Dog/Cat Foods

[BodhiBird]

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I'm curious to see what you guys think of the various brands of dog and cat food. Before recently I was always a big fan of Royal Canin, but a vet I just started working with is a "holistic food" guy and has converted me. At the clinic we do carry Sci Diet and Royal Canin, but our bigger seller is California Natural which I feed my own pets. If you look at the first few ingredients the Sci Diet and Royal have corn and chicken "meals" whereas California natural has the meat, whatever it may be, and barley or sweet potatoes instead of the corn. In addition, I know California Natural and it's sister brands like Evo as of mid-January stopped getting any ingredients from China. So what do you guys think? I know the majority of vets out there probably recommend and carry only Royal Canin and Sci Diet. Now, let me say though that the prescription diets are very good and I'd reccomend them, but as a staple diet I'd go with something like Cali Nat.

On an aside, I think the best bird food is Harrison's pellets. Anyone disagree? I adopted a bird months ago that did a 180 on Harrison's and have heard several other similar success stories with Harrision's. And my green cheek has been eating Harrison's for many many years and is in excellent health.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Definitely a big fan of the holistic foods, dogs and cats. Cali Nat, most of the Innova line, Natural Balance, Eagle Pak, etc.

However, I don't like EVO because of the Ca😛 ratio (unless they have changed it) and high ash content. And Timberwolf is waaaaay overpriced. That being said, I do know a ton of dogs who do fine on just SD and Purina (although I don't feel comfortable feeding them myself). I agree that the prescription diets are very helpful aids, but I don't like the "staple" formulations.

I dunno about bird food....hrmmm. I like Prime Reef and Hikari for fish food (none of that Tetra or wardley! Yikes!).

 

[justinpaws]

When I adopted my kitten (or rather, took him in from the streets) I initially was feeding him kitten Science Diet + Evo wet (just at mealtimes, it's not sitting out for him all day). I mixed in the dry mostly to keep his teeth and gums healthy. But it kind of bothered me how corn and animal by-products were such prominent members of the ingredients list in the Science Diet...even though people said it was completely fine...so I started feeding him Wellness Core as the dry component. I think what bothered me so much about the corn was that I read a study once where rats who were fed corn got an earlier incidence of tumors than the control group (I'll have to find what it was exactly). Plus, for anyone who's read The Omnivore's Dilemma...well, you know. I didn't see how obligate carnivores could tolerate so much corn.

But he seems to really like the flavor of the Science Diet so I give him some every once in a while until the bag will be used up. He kind of turns his nose up to the Core. I like the ingredients of it so much better though...


Oh, I guess here's something along the lines of what I was thinking:
http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/229/10/1017
"Results suggest that long-term dietary corn oil promotes AOM-induced colon cancer development partly by inhibiting the tumor suppressor gene p53-mediated mitochondria-dependent apoptosis."

I don't let my hamster eat corn either...she is pretty old but still in top shape. Haha, talk about paranoia.

 

[lunazzurra]

I feed all five of my cats Wellness CORE dry and Wellness Turkey canned. 100% grain free and human grade ingredients. For my birds (waxbills), I don't do pellets. I get Finch Mix from Herman Bros. Seeds in Michigan (their stuff is amazingly fresh...sprouts within a day or two) and supplement it with fresh egg and oyster shells, dandelion greens, and broccoli. Sometimes I will make egg bread for them as a treat.

 

[nyanko]

My pets are all, for some reason, super picky about their food. I understand it with my dog - he was a rescue who had probably been fed crap for 3 years beforehand so was more used to the higher carbs and such in the lesser quality foods. He is also a sensitive stomach type with some allergies. But the cats were off crap food the day I got them out of the research colony at about 4-5 months of age and I had to search really hard to find a food they'd eat!

I ended up going with Taste of the Wild for all of them - the cats seem to like it (Rocky Mountain Feline) better than any of the other foods, and the dog showed no preference between High Prairie Canine and Wellness Core - but my wallet certainly has a preference so I go with TotW. 😉

 

[sumstorm]

We are on a bizarre nutritionist designed mix of raw, cooked, dehydrated, and kibbled foods plus supplements. It works really well for us. Different dogs have different combinations, depending on issues (allergies, anxiety, work.) The kibble we use is Canidae, which isn't the best and isn't the worst....but it does well for us. Raw are human grade meats with long term freezing. Cooked are grains and some veggies. Dehydrated is Honest Kitchen. I don't want to get into the better/worse or should/shouldn't debate. Everything is so very individualistic. Some dogs do very well on the worst food for thier entire lives, others do poorly unless they are on extremly controlled high quality diets. We also vary alot of the components.

My cats...well, they don't get it nearly as good (neither is working, either, though) so they get dry kibble (orijen) out of a digitally automated feeder (due to issues with waking up hubby at 4:30 am for food....my older cat was really young when I was working at the zoo where I reported at 5:30am.) They are occasionally supplemented with raw or dehydrated food.

