Puppy/Dog Food

[Riocotesei]

I'm glad you found one close by, it's actually really easiy to find which is a great plus.
I don't support Iams and Eukanuba (owned by the same company) because they keep getting recalls even a month or 2 ago they recalled something.

Science diet is not a great choice as corn is listed as the 3rd or 4th item in the ingredients. Most of th dogs at work don't eat it but the owners let them have it because we carry science diet as the complementary food if the owner doesn't bring their own food. We usually end op throwing away the science diet because the dogs don't like it.

The only blue buffalo food I would suggest is Blue Buffalo Basics and Wilderness. But for the money and quality....TotW is still better.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

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Nope, vet has checked him several times for worms, wormed him with a broad-spectrum wormer just in case, and his health checks out fine otherwise.
He just refuses to eat enough to support his activeness.
Good luck with your new pup.

I'm having this problem with Katie too. She has grown in inches, taller and longer but has actually lost a 1/2 lb since she has been with us. She is in constant movement. Cattle Dog Puppie don't stop until they fall down, lol. She didn't care for the satin balls, good thing I only mixed up 1/10 of batch of them. I was wanting to use them as training treats but she would rather have Greek Yogurt!

 

[apryl]

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Are you sure? I worked in a vet office for several years. We had more cats with urinary problems off Purina then any other brand.



To the OP: corn, wheat or any grain is not part of the natural diet of dogs and especially not cats. As someone else posted, look for a food that has the first few ingredients as some kind of meat. I feed Taste of the Wild as well. My dogs are doing wonderful on it and LOVE the taste!!! It is the cheapest in that quality of food. I priced it based on what you feed (what labels recommend) and it come out about the same as Pedigree in price when you see how much you are feeding.

I agree with this, Ive had a couple of cats with issues in my life, and was told no purina and no store brand foods either, (its basically junk food) and nothing with corn listed as one of the first 3 ingredients. I feed natures recipe Lamb and Rice.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

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Are you sure? I worked in a vet office for several years. We had more cats with urinary problems off Purina then any other brand.



To the OP: corn, wheat or any grain is not part of the natural diet of dogs and especially not cats. As someone else posted, look for a food that has the first few ingredients as some kind of meat. I feed Taste of the Wild as well. My dogs are doing wonderful on it and LOVE the taste!!! It is the cheapest in that quality of food. I priced it based on what you feed (what labels recommend) and it come out about the same as Pedigree in price when you see how much you are feeding.

I agree with this, Ive had a couple of cats with issues in my life, and was told no purina and no store brand foods either, (its basically junk food) and nothing with corn listed as one of the first 3 ingredients. I feed natures recipe Lamb and Rice.

I've figured it out to feed Katie TofW for the month, it's less than $2 a day.

For my cats, Wellness, it's $0.33 per day per cat. Butterscotch, my 17 year old has only been eating Wellness for the last week. Her coat looks better, she has more energy. My 13 year old, 20lb, MaineCoon/Siam hasn't had a better coat!!! He's always had dry skin, dander very bad. Not now. He was out in the livingroom chasing the 1year olds yesterday. He usually just lays around.! They were all on Nurto until now.

 

[lishah2000]

My golden used to have really bad allergic reactions to foods, everything actually. Once I started to only feed quality foods with more than one type of meat, the reactions dropped to almost none (just from insect bites or lawn sprays - hate that stuff). I try and rotate her food from time to time and as long as it's a quality food she does well. Currently she is on Nutro Ultra but we just recently switched to it.

My new pyr had very bad eating habits. She wouldn't eat and would spill her bowl and ants would get it. This was eating what the previous owner was feeding. I gave up and started to give her the Nutro (even though it was a senior formula) until I could get something else. She at least ate the Nutro, but would still try the bowl tipping at first. I think it had become a habit because she didn't like the food. I decided to try TOTW. Within a few feedings the bowl tipping stopped completely.

Her coat is getting better. I had no idea how much to feed her. My golden is about 65 pounds and eats 2 cups a day. She was 80 pounds at the time so I feed 3 cups a day. She put on the weight she needed, but now is starting to put on too much. I think she will end up at just 2 cups a day also. Not a lot of food for a dog of that size. She is getting the fish formula.

I'm happy with it and may end up trying the golden on it too.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

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That's the thing about quality foods, you don't have to feed as much. My late dog, Spook, had just been switched to Earthborn-Primitive formula-no grains before she was diagnosed with Cushings Disease. She had lost 6 lbs of fat in a little over a month and was moving much better even with arthritis down her lower spine and both rear legs and feet. I had started Katie on it, but they are having trouble getting it from the distributer or I would probably still have her on it. It's got all the same stuff as TOTW but not as widely distributed.

 

[fwschrom]

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Ditto

 

[lishah2000]

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I'm not familiar with the Earthborn. I'll have to look it up. My golden is just starting to have some joint pains (she is 11) and I've been looking for a food to help with that. Her weight is good. I've always kept her trim (as the vet describes it and recommends).

I'm still surprised at how quickly the pyr put on weight with just a small amount of food. I would say both dogs have about the same activity level so the golden would probably need less than 2 cups.

My late border collie (I lost him about the same time you lost Spook) also only ate 2 cups of the quality foods and he was very active.

 

[shchinchillas]

The problem with vets and getting dog food advice from them is.. They are going to tell you to purchase the brands they get a cut in

. For instance my vet pushes science diet... but they also get a profit in the science diet they sell

Stay away from dog foods in the grocery store. They may be cheap foods to feed.. but that is because the INGREDIENTS are cheap, too. They are using mostly fillers, not nutritious food. Your dogs will also need to eat more to get the proper nutrients, causing more poop, and you needing to buy more food. For instance when I was feeding Purina my 60lb dog needed 2.5 cups of food 2 x per day. That was 5 cups of feed a day. He was STILL on the skinny side. Using taste of the wild he is getting 1cup per feeding 2 x per day so 2 cups of dog food daily. He has GAINED weight. I am feeding 3 cups LESS on a quality feed then I was with grocery store food. In the end, this bag lasts me 3-4 weeks with 2 dogs eating it, then the grocery store bag that lasted 1.5 weeks with two dogs... I am SAVING money in the long run.


Edited to add- We use Taste of the Wild.

 

[Avla]

Thanks everyone! The breeder said she uses purina puppy chow and I am not too fond of that stuff, so we are going to switch to Taste of The Wild.

Anyways, here is our little one: