Best Dog Food

[Guest 2dogs4cats]

Which means you are lucky. Most chronic conditions are genetically linked. Also means you don't know how hard it is (the emotional heartache, the financial hardship and the constant worry) to find a food that works for a chronic medical condition. All the "best" foods in the world don't mean a thing if your dog can't eat it, digest it and stay well on it.

 

Because of my chosen path of education and my job experience, I was there the whole time advising family members to switch to a better food (which they ignored far before the diagnoses of cancer). The vet who euthanized both animals for my family agreed that the problem might have been at least lessened with a better quality diet (if for no other reason than it would boost the immune system and give the body more energy to deal with being chronically ill). I was also the one who held my parents' dying cat in my arms while she had multiple seizures and eventually died an agonizing death. For weeks afterwards I was incredibly emotional as it was a very traumatizing experience. It was *MY* pet too, I just had no power over how she was cared for because I don't live with them and I can't force my family to act in accordance with what I've learned and what I believe.

 

Please don't turn this into a personal attack. It's truly uncalled for. I fully admitted on more than one occasion that some dogs do well on commercial dog foods because we don't have natural counterparts that do the same trick as things like artificial stool hardeners, etc. Use what works. I'm not saying to do otherwise. I think it would make complete sense if someone said, "A high-quality kibble would be more nutritious, but I simply can't find something that works to lessen his symptoms and his quality of life was suffering. Therefore, this (Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, etc.) is our only option." But to argue that a higher quality food is NOT more nutritious makes no sense. It's as silly as saying "A McDonald's chicken sandwich and french fries is just as nutritious as lean chicken breast and a baked potato from your grocery store." Would anyone be willing to argue that? If you can find a way to make it work for your dog and your budget, a high quality food (in my opinion) will always be superior to a food containing low-quality ingredients. [Emphasis added.] That STILL doesn't mean that it's right for every dog.

 

I also stated that this evidence is specifically "anecdotal" (def: based on personal observation, case study reports, or random investigations rather than systematic scientific evaluation). It's my personal experience, nothing more. The fact that my animals are healthy could be nothing more than sheer luck, or it could be because of the choices I've made. There's no way to tell without cloning them and subjecting them to two different forms of treatment throughout their lifetime. But I've spoken to hundreds if not thousands of other pet owners who have their dogs on high-quality diets and have seen them come back from the brink of death, recover spontaneously after battling a chronic ailment or allergy, or improve in energy and quality of life (especially seniors). It's all anecdotal, but it's there, and it matters to me. But ultimately, you should do what makes the most sense to YOU for you and your pet.

 

I don't see ANYTHING in my post that could taken as a "personal attack"?? Saying that you are lucky is an attack?

[Guest Kaila]

I do understand where this is coming from- people are doing what they think is best for their pets, which includes feeding good food. But IMHO, all the natural, grain-free, holistic, organic foods are just a passing fad. Companies like Hills, Iams, and Purina have researched and produced pet food for decades. The whole "dogs are carnivores!" idea didn't come about until the last five years or so. Even my vet (who also practices holistic therapies like acupuncture and chiropractics) admits that most of it is a marketing scheme to guilt you into paying $60-$70 per bag for dog food.

 

I'm not even talking about grain-free versus food with grain in it. I'm talking about quality on the level of "meat and bone meal," "animal digest," or "animal by-products" versus a named meat source in meal form, or chemical preservatives versus citric acid and vitamin E. I made a recommendation of using oatmeal earlier for dogs with chronic diarrhea--oats are a grain. Not all dogs benefit from a grain-free diet, but I believe that ALL dogs would benefit from the exclusion of chemical preservatives. (For example, ethoxyquin, which is allowed in much higher amounts in the dog food industry than in the human market. Ethoxyquin is also used as a rubber stabilizer and pesticide. In dog food, it used to prevent the rancidification of meat, primarily fish which oxidizes quickly.)

 

"The established tolerances for ethoxyquin are as follows: 5 ppm in or on the uncooked fat of meat from animals (except poultry); 3 ppm in or on the uncooked liver and fat of poultry; 0.5 ppm in or on the uncooked muscle meat of animals; 0.5 ppm in poultry eggs; zero in milk."

http://www.fda.gov/A...s/ucm305760.htm

 

"Nevertheless, CVM has asked the pet food industry to voluntarily lower the maximum level of use of ethoxyquin in dog foods from 150 ppm (0.015%) to 75 ppm. Regardless, most pet foods that contained ethoxyquin never exceeded the lower amount, even before this recommended change."

http://www.fda.gov/A...u/ucm047113.htm

 

By-products of the rendering process (indigestible hooves, beaks, feathers, fur, etc.), diseased meats, and euthanized cats/dogs should not be allowed in pet food, but they are. That's the quality control I'm talking about.

