Is all dog food bad? What the heck do I feed my dogs then?!?

[Moochie]

Some pro-vegan person just sent me this http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/shocking-truth-about-dog-food/
and explained to me even Canidae is bad, even though that's what I feed my dogs.. I thought it was made in America.
She said it's all toxic garbage that will kill my dogs.. Then she says a veggie based, all natural diet for my dogs will be the best and they will a long, healthy, happy life. What?
Umm... My dogs are carnivores so I'm not gonna have them eat celery for the rest of their lives.. Can someone link me to a dog food that is really made in the US and isn't made from ground up skunks, hooves, and dead cats/dogs? When I looked at the Canidae bag I did notice it said "meal", like chicken meal... I was told by another dog owner that the stuff is really good. Is there anything better I can get at a feed store?

 

[dainerra]

"meal"is a good thing. It simply means that the water content was removed, meaning that the concentration of meat is higher. Avoid foods that use meat add a listing because the actual amount will be smaller once the water is removed in preparation for cooking.
Canidea is a good brand. If your dogs are doing well on it, I wouldn't worry. They have a good reputation. You could also research foods that only use human grade ingredients - that would avoid 3D meat (dead, diseased, dying).

 

[Judy]

Yes, dogs and cats are carnivores, or maybe omnivores to an extent (I believe both wolves and large cats eat stomach contents of herbivores) but they certainly are not herbivores, and I agree, I wouldn't consider a vegan diet for a dog or cat. I don't like that so much chicken food is solely vegetable sourced, and look for ways to add animal protein to their diet, since finding chicken feed with fish meal locally does not seem to be an option.

I wouldn't worry about feeding Canidae for a moment, myself.

 

[dainerra]

cats especially are obligate carnivores, meaning they MUST have meat to survive. Without taurine in their diet, they will die

 

[Kevin565]

Have you thought about feeding a raw prey model diet?

 

[donrae]

Well, considering my dogs happily eat garbage and horse poop, I'm not too choosy.

Hey, maybe the horse poop diet would make the vegans happy

I have two horses that do nothing but turn hay into poo, I could supply several dogs their RDA of horse poop.

Does this vegan person understand carnivores? You also can't believe everything you read, esp from someone with a more extreme agenda like that. Yes, any processed dog food isn't going to be a perfect, wonderful diet of chunks of meat and bone from healthy, organic animals that wandered a green pasture and died peacefully of natural causes.Sorry, just ain't happening.


If you really want to feed your dog as naturally as possible, I agree with checking out a BARF type diet. Dogs were made to eat animals, pure and simple.

 

[badkittyamy]

I'm confused as to why someone that was pro vegan would link you that website because if you go past that page they RATE dog food and a lot of foods like canidae have VERY GOOD ratings

 

[SleepyOwl]

A dog could survive on a veggie based diet, but not thrive. They are carnivors, their bodies are built to eat and digest meat.

My dog and cats are on a mostly raw meat diet. (Sometimes I feed them dry commercial food out of laziness, but mostly they get meat.) Most of the meat I get is old freezer burnt meat that I get from people for free. Otherwise, they eat lots of chicken because it is cheap. (No, not my own.)

I switched my cats to raw when we got our dog a year ago, and our 10 year old cat, that was very obese, has lost a lot of weight and is so much healthier now. I had tried "diets" and diet foods with her before, and just could not get her to lose weight. She had poo problems, and her skin was aweful! (They didn't get cheap cat food either.) Since we switched to raw, even though she is still over weight, she looks so much better, and has lost enough weight that she can clean herself properly, has no poo issues, and her coat is shiny!

It does take more thought, and a bit more time than commercial foods, and a bit more money if you bought the cheap stuff, (unless you are able to find most of it free, or you like to hunt) but it is so worth it, imo.

For more info check here... https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/261761471359/

 

[RonnieAtkeson]

My dogs are fat and happy eating purina. I see no reason to change. I've seen dogs 15 years old eating ol Roy. My oldest is 10 and a friend stopped by and his buddy couldn't believe her age for how active and healthy she was.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

A vegan diet for a dog lacks soooo many nutrients it's not even funny! All kibbles are cooked, which removes the nutrients and they have to be added back in artificially. The most species appropriate diet for a dog is a prey model raw diet consisting of nothing more than raw meat,bones and organs. Here's a link for some more info...http://preymodelraw.com