. Other top dog food companies would be  Honest Kitchen makes a food that has all human ingredients. It is dry and you mix with warm water. They have several kinds so read the labels. You can add a little meat, veggie, cottage cheese to it. I use it with raw meats. The more meat and less of other ingredients the smaller the stool. Fromm, Petcurean which has Go!Natural (which I think is a good choice for dogs with stones),Pinnacle, Wysong,some Solid Golds mixes, Artemis, Eagle pack, and Merrick are all good. There are more. Plain kibble is not an adequate diet for a dog. Add a good oil such as salmon, pure coconut, flaxseed, or even olive oil. Mix a tablespoon of canned with the kibble for each meal and a little cottage cheese once in a while or an egg. You do not need to feed all canned. You can get percentages of ingredients that must be limited in dogs with stones off the bichon health site and then read the labels on the different varieties each company makes to see the best fit. Bichons are very sensitive to most flea and tick products so try not to use  them. Bathe with a gentle shampoo and brush everyday or so. A little cornstarch will help keep her clean and soothes the skin. Dust some on before you brush. Read up on the dangers of vaccinations too. Hope this gets you started.
Sylvia

Bichon health is a site for information gathered over decades by serious show breeders. They do not advertise any products but offer guidelines to owners of Bichon Frise. I said I will not give a list because I do not know the dog's health problems. That is up to the vet.  What does the vet say? If the dog has kidney or bladder problems read the information and it will help guide to what should be/not be in the diet. Then you have to read the labels carefully. If the allergies are due to flea and tick products diet won't help. There is a contact where the dog's problem can be  explained, emailed and someone will get back with help and advice. There are articles on virtually every problem including the dangers of over vaccination as well as a link to Dr Jean Dodds.
Dr Fox gives a list of foods he thinks are good but once again what are the problems? Switching foods at random is not a great idea. Is the dog allergic to chicken, fish, beef or just reacting to all the junk in foods like Hill's ?Does it have stones or kidney problems, is it basically a skin problem, and then what products are they using on the dog? All have to be considered. I have nothing against Wellness but never used it either. Some breeders feel it is not the best choice for Bichons. They are very sensitive to so many things.
Many feed raw as I do. Some use high quality kibbles with added meat , veggies and eggs but first what is the diagnosis? I would be happy to suggest food choices if you let me know what the vet says the problems are. In the meantime  the stewed chicken with rice or macaroni will get her bowels back to normal and the canned pumpkin will work even faster. Please tell her not to use the Revolution.

OK if she has been to the vet then the next thing to do is go to the BFCA healthsite and look up what kind of diet works best for the problem. One type of stone is more linked to diet than the other. I have never had the problem so am not on top of that info. To help the dog get back on track they should give her either boiled rice or a small macaroni with stewed chicken for a week or two. I use thighs, one should make 2 meals. Canned pumpkin helps both runny stools and constipation. Pure pumpkin not pie mix. A tablespoon for a couple of days and then every couple of days.
Science Diet is so bad but I do not want to recommend a food till she knows what should be on the label. Therese has links to so many foods so its easy to compare.
Bichons have major problems with all those flea and tick products so they should be avoided. Same with all the vaccinations. There are links to almost everything Bichon on that site. Most a 14 year old should understand but maybe someone will help her.  Her parents might do that. I seldom log on this site any more but just happened to do it this weekend. These problems are so common among the Bichon pet owners as they do not have the information the Bichon show/breeders have. Have her google Dr Michael Fox. He is a holistic vet who also has tons of info on diet and health for dogs in general.
http://www.bichonhealth.org
Sylvia

You need to take that Bichon to a vet. They are prone to both bladder and kidney stones as well as other urinary problems. If she gets a clean bill of health go to the http://www.bichonhealth.org. If she is found to have a problem go to http://www.bichonhealth.org. There is a site with knowlegeable and important information on YOUR BREED. The people who run it have been in the breed for decades and the information has been gathered over decades.OR
you can keep on changing foods and ignoring a possibly serious problem.
YIKES!!!

Those products like Revolution cause major skin allergy problems on Bichons (and worse) ! Go to the Bichon health site and read about them. Why ignore all the decades of information the Bichon people have to offer?
Sylvia

Hi,
Sorry I have not been on for a while.  I have been owned by Bichon Frise for over thirty years. Food could be a problem here such as switching too fast but there are other things to consider as well.
First food: There are some Bichon people who think Wellness is not a good choice for Bichons. I have never used it. There are other quality foods such as Pinnacle, Evo, some of the Breeders Choice Varieties, Merricks and Wysong products that I used for many years. Too many scary things happening with even some of the high quality kibbles so now I use Honest Kitchen and add meat, an egg, yams, a little yogurt too it. The meat I use is raw  but you can use cooked and I get Oma's for convenience. Dogs love it. Canned pumpkin, not pie mix, works great for digestion. Not a lot needed.
Second Vaccinations: cause many problems in Bichons and most show breeders follow Dr Jean Dodds protocol. Very few puppy shots and no yearlies. Rabies as the law requires. This is true for all breeds.
Third Skin problems: usually are associated with allergies or those flea and tick products, both over the counter and prescription as well. They are essentially all poisons.
Here is where you want to go to learn everything about Bichon health.
http://www.bichonhealth.org
This is the health site of the Bichon Frise Club of America.
Good luck, Sylvia

[HOWEVER]

The ingredients looked great so I bought the fish based kibble and the dogs loved it. I mixed it  1 part to 3 of Kumpi. HOWEVER,  I later found out it is made by Diamond  although there is no indication of that anywhere I could find on the bag. Diamond has had several serious problems with some of their kibbles  dating long before the 2007 problems and were also involved with the 2007 recalls. Therefore I will not buy it again. Am back to the very expensive Orijen Six Fish to add to Kumpi.

[Force]

  I have been feeding Kumpi for almost a year now. The dogs are happy, healthy and I feel it is a good, safe food. Delivery is great as I have it shipped to the east coast from Colorado. All inquiries are answered in short order. I  often use a small amount of Honest Kitchen Force or Embark as a topper and lately mix a handful of Orijen Six Fish to every three of Kumpi to give some variety. I do not believe in the "one perfect food" for life so also add some veggies, stewed chicken or salmon from time to time but Kumpi is the main food. The kibble is also the perfect size for small dogs.

[Taste of the Wild]

According to Whole Dog Journal Taste of the Wild dry is made by Diamond.

Wellness and Merrick are both fine foods though I favor Wellness a bit more.  :)Biljac is not up there with them and I would not use it. Read the labels carefully. You can go on line and find sites to help you determine good and bad ingredients in the foods.

I answered you yesterday when you posted under general Recall. Look there as I posted a terrific source.

Orijen is a very good choice. Wellness would be a good choice too. Hill's is not a food I would give my dogs even if vet's sell it. There are other high quality foods.  Bones are generally very bad for dogs and right now most of the rawhide is imported. Kong toys and nylabone toys are good for chewing. The quality dog food companies often produce biscuits and other treats. Look through the foods and their websites on The Pet Food List link. Wysong is an excellent company and offers various types of treats. Old Mother Hubbard is part of Wellness and they make dog treats. Lots of others do too.

I have been using it for months now as a topper to the kumpi kibble. My dogs love it but it did take a couple of weeks for them to get used to it as it is so different. All healthy stuff, 48 hour fridge life after it is mixed with water, all good veggies and fruit. No cat  here so can't tell if a cat would like it. Never have seen anything bad about it. It is a bit expensive.

I read this site and although I agree with some  things I seriously question other of this vet's ideas. As for his recommended pet foods, yikes, so many of these are among the recalled companies foods. Diamond for example not only had problems this last recall but deaths from their foods in late 2005.  Hills? Nutro?Me, I will not deal with any company who is involved in the recalls period! The problem with sites like this is they present a narrow side of the picture. Other sites will present the complete opposite and some are in between. I think our pets get in trouble when we read one position only, buy it all, and never look to a bigger picture. Myself, I read as many positions and opinions as possible and then use common sense.
Ps: My breed is very involved in the research and side effects of vaccinations. Have been collecting data for years. The top researchers in the USA are Dr Jean Dodds and Dr Ronald Schultz. If people want a more scientific opinion they are the people to look to now not Dr. J. I know the horrors that can happen to an animal first hand from all these unnecessary boosters.

Hi Geff,
I have read what Therese has said about the various foods on her list. I have also spent a great deal of time researching many of those foods and have found some that have NEVER had a problem in the past. I really have little interest in what the pet food companies say about their own safety and am not naive. I would never buy from a company that keeps "proprietary secrets" or refuse to deal with a company because I don't like a philosophical answer on a website. One thing I have noted is the best foods are from smaller companies with one, maybe two brands and admittedly they are more expensive. Flint River is just one of those companies. There have been a lot of questions re: Natura products on other forums. The only time I tried one, Innova Evo, my dogs had digestive problems. It is not a company I want to deal with now. I know some members of this forum have had to switch foods several times. I am sad for their animals. I have had no such problems with the foods I use and don't expect to. Perhaps your kitty has had problems related to the foods in general and not the specific ingredients. I see a lot of analyzing of foods here by pet people who may not have the expertise they think they do. Diane listed a site Defendourpets.org where they have data ranking from best to worst ingredients in pet foods. It is very interesting to match the list to some of the pet foods. I am happy to see the ones I use really do have the highest quality ingredients. Perhaps it would be helpful to you.
Finally Robinplan was nice enough to offer a free sample of Flint River and so I took her up on it. She got right back to me and is sending out a sample of the "Fish & Chips" for dogs.  This is one of the foods I felt from way back would be an excellent one to try.
I taught school for many, many years and my natural instinct is to try and help. I will not claim percentages of this or that are best for animals as I have no background in animal nutrition, nor will I decide what is best to put in or leave out of pet foods because I read  something on a website somewhere.  However I take a lot of time and do a lot of reading from a lot of sources. I also use common sense.  So far its worked for me. Perhaps the help I try to offer is not always wanted. That's okay too. Good luck on your search for kitty's food. Hope you eventually do find one.
Sylvia
PS: I stand behind my statement that Therese has laid out the best site I have found for evaluating pet foods. I use it regularly and constantly recommend it to others.