dog food you buy in grocery store

[keithley]

i have an 8 year old boxer and have been feeding him the commercial dog food in the store until I read from what someone posted is this forum about what goes in them. BHA, Ethroxygum or something like that and propyleneglycide. Is there anything out there that would be good, particularly a dried food that I can buy. He has trouble with healing eye ulcers. Thought maybe if I changed diet it might help healing. Can anyone out there help me. animal by products including "feather."

help someone. I know i can buy science diet at the vet but what a pricey tag.

keithley

 

[JulieM]

Science Diet also contains BHA and/or ethoxyquin.

This site lists different feeding alternatives, as well as the Whole Dog Journal Top 10 Dry Dog Foods. (The WDJ is a publication that does not accept advertising, so they are unbiased - there is a thread that talks about their standards for the top 10, a forum search for Whole Dog Journal and my username should pull it up.)

http://members.home.net/mstraus/barfref.html

Also, this sites gives information on what dog food labels really mean:

http://www.api4animals.org/areas.asp?c=4&ID=79

 

[Aimee]

There are many high quality kibble products available. I personally feed Nutro which has no by-products. My dogs do well on it but I have been looking into Innova and Canidae as they have all human grade ingredients. There is a price tag on these foods but you feed far less because it is easily digested and processed in the body. Dog food you buy at the store produces alot of waste because it is mostly fillers which end up in your backyard and not in your dogs system. Feeding a high quality kibble will also reduce your back yard cleanup I buy a 40 pound bag of Nutro for 28.99 and it last about 3 weeks in my house with 3 dogs! You'll find that you put out more upfront but it will last you alot longer! Best of luck.

 

[gidget1]

After having tried several different foods on Gidget(because she stopped eating) it has been my observation that while the price tag may seem steep the end result is worth it. Gidget now has settled in with Nutro puppy(I didn't even know it existed until coming to this board) and is gaininng weight and growing . I also have noticed a reduced amount of poo which means to me that if it's staying in longer she's getting more out of it. She only poo's 2-3, sometimes 4 times a day. On the cheaper food she was going poo every time she went out. I bought a 17.5# bag last week and expect it to last a month at least. So you really are getting more for your money in the long run and a healthier dog.

 

[RyNTysMom]

My personal feeling is that in the long run, the more expensive dog foods end up saving you money, for two reasons:

1. You feed less of it than the cheaper brands because it is more nutrient packed.

2. You are increasing the chances that your beloved companion will live a longer, healthier life and suffer less, or no, costly illnesses over their lifetime.

After all, we know that for humans, eating a healthy, balanced diet cuts down the chances of serious illness and tends to increase longevity, so why wouldn't the same theory apply to our pets.

Just for the record, I feed our dogs Innova.

 

[MickeyFan]

Pricey dog foods

I recently switched from Nutro to Flint River Ranch. I used to go through a 40# bag in a month and I paid about $25 at Petsmart. Well this new food is twice the cost at $50 for 40#. I look at it this way, $25 additional cost per month to feed is not a whole lot - about $6 per week more than I am paying now. Heck, if I skip the trips to Starbucks, I've got it covered. For now, I feel much better about the human grade ingredients, which means it does not include sick or euthanized animal meats.

 

[Korenn]

I feed my boys Solid Gold and have been extremely pleased with the results. Yes, it is more expensive but I feed less of it than I did of Iams. A 33lb bag of Solid Gold lasts 15 days, while the 40lb bag of Iams lasted 2 weeks. I use Solid Gold SeaMeal as a supplement. Another important advantage is less poop!!

I posted some sites in "Ingredients in Dog Food" that discuss what is in commercial dog food and what can be used as "by-products" and "bone & meat meal". It is pretty disturbing what these companies can legally put in dog food.

Three of the major dog food producers in the US are subsidiaries of huge companies that produce human food. These companies have an outlet for the "waste" products created by producing meat for human consumption and that is dog food.

Companies making less expensive dog foods can not afford to use quality ingredients. That would be obvious from a business standpoint. The saying "You get what you pay for" applies to dog foods too.