We had our dogs on science diet sensitive skin and stomach and their coats were always great and had no issues with them eating it. We switched to Optim to save some money. We were told they use the same stuff. That was a load of crap. Both of their coats have gotten so bad. My Corgies coat was a dull Grey and she was losing hair left and right and she has been so itchy. My shelties hair is so wiry and brittle. They both stopped eating it and my corgi seems terrified to eat anything now. We immediately switched back to the science diet once we figured it out. My poor babies fur is getting better a little by little. I warn anyone using it is seems super bad and it does smell horrible. Something isn’t right.

Hi Kirsty, I expect significant money changes hands between Mars who make Optimum and Dr Chris Brown. It’s easy to overlook things when there’s money involved.

Royal Canin is also made by Mars, but a more expensive offering than Optimum. From what you’ve said it was very likely an ingredient in the Optimum causing the itchy paws, and any food without that ingredient will fix the issue. If you have time for a bit of a read then here’s some info on hypoallergenic dog foods, and also a review of Royal Canin Hypoallergenic.

I’ve never had a dog before, so I just chose optimum as it has dr chris brown on the bag, so I thought it must be good. My puppy always licked his paws and had infections on his paws. I took him to the vets numerous times ad he was given monthly injections for his allergies. I never thought it could be the optimum dog food since he has eaten it his whole life. When he was 3 years old I thought I’d try “royal canine” hyperallergenic food. And his paws were healed! I’ll never recommend optimum to anyone! It stinks too

Hi
I thought i would tried optimum adult dry dog food for my dog but it ended she had problem eating it. She didn’t like the smell but she was hungry snd ate some. She was sick and had bad diarrhea. The next she ate, she vomited out.

I have fed my Labrador optimum large breed dry plus some raw for many years without any problems Toby is turning 15 August 23 also now use it for sent training with my Border puppies

Royal Canin and Optimum are both Mars brands, with Optimum the cheaper of the two. Usually with struvite crystals I recommended a more wet/raw diet as most of these dry foods are hefty on grains.