Best low cost dog food

[Rozzie]

Quote:
Each of us can have our own opinion about this one.

I have a senior dog that I adopted this summer. She came to me with a hip so bad that I thought she'd be lucky to live six months before she went down in her hips. Her weight was acceptable, but her energy was low. She'd get winded from exercise really rapidly.

After 2-3 months on Science Diet for Senior large dogs, her hip problems are not even noticeable and she has loads of energy. She's still an old dog. Obviously, the SD feed isn't going to heal her tumors and cataracts. It's sure making her remaining time in the world much healthier, though. She can run and play and enjoy whatever time she has left with us.

Edited to add: A big bag of SD lasts her about a month. That's not too bad, price-wise.

We also feed SD to our cats. They are healthier than ever before, their litter pan no longer smells, and they no longer have gas problems. They also eat much less than they did of the cheaper food. Again, a big bag lasts 3 cats (one is a LARGE cat) about a month.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Each of us can have our own opinion about this one.

I have a senior dog that I adopted this summer. She came to me with a hip so bad that I thought she'd be lucky to live six months before she went down in her hips. Her weight was acceptable, but her energy was low. She'd get winded from exercise really rapidly.

After 2-3 months on Science Diet for Senior large dogs, her hip problems are not even noticeable and she has loads of energy. She's still an old dog. Obviously, the SD feed isn't going to heal her tumors and cataracts. It's sure making her remaining time in the world much healthier, though. She can run and play and enjoy whatever time she has left with us.

Edited to add: A big bag of SD lasts her about a month. That's not too bad, price-wise.

We also feed SD to our cats. They are healthier than ever before, their litter pan no longer smells, and they no longer have gas problems. They also eat much less than they did of the cheaper food. Again, a big bag lasts 3 cats (one is a LARGE cat) about a month.

WHats in it that helped her hips? I have a dog with bad hips/back also...

 

[NellaBean]

I was never impressed with Science Diet. When I worked at a shelter the animals were never thrilled with it and we saw no great progress while feeding it. I used to feed all fosters Pro Plan and they did great. Nice and plump with a super shiny, soft coat. Pro Plan kitten food was like magic on those guys. I stopped feeding Pro Plan dog food, but still use the cat food. Currently fattening up a recent rescue.....she came here thin with a dull coat and lots of flaky skin. She is fattening up nicely and I expect her coat to improve quickly. She has only been here maybe 2 weeks, so although the weight gain is obvious, the coat will take a little time.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

I have fed lots of different kibble over the years, and as of last year went to raw. Much cheaper, pure nutrition with nothing being cooked out. Their poops are so small with zero odor. I will literaly just desinigrate away.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

I've been feeding raw for a dozen years now. I will NEVER go back.

However, for those who ask me about kibble recommendations, Science Diet is down somewhere near Beneful. Ick. It's just ground corn and byproduct meal. "Senior" is code for "lower protein/calorie" - almost none of the senior foods have enough supplementation in them to make a real difference in joints or pain. That's true no matter how good the brand is. It's honestly a lot healthier for them to just cut back on the amount of normal adult food you give.

 

[vicki2x2]

I have to agree, Science Diet is crap and Iams isn't any better, they just pay a lot for advertising!

 

[naturalfeddogs]

Quote:
Science diet is for sure one of the worst out there. Last time we fed kibble, was the Diamond Naturals formulas, only because there is no access to anything better where we live. Raw has been amazing, and like you we wil never go either.

 

[abluechipstock]

i used to use diamond from tsc it's one of the better foods, but i needed a food with better ingediants for my show dogs so i switched to canidae for all stages of life, it's holistic but it's a little over a $1 a pound, but my dogs don't eat much, and their coats are very shiny, i tried to go back a few times and the coats don't do as well

 

[NellaBean]

Anyone who feeds raw, got any good websites?

i never feed senior dog food......I just feed adult at appropriate levels for their size/weight. I had a vet once tell me I needed to switch my senior dog to senior food....she also told me that she would never own a German Shepherd because of all the health problems. And would never get a dog that was over 3 months old due to socialization. Too much "damage" could be done at that point. She preferred purebred labs and buying from breeders instead of rescuing. My opinion of her went down accordingly.

 

[vebyrd36]

Quote:
Well that is a vet I would not use. I raise German Shepherds and have not had but one get sick. Overall mine are very healthy, the key is not to line breed them. As far as raw diet Here is link, also I included a recipe for use when needed. I use a raw diet 80% of the time with my German Shepherds, wolves then supplement with dog chow and mini chunks from tractor supply. The avaerage weight of my male GSD is 125.00 ilb and females 110.00lbs. My lines are not small GSD. See my page for pics


www.worldclassgsd.com/Health_care/BARF_Diet.htm

Satin balls for weight gain in doogs. I use this recipe for my lactating mothers that have many puppies.

Gather indgredients
This is the original recipe:
10 pounds hamburger meat
1 lg. box of Total cereal
1 lg. box oatmeal
1 jar of wheat germ
1 1/4 cup veg oil
1 1/4 cup of unsulphured molasses
10 raw eggs AND shells
10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
pinch of salt


However, if you just want to try them out or have a small dog, I recipe this scaled down version (1/10th or the original).

1 pound cheap hamburger 1 1/3 cups Total cereal
1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 raw egg
6 tablespoons wheat germ
1 package Knox unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
Pinch of salt

The only thing I suggest you change is the oil; vegtable oil has no health benefit, so substitute it with an oil that does (like flax seed oil which is high in healthy omega 3s).