[Superpup]

Just had a discussion with someone about the commercial dog foods out there. The person claims to have fed their 12-year old lab (now deaf and diabetic -because of food maybe!?!? who knows?) the cheapest commercial walmart brand food for his whole life.. now she has switched her 17-18 yr old cat to a "holistic" cat food, that has some veggies in it and "good stuff".. the cat is doing horribly on it. First of all I told her that cats are carnivours and don't do well on JUST veggies, a meat-based diet would be better for the cat... I also told her that IMO a lof of the health problems our animals are having right now is due to the commercial dog/cat foods... for example the more frequent occurrance of cancer.. Would you guys agree or disagree?
She claims that the cheaper the food she has fed HER animals (a dog and two cats), the better they have done... I really did not have any arguments for her...

I don't like the cheap commercial, walmart brand foods out there for MY animals and I would never feed them those; my cats are on Eagle Pack adult cat and my dogs are on O&M holistic food. They are all doing AWESOME...
Give me an argument to shut this person up...

 

[BowWowMeow]

A holistic food could be anything. People feed Purina Beneful because they think it's health food.

 

[Superpup]

Welll that is what she is saying.. she had fed her dog Dog chow for his whole life with no trouble... now she is feeding her cat Purina some health choice, what ever they are called and I tried to say that WELL look at the ingredients.. NOT THE GREATEST.. but supposedly she had fed her cat an EVEN WORSE food that she was fine on...
makes no sense to me.

 

[ldpeterson]

Originally Posted By: Superpup
Give me an argument to shut this person up...

LOL! I wish I could but I can't. I've had the same good luck with what would be "so-called" cheaper foods. Cheaper by ingredients, certainly not by price!

When I first got Annabelle I felt like I was a bad "dog mom" for feeding her Iams (which she didn't do well on btw) so I tried just about all the "good foods promoted on this board", and she did TERRIBLE!

We've now decided Royal Canin works wonders for her. So despite the fact CORN is the first ingredient she will stay with what works!

 

[Castlemaid]

Can't change people mind when they are convinced they know it all!

But some dogs are a mystery. Keeta had runny/watery stool on just about any quality kibble I tried. The only one that gave her nice firm stools was . . . Iams! But I wasn't going to feed that her whole life!

Thank goodness I learned about raw. No more watery, runny stool, no more spay incontinence either!

I say Iams had some kind of chemical binder in it to firm up stool so people would THINK it was digesting properly . . . (just kidding! - but who knows?)

 

[Vinnie]

I’m all for holistic dog foods but I don’t feed a kibble that is considered “holistic”. I do feed a high quality kibble and one that many people consider a very good food but not all high quality kibbles are holistic. We have a variety of health problems in our dogs (epilepsy, low thyroid and discoid lupus) and the food we currently feed seems to work well for all 4 of our dogs. I think it would be unwise of us to change just to get a “holistic” food.

On the other hand, my husband, son and I eat pretty much what would be considered holistic or natural foods. It just tastes better. To be honest I think “holistic” is more of a personal choice, for me and it’s not something I can force on other people.

 

[ldpeterson]

Originally Posted By: CastlemaidCan't change people mind when they are convinced they know it all!

Perhaps said person isn't claiming to "know it all" and just knows what works for his/her dog or cat.

 

[caligirl07]

Which RC you feed? I used to feed the RC 32 for large breed puppy and recently changed to RC 24 for GS adult. Buddy is 8 months.
There is no corn in this one and only 24% protein. I tried Canidae and he liked it first and then didn't want to eat that. SO I am back to RC again.

 

[ldpeterson]

Originally Posted By: caligirl07Which RC you feed? I used to feed the RC 32 for large breed puppy and recently changed to RC 24 for GS adult. Buddy is 8 months.
There is no corn in this one and only 24% protein. I tried Canidae and he liked it first and then didn't want to eat that. SO I am back to RC again.

I feed the prescription diet which is Royal Canin L/F.

 

[EastGSD]

Originally Posted By: mamagoose

Originally Posted By: CastlemaidCan't change people mind when they are convinced they know it all!

Perhaps said person isn't claiming to "know it all" and just knows what works for his/her dog or cat.

I agree. Maybe they are just happy with what they are feeding and satisfied. I have never heard of a food causing deafness....

Cherri

 

[3K9Mom]

Exactly what Ruth said.

I'm not sure what "holistic" means, whether it's dog food or someone wearing tie-died clothes and feathers chanting over a person dying of cancer when frankly, they'd likely be better off getting a reasonable dose of chemo.

Holistic is like the word "natural." It means absolutely nothing, but maybe it makes the purchaser feel warm and fuzzy. And the contents could be healthy, harmless, or harmful.

I read labels. I do research. I talk to the experts I know. I read experts I trust. Yup, I'm a cynic.

Honestly, though, there's some [email protected] stuff being sold in my expensive "holistic" pet food store. I told the owner (a man I really like and respect) what I thought about the glucosamine-overdosed duck strips from China. He said that they're his best sellers. People love that their dogs are eating such great (read: "expensive"?) snacks. Ok. That's their choice.

Until I read the label of what the person is feeding their dog, I'll withhold judgment. But once I read it, well, I'll give them my honest opinion once. And what they do it that is up to them.

 

[IsisUnselke]

Hmmm..what a loaded topic, lol! I wish I had the answer to this question as to whether holistic or commercial pet foods are better...but I don't.