 

Which means you are lucky. Most chronic conditions are genetically linked. Also means you don't know how hard it is (the emotional heartache, the financial hardship and the constant worry) to find a food that works for a chronic medical condition. All the "best" foods in the world don't mean a thing if your dog can't eat it, digest it and stay well on it.

I don't see ANYTHING in my post that could taken as a "personal attack"?? Saying that you are lucky is an attack?

The implication, as I interpreted it, was that I "don't know how hard it is" to feed an animal who is chronically ill or have first-hand experience with that sort of situation. None of the animals I obtained on my own (outside of the animals that we owned as a family--my parents and I) have been chronically ill. We have had a few when I was younger who were chronically ill, and we believe it to be in part because we knew nothing about promoting better health through good nutrition.

 

---

 

I think that my involvement in this discussion has run its course so I won't hijack this thread any longer. If anyone needs additional resources or information, you can PM me and I'll do my best to help.

 

My final recommendation actually comes from our local Greyhound rescue, Gold Coast Greyhound Rescue of Gainesville, FL. They apparently have had huge success with Nutro Lamb & Rice and Precise Sensicare (lamb and rice formula). So for those of you who have run out of options but are still open to looking, I will pass this information along.

 

Good luck to all!

Edited October 27, 2012 by Kaila

[Guest jenniferk]

Kaila, I've found all the info you posted very interesting and helfpul. I'd love to ask you one more thing, but it doesn't look like the system will let me PM you, and I know you don't want to use this thread anymore. Would you be willing to send me your email? I'm at jenniferkentpgh @ gmail. Thanks!

[Scooby172]

"I think I speak from some experience when I say that it is difficult to make premium foods work for greyhounds. When I first adopted Henry almost three years ago, I tried the premium food route. After trying four different high-end brands, we were still battling constant diarrhea and general intestinal upset. I thought maybe it was because of his history as a racer, he had digestive intolerance from "track food." But as it turned out, I had terrible experiences feeding premium food to my 12-week-old greyhound puppy who never raced a day in his life."

 

 

I think it really depends on the dog. My first greyhound came here in 1997. Fed her Canidae which was considered a good food back then. Over the years and with several greyhounds, including two greyhound puppies and a greyhound/whippet puppy we have successfully fed a variety of foods including, Innova, Acana, Solid Gold, Wellness, California Natural, TOTW and Eagle Pak as I remember and some worked better than others. Anyway, currently my dogs eat Blue Wilderness and do well, including the puppy. I have changed foods to meet different needs of my dogs whether it be calories or protein or whatever. My dogs that passed all had cancer, except Bella (4 years old) who died from an accident in the yard that left her paralyzed, different types of cancer and ages of death were 8 to 11 years old. Not convinced that if I had fed them a "lesser quality" (for lack of a better term) food they would have fared worse, they all had great vet care and got sick, it happens. I feed what works for my dogs and if the Iams green bag or Purina worked, that is what they would get.

Linda, Keeva and Jack

Edited October 27, 2012 by Scooby172

[a_daerr]

Because of my chosen path of education and my job experience...

 

I'm curious, what is it that you do exactly?

[Guest Kaila]

I'm a 4th year college student majoring in Biology/Animal Science. I've worked for 3 years as a pet nutrition consultant (basically I give advice/recommendations, but I'm not a licensed nutritionist yet). I also worked for 6 months for Texas Farms, makers of Precise pet foods.

[Feisty49]

Just want to say to Kaila that I have enjoyed reading your posts and not just for their content. They are very well written, and it's a pleasure to read them. You're a dog food snob. I'm an English language snob. :--)

Edited October 28, 2012 by Feisty49

[Guest Kaila]

@Feisty49.. Why, thank you!

[Guest WhiteWave]

I've always tried to feed the best foods I could afford. But the last month, I wasn't able to continue paying $60 for 25lb bag of food. So we are trying out a brand called Victors. It has just become available near me since it is a small Texas based company and they now have distributors to spread it along the eastern United States.

 

So far dogs are doing very well and it makes my purse a little happier! My 3 senior dogs with allergies are on the Ocean Blend which runs $45.99 for a 40lb bag and my 3 active dogs are on the Hi Pro Plus which was $37.99 for 40lb bag. They also carry grain free formulas that if these formulas don't work, we will try next, but so far so good! They are made in the USA, never had a recall, uses no corn/wheat/soy/gluten. All the dogs went nuts over the food too.

 

Ocean Blend:http://www.midamericapetfood.com/victordogfood/pdf/Brochure-Ocean%20Fish.pdf

 

Hi Pro Plus:http://www.midamericapetfood.com/victordogfood/pdf/Brochure-Hi-Pro%20Plus.pdf

[Guest mb_in_md]

Kaila--

 

Good for you for persuing an area of interest. Best of luck with your studies!