science diet?

Before you get told how bad it is, i will say this.  i have used prescription hills twice, one for weight reduction for my golden gilr after she packed on pounds before and after knee surgeries 14 months apart.  And once for my old golden with kidney infection.  it did what it was suppose to do both times.  However i have never fed the no prescription.  My vet feeds is champion english Setter SD and has her enire life, almost 8 years.
 
PS  That is one cute pup.

Now, KayCee didn't like the r/d forumla, didn't eat with the gusto she normally ate/eats with, but she would finish her pan each meal.  But Buck didn't like the k/d at all, often leaving part of his breakfast  that was rare for him.

Only you and your vet knows how well you dog is doing on SD, just as only i and my vet know how well mine are doing on their brand of food.  I do not change because mine are doing so well.  Go with your own judgment on how your dog acts, looks, his activity, his overall health, not on some ingredient list.

I don't think you'll find many people here who feed or recommend Science Diet. Some dogs may do okay on it, but my main reason for not feeding it is the long term effect from certain ingredients. Most vets are not very informed about nutrition. It would be like going to your regular doctor for a nutrition plan instead of a nutritionist. From my experience Science Diet is a lot of hype, but it's a corn based diet for dogs who should be eating a meat based diet.

Hills Science Diet Adult Maintenance

Chicken, corn meal, ground grain sorghum, ground wheat, chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), natural flavor, vegetable oil, dried egg product, flaxseed, preserved with BHT and BHA, beta-carotene, minerals (iodized salt, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), vitamins (choline chloride, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, ascorbic acid (a source of vitamin C), niacin, thiamine, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement).

After cooking, the water weight from the chicken is gone and corn is actually the first ingredient. It has "animal" fat which is a mystery ingredient and artificial preservatives.

If you're interested, here's a site with lots of info on how to read labels, including ingredients to avoid and why:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

I used it when Zoe was a puppy, and it turned a 4 lb pup into a lean, mean pooping machine!  All joking aside, this food is notorious for producing frequent and voluminous poops due to the fact that it contains very little meat - it is mostly corn and grain which all comes right back out the other end.  Not to mention it has some other suspect ingredients that I don't feel comfortable feeding.   I feed Innova and have great results.  A lot of others here like Eagle Pack, Canidae, Natural Balance etc... 

It just depends on what your dog likes and works for them, personally I like there foods and have had good experiences with it.

I'm strongly against Science Diet because I saw the results of several dogs being fed it their whole lives. Just my personal observations:

They were always on the verge of being overweight or being too skinny and having bones poking out everywhere, they had absolutely no muscle tone. They didn't have any healthy energy, just manic bursts and crashes. They had dull, yet greasy, brittle coats. They all lived long lives for their breeds, but started acting older than their age around 5.

On their own, these dogs looked and acted "fine". People might have said it was working for them. But, when they were running around with other dogs, on different diets, the difference was night and day.

Their RX formulas can be lifesavers, but I'd never feed a regular formula.

it doesnt soak to well tho

You're soaking the kibble in water? It's fine to add water to the kibble, but generally not recommended to soak it.

I soak the food so it puffs up so it doesnt expand in her stomach, i dont soak it. If i were to switch my pup too a new food, i was thinking about canidae, do they make a puppy food?

thanks

ORIGINAL: AussieHeeler

I soak the food so it puffs up so it doesnt expand in her stomach, i dont soak it. If i were to switch my pup too a new food, i was thinking about canidae, do they make a puppy food?

thanks

If it's in the water long enough to puff up, that's probably too long.

Canidae is an awesome food, and it's for all life stages. They don't have a specific puppy formula.

Yeah, I would change off the Science Diet for the reasons pointed out in other posts. Canidae is a great food. I, and a lot of other folks on the board, have had great success with it.

PS - I also have an Aussie puppy named Luna!

I don't feed it, I like Eagle Pack.   But like Sooner said,,, soaking isn't a good thing.

Canidae is a GREAT food and it's in the same price range as Science Diet.