My two border collie crosses get Acana which is the budget version of Orijen, made by the same company. I'd love to feed them Orijen but we just can't afford it. They do quite well on the Acana lamb and apple kind. We had them on the pacifica for a while but one of our dogs had chronic ear infections and gland problems. We think he was probably allergic to something in the food, maybe the fish although that is rare. Switched back to the lamb food and all is well.

my cat eats fancy feast. i tried so hard to get her eating one without by-products but after a lot of money wasted on various "better" brands, i have given up lol. she loves fancy feast only 4 flavors and only the loaf looking ones. oh well her vet is happy with her so i guess it's not terrible.

Weird story here...any advice appreciated!

I bought a Siberian Husky about 2 months ago, and the breeder gave me a bag of the food she was currently eating, so as not to mess up her stomach. The food was Pedigree puppy chow. I gave her that until the bag ran out, then decided to upgrade to a more organic and supposedly "better" food. I bought Blue Buffalo (I believe the wilderness one) for puppies and she seemed to really like that food. Then, I took her to the vet for the first time and mentioned the food she was eating. He went on and on about how I should stick with Pedigree b/c "the brand had been around longer" and they see "more problems with dogs on more organic food".

I'm currently feeding her Pedigree puppy again, mainly b/c of what the vet told me. Does anyone have any opinions on this? I see most people here are feeding their animals more high-end food. Money isn't necessarily an issue, as I want my dog to be the healthiest and happiest she can be...but is it just as good to go with a cheaper dog food?

So confused :?:

If you are curious as to how your dog food compares to other brands, check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com

I feed Taste of the Wild, mostly because my golden has allergies and TOTW is the only food I've found that she doesn't react to.

For my dogs, Taste of the Wild (the lamb kind). For two of the cats, Taste of the Wild (salmon). And for my cat, who is older and losing weight like me, Natural Balance venison and green pea canned food.

My various rodents get food I buy in bulk from Drs Foster and Smith, Oxbow is generally the brand. Plus hay for the ones who eat it.

Originally Posted by MedChick87:
I'm currently feeding her Pedigree puppy again, mainly b/c of what the vet told me. Does anyone have any opinions on this? I see most people here are feeding their animals more high-end food. Money isn't necessarily an issue, as I want my dog to be the healthiest and happiest she can be...but is it just as good to go with a cheaper dog food?

So confused :?:

My dogs go to a team of vets that all insist on higher quality foods. A previous vet said that all dog food must meet a minimum nutritional standard so it didn't matter to him. However, there is definitely a difference in quality.

For example, Pedigree dog food uses slaughterhouse byproducts (heads, bones, hooves) and very low quality grains as the primary ingredients. Better quality foods use human grade meats (actually the same meat you might put on your grill) as well as organic fruits and veggies. They are also better for their digestive systems.

By buying the higher end foods, you are doing your dog a favor. I've read of several studies showing that dogs fed on cheap dog foods don't live as long and are more prone to illness.

But in my opinion is something else that is just as important -- When you buy cheap dog foods like Pedigree or ANY dog food in the supermarket, you are supporting a very gruesome industry that thrives on the abuse of animals for profit. If you have ever looked into factory farming then you'll know what I'm talking about. Purchasing Pedigree and similar brands simply supports the industry. It's the problem, not the solution.

Here is a specific review of Pedigree quality

Good quality dog food doesn't have to be very expensive. Newman's Own makes an organic dog food that is very affordable and humanely sourced.

My dogs go nuts over Merrick's Grammy's Pot Pie.

I occasionally feed them Honest Kitchen - Thrive (a dehydrated raw food made from truly human grade ingredients and lots of fruits and veggies and herbs) and the dogs whimper as soon as I open the box, lol. It's pretty expensive so I don't give it to them often. They tend to go through pudgy stages and this food always gets them back where they belong. It actually smells fantastic to me, and I'm a plant eater :o

Btw, breeders are often given free puppy packs and incentives to try to gain you as a customer from the start. That doesn't mean the food is the best option. It's just more economical for the breeder. Slick marketing IMO.

I have a 2 year old doberman and a 6 month old weimaraner. I feed them both Blue Buffalo...I can tell you that it has completely changes my 2 year old's appearance. I used to feed her Iams, and then I saw a commerical for Blue Buffalo...so I thought I'd check it out, about 2 months after I began feeding her Blue Buffalo her coat was much shinier and her energy level went way up. My puppy has had nothing but Blue Buffalo ever since I got him.

I also recently began giving my dobie flax seed oil (1teaspoon per day)- she has skin allergies, and this has definitely helped her.

Cheers! ~Leslie

Hello All. I am a vet tech and feel the need to throw my two cents in. .hehe.. :wave:

Alot of people think you have to look at the first ingredient on the label.. You have to be careful as this can be misleading...

