Pets Discussions

I do my best to watch what the girls get.  I belong to PetSmart savings club and what I didn't know is that if you buy something that gets recalled they will contact you ASAP...and that is just from useing the card. 

I found this out after I bought a pouch of wet food for Scrappy and the good thing was is that she didn't like it one bit and I tossed it.  I look closer at the labels, but you have brought up a few items I have been missing and I will be checking the girls bags of food.

Yes, absolutely. I won't buy anything with rice gluten. Hanna eats organic Paul Newman food for the most part.

Another good food is Muenster Natural Pet Foods.  It is made in Texas and can be shipped. 

Oh God yes.  I pay so much attention to my pets food I should follow suit and do the same for myself.  Don't worry I'm a pet food snob also.  First it was just my dog and now it's my cats too.  Now that I'm a food snob I can't help but pick up the food that are supposed to be good for pets and reading the ingredients, and of course they aren't that good.

Good food is so important.  But what is great for my dog might not work for yours.  Glad we have so many good choices out there these days.

Absolutely! I never did. Our other dogs got junk - I know now it was. Hanna only gets organic food or food without by product as you mentioned.

Oh Yes! I had a pom get cancer and was given 2 months  to live after the surgery to remove as much of the tumor as they could. Well he lived almost 2 more years, astounding the vet. I made his food after doing some research. Except I gave him grapes!!!!before i knew they were toxic and he developed kidney failure. I felt (and continue to) so guilty. He may have lived longer had I been more informed. :(

My guys now get the all natural no by products stuff with occassional veggies and eggs.  

dovey said…

Oh Yes! I had a pom get cancer and was given 2 months  to live after the surgery to remove as much of the tumor as they could. Well he lived almost 2 more years, astounding the vet. I made his food after doing some research. Except I gave him grapes!!!!before i knew they were toxic and he developed kidney failure. I felt (and continue to) so guilty. He may have lived longer had I been more informed. :(

My guys now get the all natural no by products stuff with occassional veggies and eggs.  

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Hi Dovey, below is a website with a list of things not to feed dogs. You know I gave my 1st Jack Russell grapes for a long time until I read it was bad for them. I hope this list is helpful to you. 

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1939&articleid=1030 

thanks Krislynn! I will check this out.

You know what is funny, we all look very closely at what is in our Adult food, but as a culture we don't think to look at our pets food or our babies food.  It's like we assume the people making these foods know what's best!  So no, we never looked at our pet food when we had pets.  We assumed the vet would tell us if there were any that were bad and assumed the makers knew what they were doing for our pets.

Same goes now I notice with baby food.  My mom buys all the different gerber products for my nephew and we don't think "what's in this??".  We assume it is good for the baby b/c it is gerber!  I just realized that, we really should be looking at that a little closer.

I go to Petco for Castor & Pollux organic dog food.  It's pricey, but I feel my Bear is worth it, even though he's a 100# white shepherd.  I know I can also order this directly from the company on-line if Petco ever stops selling it.  Bear is on thyroid meds and has the typical arthritic hips for a 6 1/2 year old, but is otherwise a healthy teddy bear.  I also make sure he and the kitties have purified water.  Having lost a kitty to cancer and a pup to CHF (heart), I want these furkids to be around a long time.

I have to! My cat is prone to blockages, and has been eating prescription food for 3 years, and will continue for his whole life!

This pet food nutritionist told me about this food Orjen that is the only biological food (whatever that means) for dogs.  It's super nutritious.  It's also very pricey.  Check it out, it's very interesting.

Yes, this is something I really do care about, because I want my girl around and healthy for a good, long time. Pet foods which include dyes are a real no-no for a Doberman's sensitive digestive system. Libs eats Blue Seal. For a long while we fed her "Dad's" because it is local to our area and I know this company on a more personal basis. While she wolfed it down (apparently it was mighty tasty!) she also chucked it right back up on one too many occasions. As of switching to Blue Seal, which was the only better quality food she would eat much of, the upchucking ceased.

 

One thing I had no idea about was that onions aren't a good idea for a dog. Libby loves onions, and I feel like a bad mom because I fed them to her for so long, and now she looks at me like she's way too deprived and unloved when I'm cooking with onions and she doesn't get a bite. Wonder what's in an onion that's bad for a dog??

 

 

I definitely care about what I feed my girls.   

 

Our 15-yr old Lhasa gets home cooking - chicken, rice, and vegetables.    She always had digestion problems and this has worked well for her for many years.

 

Our 2+ yr old Lhasa eats Blue Buffalo brand (and some of the home cooking mixed in).

 

So far, the Blue Buffalo has been the best - no corn and she's very healthy.

I am totally concerned with what my pets eat. This is what is in many pet foods:

(Animal by-products are ground, rendered, and cleaned slaughtered meat carcass parts such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, bones, heads, and intestines [and a small amount of feathers in the case of chicken] In many cases, by-product meals are derived from "4-D" meat sources - defined as food animals that have been rejected for human consumption because they were presented to the meat packing plant as "Dead, Dying, Diseased or Disabled.")

Maybe if I owned a vulture or hyena I would feed them that. I use HALO for the puppy and one kitty. It has worked well. My other kitty has to eat special prescription cat food for his kidneys/bladder so I don't have too much control over that. I get mad when companies use the term "real" when referring to meat to mislead consumers. Necks and feet are "real" meat. But you wouldn't want to eat it.

You know what else? Grapes! My dog loved grapes, and now I find out one of his favorite snacks was toxic! Who knew?

There are certain brands I will not purchase at all (like Ol' Roy) due to the questionable ingredients. I have to be most careful with my larger, older dog because he will get sick if his food is changed. But our smaller, younger dog can handle change better and I have been known to purchase him some of the less expensive brands.

I try really hard to keep my pets on quality food, eliminating as many food as possible that have meat-by-products, corn and also preservatives.  I prefer snacks from speciality providers (those that claim to make human quality food) and wake up in the middle of the night worrying about what I'd feed my furry friends if our income changed drastically.  Good quality food isn't cheap especially when you have large, hungry pets. I always read the labels.

 

 

 

 

I care more about the ingredients of my pet's food than the ingrediants of my food. I have a Beagle & a Scottish Terrier & the breeders of both recommended Iams. My dogs love it & it's not that more expensive than brands loaded with byproducts - whatever those are. If for some reason Iams is out of stock @ Petco & I can't go to another store I get Eukeneba. My vet approves both brands & they have never let me down.

We've been feeding our lab mixes Ol' Roy from Walmart for many years.  I did break away and feed Annie (and Joe, who passed in '07) Nutromax for about a year from Petco, but alas - it costs so much more.  I really do care about what they eat - now I feel guilty just reading ya'll's posts.  I hope no one says that I don't care - at least outloud on here.  I care very deeply...they just love Ol'Roy and don't have any health problems other than our older one, who is also on Rimadyl for her arthritis.  My vet won't prescribe the generic of that med.

So Annie (and Joe was) on Ol' Roy for many years, and Jack Black has been also.  The vet's best guess was that Joe was between 14-18 yrs. old when he passed, he was a stray I adopted from some friends.  Annie & Jack chow down on Ol' Roy,  esp. Annie - but yes, I was a "snob" at one point also.  I hear the best food is food you make and store, add extra vitamins and so forth, starting with boiled chicken. 

I had been feeding my dog Nutro foods but after 2 instances of pets dying because of certain ingredients in the food ; I now feed my English Cocker spaniel Iams because he loves it best.

OK, so today I had another talk with my husband about this subject. 

What has re-propelled us to do this was this post - and the latest issue of "Healthy Pet" which I received in the mail today.  On page 6, they have an article on Senior Wellness.  Of course, proper nutrition is key and I have always known this.  Frankly, I have felt guilty about the Ol'Roy food.  Neither of mine are overweight, so that's good.  I used to feed them the Nutromax with the Glucosamine & Chondroitin already in it, but it certainly disturbs me if there are reports of pets dying on Nutro.   We simply cannot afford for cost to be an issue anymore.  I know that some people feel if we can't provide the best food for your pets, we shouldn't even have pets. 

So thank ya'll (and "Healthy Pet") for the insight - even though our Annie is still with us at her age on "junk" food, which it is...it's no excuse anymore.  Our younger one Jack Black, may be finicky at first, but I'm sure he'll adjust.  Annie eats anything, and has always eaten much faster than Jack Black.  She eats so fast, she seems to never have a chance to taste it.  It will be easy for her and so much better for them both...

 

njchicaa said…

...anything with ground corn, meat/bone meal, by-products, animal meal, or the preservatives BHA/BHT.  There are other ingredients that I try to avoid as well, but those are the big 5.

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We are going to our local feed store tomorrow to see what they have, so that we can avoid the above.

Just reading the post from debra1957 about pets dying on Nutro really disturbs me.  And yes, Pitcherday, grapes are toxic to dogs. I found this out several years ago.  No more grapes and no more Ol' Roy.

Has anyone used the Dick Van Patten brands?  I'll do some more research...

Nancy44 said…

njchicaa said…

...anything with ground corn, meat/bone meal, by-products, animal meal, or the preservatives BHA/BHT.  There are other ingredients that I try to avoid as well, but those are the big 5.

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We are going to our local feed store tomorrow to see what they have, so that we can avoid the above.

Just reading the post from debra1957 about pets dying on Nutro really disturbs me.  And yes, Pitcherday, grapes are toxic to dogs. I found this out several years ago.  No more grapes and no more Ol' Roy.

Has anyone used the Dick Van Patten brands?  I'll do some more research...

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Funny you should mention Dick Van Patton's brand.  Natural Balance was recently having a giveaway promotion at our local PetSupermarket.  I've now used several bags (4oz.) both mixed with Wellness Core Original and by themselves.  My dog seems to really like it.  She really seemed to go for the Potato & Duck.  The ingredients look great, though the protein load is considerably lower than Core.

Oh my, the choices at the feed store today were immense!  We chose the Premium Edge, the senior formula for the old gal and the adult formula for the bro... both lamb based.  It was a choice between that and Chicken Soup For The Soul brands.  They also let me pick 6 of the little promo sample packs - and silly me picked up one for kitties...which I don't have at present.  A friend is coming over tomorrow and I'll give it to her.

That's the one Rudi ~ thank you...when I was at the feed store, the girl helping me didn't know which was the Dick Van Patton brand - Natural Balance...

I did my research over at DogFoodAnalysis.com and on a scale of 1-6, Premium Edge was a 4.  I didn't feel the need for the higher protein for them.

$62 (with tax) later, I'm glad we did it...and the pups loved the samples...I just have to work it in gradually with their current food...in about 2-3 weeks, they'll be fully on the Premium Edge.  I feel I made a good choice :)  So thank you guys again ~

I have been buying Natural Balance (Dick Van Patton brand) for my two dogs. They love it. I buy the Lamb and Brown Rice for (Nicholas) my 2-year old and (Rustie) my 7-year old gets Potato and Duck formula. Rustie is allergic to rice and Nicholas' stomach for some reason couldn't handle the Potato and Duck this is why I don't give them same formula. Natural Balance is an all natural dog food which I love about this product.