Science Diet... Good or Bad?

It's Science of Death! The vets are paid to say it's GREAT for your dogs! Read my other thread it has tons of good dog food for options!

Hey, thanks for your reply. Why is it so bad? What about nutrience. That's the brand my cousin uses for his Italian Grey Hound.

Personally, the only reason that I would feed it is if that's the only thing that my dog does good on. My last dog had so many health problems that you probably couldn't even count all of them. The only food that he would even remotely keep down (like vomiting 2 times a day instead of 4-5) was the Science Diet I/D.

True, it doesn't have the best ingredients there are. Also true, it isn't right for many dogs. But sometimes it's the only thing that actually works.

Now having said that, why did your vet recommend this food over others? Is there some sort of health problem? Or did he just recommend it because he thinks that it will provide the best nutrition?

If it's a health problem, then I do suggest that you at least try it. You might be surprised.

If he thinks that it will provide the best nutrition, then he is just saying that because it's the only food that he has experience with. Most vets receive little to no nutritional education. Most of the time the only nutrtional education that they get is from Hill's, who come and give seminars to the vet students. This in turn causes most vets to recommend it.

If you want advice on what foods have good nutrition, look in some of the other threads here. They have some great information in them. Hope this helps you.

Edit: You also might want to check out www.dogfoodproject.com   It has a lot of useful information.

I'm not very good with source infomation eh, but I will give you a site where you can compare side by side of each dog food etc
[linkhttp://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz]http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz[/link]
 
Compare it with Eagle Pack, Natural Balance, Innova, along with Science Diet then you will fully understand why... Also I'd go here as well
 
Get the Facts: What's really in pet food?
[linkhttp://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1]http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1[/link]

Well he didn't recommend it. He just asked what I was using so I told him and he said it was good. No health problems so far. What was wrong with your dog? Why all the vomitting?
 
Are there any good companies that they sell in stores? All the big name brands are on ms_paws bad list.
 
What do you guys think about raw bones?

My eldest dog died of cancer was on Science Diet i/d for the same reason, wouldn't stay down..
 
I'm not too familiar about Raw feeding!

Are there any good companies that they sell in stores? All the big name brands are on ms_paws bad list.

Check the store locators on the websites of the foods you are interested in. These brands are usually sold in farm/feed type stores. You may not even know these stores exist in your area - I didn't until I saw them on the store locators. Be sure and call first though, the lists may not be up-to-date.

Well, he had a hiatal hernia, megaesophagus, a couple of intestinal disorders, and a very sensitive stomach. All of this combined caused him to be very sensitive to different foods. In the end, nothing was enough for him to keep the food down and he was starving to death because he couldn't keep anything down. I eventually had to put him to sleep.

As far as are there any good foods they sell in stores, if you have a petco or petsmart near you they have several brands that are good. Most of the foods that ms_paws listed are good ones. I'd also like to add that Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul is a good quality food that is also cost effective. They carry it at my local co-op.

What do you guys think about Nutrience? My cousin said he chose that because their's no bi-products.

That sucks, when your dog has no other choice but SD I/D.. I still don't understand how I/D would be different from other dog food. Strange!
 
I wonder how it works as well, something they add?
 
I'm currently feeding Misty Natural Balance, it's really good especially if your dog is allergic to anything, or California Natural

Sorry to hear that you had to put your dog to sleep. It's always hard to see a loved one pass especially right before your eyes.

Are the prices for those cheaper because they're smaller companies? Do they sell them in most stores or just the smaller stores? What about warehouses? I buy my stuff from Rens Depot. (If you've ever heard of it)

Thank you Justin. Yes it very hard, still dealing with it etc

Overall you meation about the Nutrience, I don't like the sound of it. Anyhoo if you can't order anything online. You can always get Natural Balance, Solid Gold at Petco

I would maybe get free samples of what you'd like to try out for your dog, then see from there of what you & your dog likes etc

My first choice would be Eagle Pack Holistic, California Natural. You can order a bag of those brand on here [linkhttp://www.petfooddirect.com/store/]http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/[/link]
 
*edits*
 
P.S. If you can't find any of those dog food anywhere in your location, you could order online on Pet Food Direct

Well, I just looked at Hill's web page, and on the ingredient list for their adult original formula, it has chicken by-product listed. So as far as them not having any by-products, that's not entirely true. Some of their formula's may not have them.

But based on what you have said so far, I see no reason that you would need to feed Science Diet. So I would buy the best quality foodthat I could afford and try it. If your dog does good on it, then stick with it.

What do you mean by " Are the prices for those cheaper because they're smaller companies?" Which foods are you talking about?

And thank you for the support.

ms_paws - I believe it was because it was so bland. It helped because he had such a sensitive stomach.