taling cousin out of Science Diet-Help

Our SP carries, or did carry the Holistic line only. I'll have to go in myself to see if it is only the cat food they are no longer selling.

ORIGINAL: pugs2

My cousin bought a bag of Solid Gold at our local Pet Supplies Plus. She was going to buy the Eagle Pack, but they told her they are no longer selling it, I was surprised by that. Good thing my small dog store is still selling Eagle. Any one else have a Petsupplies Plus store that is no longer selling the Eagle Pack? They told her they can order it, but won't be keeping it in stock.

I live in Indiana, which is where Eagle Pack is made, so it's a popular food around here. Depending on where you live, your Pet Supplies Plus may be privately owned or corporatly owned.  If it's privatly owned they can make the decision on what's in their store.

Or maybe, as I have found while working in a PSP, your cousin called it Eagle Rock, which for some reason is how most people mess up Eagle Pack, and the store employee either being a smart @ss or because they are dumb said they didn't have it.

Or maybe, as I have found while working in a PSP, your cousin called it Eagle Rock

 
Knowing my cousin, she messed up the name(LOL). I am going in tomorrow to check it out for myself.

ORIGINAL: pugs2

Or maybe, as I have found while working in a PSP, your cousin called it Eagle Rock

Knowing my cousin, she messed up the name(LOL). I am going in tomorrow to check it out for myself.

Good luck.  By the way, Eagle Pack has a retailer search on their website.  You can type in the zip code to find the nearest retailer.  My mother was driving way out of her way to buy Eagle Pack only to find that the hole in the wall farm feed store less than a mile away from her carried it.

I will say this, I have a dog that itched like crazy on Cal Nat, DVP, most of the Pinnacle brands and EVO, but does good on SD Nature's Best, now if you look at the ingredients on that, you would think she would do terrible on that, it has virtually every ingredient you are told to avoid for a dog with sensitivities, but to the contrary, she does not scratch at all on that food.  Now I know that is just  my personal experience and that others have experienced just the opposite, but it was one of the reasons I started questioning how much value the ingredients list really is. 

Good luck. By the way, Eagle Pack has a retailer search on their website. You can type in the zip code to find the nearest retailer. My mother was driving way out of her way to buy Eagle Pack only to find that the hole in the wall farm feed store less than a mile away from her carried it.

 
I have several stores near me that carry EP, so I can get if for my cousin, but looks like she is giving the Solid Gold a try. I did go into my PetSupplies today, they do carry all the EP dog foods, but no longer carry any of the cat foods. It must not have been selling well I guess. The good thing about this PSP, they now carry Wellness, Natures' Logic, including the raw frozen, a whole case full! They are getting more and more better foods in all the time. I think because of the recent recalls, they decided to carry the raw frozen. My local store owner told me he is about selling out of all the raw frozen now. Our Giant Eagle also has a case of raw frozen dog food, things might be changing for the better.
 

ORIGINAL: abbysdad

I will say this, I have a dog that itched like crazy on Cal Nat, DVP, most of the Pinnacle brands and EVO, but does good on SD Nature's Best, now if you look at the ingredients on that, you would think she would do terrible on that, it has virtually every ingredient you are told to avoid for a dog with sensitivities, but to the contrary, she does not scratch at all on that food.  Now I know that is just  my personal experience and that others have experienced just the opposite, but it was one of the reasons I started questioning how much value the ingredients list really is. 

Could be because it is so very low on meat.  I know dogs that have done very well on Solid Gold Holistique, which is also very low on meat.  In my opinion, it's sometimes the hormones and antibiotics shoved into the meat and the quality of the meat that the dog has a problem with, not the meat itself.  I have a co-worker that thought her dog was allergic to poultry.  We had a meeting with By Nature and the By Nature rep said that it could be the quality of the poultry in the foods she's tried and not the meat itself.  Sure enough, her dog had no problem with By Nature Organic, in which the first ingredient is Organic Chicken Meal.

I see where you're coming from Abbysdad,but if i was in your situation i would be thinking ,yes the itchies may be better but is my dog going to have as long a life span as she should on a food with ingredients like SD contain? There has got to be a happy medium,there's top of the line foods and bottom of the barrel foods,but there also are many inbetween,which is what i would be aiming for if the top grade foods didnt work.

I thought you were a huge Purina fan,why the change to SD?

if i was in your situation i would be thinking ,yes the itchies may be better but is my dog going to have as long a life span as she should on a food with ingredients like SD contain?

