Consumer Reports Discusses Dog Food and Cat Food
I have noticed that the subject of pet food has an extraordinary ability to get people riled up. Folks tend to have strong opinions about what pets should eat. I therefore could not resist publishing the following e-mail.
Dear Dr. Barchas,
I’m writing to let you know about a report on pet foods just released by Consumer Reports Health on its website ([click here]) and in the March 2009 issue of Consumer Reports. Given the focus of your Dogster/Catster blog, I thought it might be of interest to you and your readers.
For the report, Consumer Reports asked experts at seven top veterinary schools whether pet owners should be paying a lot for fancy pet food brands, what ingredients they should be looking for, what common claims on pet-food labels really mean, and more. The bottom line: there isn’t scientific evidence that pricier foods are better, or that cheap food can make pets sick. Consumers should pay more attention to the nutrient profile of the food than the price, and the health, age and lifestyle of their pets have a lot to do with what’s best.
Details about these findings – and a lot more information about pet food – can be found on the Consumer Reports Health website: [click here] . . .
Yours,
Paul Selker.
Mr. Selker attached a press release to the e-mail. I have a hunch that readers may have a few things to say about some parts of it. For instance:
Be careful when making your own pet food. Most experts said they hadn’t seen a pet get sick from inexpensive food; however, half said they had seen pets become ill from eating homemade pet food, a growing trend since the 2007 recall of some commercial pet food contaminated by melamine. Dogs and cats each require about 40 different nutrients in very specific proportions, so pet owners who insist on making their own pet food should consider enlisting a nutritionist certified by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition . . .
or
Consider your pet’s age. Age-specific food is very important for puppies, kittens, and pregnant pets, who have especially stringent nutritional needs. Foods labeled either “for growth” or “for all life stages” meet those needs. Foods “for maintenance” are for healthy adult animals only. “Senior” is a marketing term, not a nutritional term.
or
Weigh the costs and benefits of wet versus dry food. There’s no nutritional difference between wet and dry pet food, but there is a cost difference. Wet foods contain about 75 percent water, so pets need more to get the same calories, and that makes wet food more expensive per serving.
or
[Regarding interpreting claims on pet food labels:] Grain-free. Protein in the product comes from nongrain sources (perhaps for people who want pets to eat more animal protein). It’s unclear whether there’s any benefit to a diet high in animal protein.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that Consumer Reports did a great deal to damage its credibility in my mind (and in the mind of basically every veterinarian in America) when it published an article on veterinary services several years back.
The article, as I remember it, recommended that people seek the cheapest possible health care for their pets. It ignored the fact that cost of care may be related to quality of care. Many vets (including me) interpreted the article as advocating that people cut corners when seeking medical care for their pets.
Given the rocky relationship between vets and Consumer Reports, I can’t blindly sign off on this most recent article. But I encourage you to read it and offer your thoughts.
You have questions. 
I think the article has a lot of words without very much meaning. There isn’t very much substance in the article at all. I have a really hard time believing that my dog would do just as well on Kibbles and Bits as they have been doing on the organic pet food I have them on now. I have heard pet nutritionists compare kibbles and bits to McDonalds! The article also mentioned that there is no regulations on the titles organic and so on. However I think these should be held to the human standards. Organic means organic. No steriods or pesticides. Grown and raised naturally. I only want organic for my body, why would I settle for anything less for my dogs?! I think consumer reports needs to look at who they are talking to and their credentials. If my current vet told me that the grade of pet food did not matter and they all offer the same health benefits, I would be finding a new vet.
For years, I fed exclusively Hills Science Diet and it was getting VERY expensive w/ recent BIG price increases and having 20+ cats. After all the food recalls and my friend calling Hills S.D. to complain about prices and was smugly told “Well, if you’d cut out your daily latte, you’d easily be able to afford our food!” (my friend works 2 jobs to afford whatever care it takes for her kitties!), I realize Hills only cares about themselves and switched to good ole’ Purina Cat Chow – everyone loves it and no one is the worse for wear! Recent recalls have really leveled the playing field. Unless you are concerned about organic and want your pets to go organic also, I think it’s all the same, except for the very cheapest brands. A good, middle-of-the-road food has enough quality but still tastes good to them – the purest food isn’t going to help if they won’t eat it. I can’t eat salads all the time, but I can’t eat ice cream all the time either – find a happy medium that’s good for your pets and your pocketbook! And for heaven’s sake, don’t make them go vegetarian or an all-raw diet – it’s dangerous – animals were created a certain way centuries ago, and your beliefs won’t change their digestive systems!
