More Dog Food Guilt- vent

krbshappy71

Regardless of finances, I wont feed mine the Kibbles & Bits but who am I to judge others and their decisions?
This forum is so great.

Famous last words. I wasn't going to feed my dog Purina. And last year, I went completely broke. Not a penny to my name. We paid a few months of bills on the credit card. And I fed Shadow Purina for about a bag or so. And he did okay on it, too.  Now, I feed Blue Buffalo and he's got a fatty cyst on his neck. How about that? Blue is supposed to be better than Nutro or Purina, right? Mainly because it's a different name than Nutro or Purina, I guess. Of course, it may not matter what I feed him. He's been free of most problems. At 7 years old, he is not showing any signs of hip dysplasia or arthritis. And every "premium" food that had the good fortune not to be named Purina, or Science Diet, or Eukanuba has shown up with problems, too, just as much as anything suspected of the big names. Anything from systemic problems for the pets, including death, to quality control problems of finding foreign objects in the food and non-existent customer service. And for this, people have paid up to twice what Purina might charge.

My previous cat, Misty, lived 16 years on Purina Kibbles and Bits, and another year on Purina NF. I had her put to sleep during drastic kidney failure. I guarantee that when you or I are 120 years old, our kidneys are going to be a bit worn out, too. 17 years for a cat is a really long time. That's longer than the stray kittens that have been hanging around a friend's house. Two have them have already been run over. But hey, they weren't always being fed Purina, right? That's better, right?

A food either works or it doesn't. And any creature that lives long enough will develope something and it doesn't matter what they eat.

As I have pointed out for humans - you can eat right, exercise, get plenty of rest, not drink to excess, don't smoke, reduce stress and sometime, between the ages of 70 and 100, you will die. Period, paragraph, new book. As Jim Morrison said, "no one gets out of here alive."

So, disregard other opinions. If your dog does best on Science Diet, so be it. Raw fish and rice? Knock yourself out. Braised steaks and mash potatos and some beef bones? Wonderful. Enjoy the time you have with your dogs.

ron2

Now, I feed Blue Buffalo and he's got a fatty cyst on his neck. How about that? Blue is supposed to be better than Nutro or Purina, right? Mainly because it's a different name than Nutro or Purina, I guess. Of course, it may not matter what I feed him

  Blue has better ingredients; not just fruits and vegetables, but better protein sources. I feed Jessie Nutro but I'm not thrilled with the rice gluten. She gets 3 ounces of meat a day plus an egg white so she'll have some better quality protein. Along with showing that a higher protein diet is important for maintaining muscle mass, this study showed that corn gluten, a common ingredient in Purina and Science Diet, doesn't have the necessary amino acids to sustain lean muscle mass in dogs;

Effect of dietary protein on lean body wasting in ... [J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2003] - PubMed result  

 Jessie started having fatty tumors about Shadow's age; she's 12 now and has gotten a few more as time has passed. I think it may be related to heredity rather than diet, but who knows?

ron2

A food either works or it doesn't. And any creature that lives long enough will develope something and it doesn't matter what they eat.

  We (humans) expect animals under our care to thrive on food that comes from bags or cans, but I'll bet you wouldn't let your kids eat only highly processed food. If fresh food is important for our health, it's important for our pets too. I don't mean that we have to cook all their food, but giving them some fresh food daily is important, IMO.

Don't get me wrong, Janice. I will feed Shadow as best I can for as long as I can and lately, I have been feeding him Fresh Pet Select, with just a little kibble mixed in to keep him used to eating kibble. And I am really jazzed on the idea of more raw or lightly cooked meals.

It's just as likely heredity and age, too. What I like about the Fresh Pet is that it shows less fat than the kibble. Shadow is predominately Siberian Husky but he is also Lab. A Lab breeder once appraised him for me and estimated that Shadow was at least 80 perecent Siberian, at least in the appearances. And I know he is, as far as temperment and metabolism. My vet also estimates a high percentage of Siberian because Shadow has the bone density of Siberian, which is why he only weighs 65 lbs at 26 inches to the shoulder. Most full Labs at 24 + inches can weigh 80 lbs or better. But he is still part Lab. And he is a little over 7 years old, now (approximate birthday is the last week of July, 2003.)

But, for others who's dogs need some of these prescription diets or are doing well on whatever they are fed, so be it.