I'm all for chosing the most premium food available that "sits" with the dog or cat, but seriously, there are hundreds of thousands of cats and dogs that live to be 16....17....20 years old on SD or worse.  No, it's not the best, but it's sort like someone like me who skips breakfast, has a small soda or hot chocolate instead, eats a grilled cheese or whatever's on the menu at Staff Dining for lunch, and just maybe settles for a salad or some other veggies for dinner.  Is it the most healthy diet?  Not by a long shot.  Is it killing me?  I'm an active person, I get regular doctor checkups to verify my health, and by the time it catches up to me, I'll already be dead from old age or other unavoidable hereditary medical problems!!

Abbysdad chose that food for a very good reason, a reason other than "well I'm too cheap to buy good food for my pet" or "this is what the salesperson at PetSmart said ALL animals should eat" and therefore should not be made to feel guilty about it.

ORIGINAL: Liesje

if i was in your situation i would be thinking ,yes the itchies may be better but is my dog going to have as long a life span as she should on a food with ingredients like SD contain?

No, it's not the best, but it's sort like someone like me who skips breakfast, has a small soda or hot chocolate instead, eats a grilled cheese or whatever's on the menu at Staff Dining for lunch, and just maybe settles for a salad or some other veggies for dinner.  Is it the most healthy diet?  Not by a long shot.  Is it killing me?  I'm an active person, I get regular doctor checkups to verify my health, and by the time it catches up to me, I'll already be dead from old age or other unavoidable hereditary medical problems!!

 
I have to seriously disagree with this line of thinking.  The eating habits in this country, which are very similar to  your own eating habits you describe, are a major contributer to the major problems of obesity, diabetes, heart disease etc...  It is a MAJOR problem.  Also, it's one thing to not care about your own body because "we're all going to die eventually anyway", but it's another when you are responsible for another life who can't make their own decisions, whether it's a pet, human child or whatever.  We can all agree to disagree on which foods are best for our dogs, whether it's SD, raw, Innova etc..., but to say it's ok to feed your dog the equivalient of soda, grilled cheese and hot chocolate is not putting the odds in your dogs favor in my opinion.
 

ORIGINAL: Liesje

[I'm all for chosing the most premium food available that "sits" with the dog or cat, but seriously, there are hundreds of thousands of cats and dogs that live to be 16....17....20 years old on SD or worse. 

 
I can see what your saying here, but on the other hand, most of those cats and dogs you are talking about were probably also overweight, just because most American pets are.  Now didn't Purina recently do a study that shows that dogs that are not overfed live on average 2 years longer? So just because there are many pets that live to ripe old ages on bad diets doesn't mean that it's a good thing to do.

I'll already be dead from old age or other unavoidable hereditary medical problems!!

You hope.... []

and therefore should not be made to feel guilty about it.

I dont see anyone trying to make anyone else feel guilty about anything! You are the only one thus far that has bought it up..... [8|]

My aunt had a cat live to 18 1/2 on whatever cat food was cheapest at the grocery store. By the end, he was mostly blind, the smelliest thing you'd ever met, had a horrible, patchy coat, had a big fat belly, but his hip bones and spine stuck out, etc. In short, he was terribly unhealthy, but 18 years old. Is that a good thing? I personally would prefer my cat only live to 13 or 14 and be HEALTHY, than live to 18 or 19 and be so UNhealthy. But I really think that Sammy could have lived a lot longer, or at least been healthy in his final years, had he been fed a better diet throughout his life.
 
Actually, I don't see 18 year old cats as THAT old. I think 16-18 is normal, and anything less than that is dying early. But that's just my opinion and experience.

So just because there are many pets that live to ripe old ages on bad diets doesn't mean that it's a good thing to do.

 
that's my thought. Besides, cats can easily live healthily into their 20's; one of my mom's cats was out catching mice on his 25th birthday. 16 is not old for a cat.

that's my thought. Besides, cats can easily live healthily into their 20's; one of my mom's cats was out catching mice on his 25th birthday. 16 is not old for a cat.

 
I agree, for both people and animals, we all want a healthy quality of life. I also figure that if a cat or dog, or people, live to be old, but are very overweight, and are not very mobile, can you imagine how much longer, and better they would feel if at an ideal weight and in better health? That very plump cat that lived to be 16 could have lived to be a very active 20 yr. old cat. We all know some cancers and many other disease are genetic, but eating healthy along with exercise, does play a key role.