I monitored, very closely, during the pet food crisis all the companies doing frantic recalls and kept a journal. One major company was NOT on the “S” list. In fact, when challenged by the other companies, this company offered to supply samples of their product to be tested. This company came out clean in the tests. They stated they had “local” contract suppliers for the ingredients they used. This comment is NOT a testimonial! I am just stating the info I gathered. I have used “homemade food” for a special cat for a problem time. The recipe came from the Merck Vet Manual. It carried us through the crisis. The Company of which I speak is Purina. I use both the chow and the canned at the same time in divided dishes in small amounts so nothing gets stale or contaminated! My vet rates the condition of my companions as #1, Gold Star!
I wonder if the experts at the vet schools have the same kind of research funding from the big companies that major universities’ doctors have from big Pharma?
I’m not one to blindly follow the experts in a field as I have found, more times than not, that whoever has the most research dollars to spread around wins.
The only person I feel has a thorough knowledge of my animals and their nutritional needs is my vet. He has taken care of them since they were puppies and knows their indiosyncracies. I researched many different foods and chose one that I thought was best by my own standards, talked it over with my vet and got his okay. My choice ended up being one of the so called “super premium” foods with no grains added, they love it and are thriving. My advice to anyone looking at foods would be to research everything they can, read all the pros and cons, and then take your choices to your vet for their opinion.
I have used Purina Puppy Chow for a number of years, But i have noticed that it does not have any oils in it now. Also my dogs has stopped eatting very much, so I am very concerned I called Purina Company Twice , The first Girl told me that there had been no change in it but She would report it , then next time I talked to a guy. He said they had a change in august 2008, He said that it has must likely just starting to show up in our stores. He is sending me money back on the last bag I bought and a coupon to try another kind of their other food. I think they took the meat out. I am not happy about it. has n anyone else had a problem with it?
With all the better options for dogs/cats, I am still baffled by the fact that people still buy their beloved pets foods like Purina. I’m not going to do the whole thing about good vs bad foods because there are COUNTLESS article and blogs on dogster alone that discuss proper diet, high quality foods, etc. I think that this article was, as previously stated, a whole bunch of nothing. It’s .. crap.
“And for heaven’s sake, don’t make them go vegetarian or an all-raw diet – it’s dangerous – animals were created a certain way centuries ago, and your beliefs won’t change their digestive systems!” Ummm…animals were created millions of years ago and I think evolutionally speaking, you will find that humans are the only animals who cook their food. Animals are meant to eat raw, bloody, unproccessed meat with the bones and organs. By feeding plain kibble you’re going against nature. All of the dogs fostered in our system are on a partially raw food diet. Is it expensive? Yeah. Is it worth it? YES! I attribute a raw diet for all of our dogs surviving exposure to parvo several months ago. By the way…the number one ingredient in dog chow is corn. When was the last time you saw a dog prefer corn over meat?
I have read the article posted here, the Consumer Report information link that was posted, as well as all the comments so far and I have not changed my mind one bit on my choices in food for Binx. He was one that had the tainted foods and got very ill and after he pulled through that I learned a lot. I was hoping that the Consumer Report would tell me something that I didn’t know but it didn’t really tell me anything! I will continue to give my Binx what he is using and when I am unsure of something new continue to do research like I always do! I spend more on his food now than before but he is doing amazing on it since they are limited ingredients, organic, no bad preservatives, and all that stuff! Yup, I am a pretty pleased Binxy mom! :)
Eh, nicely written article, but I disagree on many levels.
I’ll never again buy any food that does not have meat as the first ingredient and it’s a plus if no grains are included for me. I’ve found that most foods this this feature–Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild, Canidae, Blue Buffalo, etc–cost more.
I’ve fed foods such as Purina, Pedigree, Lassie Natural Way, etc most of my dog’s lives, but I now feed Diamond Naturals to my German Shepherd and raw to my Papillon mix. And they seem to do much better on those foods.
The raw-fed dog’’s doing so great on raw (shinier and softer coat, better-smelling breath, more energy) that when I can afford it, I’m going to switch my other dog to it as well. I spend about $12-$20 a month feeding raw for my Papillon mix. As my German Shepherd is obviously bigger, it would cost more to feed her the same diet.
Research and experience tell me that raw is not going to hurt my dog unless I make a mistake and feed him meat that has not been frozen/inspected or spoiled meat.
Yes, you have to be very careful when feeding a raw diet. It’s why researching on how to feed raw is so important. Feeding this diet with little-to-no-knowledge on the guidelines that come with it is a path to disaster.