For example, the first ingredient says LAMB. Well lamb actually contains 70 %water so your only getting the 30%. Also, a lot of food separate their grains i.e "Barley, Brown rice, Brewers Rice, ect, ect..." Doing so allows them to not have to put RICE as the first ingredient.

"By-products" are not the "sick animals" It is parts of the animals deemed not fit for human consumption such as spleens and other organs that are nutritious and yummy to animals and yucky to us. The term "human grade" was determined to be misleading by AAFCO. The use of "human grade" or "human quality" is not allowed in pet food marketing unless the food is made in a human food approved plant.

Raw diets scare me. Just a couple months ago we had to put a 4 yr old lab to sleep because of Kidney failure probably due to his raw diet. Dogs are omnivores by nature. They use both meat and plant-based nutrition. Dogs cant survive on protein alone.

"Holistic" food is a waste of your money. There are no AAFCO guidelines it needs to follow and therefor any bag of food can slap a holistic label on the front.

If your bag of food says "BLAH BLAH PUPPY FOOD" and then the label next to the ingredients says its good for all stages of life, get something else that fits yours dogs specific needs. Different life stages require different nutrition.

Corn is not just a filler in all foods. Fillers offer no nutritional value whatsoever. Corn, once cooked is actually good. But I agree, corn anything probably shouldn't be the first ingredient.

Im in no way an expert but i have had to sit thru many CE's discussing dog/cat food lol

My cat eats a vegan diet, a mix of Evolution and AmiCat kibble, with wet food made from VeggieCat every so often. My vets used to tell me their vegan cat horror stories, so I stopped telling the vet about it. He's been on the diet since he was 6, is 13 and a half now, and is healthier than he's ever been. He was actually quite sick quite often (urine crystals starting at age four and fatty liver disease at one point) until he was almost 9 but hasn't been sick at all since then. This diet seems to agree with him.

My sister's new kitten has also been on a vegan diet for a year now. She's thriving. It's not for every cat or every household, but it works for us.

Mine eat Arden Grange dry food. And besides that they eat lean meat, Royal Canine meat meals, yoghurt, milk, sausages, rice, spaghetti ...
I always gve them dry food with some of the "treats" :) and I must say they love it, specially spaghetti. When I make them, they stare at me untill I put some in their dishes and they get all crazy :D

That's really interesting about Vegan cat food. I would have thought that there would be no way to get Taurine into their diet without meat.

Originally Posted by ilidawn:
Reading all your responses I feel like a bad pet owner...
My cat's currently have a mix of purina and meow mix (I can't afford better because I'm catsitting and 4 cat-pigs are eating me out of house and home)

the bunny gets hay, alfalfa, bunny mix and raw veggies and the hamster gets the same (except his is hamster mix)

the bigger fish get bloodworms, pellets, tropical flakes and the lil fish get hikari fish food to help their growth

...I make a crappy pet owner D:

You and me both..I feed my cat Purina indoor formula. Anything else, even the organic stuff from the hoity toity pet stores give him the runs like you wouldn't believe! Its also one of the few foods he won't turn his nose up at.

alinnell: There's a synthetic form of taurine available that is added to the vegan foods- apparently pretty much all cat food uses it these days, since cat food processing can break down the natural taurine from meat.

by the way, does anyone feed their dogs with fresh fruit and vegetables?
mine eat fresh fruit with me for breakfast - apples, pineapples, bananas, oragnes ... they really love fruit!
and sometimes i put veggies in their food too, like peppers, carrots, tomatoes, salad ... basically a bit of what I do for myself but following the prules of what dogs arent allowed to eat, like garlic, potatoes, onions etc.

i personally do have a problem with by-products. I think that too many people think that animals are just animals and can eat whatever we give to them. I simply can't agree with the statement, that by-products are yummy to animals - well, perhaps for those who never eat chicken breasts.
i think it's silly to think that animals shoud get animal food (leftovers, by-products, less quality) and humans should get human food. okay, there are certain foods that can poison your dog, but not to you. but if you understand what these foods are, you can give your dog really yummy meals that are of great quality and actually yummy :)
my dogs for example realised that different foods come from different counters or rooms. so when they're hungry, they come get me, take me to their dishes and then to a counter that usually holds the food they desire. so they basically tell me what they want :dizzy: I must say I'm lucky that they do this only when they're really hungry and not just for fun.
I know that they're communicating with me and this is not a coicidence because they've developed a similar methode to tell me they're thirsty. They love fresh water (I change their water bowl 3 times a day, but they like fresh flowing water better) and they take me to the baththub or outdoor sink to get fresh water there :D
geez, I really LOVE them :hug: