WHAT is with the Purina people?

I think a few posters myself included have had good luck with Purina foods or some of the other "less desireable foods", and not had good luck with many of the "Super Premiums", so we have bonded and decided to share our experiences but we are often put on the defensive.

ORIGINAL: abbysdad

I think a few posters myself included have had good luck with Purina foods or some of the other "less desireable foods", and not had good luck with many of the "Super Premiums", so we have bonded and decided to share our experiences but we are often put on the defensive.

I see. So this is a reaction to something that happened earlier? Thanks for clearing that up.

Paula

It really is simple.  Some of us feed purina because it is what works best for our dogs.  Some of the premium posters, past and present have called it garbage and tried to get us to try every brand under the sun that they think our dogs should be on.Since they talk about how great their dog/dogs do on their brand, we are only doing the same talking about Purina or whatever "garbage" brand we happen to feed our dogs.  And some have tried preminum foods and they didn't work for our dogs.

I wouldn't say a reaction, I think it just so happened that a few of us that have had similar experiences began coming out of the closest, so to speak.

Some of the premium food feeders aren't able to state their case in a diplomatic manner, so they are not listened to. The attacks by some people on the Purina feeders have raised the hackles of some others who feel defensive for them, and together they have become the majority.

together they have become the majority

 
We are the silent majority, and everyone is welcome to come over to the Dark Side.  Come on, come on over, it tastes really really good.

Yeah, I'm not a Purina feeder but I sure will defend them.
Lord knows over the years I have had to defend feeding Eagle Pack also!
 

and together they have become the majority.

Do you really think purina et al feeders are the majority? I thought they only made up a small minority compared to the super premium feeders.Gawd it sounds like i'm talking about opposing cults or something[8|] []

There will always be someone somewhere who picks something out of an ingredient list as bad,be it the most super premium or low end foods.It's just that there are so many dodgy ingredients to pick out of purina's ingredient lists,and if you took them all out you wouldnt be left with much,and alot of people just dont understand how any dog could thrive eating foods with ingredients like this(regular dog chow):

Ground yellow corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal digest, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2, Yellow 6),

I admit i am one of those people,but i am trying to be more understanding and considerate of others feeding choices,even though i disagree vehemently about some folks choices.
I think what gets my goat the worst is when pet owners refuse to give other foods a shot or they once tried a super premium food eons ago which didnt suit their dogs and then claim NONE of the super premiums work for them.
Some folk say their dogs are thriving on X food,but how can they know for sure when they have nothing else to compare it to? If an owner has been feeding X brand for years and nothing else how do they know their dogs wouldnt do better on another more premium food?No matter what you feed i believe there is always room for improvement and one should strive for the best  health for their pets. My dogs do great on innova,they do superb on evo,but they absolutely thrive on timberwolf organics and naturesvariety,and i bet they would do even better on a 100% raw food diet. I have never kept my dogs on the same food for long,i change different brands regularly,so i can say with all certainty that my dogs do well,great or excellent on any one of those foods,because i have something to compare their foods to.If i stuck to the one brand how would i know that they actually were at their peak?I wouldnt!

I cant help thinking if a dog truly does do well on the abovementioned food,then can you imagine how much better they would do on a super premium food?

I worry so much about the diseases that are running rampant in our dogs today,like cancer,arthritis,kidney and liver failure etc. Their little bodies have so much to cope with as it is,the least i can do for them is feed them a food as close to species appropriate as i can,and not feed them stuff associated with cancer,such as dodgy preservatives,colours and grains,the latter also linked with arthritis.

I worry so much about the diseases that are running rampant in our dogs today,like cancer,arthritis,kidney and liver failure etc. Their little bodies have so much to cope with as it is,the least i can do for them is feed them a food as close to species appropriate as i can,and not feed them stuff associated with cancer,such as dodgy preservatives,colours and grains,the latter also linked with arthritis.

I agree with that worry about diseases and illnesses. I do also.
For me,,,I honestly believe that the chemicals that we put in our dog by HW and flea prevention and even vaccinations, are far worse than any one little ingredient in dog food.
Its really true,,,that most people here are picking out ingredients of ALL foods,,,both higher and lower quality, that they don't like.  BUT of course that would be true because we all feed what we feel is best and usually decide that from the ingredient list. So it stands to reason that if we liked all the ingredients in some foods,,,we would be feeding that food.
It is almost comical to see which ingredients people pick out that they don't like and will argue about.  Almost always, when they say  a certain ingredient is bad,,,someone comes up with a link to show that it is not bad.
Its just what we WANT to believe. And we all have to believe we are doing what is best for our own dog.

I cant help thinking if a dog truly does do well on the abovementioned food,then can you imagine how much better they would do on a super premium food?

Many of the "Purina chorus" here HAVE tried the premium foods, and their dogs did NOT do well on them. Its just an individual thing, from dog to dog to dog.

ORIGINAL: Edie

and together they have become the majority.

Do you really think purina et al feeders are the majority? I thought they only made up a small minority compared to the super premium feeders.Gawd it sounds like i'm talking about opposing cults or something[8|] []

There will always be someone somewhere who picks something out of an ingredient list as bad,be it the most super premium or low end foods.It's just that there are so many dodgy ingredients to pick out of purina's ingredient lists,and if you took them all out you wouldnt be left with much,and alot of people just dont understand how any dog could thrive eating foods with ingredients like this(regular dog chow):

Ground yellow corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal digest, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2, Yellow 6),

I admit i am one of those people,but i am trying to be more understanding and considerate of others feeding choices,even though i disagree vehemently about some folks choices.
I think what gets my goat the worst is when pet owners refuse to give other foods a shot or they once tried a super premium food eons ago which didnt suit their dogs and then claim NONE of the super premiums work for them.
Some folk say their dogs are thriving on X food,but how can they know for sure when they have nothing else to compare it to? If an owner has been feeding X brand for years and nothing else how do they know their dogs wouldnt do better on another more premium food?No matter what you feed i believe there is always room for improvement and one should strive for the best  health for their pets. My dogs do great on innova,they do superb on evo,but they absolutely thrive on timberwolf organics and naturesvariety,and i bet they would do even better on a 100% raw food diet. I have never kept my dogs on the same food for long,i change different brands regularly,so i can say with all certainty that my dogs do well,great or excellent on any one of those foods,because i have something to compare their foods to.If i stuck to the one brand how would i know that they actually were at their peak?I wouldnt!

I cant help thinking if a dog truly does do well on the abovementioned food,then can you imagine how much better they would do on a super premium food?

I worry so much about the diseases that are running rampant in our dogs today,like cancer,arthritis,kidney and liver failure etc. Their little bodies have so much to cope with as it is,the least i can do for them is feed them a food as close to species appropriate as i can,and not feed them stuff associated with cancer,such as dodgy preservatives,colours and grains,the latter also linked with arthritis.

 
I agree 100%.   I find it hard to believe that there is only one brand of food that a dog will do well on unless it's a very unusual case of severe allergies. If urina works for your dog, than chances are much greater than not that there will be foods with better ingredients out there that will work even better.   It took 3 tries to find a premuim food that did not upset Zoe's stomach (Innova), but we found one. You can always do better, especially when you're starting point is any of the grocery store brands. I think also that many people are more comfortable with Purina because it is a household name and people naturally put their trust in a well-known brand versus something like Canidae or Innova that most people have never heard of.  And since their dogs appear to be "doing well" on it, they'll stick with it. 