Now, I did have to switch to a store-brand food for a while last year (before the switch to raw), but I stayed on it for as short as possible.
Oh Boy! No matter how tight money becomes around here, or no matter how many times I am told that “cheaper food is just as good as premium food” I will NEVER feed my four dogs any food without (A) Good Quality/named meat/meat meals as the first few ingredients (B) I will never feed a food with corn, soy, or wheat (or any combination of or floor sweepings) (C) NO foods with ethyoxiquin or menadione bisulfate (D) No foods with animal digest, animal fat, meat-by-products, or any unamed animal product or by-product (actual No by-products at all :) ) (E) I will NEVER feed a food (unless for health reasons) with less that 25% protein (F) and unless given reason to believe otherwise, will NEVER FEED A FOOD OFF OF A WALMART SHELF!
Dogs may not need the most expensive foods out there to survive… but you cannot honestly tell be that they are just as healthy on the chemicals, toxins, and low quality ingredients found in Purina, Pedigree, Ol Roy, and the list goes on.
If anyone wants to know why I believe what I believe here is a wonderful post From the Dogster Food Forums. Please Check it out!!
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Food_and_Nutrition/thread/518898
Mommy feeds us FLINT RIVER RANCH. We eat kibble – yummy flavors of Trout & Sweet Potato, Lamb & Rice, or Original. Daddy orders 200 lbs. bulk a few times. Us 3 big dogs love it. IT’S GOOD STUFF!!! :)
Price vs quality is never an issue with me.
Wet food IS better and more nutritious, as is having more animal protein.
I think that Consumer Reports should interview people who are educated in NUTRITION. No offense to veterinarians, but their level of nutritional education is noting compared to nutritionists. When I read that consumers should pay more attention to the nutrient profile rather than the ingredients is ignorant. Poor quality ingredients cause damage later in life. Chemicals such as preservatives, colors, artificial flavors are garbage. Glutens and byproducts, and grain fragments are junk. Not all expensive foods are good. Consumers DO need to look at the ingredients FIRST then the nutritional profile. You can pay $50.00 for a bag of food containing chicken byproducts, ground yellow corn, corn gluten, animal fat, beet pulp, animal digest, etc. That is a bag of junk period! There are very expensive highly advertised foods that are junk. There is a particular food pushed by veterinarians that is made up of by products, meat by pruducts, corn, corn gluten, peanut hulls (empty shells), soy bean mill run (empty soy bean shells), animal fat, etc and it is getting more expensive and the quality level is going down. I am a canine and feline nutritional consultant who has worked very hard and I continue my continuing education is on going and expensive. I feed expensive holistic foods, and can make my own meals for my dogs if I’d like. I have seen first hand what the results of a good quality protein, reduced amount of grains can do for a dog. Reduced health problems, better digestion, proper organ function, better skin, hair, nails, teeth and personality. My Miniature Pinscher is 10 years old, and he has only a few gray hairs on his chin. He has all of his teeth and they are pearly white, and never has to go to the vet to get his teeth cleaned. This is Louie’s Dogster page http://www.dogster.com/dogs/599995 All of his pictures are recent showing how wonderful he looks. He has never had food containing any of the junk ingredients listed above. If you’re Minpin has a gray face, and is loosing his/her teeth at six years old then they have a poor diet containing poor quality protein. I have seen so many dogs look so old before their time. Dogs and cats are what they eat just like we are. Junk goes in junk is the building blocks for poor health, junk comes out. Of course not every dog or cat or breed are perfect. Some problems are genetic, but proper nutrition will help. Not every dog and cat responds the same way to all of the good foods on the market so the consumer has to fine tune everything and try until you get it right. Consumer Reports needs to find educated people to do their research. I read their dog food issue a few years ago and they listed Old Roy as the BEST food. I laughed and laughed. That food has nothing but GARBAGE in it. I don’t care how a company makes the nutrient profile look good, but if they can’t do it with quality protein sources, no artificial ingredients, no unidentifiable byproducts, corn, glutens then they should just stop making poison. I don’t rely on Consumer Reports for any information because they have been wrong many times about cars, appliances, etc.
Mariana, I have to ask, since you seem to be so knowledgeable about what is junk and what is not, and you have so much faith in nutritionists: are you a nutritionist? And did you actually read the article? The people interviewed were specialists in veterinary nutrition. In other words, they were nutritionists. Why would a human nutritionist know anything about animal nutrition, since animals have different needs from humans?
And Gabrina, since you’re pulling out the evolutionary argument, and saying that animals should live naturally, then we shouldn’t keep them in our homes, spay or neuter them, take them to the vet, or even feed them at all. If we want them to live naturally, that is. Keeping pets is UNNATURAL! And by the way, dogs evolved to eat garbage and waste, not meat and bones.
Sheesh.
This would be an example why I don’t take advice on what to feed dog from a vet. There is a difference between wanting an animal to eat naturally and having them be a part of our lives and live with us. I’d also love to see all this research that shows a dogs digestive tract being different then that of a wolf. The digestive tract of a dog is like that of a wolf in every way. Look at their teeth, thir jaws, and the enzymes they produce. Eating a hard little kibble isn’t natural for anyone. Dogs don’t get to choose their own diet, we do that for them. They can’t slap us upside the head for feeding them crap. We owe it to them to do feed them good wholesome food. There are some good kibble options out there, and companies are getting better and waking up to the the fact that people want to feed their dogs good food.
Also this comment
“Be careful when making your own pet food. Most experts said they hadn’t seen a pet get sick from inexpensive food; however, half said they had seen pets become ill from eating homemade pet food”
I find to not hold much water. My vet openly admits that he feels many diseases and illnesses are caused and exacerbated by kibble, especially the cheap stuff. A lot of kibbles are filled with chemicals, additives, questionable ingredients, in some cases minimal meat, and severely lacking in moisture. Anyone who makes a blanket statement that feeding kibble without a doubt causes no harm, IMO isn’t be honest with themselves or with thier clients.
I will openly admit that homemade pet foods can be dangerous — but only if the diet isn’t properly balanced — otherwise, I prefer raw only. I have 2 fat cats, an underweight Maine Coon (his now former vet never did a proper body condition scoring and focused on his actual weight rather than his ribs and hips sticking out), and a very quickly growing Snowshoe kitten. All of them were having digestive problems with any type of kibble they were given and a high quality canned food wasn’t in the budget. Because of this, I decided to do as much research as possible on a raw diet before trying it out. Now that I’m a month into the raw only for everyone but the Maine Coon (he’s picky and won’t eat enough raw to gain his proper amount of weight) is all raw, they are doing great. None of them have runs anymore and they spend more time playing which is helping all of them develop muscle mass.
I buy whole meats from the store and turn them into cat food myself so I save a lot of money compared to even a higher quality dry food. I have a lot of experience in food service so I’m pretty well versed in proper handling of raw meat so bacterial contamination is far from my mind as a concern. What I like most about making their food myself is that I know exactly what they eat.
I’m not feeding raw because of the contamination scares, I feed raw because commercial foods have failed my pets. Quite simply, my cats were unhealthy eating “nutritionally balanced” cooked cereal and now they happen to be thriving. After all, if this diet was so bad for them, would my 9 year old cat be acting exactly the same as he did when he was 2? Especially since he was sickly and depressed only a week before he started eating raw.
“And by the way, dogs evolved to eat garbage and waste, not meat and bones.”
That’s a myth. Copy the below URL to see a page that debunks the myths used against a raw diet:
http://rawfed.com/myths/
P.S.
And if dogs supposedly are supposed to eat garbage, then how come my dogs and so many other dogs thrive and do so much better on raw than commercial dog food? Did you know that one of the world’s oldest dogs, who was 27 when I last heard of him, is raw fed?
I have 2 Chinese Cresteds. For the first 2 years of their lives, they puked so much that I thought these dogs just had overly sensitive tummies. Even the vet couldn’t figure out what was happening. After trying One, Beneful and a host of other dog foods, I finally got it. I began looking at the labels. Most, if not all, of the grocery store dog food, begins with the ingredient, cornmeal. Apparently, it would just sit in my dog’s bellies and swell until they puked it up. They would reach a point of not being hungry, then puke up the corn meal. That is exactly what they were puking up. After I began feeding them “Hill’s Science Diet”, all puking stopped and they have not puked again unless they were truly sick. No more daily puking. I will never again use grocery store dog food, or any food without checking first that the label does not begin with a cornmeal filler.
I truely believe you should feed your pet what is best for YOUR pet and for YOUR situation. You should find what works best for YOU and YOUR pet. If the cheaper dog food works for your dog, then so be it. If you prefer to home cook or feed raw, so be it. If you want the more expensive food, so be it. As long as YOUR pet is healthy and happy, no one else can make the decision for you.
Happy Eating Pups!!
There are people who can be “healthy” and live a long life eating fast food, smoking, and drinking too but that doesn’t mean everyone should do it. It also doesn’t mean it’s the norm. Just because a dog appears healthy on something like Beneful doesn’t mean they should eat it. It’s not about wanting a more expensive food it’s about wanting better ingredients.
