Name Brand dog foods

[buckbye]

Switched my 4 from Beneful to grain-free Taste of the Wild High Prairie (your opinions?) and some stinky skin issues have cleared up and my little chubster has lost weight. It's more expensive, but they don't need to eat as much of the grain-free food. I find TOTW itself to be less odiferous than the Beneful kibble. Beneful attracted me with its pretty bag (derp), but it's loaded with corn and I'd been hearing some pretty shady things about Purina's quality, safety, and way of doing business.

 

[Whoops]

**Gets on soapbox**

The following is JMHO

I sincerely believe food is the most important medicine. My dogs are raw fed. Considering that I have a 13 year old German Shepherd mix who still runs in flyball, have never had to deal with an allergy or skin problem with any of my animals, except one of the bc's gets hot spots if I feed her too many manufactured treats, have never had a problem with their weight, and I have never had to deal with ticks, fleas, or worms, and none of them - even the 13 year old - has ever required a dental, I think they are doing pretty darn good on it

One thing we tend to over look with dogs and cats is that water is a very essential nutrient. If it comes in a bag, it's dehydrated and bad for them - especially cats. (Yes, my cat is on the raw diet, too.) There is a reason most cats develop renal failure. The reason is dehydrated, denatured food that creates a state of chronic dehydration that stresses the cats' kidneys. I have watched cats die of this, have had so many friends' and family members' cats die of this, researched and realized so very many cats die of this, and it's stupid. Crunchy food is not better for their teeth, and it's horrible for their digestive system. If you have to feed them crunchy stuff because they won't take anything else, (and for gosh's sakes, do not try to starve them into it!) then make sure they have ample access to fresh water - preferably a kitty fountain or some other circulating system that keeps the water stirred and fresh to tempt them to drink as much as possible.

If you notice a cat seems obsessed with water - hangs out at the water faucet in the bathroom, won't leave your water glass alone, that kind of thing, or if you notice the litter box is "gooey" and they pee more than normal, or the poo is especially stinky, get the cat to a vet and talk about chronic renal failure.





These are Sticky and Daphne. They were my first cats I had as an adult and I watched both of them die from renal failure. The black cat, Sticky, is the reason I am so very passionate about the issue, now. Every night, for 15 years, she lulled me to sleep by curling up in my arms and purring. Every. Single. Night. I fed them what the vet recommended, (Science Diet) and it killed both of them them.

**Steps down off of soapbox**

 

[ShinShien]

I'm at a loss. My dogs don't want anything but dry Orijen and Primal Freeze-dried. Freeze-dried has less moisture than dry, and my chihuahua won't eat it reconstituted with water but has to have it in dried nugget-form.

 

[Whoops]

Dogs don't have nearly the issue with water that cats do. The link between dry food and renal disease is a cat thing.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I definitely agree that changing food options can do wonders for many hyper/allergic/itchy dogs. However, I've also seen dogs do just fine on the "evil" brands of food as well. It's a very individual thing.

In defense of the vet against holistic treatments, I can certainly understand his/her view. So many times we see animals in the vet field in absolutely terrible shape because people decided to try "holistic" methods first. I'm not totally against holistic medicine, but there also needs to be room for common sense. Too many people let their animals suffer through cancer or injuries trying a holistic method, when what they really need it medical attention and surgery. So often times we are left to deal with a case that could have been a simple case and now may not be able to be fixed. It's very frustrating, and very sad. That's why there are so many vets out there against many holistic treatments because when it comes down to it, many of them are Not a substitute for veterinary care and medicine.

There's also the issue that much of holistic medicine is not regulated at all, and we often see patients poisoned by their treatments. Not to say some things don't work, but it is sad enough to see a few cases that one easily becomes skeptical.

Many people go the raw option, but there are so many risks involved with that and I find many just don't educate themselves enough about it to feed a proper raw diet. Not to mention the salmonella risk to both the animal(s) and people in the household. The general rule of thumb at the hospital is if a dog is fed raw, it will be in at some point for malnutrition or salmonella. Too many people think you can just throw a bunch of cheap meats at a dog and that is ok. But in reality the diet needs to be so much more balanced than that. And you never really avoid the risk of salmonella, unless the meat is cooked.

 

[buckbye]

^ If holistic medicine/alternative medicine were effective, it would be called medicine.

 

[venetianblinds]

Here to second the above info on cats and renal failure. We see a ton of it in the veterinary field and I think there are many times when this affliction could have been avoided. Canned food is great for your cat (if you choose a high-quality one) and adds a great deal of moisture to the diet, thus helping the kidneys and makes it less likely that your cat will develop crystals in the urine. That being said, we also see a TON of cats with absolutely terrible teeth and feeding your cat dry food in additon to the canned does seem to help with inhibiting the build-up of tartar and plaque.

 

[venetianblinds]

I definitely agree that changing food options can do wonders for many hyper/allergic/itchy dogs. However, I've also seen dogs do just fine on the "evil" brands of food as well. It's a very individual thing.

In defense of the vet against holistic treatments, I can certainly understand his/her view. So many times we see animals in the vet field in absolutely terrible shape because people decided to try "holistic" methods first. I'm not totally against holistic medicine, but there also needs to be room for common sense. Too many people let their animals suffer through cancer or injuries trying a holistic method, when what they really need it medical attention and surgery. So often times we are left to deal with a case that could have been a simple case and now may not be able to be fixed. It's very frustrating, and very sad. That's why there are so many vets out there against many holistic treatments because when it comes down to it, many of them are Not a substitute for veterinary care and medicine.

There's also the issue that much of holistic medicine is not regulated at all, and we often see patients poisoned by their treatments. Not to say some things don't work, but it is sad enough to see a few cases that one easily becomes skeptical.

Many people go the raw option, but there are so many risks involved with that and I find many just don't educate themselves enough about it to feed a proper raw diet. Not to mention the salmonella risk to both the animal(s) and people in the household. The general rule of thumb at the hospital is if a dog is fed raw, it will be in at some point for malnutrition or salmonella. Too many people think you can just throw a bunch of cheap meats at a dog and that is ok. But in reality the diet needs to be so much more balanced than that. And you never really avoid the risk of salmonella, unless the meat is cooked.

I completely agree that holistic medicine is not always a great option; especially if a person is diagnosing without consulting a veterinarian. I just think that many of the allergy patients that suffer for years and years MAY be able to be helped with a change in diet. I have also seen a raw diet drastically improve patients with other conditions, especially seizures. That being said, as you mentioned, common sense is sometimes lacking and just trying to fix your pets' health problems without consulting a vet is not usually a great idea. As a supplemental or last resort option, though, I think alternative medicines have their place.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

My dog pikes on most grocery dog food. Kirkland house brand is actually impressive quality for the price. In general low grain, lots of whole meat. My dogs have excellent health and weight.

As for teeth, dogs and cats are carnivores. They are supposed to chew on bones. That does incredible thing for teeth.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Costco is now selling a kirkland brand grain-free feed called Nature's Domain that actually get a pretty decent rating on most of the dog food sites. It is one of the cheapest grain-frees I have seen if you are looking to switch on a budget. They have a fish and a poultry line (turkey maybe?).

I feed two of my dogs the kirkland grain-free now because of the price. I feed the other two Merick's duck which is a grain-free all US raised feed. It costs a lot more than the kirkland but it cleared away all of my pugs horrible allergies and skin issues so I am hesitant to try anything new while things are going good. They were on Taste of the Wild for a long time and it did help but Mericks has been the best in terms of skin issues that I have used personally.