Oh, and the dehydrated stuff is awesome for search and rescue. i can carry 5 days worth of food supplies for my dog in a much lighter form....making hiking rough terrain easier.

 

[W2BVet]

How do you guys feel about Natural Balance? I am interested in changing my dog's food from Pro Plan to a more natural/organic diet...so this is a great thread. I would love to hear everyone's opinion on these various brands.

 

[bunnity]

This is definitely interesting to me because I've never had dogs or cats and am always amazed at how many different brands of food there are even in a grocery store and I always wonder how on earth people decide.

For bunnies though I definitely only feed Oxbow for their dry food. It is pretty much the only brand I've found that has timothy hay in the top five ingredients let alone as the first one. It drives me crazy that most of the food marketed for rabbits is made of corn and has random stuff like bird seed thrown in... rabbits aren't supposed to eat corn, and they aren't birds. I know it is the responsibility of the owner to research the best food, but it seems really lame of a company to produce "rabbit food" that is obviously terrible for rabbits and market it as healthy. It is also mind boggling because timothy is really cheap and it seems like it would be cheaper to produce the correct food than one with all the weird food coloring and mystery items.

OK I will bring that rant back to the topic by asking, is it the same type of situation for cat and dog food? Are most of the brands you would get in a store totally wrong and unhealthy, or is that just a rabbit thing?

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Although corn does have a ratio of fatty acids that are pro inflammatory, I would not take too much away from that study. The old inbred strains like SD need to be taken with a grain of salt. They also have no gall bladders so I'd assume their fat and oil metabolism/absorption/bile kinetics is a bit different than your average dog. They found cancer in the non treated rats too, the invasion just was not as bad. It makes me go eh....And 10% corn oil is a very large amount.

I love Natural Balance. It is a big part of my dog's kibble rotation. It isn't overpriced, either.

I always wonder how on earth people decide.

Easy way: look at the ingredients label. would you eat it? 😉 You want meat ingredients listed first, second, and hopefully third too...no "unnamed" sources like "animal fat" (you want to see "beef fat" or "chicken fat"....hopefully grains like corn and rice are lower on the list, fourth or so....no preservatives like BHA....it's really not hard it is just overwhelming at first.

Are most of the brands you would get in a store totally wrong and unhealthy

Yes and no. Can dogs do OK on them? Yeah. Is the formulation anywhere near biologically correct? No way. The average American is moderately healthy, maybe overweight, and eats crappy food, the averagee dog is in ok health, usually overweight, and eats crappy food. I think we can all strive for better than that.

Rant: Think cat food....cats are OBLIGATE carnivores. I.e. 100% meat, bone, blood, and body parts. Then, why is grocery kibbled cat food only 30 to 35% protein and 10 to 13% fat? why does a huge amount of that protein come from incomplete plant sources like corn and soy? You can make an omnivore arguement with dogs, but NOT cats. I had my cat on basic Purina before. She was overweight, listless, slightly insulin resistant, crappy haircoat, the works, I switched her to half kibble and half raw/cooked (muscle meats, 10 to 15% organ meats, beef and chicken hearts fo taurine, bone, etc). She lost weight, became more active/vocal/affectionate, her bloodwork improved dramatically, and she's just gotten a lot healthier overall. Now, that's my anecdotal experience...but there are TONS like that.

 

[cozycleo]

How do you guys feel about Natural Balance? I am interested in changing my dog's food from Pro Plan to a more natural/organic diet...so this is a great thread. I would love to hear everyone's opinion on these various brands.

I had no trouble with NB's cat food, but I know someone whose dog got horribly ill on NB and ended up in the hospital for quite awhile with kidney trouble. Her dog nearly died, and it took a long time before NB finally acknowledged it and helped her pay some of the vet costs.

I personally feed both my dog and cats Wellness, but I found my cats are just fine on California Naturals too. We can go back and forth no problem. I may try Wellness Core for my dog next time. I like to switch it up from time to time.

 

[twelvetigers]

I feed Science Diet to the dog - she gets C/D because she has uroliths. I figure I shouldn't change diets if the stones might come back, as they have before.

The cats get Iams because it's cheaper and we have coupons at the clinic. Hah.

I remember looking at our dog's bag of Ol' Roy when I put on my shoes to go outside as a child... I feel guilty about that now, lol. My parent's current dog is not allowed to eat Ol' Roy, per my rules. 🙄

 

[lunazzurra]

I remember looking at our dog's bag of Ol' Roy when I put on my shoes to go outside as a child... I feel guilty about that now, lol. My parent's current dog is not allowed to eat Ol' Roy, per my rules. 🙄

LOL I feel the same way. When I was growing up, my dog got the store-brand chow. It was from the Kroger's chain (for you Midwesterners/Southerners) and at the time their store brand was called "Cost Cutter". They had the WORST packaging of all time. Any Cost Cutter product would have schoolbus yellow packaging, with the product name in black block lettering. You could not get more generic. I really wonder what we were feeding our poor dog. (Side note...she lived to 17).

