Bil-Jac

Same ole-same ole argument.....  been going on here for years.

First...I have a sample box of BilJac on my sink that I just now looked at. Corn is the third ingredient - not second. That might not make a whole lot of difference to some...but it is behind two meat sources.      

I think that the good thing about BilJac is the way they make their food....starting out with fresh meat that they get from farms around them in Ohio and not from the renderdering companies where the "meat" comes in powder form.  

The Molasses thats in BJ...is it really so bad if it makes the food so good to the dogs?  Its way back in the ingredient list.  But if it is the added touch that makes the dogs love it and eat it......... not sure that is a bad thing. If they start gaining too much weight then you know you have to do something.

Corn is an ongoing argument that I have argued forever on.  I also believe corn is a good source of energy, and things like Omega 6.  It is NOT a big source for allergies, in fact very small.   More dogs are allergic to the meat source than corn or other sources.  I ALSO try to feed a food that has corn in it...but not every day.  I try to feed different food formulas every day period.  Of course I am not talking a food that is corn based...such as when corn in the first ingredient.  I think the aflotoxin scare from a few years ago made corns reputation even worse.  I believe a there is a small percentage of aflotoxins are allowed ( and deemed not dangerous ) but what happed in that Diamond scare is that the corn purchased for their food had hight amounts and the QC was not on the ball in catching it.  I was told then that most large dog food companies buy their corn from brokers...using different sources each time-depending on price.   EP and BilJac get their corn from local farmers and is monitored. I use EP for my kibble...but I do buy the Natural formula  to keep in my rotation because it does have corn.  Right now Gibson has 3 bags going...EP Holistic Duck, Large Breed Puppy Holistic and Natural.   However.....I have started feeding him BilJac Frozen for one meal a day, because the more and more I read I don't like kibble PERIOD-none!  I never did like kibble...when I raised my other dogs I would never buy it....of course that was before the premium brands they have out now.   I hope to one day go to home cooking....but for now I am going to work on slowly getting him off kibble....but I didn't do well on my first try as he is growing way too fast and I just haven't done enough "homework" on what he needs. 

When ever cancer and liver/kidney problems come up in the conversation of dog food ingredients.....it always makes me a little irritable. Mostly because we keep picking ingredients apart.....and yet we give our dogs way too many vaccinations and other horrible things like preventatives.  Flea prevention and HW pills for one are pesticides...or close to it.  Even if our pets dont' have fleas we are "protecting" against them and pumping chemicals into their bodies........  same with HW pills.  Some of these are needed,,,especially in certain areas of our world.  And course if your dog has fleas you must treat for them.  Over vaccination is believed to cause lots of immune problems also...thus opening our pets up for disease. And yet we constantly pick apart ingredients in dog food that is doing very good things for many pets.

 

I used to swear by BJ dry and frozen. The dogs did well with it as a rotation but a couple years ago it caused all kinds of havoc among my 3. My minpin's coat started shedding in handfuls. In all his years, he had never had this happen. One of my bichon girls got basically gallbladder disease, and the other bichon girl wound up with major yeast infections in her ears, lipfolds and feet. Now it seems to me, to hold a dog's interest- and/or to help a dog gain/hold weight, adding a quality canned food to their diet really helps. For instance, my minpin and bichons get 1/4 to 1/2 cup dry food and a tablespoon of canned twice daily. My minpin usually gets very skinny in the winter and upping the canned amount has helped him hold his weight. But then dogs do differently on different foods. I know a toy poodle show kennel that feeds only Bil-Jac, they have gorgeous coats, live to nearly 20yrs and nary have an issue.

Sometimes people forget that their dog's health problems are not always stemmed from the food they eat