# Dog food



## mbcijim (Jan 19, 2012)

When my dog (Labrador) was a puppy I fed him Eukanuba (top end) dog food for the first year or two.  Then I graduated to the cheapest dog food.  Now he turns 11 next week and a month ago my vet wanted me to get him on a senior food (Purina One).  It is more expensive about $26 for the large bag instead of $12-$15.  He's been on it now for a month or so.  I swear that my dog has WAY more energy than he did on the cheap food.  I've been very, very surprised at the change I've seen.  He's not overweight, just starting to get old, arthritis for the last 3-4 years.   

Has anyone else seen this in their dogs?


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## kenny chaos (Jan 19, 2012)

More energy and arthritis for last four years?  I'd put him back on the cheap stuff.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jan 19, 2012)

We've always fed our pups the expensive stuff (Solid Gold - Wee Bits), but they're practically microscopic so they each eat 1/2 cup a day total.  They're bonkers, very healthy at 7-8- we will see what the next few years brings.


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## Hass (Jan 19, 2012)

I notice the difference with my cats. I always feed them the best I can buy locally. Spending an extra 15/month on cat food for me isn't a big deal when you consider the cat may live longer if it eats well, have less health problems, be more happy, and I especially noticed it makes their fur so much more shiny and healthy looking.

Here's a good site for info about dog food.
http://dogfoodanalysis.com/

A lot of the top brands vets recommend are actually very bad for them (Science Diet).


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## seeyal8r (Jan 19, 2012)

We always fed our dogs table scraps. Ol' Roy dog food and we poured the grease from cooking over their food. Labs all lived to be 14 & 15 and 2 Hounds lived to be 16. Did have 1 hound die at 10 or so but that had more to do with the UPS truck that hit him. I know and have read all the info about how bad it is for them but we kept them well exercised until the end and never had any health issues other than death of old age.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 19, 2012)

Well I know this is about dog food but since Hass mentioned it . . . what do folks feed their cats for "good food." I've always just fed them the cheap stuff in the past . . . but I would be willing to spend more if it makes a difference.


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## bluedogz (Jan 19, 2012)

We've seen such changes in all of our dogs and cats... they are more sensitive to diet than most realize.  One of our dogs got constant bladder infections for over a year, until the vet said, "Are you on a well?"  Turns out our water was somewhat higher in minerals than most, and was giving puppy crystals in his urine that caused infections.

Eukanube and P1 are examples of premium food, but there are others...


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## Adios Pantalones (Jan 19, 2012)

Hass said:
			
		

> I notice the difference with my cats. I always feed them the best I can buy locally. Spending an extra 15/month on cat food for me isn't a big deal when you consider the cat may live longer if it eats well, have less health problems, be more happy, and I especially noticed it makes their fur so much more shiny and healthy looking.
> 
> Here's a good site for info about dog food.
> http://dogfoodanalysis.com/
> ...



Great analysis/reviews!


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## lukem (Jan 19, 2012)

I've fed my lab Diamond Lamb & Rice since he switched over from Diamond Puppy.  He's solid muscle and his coat looks like chrome.  It does cost more than the 'Ol Roy at Wallyworld, but I think it is worth it.


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## Eatonpcat (Jan 19, 2012)

lukem said:
			
		

> I've fed my lab Diamond Lamb & Rice since he switched over from Diamond Puppy.  He's solid muscle and his coat looks like chrome.  It does cost more than the 'Ol Roy at Wallyworld, but I think it is worth it.



I would love to see a picture of your shiny silver (chrome) Lab!! ;-)


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## muncybob (Jan 19, 2012)

We adopted our Aussie when she was 1 yr old. Kept her on the "cheap stuff" for awhile. Decided to try a "superior" dry food and we seemed to notice a difference. Didn't tell the vet anything and on her next visit (she was on the new food about 7 months)he asked if we had changd her food as he saw a dramatic difference in her coat and skin.