 

[karmapple]

I feed my dogs a mixture of Wellness dry and canned, and my cats eat just the Wellness canned. I have had many veterinarians roll their eyes at me and say "I've never heard of that brand, so it must not be good," or "You're wasting your money, Science Diet/Iams/Purina are great foods." And who knows, maybe they are! I know those companies have more money to do nutrition research, and I hate to act as though I know more than veterinarians. However, every time I read the label on a Science Diet food bag, I can't help but wrinkle my nose and turn away.

 

[CatVet2Be]

I have a nutrition related question. When you have a cat with kidney disease the standard recommendation is to lower the protein content of their food. But if cats are obligate carnivores how do you reconcile the two?

 

[Bill59]

The protein content in renal diets is restricted but still enough for maintenance. But renal diets are a lot more than just protein restricted --they are low phosphorous, increased water soluble vitamins, increased fat, n3 fatty acids, increased potassium, alkalinizing and so on.

 

[Catnapper]

My cat's in renal failure (CRF), and, like many CRF cats, he HATES the prescription renal failure food. And because they have the diminishing appetite (that is, until they go hyperthyroid) and muscle-wasting, a lot of CRF cats' parents resort to feeding them whatever they'll eat. A lot of us wind up with cupboards brimming over with every kind of canned food ever manufactured.

 

[BR549]

Bird: Remember to supplement a bird's diet with fresh fruit and veggies. No corn or seeds (maybe occasionally as a treat). My Timneh gets Roudybush pellets and thawed frozen(frozen vegetables are more nutritious than the "fresh" produce in the grocery store.) veggies and beans everyday. I give her a tortilla chip as a treat (she loves them and they are fine sparingly).

Fish and Corals: Thawed frozen foods (San Francisco Bay and Ocean Nutrition)

Cats: My cats will ONLY eat Purina One Salmon and Tuna. They will not touch any other food, even if you mix it in. They don't even like wet food for a treat!🙄

Dogs: Our dogs get Purina One Lamb and rice. I know there are better foods out there, but they have had not problems on this and are very healthy. The outside dogs eat all kinds of things. It's not uncommon to find a cow leg, bone, or horn, half of a deer, or parts of other animals in the yard.😛 Everyday's a surprise!

 

[BR549]

LOL I feel the same way. When I was growing up, my dog got the store-brand chow. It was from the Kroger's chain (for you Midwesterners/Southerners) and at the time their store brand was called "Cost Cutter". They had the WORST packaging of all time. Any Cost Cutter product would have schoolbus yellow packaging, with the product name in black block lettering. You could not get more generic. I really wonder what we were feeding our poor dog. (Side note...she lived to 17).

We had a dog to live a healthy, happy life on Ol'Roy and table scraps! She was 16 when we had to put her down, because my mom accidentally ran over her and broke her vertebral column.🙁 Anyway, onetime she stole a big pack of cookies from somebody and I figured since she went through the trouble, I oughta open 'em up and let her have 'em. My dogs also used to love the waffle cones I would bring home for the goats when I worked at an ice cream shop.

 

[HopefulAg]

Feed my dogs Diamond Naturals. Anyone know anything about them that I don't? It's the Lamb and Rice formula


I've been trying to get the vets at the clinic to sell more than just SD and Eukanuba. I don't think they realize just how much of a market they're missing out on by not selling the higher quality foods since there's no where to buy them around the area and I think they could corner that particular market for a bit.

 

[sumstorm]

Sometimes it is hard to justify the initial order costs, plus base stock, plus space to display/store additional foods.

I have a coupon for a free bag of diamond somewhere. I don't use it, but it was given to me by a customer.

 

[Groominator]

I feed my dogs Wellness Core mixed with random wellness cans (regular foods and 95% meat cans), and some water to keep it soupy to help make sure they get enough water throughout their day. They seem to only drink when they remember to, usually. I like the Wellness brand, and i the Core low carb high protein line is okay in price.

For the cats, I leave out EVO dry and we give them cans of Fancy Feast. Its crap and I do feel guilty about it but they go through those cans so quickly and cat food is damn expensive! And every so often the dog eats the cat food when we're not looking and we have to open up a new can. At least a bag of EVO lasts them a few months.
All the animals are supplemeted with Salmon Oil and vitamin e, and the cats get glucosamine.

I'm not a fan of SD or purina prescription diets. Relatively poor ingredients, great big label. Lots of research funds that can prove the world. It boggles my mind that diabetic cat food is made almost entirely of corn - this is for an obligate carnivore who has trouble managing blood sugar, probably due to a diet too high in carbs in the first place. While I know there are animals for whom those formulas work, perhaps even the only thing that works for them, I would personally not use them unless i had no other choice.