As usual, you can’t get the “meat” of the Consumer Reports investigation including the comparisons unless you subscribe to Consumer Reports. And also as usual, their teaser report is a nicely written, grammatically correct ball of fluff. Then they back the whole thing up with saying that their experts have 11 animals. Whoa. My Dogster panel of experts have 100’s of animals. Who do you think I’m goin’ with?
I lost a dog to the melamine incident. At 17 she was a healthy terrier until her vet-recommended Iams killed her. My other dogs were sickened, but survived. I immediately switched to homemade and researched the fleas off of commercial dog food. Vets aren’t nutritionists just like human doctors aren’t dieticians. See the correct professional for the correct advice. You don’t go to the psychiatrist if you break your leg, now do you?
What I found is that most pet owners innocently enough feed their pets the worst crap on the planet. Ol Roy, most Purina, Kibbles and Bits are just a few names of the mistakes people feed their dogs. Most people just don’t know. Dogster people are food savvy. The main reason we are here perusing these pages is to further educate ourselves on the care of our beloved pets. The general population doesn’t know diddly about their kibble.
For the most part, commercial dog food is the worst thing we’ve ever done for our pets. Like everything there are exceptions to this, but most of the crap on grocery store shelves is there to snag your dollar not to feed your dog. If you’re feeding Ol’ Roy, you’d be better off feeding Fido your table scraps like Granny did 50 years ago.
I now feed a mixture of raw and grain free kibble. The kibble is not the most expensive food out there and price isn’t the reason I use it. Bowl for bowl, I feed less of the quality food so I actually spend less money on the more expensive food than I did on the cheap tainted kibble made of corn. My pups are healthy and happy and thriving.
Pshaw on Consumer Reports. They should stick to comparing vacuum cleaners.
After reading that Comsumer Reports article, I would question anything they review. How anyone could think it doesn’t matter which brand of dog food you feed a dog makes no difference hasn’t read any of the ingredients. Some dog food actually contains rendered animal parts, which could also include parts of flea collard, etc. Chicken by-products could be feet and beaks.
Corn and wheat are horrible filler products in most store brands.
I feed my dogs high quality food. Yes it’s more expensive, but my dogs are super healthy and don’t look anywhere near their ages. I will also save money in the long run because they won’t need trips to the vet for joint and old age related issues that often happen because a poor diet.
Also, I would never want to be any pet belonging to Josh.
I am a canine nutritional consultant. Because I am not a veterinarian i can’t call myself a nutritionist in my state. I have been a professional canine nutritional consultant for 11 years now and my education is non-stop. Yes I read the article and I don’t care if they are veterinary nutritionists because they only care about the science, not the quality. That is just one of the reasons I decided to go beyond the science. I don’t need to write a dissertation for you.
Gabriana don’t listen to him either. Josh….go sheesh someone else!
My dog ate a rat tail today, yesterday she ate half a rotted mold covered sandwich at the dog park. Last week she ate some other crap. Once she ate a bottle cap. The sofa and several beds.
They are dogs.
I feed my baby girl high quality food, but come on.. dogs will eat their own poop for petes sake….this whole argument is lame.
On a side note, my other dog who passed away at 15 years old ate Nutro, and when he died, if it weren’t for the GINORMOUS tumor he had, he’s have lived many more years he was a healthy as a horse, the vet said he had the teeth of a 2 year old dog and the stamina of a pup.
The day he died he was chasing his ball. This raw food stuff is overrated.
Consumer Reports is not a valuable website for information related to food, human, canine, or feline. Consumer Reports also promotes generic medicines from a simple cost standpoint and doesn’t point out the differing binders, changing suppliers, etc. I have received generic pills that were literally crumbled & had to be returned. It doesn’t pay attention to issues I find important: nutrition, organic foods, and fair trade foods. Many people are making these choices today for ethical and health reasons.
For heaven’s sake, I prefer to feed my flock of sheep organic grain and natural hay when I can get it. I don’t use pesticides or fertilizers on my pasture. It’s better for the ecosystem. I eat natural or organic meat because I have Crohn’s disease and feel healthier with a diet that is low-carb. My dogs and cat are more carnivorous than I am.
Perhaps they should have spoken to veterinarians who owned more dogs & cats. Perhaps younger or older vets. Perhaps non-university affiliated vets with established & well-respected practices. My older sheep vet understands canine nutrition better than these guys, perhaps because a sheep’s rumen, etc, is so complicated. (It’s a processing plant; almost an organism of its own!) My former vet in the South, a good old boy if ever there was, now feeds his dogs natural foods and holistic supplements.