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## lukem (Jan 19, 2012)

Eatonpcat said:
			
		

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He doesn't show up on camera anymore...due to the shininess. ;-P


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## Eatonpcat (Jan 19, 2012)

lukem said:
			
		

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Now that is one shiney pooch


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## James02 (Jan 19, 2012)

I feed my shepherd Nutro Max, and my mix dog the same before she passed last year (worst day of my life so far).  The shepherd is on a sensitive tummy diet, but they have lotsa options.  Its "good" cause the first ing. is meat, normally its grain or something they don't normally eat in nature....fairly cheap too.


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## Blue Vomit (Jan 19, 2012)

mbcijim said:
			
		

> He's not overweight, just starting to get old, arthritis for the last 3-4 years.



The Eukanuba Large breed boasts natural sources of glucosamine and chonroitin sulfate, two popular ingredients rumored to help with arthritis and joint pain. Our hound dog is 5 1/2 and has been eating the large breed since she graduated from the puppy food. You might want to give it a shot.
Good luck.


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## Blue Vomit (Jan 19, 2012)

Yuengling also helps with my joint pain, you might want to give him some of that as well. ;-P


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## smoke show (Jan 20, 2012)

Hass said:
			
		

> I notice the difference with my cats. I always feed them the best I can buy locally. Spending an extra 15/month on cat food for me isn't a big deal when you consider the cat may live longer if it eats well, have less health problems, be more happy, and I especially noticed it makes their fur so much more shiny and healthy looking.
> 
> Here's a good site for info about dog food.
> http://dogfoodanalysis.com/
> ...



I looked at all the so called higher quality brands available locally and that link says they're all junk.

My dog is still alive and appears healthy?


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## pen (Jan 20, 2012)

Are there long term studies out there showing that a large number of animals actually lived longer by eating one type of food vs anything else?  

If there is a credible source of that sort of study, I haven't seen it which is why I'm asking.  

From what I've seen, It appears to be like choosing between Castrol motor oil, Mobil 1, Pennzoil, etc.  There are a lot of opinions on which is better, and mixed results with each, but not much in the way of hard facts supporting long term success.  

With the exception of our current cat, the cat's / dog's we've had since childhood were fed food based upon what coupon was in the flyer weighed against how well they ate it.  4 dogs / 1/2 dozen cat's later, all either lived to their expected ages or else met a non-food related demise.  

Our current cat was an adult when we took her in.  With the first food she drug her hind-end on the one carpet in the house.  I wanted to kill her then, the wife persisted we could teach her otherwise.  After trying and trying to fix the problem with "behavioral management strategies" I asked her to change the food.  Few months on the new food and add the bi-weekly puke around the house to the rear dragging.  Cat's life expectancy is diminishing quickly at this point.  The next switch has been trouble free of either problem since 2008.  I would assume, that the lack of these other troubles would mean that the food is agreeing with her more and I would suppose better for her.  It certainly is better for her in regards to my thoughts of her.  

This experience certainly isn't a scientific study, but we are still living under the same roof which means something to me.  Take from it what you will.    

pen


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## Mrs. Krabappel (Jan 20, 2012)

From what I hear, Cosco carries it's own  high quality dog food for a decent price.     I try to look for a food with real ingredients and avoid corn, soy, additives.   I also feed mine raw butcher bones, and my 11yo girl has great teech.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 20, 2012)

Hass said:
			
		

> I notice the difference with my cats. I always feed them the best I can buy locally. Spending an extra 15/month on cat food for me isn't a big deal when you consider the cat may live longer if it eats well, have less health problems, be more happy, and I especially noticed it makes their fur so much more shiny and healthy looking.
> 
> Here's a good site for info about dog food.
> http://dogfoodanalysis.com/
> ...



++++ 1 (or 10, or something)

Dogs, being omnivores like us, are a bit more tolerant in diet, but still can't help but benefit from better food.  Cats are "obligate carnivores," meaning their systems are set to operate on nearly exclusively animal protein.  Very few vets even seem to be aware of this.  The mass-market pet food industry is better than it used to be, but still it's shameful how much useless and potentially even harmful garbage is put into the food.  Cat food is loaded up with grains they can hardly digest and can't get nutritional value from.  And people wonder why their cats are obese.

Hill's (and Iam's) used to be a fairly high-quality food, but then they sold out to one of the big conglomerates, which completely changed the formula, and the quality went right down the drain.  I wouldn't feed it to my cats.

For serious info about cat nutrition, www.catinfo.com is a cat vet-run comprehensive site on the subject.

Oh, geez, I could go on for hours on the subject of the pet food industry.  Anybody who's switched cat or dog to one of the high-quality premium foods you can't even get in the supermarket remarks on the change in their animals' coats, which is very much an indicator of overall health vigor.  My vet always marvels at the glossiness and plushness of my cats' coats. And they hardly shed at all.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 20, 2012)

mbcijim said:
			
		

> When my dog (Labrador) was a puppy I fed him Eukanuba (top end) dog food for the first year or two.  Then I graduated to the cheapest dog food.  Now he turns 11 next week and a month ago my vet wanted me to get him on a senior food (Purina One).  It is more expensive about $26 for the large bag instead of $12-$15.  He's been on it now for a month or so.  I swear that my dog has WAY more energy than he did on the cheap food.  I've been very, very surprised at the change I've seen.  He's not overweight, just starting to get old, arthritis for the last 3-4 years.
> 
> Has anyone else seen this in their dogs?



Your vet should have told you this, but glucosamine makes a huge difference in both preventing and relieving joint deterioration and pain in older animals.  I've personally seen the frankly nearly miraculous effects of it in one of my animals, and now I have both my relatively young cats (7 and 5) on it as a preventative.  Dasuquin is the brand my vet recommends.  Check it out.  They make doses for both cats and dogs.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jan 20, 2012)

The reviews on that page are based on pretty sound nutrition calls. Cheap dog food from China has been shown to contain fillers like sawdust (not kidding), or to contain lead or melamine.  Don't assume it's all safe if they "let them sell it in a store".  They also sell Happy Meals for kids and there's no law about feeding them MacDonalds every meal either.

On top of all that- as others have noted, critters health will respond to food choice.  We went from... I don't even remember- maybe Science Diet to something better and our dog's skin issue cleared up right away.  I take their health pretty seriously


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 20, 2012)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> Well I know this is about dog food but since Hass mentioned it . . . what do folks feed their cats for "good food." I've always just fed them the cheap stuff in the past . . . but I would be willing to spend more if it makes a difference.



Jake, the primary trouble with the cheap food for cats is that it's half carbs, which they can't digest properly and ends up either going to waste or to fat.  Check out this site, www.catinfo.com, which is the most comprehensive treatment of cat nutrition I know of.

You want as grain-free a food as you can find, for one thing.  I feed Innova Evo canned, which is closer to the raw diet cats ought to have but which most of us can't manage, than any other.  Another good one but much more expensive is Wellness, which also has some grain-free varieties.  These carbs get put into a lot of otherwise very good cat food (Felidae is one, California Natural another, Wysong, and there are others) because pure protein is hard to make into a (necessarily cooked) food that holds together in a can and isn't slop.  Dry food is always higher in carbs, and correlated with urinary tract problems particularly in neutered male cats, for reasons nobody's been able to really figure out.

Cat nutrition is harder to figure out because they're not ominvores, like dogs, and nobody wants to bother putting money into studying it seriously since cats haven't the commercial value working dogs have.  So it's more of a crap shoot, so to speak.  Still, we do know some things, and most commercial cat foods don't conform to what we know.

If for no other reason, bear in mind that the horrible melamine poisoning a few years ago that resulted in a terrible number of unnecessary pet deaths was from a completely unnecessary ingredient -- basically, flour -- bought cheap from unscrupulous Chinese sources by mass-market pet food makers to make the cat food look more appealing to *human beings* and not for any reason relating to animal needs.  Not a single one of the premium makers use this crap and none of them were involved in that disaster.  That alone is reason enough, IMO, to pay the extra $$ for the good stuff.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 20, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:
			
		

> The reviews on that page are based on pretty sound nutrition calls. Cheap dog food from China has been shown to contain fillers like sawdust (not kidding), or to contain lead or melamine.  Don't assume it's all safe if they "let them sell it in a store".  They also sell Happy Meals for kids and there's no law about feeding them MacDonalds every meal either.
> 
> On top of all that- as others have noted, critters health will respond to food choice.  We went from... I don't even remember- maybe Science Diet to something better and our dog's skin issue cleared up right away.  I take their health pretty seriously



Bravo.  Well said.


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## ironpony (Jan 20, 2012)

Blue Vomit said:
			
		

> Yuengling also helps with my joint pain, you might want to give him some of that as well. ;-P









my Rott will only drink German beer go figure
St Bernard strictly a whiskey drinker


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## kenny chaos (Jan 20, 2012)

A raw egg or two a week will give your dog a shiny coat and help with skin issues.


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## Eatonpcat (Jan 20, 2012)

ironpony said:
			
		

> Blue Vomit said:
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  :cheese:


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## rwhite (Jan 21, 2012)

Good food is more expensive but if you look at the recommended feeding amounts it usually comes out cheaper in the end. I Look at the 1st ingredient on the label and try and find one that has meat or a meat product as the 1st ingredient.


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## tinkabranc (Jan 21, 2012)

Used to feed our Labs Purina One but switched to Diamond *Naturals* a couple
of years ago when one dog developed skin allergies. 

Better quality food and lower priced than the Purina One.


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## fredarm (Jan 21, 2012)

We feed our dog Taste of the Wild.  It's grain-free.


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## cwill (Jan 21, 2012)

I have had my Lab on canidae food for about 3 years now. Great shiny coat. no dry skin, and lots of energy.  It's not the cheapest stuff around but it's not the most expensive either.  The problem with a lot of brands of dog/cat food is that it is made from the cheapest stuff they can find. It's not about what the animal needs to be healthy. they also recommend about twice the amount that the animal really needs. We feed our 5 year old lab 1 cup in the morning and 1 in the evening. We have seen some foods "recommend" up to 6 cups a day!!  He maintains a healthy 75lbs on 2 cups a day. He's very active, we run him every day at least 20 mins.  I have a friend with a lab that has been on Kibbles and Bits food, She is very over weight and now has food allergies. Vet said it was probably from the coloring dye in the cheap food.


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## charly (Jan 21, 2012)

We feed our cat taste of the wild, grain free, raw eggs, chicken livers, etc. My two dogs, we make their food from Dr.Pitcairn's book.  Basically meat and veggies, with a supplement recipe. We've made our dogs food for over 25 years. Our mutt is 14 and Jack Russell is 12. No skin problems , flea problems, etc. This way we know what they're eating, plus not eating the same thing day in and day out. Plus they get raw marrow bones. Keeps their teeth great. They love venison ribs , from my deer harvest. I'll also grind them some neck meat from my deer take as well. They eat good. They're my buddies!


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## bfunk13 (Jan 22, 2012)

I always fed Science Diet, thinking the vets sell it, it must be good.  
Well from the research i have done it is way over priced for what it is. We switched to Blue Buffalo for the puppy (if you can call him that)
and solid gold for our adult border collie. Both seem to be doing very well on these. 
I do know that too much people food is very bad, i watched my parents feed their dog till it croaked from overweight and heart problems. It is hard not to share with the dogs but its is best for them if we don't.


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## charly (Jan 22, 2012)

bfunk13 said:
			
		

> I always fed Science Diet, thinking the vets sell it, it must be good.
> Well from the research i have done it is way over priced for what it is. We switched to Blue Buffalo for the puppy (if you can call him that)
> and solid gold for our adult border collie. Both seem to be doing very well on these.
> I do know that too much people food is very bad, I watched my parents feed their dog till it croaked from overweight and heart problems. It is hard not to share with the dogs but its is best for them if we don't.


