Feeding Cheap Food

[tra708]

The other night, I was completely out of our usual TOTW kibble. So i bought something at the regular supermarket just to tide them over. It was Rachel Ray's brand, and the ingredients didn't look too terrible. It looked like a kid's breakfast cereal! Not only did they love it, but also their poops have been SPECTACULAR!!!!

[vjgrey]

I think a lot of cheap foods contain beet pulp, which does tend to firm the poops. At times, I've thought about adding beet pulp to GOOD food, but we finally found one that works for all three hounds (Merrick's Before Grain).

Edited January 25, 2012 by vjgrey

[Guest sirsmom]

Mine can't handle any food other than mid grade. I really don't find RR food 'cheap' To me, cheap means Pedigree or ole Roy. I would put RR in mid grade along with Iams and Purina One.

[tra708]

Mine can't handle any food other than mid grade. I really don't find RR food 'cheap' To me, cheap means Pedigree or ole Roy. I would put RR in mid grade along with Iams and Purina One.

 

yes you are right, RR isn't really so cheap!

[Guest KennelMom]

I think a lot of cheap foods contain beet pulp, which does tend to firm the poops. At times, I've thought about adding beet pulp to GOOD food, but we finally found one that works for all three hounds (Merrick's Before Grain).

 

beet pulp is pure, cheap fiber. You can add it to any food and it will usually do wonders to firm up poop. We used to keep it on hand for fosters.

[Guest sheila]

to me 'cheap' food is the 40lb bag for $8.99 stuff they sell at the feed store. I don't know what it's called but it might be 'Ol Roy. Even my vet who is not at all a food snob says feeding that stuff is like giving your pet a steady diet of ground up corn cobs.

However I know of many dogs that survive and THRIVE on kibble that is not high end and can be purchased at the local grocery store. Alpo, Iams, Pedigree. In fact, much to my chagrin (as a reformed food snob) I work with a woman who has an 11 yr old Dobie who is healthy and active as a pup and guess what she feeds her dog?

Wait for it....this will knock your socks off...... She feeds her dog.......

 

Ol ROY!

[Guest verthib]

The other night, I was completely out of our usual TOTW kibble. So i bought something at the regular supermarket just to tide them over. It was Rachel Ray's brand, and the ingredients didn't look too terrible. It looked like a kid's breakfast cereal! Not only did they love it, but also their poops have been SPECTACULAR!!!!

 

I just started Angus on her limited ingredient diet "Just 6" and his poops are great. It has great ingredients. No corn, wheat, soy, artificial flavors or colors. Love it!!!!

 

I think a lot of cheap foods contain beet pulp, which does tend to firm the poops. At times, I've thought about adding beet pulp to GOOD food, but we finally found one that works for all three hounds (Merrick's Before Grain).

 

RR Just 6 isn't cheap. As I said earlier, I just started Angus on her limited ingredient diet "Just 6" and his poops are great. It has great ingredients. No corn, wheat, soy, artificial flavors or colors. VERY similar to what you call a "GOOD" food. Its rated higher than Iams actually. Love it!!!!

[Guest KsFrets]

Our dogs have done better on good old green bag Purina dog chow than any of the expensive stuff we've tried. $20 for 50 pounds at Tractor Supply. About 6 months ago there was a long thread about it.

[Guest GryffinSong]

beet pulp is pure, cheap fiber. You can add it to any food and it will usually do wonders to firm up poop. We used to keep it on hand for fosters.

 

My greyhound has the same food issues. Where can I buy beet pulp? And is there anything I need to know in order to get a decent product? In other words, is all beet pulp the same? Also, how much should I add to her food? Thanks.

Edited January 26, 2012 by GryffinSong

[Guest KennelMom]

We used to get ours from a feed store. You have to buy a BIG bag of it (it's sold for horses). I'd grind it and give them a tbsp or so sprinkled over their food.

[tammystroops]

Our dogs have done better on good old green bag Purina dog chow than any of the expensive stuff we've tried. $20 for 50 pounds at Tractor Supply. About 6 months ago there was a long thread about it.

 

 

Ours also do very well on Dog Chow. We have tried others, but everyone seems do to better on this. so we go to Tractor Supply and stock up.

[Feisty49]

As always I, and many others on the board, support a "cheap" food in the form of Iams Proactive Health Minichunks. I put cheap in quotes because it's not as expensive as the high-end brands I tried. It eliminated Annie Bella's diarrhea and soft stools, and I plan on using it until there's a reason not to.

[Hubcitypam]

I think a lot of cheap foods contain beet pulp, which does tend to firm the poops. At times, I've thought about adding beet pulp to GOOD food, but we finally found one that works for all three hounds (Merrick's Before Grain).

If it works it works.

 

Merrick as a company just amazes me.