But you would never guess that these changes are happening from reading that hack job which I won’t even grace with the name article. Couldn’t they at least have pointed out dogfoodanalysis as offering a differing viewpoint.
Reminds me of how my dear old dad was afraid to feed his 12 hunting dogs dry kibble when it was first marketed in the 1940s. He didn’t trust it & cooked up meat stew, etc. from whatever they had on the farm and from hunting.
Consumer Report is a valuable resource for choosing TVs, vacuum cleaners, cars, etc.
“Most experts said they hadn’t seen a pet get sick from inexpensive food; however, half said they had seen pets become ill from eating homemade pet food”
REALLY?! Wow, that statement is so ridiculous I can’t even begin…
I can only say my dog had so many problems on kibble and switching her to a plan made up for me by a nutritionist made those problems go away. I still feed kibble to my other dog occasionally but will eventually switch him too. I am so picky about my own food sources why wouldn’t I be with my own pets. To each his own but for me and my dogs I want to know our meats were humanely raised with appropriate diets, not just for nutrition but for piece of mind.
“This raw food stuff is overrated”
Tell that to my dogs. :P
I realize that dogs don’t care what they eat. The dogs of today have been raised on kibble. They don’t know what food is best for them, all they know is that it’s edible. What the dog likes shouldn’t matter so much as what is good for him. Kids would eat nothing but sweets if you let them. That doesn’t mean that sweets are good for them.
P.S.
And as some believe that when dogs eat poop it means that they are missing something in their diet, I’m not so sure that that part of your argument holds up, Birdy.
Actually Cookie TN, it does hold up, particularly with dogs with digestive issues that involve passing undigested food.
Right there at the beginning of the Consumer Reports article is the most important thing in the report. The majority of the vets interviewed for this article receive compensation from the pet food industry. What did anyone think they would say.
I feed a premium kibble and am researching switching to home prepared with the help of a canine nutritionist. My vet agrees that raw may not be the best thing for my dog’s digestive system, but is not ruling it out once we see how home prepared goes. I’ve fed the big box brands and premium and the difference is night and day. Premium kibble is the way to go.
Well, good luck with the home-cooked diet, Dutch. I don’t feed it myself (obviously), but from my research it’s an excellent one.
There is a lot to read above.. So I won’t bother repeating any of it.. But some people are neglecting to bring up supplements.. If you’re feeding a raw diet, or home made diet, you need to also say that dogs also need fruits and vegies. They also may need to have supplements to insure that they’re getting all the essentials. A digestive aid may be necessary too, to insure that they are fully utilizing the food they’re taking in.
I do not feed raw, and am not against it. I am however against low quality crap such as Pedigree, Purina, or Science Diet (to name a few). I feel A kibble, adding in fresh and whole foods (meats, vegies, fruits, yogurt, etc.), canned food, other kibbles, raw bones, etc. I keep it varied to keep it not only interesting, but to give them a variety in their diet. I also add in a multi vitamin and a raw tripe to aid in digestion.
I know it’s hard not to be judgemental when you’re trying to educate others.
We had been feeding Nutro Natural Choice large breed for years. Recently we have had to cut corners, so I talked to our vet, who is very trustworthy. He told me the same thing basically the article was saying and that’s to check the ingredients. Since our dogs don’t have eating issues we switched to Costco’s Kirkland brand which is $17 a bag cheaper. WOW! I never realized before how much I was spending. (We’ve been feeding them it for about 4 months and everything has been great). One tip: He did say it depends whether or not your pet is a finicky eater, has health issues, etc…
Try food info from “The Whole Dog Journal”, both dry and wet. They don’t take money from advertisers. Yearly subscription is $39.00 annually (12 issues), http://www.whole-dog-journal.com, (800)829-9165.
I like the topics they cover and their approach, too.
After “Miz. W” was diagnosed with a mass cell tumor at 7, surgery, no chemo, we switched food for both dogs. HUGE difference! At 12 1/2 she’s as dopey as ever and the happiest creature I have ever met. We keep an eye on every lump and bump. I now believe in a variety of foods. Lots of exercise, fresh air and attention, especially belly rubs, can’t hurt either. Yes, I am sick and tired of reading about treatments, ingredients, food recalls. Yes, I am frustrated with vets who won’t listen, don’t care, won’t work with me, treat me like an idiot, can’t tie knots on stitches to save their lives, lie to me, are rude on the phone, hurt my dog unnecessarily, need to get some bedside manners. (Ok, there were two we really liked.) All of this gets to me because I’d rather read a good dog book or go for a hike with my two “seasoned” furry ladies.