 Making your own food, so called people food, you have to make sure your following a balanced meal. Dogs are meat eaters by nature. You can't just give them meat by itself or they are lacking the calcium they would have gotten from eating the bones along with the meat. So we supplement with bone meal powder, or save our organic egg shells and grind them into a powder for their calcium balance. I agree, you just can't throw food off your table at your dogs. I've read a lot of articles as to what went into some dog foods and didn't feel comfortable feeding my best friends from a bag. We make up food ahead of time and freeze it to make it more convenient at times. We've done it for 25 years so it's no big deal. Read Dr Pitcairn's book , a DVM and I think you'll be shocked about dog food.


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## andybaker (Jan 22, 2012)

This is my first dog.  When I got her she couldn't keep anything down.  We were getting worried.  The only she would eat was what we ate and I knew that would be healthy for her.  My bakery was right next to a pet store so I went over and talked to the manager.  He told me to try Eagle Pak and she has been on it since.  The vomiting stopped and she eats 1 cup twice a day.  It's very expensive but with her sensitive stomach I don't want to go back to cleaning dog barf up once or twice a day.  When I go buy it and see what the other foods cost I sure am tempted but in the long I tell myself this is better for her one $50 bag of it lasts me for 2 1/2 months anyway.  In fact I've bought a glucosamine chondroitin liquid for her the last few years.  Without it she will only walk on three legs, with it she can run around the yard and go on walks.  So for $15-20 bucks a month I thought that better than the $50 a month pain killer the vet wanted to put her on.


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## charly (Jan 22, 2012)

andybaker said:
			
		

> This is my first dog.  When I got her she couldn't keep anything down.  We were getting worried.  The only she would eat was what we ate and I knew that would be healthy for her.  My bakery was right next to a pet store so I went over and talked to the manager.  He told me to try Eagle Pak and she has been on it since.  The vomiting stopped and she eats 1 cup twice a day.  It's very expensive but with her sensitive stomach I don't want to go back to cleaning dog barf up once or twice a day.  When I go buy it and see what the other foods cost I sure am tempted but in the long I tell myself this is better for her one $50 bag of it lasts me for 2 1/2 months anyway.  In fact I've bought a glucosamine chondroitin liquid for her the last few years.  Without it she will only walk on three legs, with it she can run around the yard and go on walks.  So for $15-20 bucks a month I thought that better than the $50 a month pain killer the vet wanted to put her on.


  Your right in your thinking. Yes feeding our dogs homemade food is more money and work,  but,,,,,,,we have saved big time not having any vet bills. Our vet praises us for feeding our dogs the way we do. Our one dog tested positive for Lyme but never showed any symptoms, I think this is do to her getting good nutrition her whole life . She has a strong immune system. We got to see with our own eye's how healthy they have stayed, not having to run them to the vets. I guess you could say, you get what you pay for in your food and labor.


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## bfunk13 (Jan 22, 2012)

I agree xclimber, you can do a better diet yourself. I have looked into the raw diets. 
I was referring to constant table scraps to the point a dog will not eat anything else. 
My parents are already doing this again, the dog will not touch any sort of dog food.


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## charly (Jan 22, 2012)

bfunk13 said:
			
		

> I agree xclimber, you can do a better diet yourself. I have looked into the raw diets.
> I was referring to constant table scraps to the point a dog will not eat anything else.
> My parents are already doing this again, the dog will not touch any sort of dog food.


 That's a shame Bfunk. One thing feeding raw or slightly cooked, they need less food, because of better nutrition. We sometimes fast our dogs for a day just giving them their raw marrow bones. In the wild, an animal doesn't get a meal every single day, plus it gives their body a day to rest and do some house cleaning. If you give your dog a raw bone  [never cooked as those bones will splinter ]  , you will notice after he eats, most of the time he will finish up by laying and working on his bone, just as if they finished eating a wild animal. Pretty neat to see a dog's natural instincts have never left , even in a domesticated animal.


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## woodchip (Jan 22, 2012)

Not sure we ever fed dogs many table scraps, but we ate dog food once by mistake. 

On holiday in France a few years back we were in a butchers and bought some cheap meat and made it into what was a really ghastly pie, which we ate as we were hungry........ 

It was only the next day when passing the butchers that we noticed we had bought some "viande de chien"...........  ;-)


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