 

Garth Merrick made his fortune selling dry Beef n More by the trainload to Wal Mart -- it is still at Sams. One could get great big bags of Merrick assorted cow part chewies at Wal Mart very cheap. For years every dog that came out of Amarillo Animal Control came with a bag of Beef n More.

 

Then they publicly distanced themseves from Beef n More and marketed high end foods. Canned Beef n More is still being sold at Petco and has some pretty good ingredients for a less than $1 food. It used to be a clone of their Cowboy Cookout but they have changed some ingredients.

 

Merrick also owns several rendering plants and dead stock removal services. I hope the dead stock are used for chew parts and beef and bone meal.

Beef n' More and the new reinvented high dollar foods come out of the same plants.

this is slightly unrelated but interesting.

FDA letter to Merrick

Edited January 26, 2012 by Hubcitypam

[kudzu]

I think this varies a good bit with the individual dogs involved. One of mine cannot handle any more than a small bit of grains in her diet. So I let her have whatever treats are being offered by folks but her main diet is grain free. That keeps her system in order, good poops & no itching. Another cannot handle wheat, it makes him terribly itchy. So to make things easier I just all of them the same grain free, usually TOTW.

[Guest BrianRke]

The same thing happened to me once. I ran out of their normal food, Diamond Naturals (should have been paying closer attention), it was after hours on a Sunday, I went to kroger, bought some Rachael Ray, scooped some into all 3 bowls, all 3 dogs gave me the stink eye and sniffed it, and walked away. MY dogs will eat almost anything, they will eat sticks, grass, and Frank will even eat poop if I dont watch him.

 

I could only conclude that poop and sticks taste better than RR dog food.

 

I fixed them some eggs and hamburger and went to Tractor Supply first thing Monday morning. Donated the RR.

[Guest jacsar]

Does anyone have thoughts on mixing a high end brand with a mid grade brand? We're currently feed Hills Healthy Advantage to Finn (our puppy) but I'm always running out and the bags our vet carriers are small. It's also pretty pricey. We had some Orijen food that I've been mixing it with, since that is what they started him on. I believe Orijen is a Canadian brand. Is there an advantage to feeding Hills to a healthy puppy? Any thoughts on Hills in general?

[Guest GryffinSong]

We used to get ours from a feed store. You have to buy a BIG bag of it (it's sold for horses). I'd grind it and give them a tbsp or so sprinkled over their food.

 

Thanks! Will try this before changing food YET AGAIN.

[silverfish]

I don't see a problem with mixing grades/types at all.

 

For a long time, I've fed Burgess Supadog Sensitive, which is a mid-low price dog food, but it has minimal ingredients and my dogs have all done very well on that plus add-ins and treats. However, Ranger needs a higher quality food in order to put muscle on and so I've gone back to buying James Wellbeloved, a high-end, well-known quality food.

 

However .. if Sid eats nothing but James Wellbeloved he needs a smaller quantity which he sucks down and then he feels cheated and wants to steal Ranger's food. So what I do for now is to give Sid mostly Burgess SDS with a little JWB, while Ranger gets JWB with a little Burgess SDS - plus their usual add-ins, of course. They both seem happy with that!

 

Edited to add that Burgess isn't the dregs, but the price difference is £20 per 12.5kg sack for that, to £38 per 15kg sack for JWB.

Edited January 26, 2012 by silverfish

[Guest verthib]

The same thing happened to me once. I ran out of their normal food, Diamond Naturals (should have been paying closer attention), it was after hours on a Sunday, I went to kroger, bought some Rachael Ray, scooped some into all 3 bowls, all 3 dogs gave me the stink eye and sniffed it, and walked away. MY dogs will eat almost anything, they will eat sticks, grass, and Frank will even eat poop if I dont watch him.

 

I could only conclude that poop and sticks taste better than RR dog food.

 

I fixed them some eggs and hamburger and went to Tractor Supply first thing Monday morning. Donated the RR.

 

Ummmm my dogs LOVE Rachael Ray food..... I don't think your "conclusion" is correct. Perhaps it applies to your dogs, but not mine. It actually smells really good too. I don't feed the regular RR food... I feed RR Just 6. They are on about half and half now (half new food, half old).

 

The other night, I was completely out of our usual TOTW kibble. So i bought something at the regular supermarket just to tide them over. It was Rachel Ray's brand, and the ingredients didn't look too terrible. It looked like a kid's breakfast cereal! Not only did they love it, but also their poops have been SPECTACULAR!!!!

 

Ummm thank you!!!!

[Guest BrianRke]

The same thing happened to me once. I ran out of their normal food, Diamond Naturals (should have been paying closer attention), it was after hours on a Sunday, I went to kroger, bought some Rachael Ray, scooped some into all 3 bowls, all 3 dogs gave me the stink eye and sniffed it, and walked away. MY dogs will eat almost anything, they will eat sticks, grass, and Frank will even eat poop if I dont watch him.