Hug your pet today. They won’t be around forever!
“If you’re feeding a raw diet, or home made diet, you need to also say that dogs also need fruits and vegies. They also may need to have supplements to insure that they’re getting all the essentials. A digestive aid may be necessary too, to insure that they are fully utilizing the food they’re taking in.”
Actually, many–myself included–do NOT believe that dogs are omnivores, but rather carnivores. Just because dogs will eat veggies does not mean they need them. Lions, carnivores, at a zoo in Israel were fed nothing but grain for 3 years and they were just fine.
You can see debates on this in Dogster’s raw diet forums.
And as for suppliments, raw is supposed to be all the dog needs. So long as you are feeding a variety of meat, you don’t need suppliments. You can however use suppliments if variety in meat is not available in your area.
P.S.
And a digestive aid? Seriously, give me a break. Dogs have the perfect digestive system for raw meat. Research.
Wow, quite the debate!
I find it interesting that ingredients don’t matter. I suppose I’ll just have 3 servings of bacon every day for my meat – that’s got to be just as good for me nutritionally as a variety of meats. And I guess three servings of veggies – ketchup counts according to Reagan. And for dairy, I may as well eat ice cream! Fruits, hmm… maybe I’ll just eat raspberries. I like them best. And I’ll have Frosted Flakes for grains. It’s a balanced diet!
Common sense says that ingredients matter, human or dog. Garbage in, garbage out. Definitely get the best quality of ingredients you can.
Awesome website for research.
And homemade diets? Please! How can any of us eat without nutrition experts? It takes some work, but most people on Dogster who are feeding homemade diets have put in the work to make sure they’re balanced. They’re also mostly quite happy to help those with questions. If any readers want help with what they are feeding, I highly recommend the Dogster forums! :) Thanks, Dogster, for helping folks like me know a little better than to live on bacon and ketchup alone!
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/FOI/dfchart.htm
I find this chart from the FDA very interesting. It tested the presence of phenobarbital in pet foods. This chemical is what is used to euthanize pets. Guess what? Nutro tested possitive. Most kibbles n bits and purina did not.
My dad said back in the 70’s he used to feed his dogs kenL ration kibble. That label is no longer in production anymore so I was unable to find the ingredients of the food. However on that chart it meantions of gravy train as being listed under kenL ration. Possibly the new name of the product? Apparently this food was extremely popular back then. He said his dogs always did well on it and there wasn’t all the high priced crap that there is now. If the new label is gravy train then the food was fairly low quality yet everyone fed their dogs that stuff and never gave a second thought to it. I also believe the rename of their canned product may be skippy after a bit of research. I’m not saying the food was great or anything but the dogs survived on it just fine back then.
I currently do not have the extra money to afford too much fancy foods with all the bells and whistles. If I have a coupon for $5 off I’m more likely to use it as feeding that food for a short time will not harm my dogs, the girls eat their own poop for dog’s sake even when fed the high priced stuff. I don’t know about you but I cannot afford to pay $100 every month to feed a GSD with a high metabolism. This is with the expensive grain-free stuff and raw. So I have found a good middle ground. I received a coupon book with lots of coupons for $5 off Euk. Nat. Wild and feed that at night and raw in the morning. Her metabolism is much too high to make feeding raw cost effective. I don’t think I’d want to know how much raw she would need to maintain her weight. Does anyone know how much raw equals 5 cups of kibble? Kibble is cooked down and in most cases more condensed than raw which contains a lot of water.
My poodle on the other hand is on a lesser quality food. I wasn’t going to turn down a coupon for a free 33lbs bag of food even if it is goodlife just because the quality isn’t that great. Eating that food until the bag in gone will not kill her contrary what people on dogster will lead you to believe. I also mix it with puppy food as she is still young though I don’t have to since it is for all ages. In this current economy sometime we can’t be too picky especially where free pet food is concerned. Yes I do generally avoid products with non-specific protein sources and ones with only low cost by-products (science diet). Frankly if I have a coupon for $8-10 off IAMS I’m going to use it. Generally the high cost pet food companies don’t give out coupons and rarely have sales making it difficult for low income pet owners. I’d rather put the extra money aside for when it is needed than splurge on “high quality, grain-free” pet foods when there is no proof they are any better than other lesser quality food.
