80 Lbs Of 110+ Grade Dog Food For $36.00

[Guest avadogner]

Hi everyone,

 

I think the stars are aligning for the big arrrival of Augie "Choctaw" Monday. I was out running errands this a.m. and bought a 40lb bag of Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice and Vege food for $24. Based off recs on your site we were trying to decide whether to feed Augie Authority or Kirland Signature. Our 10 yr old picky baby Ava has a fussy tummy and has been on Pro Plan Salmon Sensitive skin and Stomach for the last 7 yrs. It's $40 a bag per month. It's a bit pricey since I am on $600 of meds a month with BCBS to prep for a kidney transplant. We decide or more like have prayed that Augie won't have to have the same food as Ava. She's become really picky with her eating this last year so I am constantly trying to entice her with yummy extra's in her food like yogurt, chicken etc... Doing it that, the vet and meds for two dogs would be too much for us. I run into Pet Smart for the 4th time this week and WOW! They have the Authority Harvest Baked Senior for $12.99 with my Pet Perks card. I just about fell out right there on the spot because it was a 40 lb bag. I snatched it up and asked the manager why it was over half off it's price. The dates etc was fine but apparently they are slightly changing the formula and bag design and it was the last of the previous blend. I also had a $3 coupon for doing their survery on my last purchase. I am going to double check the info before we open it but if all checks out good, then we will mix the two in our giant feed keeper and pray Augie does well with it. I may find out something was fishy with it and have to return it but I think it was worth the effort. If any of y'all know that something is wrong with the Authority Senior Chicken blend, please let me know. Most the time you get what you pay for but I am thinking I got lucky today.

Thank you for all the great tips too!

Ava and Augie's mum

[Time4ANap]

I wouldn't mix up a big batch of anything until you know for sure who will eat what after a week or two, at the least. I would vary the mix in small batches until you see what portions work best for each of your dogs. You may find that it will take a 30/70, or 40/60 mix of one or the other to get the best results.

 

Addititionally, if you keep each brand in seperate containers, you don't risk losing a large mixed batch to spoilage in the event that there is an issue or recall with one or the other at any given time. Just a thought from someone who has purchased many big bags only to have our dog stop eating that brand right after we open a new one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest avadogner]

Thanks for the good idea. Goodness knows my picky eater may snub it. Augie comes home Sunday so who knows what he will eat. I'll be sure to post pics when my big boy gets home.

Thanks,

alicia

[DaisyDoodle]

Also, given your health status, please be careful handling the dog food. There have been a number of recalls of different brands in recent years, some for problems with e coli. You don't want to get sick at this point--your system doesn't need the insult, and it would delay your surgery if you were sick and it was time for surgery.

 

Good luck with the food switch, and more importantly, good luck with your surgery. I had a cousin who had one of the first kidney transplants in the 60's. She lived over 35 years with her transplant.

 

DD

[Guest avadogner]

DD,

Thank you so much for the thoughtful comments. My DH handles the poo scooping but I never considered the risk of handling the food. Maybe I can convince the DH it is his job to be greyhound chef? I go through a bottle of Dial handsoap and hand sanitizer a week. I also have to do the whole let's all stare at the lady medical mask during the cooler cold/flu seasons. I try to limit trips out of the house during those months too. I get a little cabin crazy but the DH helped me set up one our sunrooms into a craft room. I have a scrapbooking station, a sewing/embroidery machine station and a daybed to rest on. The anemia kicks my behind so it's great for napping. Ava also has a bed in there so we both nap in the sun together. My DH thinks it's funny to catch us both asleep in the sun.

-ava and augie's mum

[Fruitycake]

Not only E. coli but salmonella is a serious issue across many brands these days. The current recommendation is that absolutely everyone should be washing hands after handling pet food, because of the risk. Not that I do, but I don't have an immune system that is compromised.

 

I believe that handling it safely could be as easy as getting some disposable gloves and scooping out that way, or at minimum washing your hands immediately after feeding.

 

(If you think about it, what starts as their kibble ends up in their mouths - and on their bodies - so you may get a dose even if you never actually touch a piece of kibble or their dishes.)

[Guest bluefawn]

I was reading online today about handling of pet food, especially the lower-grade foods. Seems the canned foods are the "best of the worst", and to read about what goes into pet foods is atrocious! Some brands include euthanized shelter cats & dogs, flea collars and all (and of course any other flea pesticides that were being used), plastic disposal bags, etc. And discarded restaurant grease from those big nasty dumpster-like bins that sit behind the restaurants in any weather for who-knows-how-long before it is collected and sent to the rendering plants to be added to dog food (usually "sprayed" on the outside to "add flavor". And there were warnings in a number of sites against handling the kibble once you have put warm water on it - apparently that causes it to release the outside bad stuff that was "baked" onto the pieces. So you are supposed to wet the food, feed it right away, and discard any uneated kibble. I do this anyway, as it becomes "sour" smelling after a little while. What an eye opener!

 

I do stay away from corn and any meat by-products, as the websites I visited said that these "by-products" included things like chicken heads, beaks, combs, feathers, entrails, and feet (although I guess the ones I find in the grocer's meat dept are apparently ok for humans to eat, even though they gross me out!). And for lamb, beef, pigs, etc., it can include skin, hair, etc. in addition to the entrails. I visited a number of sites, but you can just google "what is in commercial pet food", and find the same info yourself. And the same goes for cat food. All of this stuff is cooked into a huge vat of "rendered soup", and they skim the fat off of the top to add to the rendered restaurant grease to spray on the baked kibble. That is the ingredient listed as "animal fat", and makes the kibble "palatable". But I kind of agree with the poster who said that she just gave up on keeping up with all this, and just feeds her pets the grocery store or wally world food. I think I will remain kind of in the middle (I feed the Nutro Natural foods, and my hounds do very well on it, but no corn or by-products in there and is neither the highest or the lowest-rated). Wild dogs tend to eat things like road kill, animals killed and abandoned by other animals, and they find and raid every neighborhood garbage can, and don't think that our beloved pets won't do the same if given the chance! Many of our hounds even eat their poop and that of others.

 

 

I do wash my hands after handling the dogs' bowls, and wash them frequently in the bathtub with Clorox Cleanup with Bleach. I use raised feeders, and clean those frequently as well. I give Penny raw, frozen "chicken paws", as they are labeled (chicken feet). I wash my hands thoroughly after handling those as well, and she has a designated area in which to eat them (on a blanket that is easily washed). The sites mentioned above also stated that when you feed a raw diet, your pet "sheds" bacteria and microorganisms that are especially dangerous to children and those whose immune systems are compromised. (They highly recommend that people who operate a child care business in their home not feed raw diets - including raw eggs - to their pets.)

 

Sorry this is so long, but this is a lot of information, but hope it helps.