 

I could only conclude that poop and sticks taste better than RR dog food.

 

I fixed them some eggs and hamburger and went to Tractor Supply first thing Monday morning. Donated the RR.

 

Ummmm my dogs LOVE Rachael Ray food..... I don't think your "conclusion" is correct. Perhaps it applies to your dogs, but not mine. It actually smells really good too. I don't feed the regular RR food... I feed RR Just 6. They are on about half and half now (half new food, half old).

 

The other night, I was completely out of our usual TOTW kibble. So i bought something at the regular supermarket just to tide them over. It was Rachel Ray's brand, and the ingredients didn't look too terrible. It looked like a kid's breakfast cereal! Not only did they love it, but also their poops have been SPECTACULAR!!!!

 

Ummm thank you!!!!

 

I admit I am not present when your dogs eat. My "conclusion" was derived from MY 3 DOGS... NOT YOURS! Im glad the cheap food is working out for you! You may also be interested to know this about RR 6:

 

The minerals listed in the ingredients do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

 

This Rachael Ray Nutrish product contains menadione… a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

 

Not to mention that it contains sodium selenite, Science has since learned that these inorganic selenium sources (sodium selenite most commonly used in pet foods) can be toxic in high doses; affecting an animals Blood, Liver and Muscles. The organic selenium yeast on the other hand, has proven to be far less toxic, even in large doses.

[Guest verthib]

The same thing happened to me once. I ran out of their normal food, Diamond Naturals (should have been paying closer attention), it was after hours on a Sunday, I went to kroger, bought some Rachael Ray, scooped some into all 3 bowls, all 3 dogs gave me the stink eye and sniffed it, and walked away. MY dogs will eat almost anything, they will eat sticks, grass, and Frank will even eat poop if I dont watch him.

 

I could only conclude that poop and sticks taste better than RR dog food.

 

I fixed them some eggs and hamburger and went to Tractor Supply first thing Monday morning. Donated the RR.

 

Ummmm my dogs LOVE Rachael Ray food..... I don't think your "conclusion" is correct. Perhaps it applies to your dogs, but not mine. It actually smells really good too. I don't feed the regular RR food... I feed RR Just 6. They are on about half and half now (half new food, half old).

 

The other night, I was completely out of our usual TOTW kibble. So i bought something at the regular supermarket just to tide them over. It was Rachel Ray's brand, and the ingredients didn't look too terrible. It looked like a kid's breakfast cereal! Not only did they love it, but also their poops have been SPECTACULAR!!!!

 

Ummm thank you!!!!

 

I admit I am not present when your dogs eat. My "conclusion" was derived from MY 3 DOGS... NOT YOURS! Im glad the cheap food is working out for you! You may also be interested to know this about RR 6:

 

The minerals listed in the ingredients do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

 

This Rachael Ray Nutrish product contains menadione… a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

 

Not to mention that it contains sodium selenite, Science has since learned that these inorganic selenium sources (sodium selenite most commonly used in pet foods) can be toxic in high doses; affecting an animals Blood, Liver and Muscles. The organic selenium yeast on the other hand, has proven to be far less toxic, even in large doses.

 

Yes I did know all of that, but did some research/reading. They do not get high doses as done in the studies, and the dog food advisor and other sites state the amount of those ingredients in such small doses probably do not affect the dogs. Also, I'm only giving half of RR food.... I think it has too much fiber, because once I tried to increase it, their stools got loose again. I am just going to keep them on half and half. And as others do, they feed their dog what works..... But thanks for the info.

[Guest BrianRke]

I agree, different dogs do better on different foods. Whatever works best is what you should go with. Oh and just to clarify, when I said "cheap food", i didnt mean the cost of the food but rather the inexpensive ingredients like dried beet pulp, which is a filler but also a good source of fiber. That alone would "firm up" the poops. I dont think RR is a bad food, there are a lot worse on the market Most (90%) dog food contains sodium selenite.

Edited January 26, 2012 by BrianRke

[Guest jbox]

Be careful with adding beet pulp on your own as it expands enormously once it gets wet, hence it would do that in the stomach if you didn't soak it for 30 min. prior to feeding like they do for horses. You would be amazed at how much it expands if you add water and let it sit for awhile.

 

Just trying to be helpful.

[Guest jbox]

I feed Iams Lamb & Rice and I don't feel bad about it at all. All our dogs do well on it. I've been through all the expensive dog foods out there and all it did was cause problems for our dogs.

[tra708]

i'm the original poster, and i am very glad to know that many people do not feed their dogs the premium, most expensive foods. My financial situation has changed over the past year, and i have been paying more attention to how much i spend at the pet store. i mean, i want what's best for my dogs, but the expense gets kind of ridiculous. my mind is more open now to what works best, and not being such a food snob.