     Many of the Purina diets giv etop ntoch results, and its just so frustrating to hear the same thing, over & over again from those who have either never fed it, or are closed minded in regards to the ingredient lists. Yes, I know the ingredients of even their best foods don't read like a grocery store list ... its a dog food and Purina's formulas are geared towards the nutrient requirements of dogs, not what their owners may think a good dog food ingredient list includes.
Honestly, I've come to the conclusion that ingredient lists matter very little. For me, some of the worst foods have had the best ingredient lists. I prefer feeding trials, quality control and bioavailability.
     My own take on why the Purina folks get so defensive and tend to stick together is due to the fact that if we dared admit we fed even a good food such as Pro Plan 3,4,5 years ago ... and then had the nerve to insist our dogs were doing well on it, we'd either be chased off any dog message board  and be regarded as a troll or would be told that we were killing our dogs with the roadkill that went into Purina. Several years ago, before I knew any better, I was literally scared into taking the dogs off Eukanuba when posters cited "polluted pet food" links, and told me their ingredient list was terrible because of the corn, by products, beet pulp. 
     So, when I hear someone else agree that Purina or another of these "dogged" diets are actually giving great results, its such an affirmation that I'm not really crazy and my dogs aren't abnormal for doign so well on it!

I did feed Purina, and didn't have any problems with it. I thought it was doing well by my dogs - at least it wasn't Ol Roy or Pedigree. But after learning about all the other foods available I couldn't, in good conscience, feed it anymore. I'm not talking about the scare tactic articles, although some of those are persuasive as well - I'm talking about the common sense (well, now it's common sense, back then it never even occurred to me to look at the ingredient lists) stuff like dog food should be meat based, and shouldn't contain any harmful chemicals or artificial substances. It took a few tries to find something that worked well and that had good ingredients, but it was worth it, for the dog#%92s health and my peace of mind.

When I first came to the old i-dog forum 3 years ago i would not post in nutirtion because of what i read was being said to others who didn't feed premium food.  But then I decided why the blazes  not.  I know my dogs, i knew it worked for my dad's hunting dogs, and now mine for over 50 years.
 
I keep getting told over and over----in so many words--that no matter how great my dogs and act, how great their vet report is, how great their blood panels are, they can't be healthy because they eat Purina, and that I won't know until the end they aren't healthy.  As far as i am concerned that applies to any dog food.    They base their dogs health on looks, energy, vet visits and KNOW their their dogs are in tip top shape.  But the same rule does not apply to feeders of Hills, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, etc.
 
Also I keep reading if you are trying to save money by buying grocery store brands, it costs you more in the end with vet bills.    My Buck is almost 12.  He has always been a Purina dog.  In all these years his only illness was a kidney infection 4 months ago.  He does have low thryroid, which is very, very common in golden retrievers.  Now I would not call a single kidney infection in 11 1/2 years a lot of money spent at the vet.   We have Honey, our adopted golden mix 4 years next month.  I don't know what she was on before hand, but has been on Purina since we got her.   She was put thru heartworm treatment a month after we got her.  That is ROUGH on dogs.  A couple of years ago she ate some d-con that was accidently knocked out of the attic.  That invovled treatment that day and 50 days of Vitamin K.  BUT she has never been in for any illness in the 4 years.
 
KayCee has been on Purian the 7 years we have had her.  She had one very bad inner infection a couple of years ago and she did have a one virus and was kept in ICU for the day to be watched and rehydrated.  She gets hot spots in the spring and winter as she has some enviromnetal allergies, but even those have improved.  She did have both knees operated on for luxating patellas.    I do not consider any of my dogs as having huge vet bills.
 
One thing I have learned is that a dog's immune system can get out of whack very easily.  I tried Buck on better food one time, he threw up every meal for 4 days and I decided that food was not for him.  I was not  then and will not now risk upsetting my dogs digestive systems and their immune systems switching foods  around to try to find something others think is better for them....especailly when i know without a doubt Purina is working for them.  If it stops doing it's job, I will find something else.
 
Another thing I have learned on this forum.  If a premium maker says something about it's food,  it is 100% true, accurate and  perfect.  But let one of the "lesser" makers make a good statement about their food, or deny it is filled with road kill and euthed animals and sour corn, well, they are liars.