Yeah, I am frustrated. And it is a reminder that time marches on. Sibes live 12 to 14 years, on average. But I knew of a Sibe who was 16 years old a few years ago and she has always eaten big name brand kibble, never any "human food" (her owner's words) and the only thing about her old age is that she could still run fast, just not for as long as an hour and she was getting far-sighted (common malady in geriatric Sibes is coronal dystrophy or hampered ability to change focus.)

But, as Shadow has aged, I feed him more raw, mainly deer main leg bones with meat and stuff still on them. What I like about those bones is that when they crack, they crack clean, not a bunch of shards.

And I agree with you. At times, I think we can do better feeding our dogs. I totally believe that dogs are omnivores, with a large leaning toward meat. Shadow still eats grass. And yeah, one can say that he doesn't get as much nutrition out of eating grass but it may provide regularity. But there is that. So, some vegetable matter should be included if for nothing else than bowel and colon stimulation.

But even some of the high priced "premium" foods use beet pulp. Shadow has never eaten beets and shows no interest in them.

But each dog is an individual.

I get deer meat and bones from my friend,. John. He hunts deer with a .50 cal black powder muzzle loader. His dad used to breed Beagles and always fed the dogs raw meat and bones, including ribs. One time, John had me smoke some deer ribs and they turned out so well that John said he would "never again waste ribs on the dogs." So, my prowess on the grill shall be responsible for Beagles in Oklahoma not getting ribs (though they get other parts.)

shamrockmommy

DH gets a little testy when I spend 60-100 bucks on a box of THK. 

 Yeah, the cost is the reason that I won't so Honest Kitchen.  I'm sure it's a great food and I'm willing to spend a lot on my critters, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much on dog food (or horse food, or human food) unless there is some sort of medical need.  

Chuffy

Ps. Also, loving "overly opiated" :-). I'm guessing it means either "opinionated on auto correct" or "high as a kite on heroine" :-)))))

I had a quick giggle over that, too.

LOL Chuffy!

Pretty much it comes down to the dogs gettng some kibble and some fresh.  Darby though, needs to pretty much be on all home prepared, as her yeasty ears and toes and lips have gotten very inflamed and out of control again, poor girl.

I am really tickled with how Echo is looking on Acana Pacifica.  She has wonderful coat, lots of muscle and plenty  of energy as well. 

I'll just subscribe to the this n that foods LOL

Ron, I fed FreshPet for a whle. The dogs did well on it as I recall. I should see if I can find any around here.

I'm conflicted about feeding kibble too. To feed raw in an affordable manner, it's very time consuming hunting down deals on meat and doing the home prep. Premade is very expensive. I don't have the time or the money. So we stick with a good quality kibble.

I picked up this book at a dog show http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DN310  and it has advice on what and how to supplement your dog to improve a kibble based diet. The first part of the book covers that, the last part is for those who want to do a home made raw diet. I don't follow his program exactly, but I am including raw eggs and a lot more sardines in my dog's diet.

Thanks, samshine.

I have that book (among MANY others LOL).  I never can bring myself to feed just plain kibble, I always have to top it with soemthing real or I feel like I'm not giving them enough good nutrients.

 Can you make the homemade dog food in big batches on the weekend and freeze enough for the whole week?

jessies_mom

We (humans) expect animals under our care to thrive on food that comes from bags or cans, but I'll bet you wouldn't let your kids eat only highly processed food.

Teehee...as a Mom of 2, I admit, I giggled a little at this. Carry on. Ron, I agree.

rwbeagles

Teehee...as a Mom of 2, I admit, I giggled a little at this.

As a mom of four, I'll admit the SpaghettiOs came in handy sometimes.  Gina, I love your sig; so pretty!!

TwoPoodles

 Can you make the homemade dog food in big batches on the weekend and freeze enough for the whole week?

 That's what I did when I cooked all of Jessie's food. I divided the batch into seven equal portions and froze it. I would take the next day's food out of the freezer to thaw in the bottom of the fridge. You can freeze as many portions as you want; I still cook some of her food and freeze three week's worth at a time.

Much has changed since I wrote this post. We now have a small chest freezer AND another larger frige in the house!  So lots of room for people and dog food.   I have several tupperwares of RMBs, veggie mixes, ice-cube organ meat (ground) all divided and ready to serve. 

So no more worries :)  I also am waiitng for my grinder to arrive, as the bichons are having hard time chewing with their broken teeth and I don't want anymore broken.

:)  So I"m happy, as are the dogs!