I have been slowly taking a survey on what people feed their dogs and the outward appearance of these dogs. And by and large, MOST of the dogs (that I've inquired about) that look to be in excellent condition are fed a premium brand of dog food OR are on a homecooked diet or a raw diet. That is not to say that I haven't seen SOME dogs in just the same beautiful condition that are fed Science Diet, Iams and yes ..Pedigree! But, when I see a dog that looks rather unhealthy and I ask what it is eating..the answer is usually Dog Chow or Ol'Roy and the famous Beneful.

The owners are usually quick to respond with , "My dog can't handle those premium dog foods! He gets sick, or has to go to the Vet.." etc. It makes me wonder if the dogs are so used to eating that type of food that anything richer or less processed is rejected by their systems?

 

[LisaT]

Originally Posted By: BowWowMeowA holistic food could be anything. People feed Purina Beneful because they think it's health food.

I think this is the key part.

Holistic really doesn't mean anything.

 

[BlackGSD]

Originally Posted By: SomePup

The owners are usually quick to respond with , "My dog can't handle those premium dog foods! He gets sick, or has to go to the Vet.." etc. It makes me wonder if the dogs are so used to eating that type of food that anything richer or less processed is rejected by their systems?

I wouldn't be surprised if these folks also did a "cold turkey" switch from one food to the other. Rather than giving the dogs system time to adjust by mixing the old food with the new.

 

[doggiedad]

just like us humans, i would think better foods are better foor us so why not better foods for our pets and it doesn't matter whether it's a stray, mixed breed or pure bred they should only get the best. being the providers for our pets we should only give the best care, the best living arrangements and the best love. i feel really good knowing that i take really good care of my pets. "there's no such thing as a spolied pet, it's just well taken care of".

 

[ldpeterson]

Originally Posted By: doggiedadjust like us humans, i would think better foods are better foor us so why not better foods for our pets and it doesn't matter whether it's a stray, mixed breed or pure bred they should only get the best. being the providers for our pets we should only give the best care, the best living arrangements and the best love. i feel really good knowing that i take really good care of my pets. "there's no such thing as a spolied pet, it's just well taken care of".

I agree with this, however, the "best" is not the same for everydog just as it isn't with humans.

I did a months switch over for Annabelle each time I tried one of these "super-premium, human grade, whatever you want to call them" dog foods. It did NOT prove to be the best for her as they either gave her HORRIBLE diarreah or vomiting and some even did both! How fun for her!! Yes, I have even homecooked and RAW sent us straight to the vet for rehydration because she was vomiting so much. All these choices were made after MUCH research about the food or feeding RAW or homecooked.

It's not the best for my dog if it causes her IBD to flare up.

I'm sure many consumers of the "crappy" brands do not try the more premium or like someone mentioned did not switch them properly. However, there are cases in which the owner HAS done everything properly and the "crap" food is what works for their dog. Therefore, before sitting on the mighty dog food high horse and telling everyone they feed crap food you need to take dogs such as my Annabelle and others like her into consideration.

I normally don't get into the dog food debates, but I get tired, oh so tired, of hearing how I'm feeding my dog "mcdonalds" and all the better foods out there and blah blah blah. I get tired of all these claims that SD kills your dog as well as Iams, Purina, etc. when in fact there is NO PROOF of any of this.

Off soapbox now. LOL

 

[DSudd]

LIsa, I am sure you won't get proof. Puppy Chow and Pedigree have been fed to dogs for decades. Think about it, what did people feed their pets before the premium food came about?

 

[ldpeterson]

Well it also bothers me that a well meaning owner who has fed Science Diet (example only) for 8 years and their dog has always thrived on it. Then said owner hears how SD will kill the dog, has corn in it, by-products, blah blah blah and owner starts to panic. So after 8 years owner decides to switch the dogs food. However, new food doesn't sit well with dog and causes problems. Owner still feels guilty about feeding SD and tries another food. This food also makes the dog sick. The cycle continues until either owner realizes that SD may have been best for the dog, OR owner keeps wreaking havoc on their dogs digestive system simply because of what a few people said about SD on the net.

Granted we have learned a lot about dog food over the years and there are things you definately want to watch out for. Identifiable meat sources are my biggest thing. Natural preservatives are also another thing I watch for. However, the rest is left to debate.

 

[ldpeterson]

Originally Posted By: DSuddLIsa, I am sure you won't get proof. Puppy Chow and Pedigree have been fed to dogs for decades. Think about it, what did people feed their pets before the premium food came about?

Small unruly children?

 

[IsisUnselke]

I didn't intend to point fingers or suggest that people who feed their dogs commercial dog foods are not good caring dog owners. I just am curious about what people feed their dogs.

I fed Purina Proplan to my two Golden Retrievers for several years, the company gave us the food for free as long as we returned the empty bags! This was when I worked in a pet store. The dogs looked fine and enjoyed the food. However, I tried Beneful when it first came out and although my dogs scarfed it up they layed around stretched out seemingly uncomfortable, after a while I gave up. I had a similar experience with Solid Gold Hunden Flocken..the dogs seemed uncomfortable after eating it. This is definately considered a Holistic brand of dog food. I've never had a dog that did very well on Innova, but I know some dogs do great on it. On the other hand my cat does excellent on Innova but terrible on Royal Canin.

Some people think that Royal Canin is a crappy commercial food, too. I happen to like the company and think my dogs have done very well on it. I totally agree that there is no perfect food and that what works well for some is disastrous for another.

If your dog can handle dog food rotation a couple of times a year, that's great, imo. but if the poor animal is vomiting and has diarrhea with each change then forget it!