Yes I agree about the supplementing a raw diet. We can’t provide everything needed by feeding just meat. More veggies than fruit (fruits are high in sugar) eggs (Creatinine, L- Cartinine) Be careful on what kind of supplement you purchase. One has to remember that if they give the raw meat with the bone (chicken wings, legs, necks, marrow bones to chew) there is calcium in bone, phosphorus in muscle meat) When you are not cooking the meat you aren’t damaging the nutrients. Egg shells are high in calcium as well. You don’t need a supplement that is high in calcium when you feed bone BUT all dogs are different. I consult a VERY educated homeopathic veterinarian when I’m just not comfortable. I tend to lean toward Missing Link, Nupro, Vim and Vigor. There are others but read the labels. Many contain wheat and other fillers, AND artificial preservatives and colors, and flavors. Puppies are difficult when supplementing depending on size and breed. To much calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, and protein can cause growth problems and deformities, and hurt joint development. If vitamin amounts are to high or to low that an cause problems too. do your home work. Find an experienced nutritional consultant that has dogs and cats (one doesn’t count) find an experienced homeopathic veterinarian. Check out http://www.drmarty.com/ he is GREAT! Also http://www.petcarenaturally.com/dr_shawn.php These doctors are really up on things. There is also Gloria Dodd.
Prey model raw consists of 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% organs (5% liver and 5% other secreting organ). And you don’t have to feed all this in one day, but over a period of time, such as a month.
I still personally believe that this is enough to keep a dog healthy, so long as you feed a variety of meat and more red meat than white meat. I feed pork, beef, chicken, and turkey. Mostly pork and and beef.
I would not recommend any less variety than that.
Again, the only time I would use suppliments, is if I could not give the minimum amount of variety.
My childhood pet, a springer spaniel, was fed supermarket Gravy Train unless we ran out of food and money, and then we fed him white bread and raw eggs. He was put to sleep when he was nearly 19. As an adult with two dogs (both rescue mutts) I’ve seen expensive food cause them chronic diahhrea. Now they get Pedigree and the leftovers of my dinners (I’m a vegetarian). Both dogs run 5 miles with me a few times a week and the vet guessed both ages to be two years’ younger than they are. One of the dogs even helps me finish a beer once in a while. What else can I say?
Wow, I’m just speechless. Do vets even care about the dogs any more? or the profit? I can’t even describe how upset I am with these vets who claim to care about the wellbeing of companion animals. My dog did ok on pedigree. But ever since I’ve switched him to holistic, I’ve been getting tons of comments on how good he looks for his age. His energy levels shot up and his problems with excessive year-round shedding and dandruff nearly disappeared.
The fact that vets won’t even listen to what concerned pet owners have to say is upsetting. Vets are people too yet they expect us regular pet owners to have zero sense when it comes to caring for our animals. ugghh
Actually… I think it would be MORE correct to say a dog would need a digestive aid to digest kibble. Kibble sits in a dogs system A LOT longer than raw meat. Raw meat just goes right though. (probably why salmonella isn’t as likely to affect a rawfed dog as it is his owner) However, kibble goes through their system slowly. Which is why salmonella outbreaks in kibble can be deadly. Heck, they even digest wet better. Now, if you feed a homecooked diet and don’t puree, your dog would need a digestive aid. Since it is hard for dogs to digest unmashed vegetables and fruits and grains (yet, people claim they’re omnivores, funny, really) Their system; even after 15,000 years; still digests raw meat better than it digests everything else. The BIGGEST problem with the raw diet is that after the 2007 recalls so many people thought that it and the homecooked diet were the answer. These people knew NOTHING about the diets they were toying around with. The “raw feeders” would feed the same meat every week. Maybe it was chicken, maybe it was ground beef. They would feed the SAME. Causing not enough variety (which is needed in a raw diet; obviously). The homecookers would throw some chicken and rice in a pot and think that’s enough When, really, a homecooked diet should include vegetables, supplements, and be pureed… These people made the homecookers and raw feeders who DO know what they’re doing look bad. These people, in a panicked state, found something they ~thought~ was easy… used it and learned that it’s not as easy as they thought. Of course. They were probably opening a can or putting a cup in a bag for their dogs lifespan- and probably the dog before him. What’s easier than that? Honestly, no matter what happened, I would NEVER feed my dog Dog Chow or Ol’Roy. Heck no.
Melody, they get chronic diarreah because of the switch from low protein to high protein. That should be common knowledge. Not trying to be rude… but it should. Usually, that problem goes away after a month or so. Change doesn’t happen over night and I HATE that people expect it to. That’s just silly.
“Most experts said they hadn’t seen a pet get sick from inexpensive food; however, half said they had seen pets become ill from eating homemade pet food”
That statement is VERY silly…
I have known a lot of dogs to get sick from a commercial diet. And all of them did see a vet. Guess they don’t interview the little guys?