What do you feed your pets?
 

Just curious. No judgement. :p

I currently feed my dog Taste of the Wild, generally their Wetlands formula.

In two years when I am going to be renting my own house/apartment, I'm hoping to get a cat or two... Maybe another dog. Who knows. Anyways, at that time I'll most likely feed RAW to all my pets... Except maybe the dog I have now... Depending. She'll be 8 then... And even though she's never had a weak stomach, I don't want to risk anything. ;)

I have four wonderful ferrets, and I feed raw-I've had them for a year, and after I had them for a little while, and having fed them kibble, it seemed apparent that for them it was the best choice. Kibble for them is much more expensive for less nutrition, and knowing that not only could I save money but give them a longer, healthier life (ferrets are already prone to many illnesses), I chose that. I know it's not the right choice for every family, but for ours it works great. They seem more docile, since they get to rip and tear at the bones and meat and they definitely have better coats and their smell waned to almost non existant. I imagine that if I ever had dogs or cats, I would try to feed them raw. I have heard though that cats can be picky about the switch. Ferrets can too, but I switched them while they were still quite young, so it wasn't an issue. Cool thread. My vet was happy that I switched them, and 8 months later they are doing beautifully on it.

We've got two little dogs and a big dog. The little dogs, due to one having severe allergies, eat Blue Buffalo's limited ingredient food. They were on the turkey version, and now on salmon -- our laundry room, where we keep the food, smells like a fish market!

The bigger dog eats a Purina ONE food for senior dogs. She's an old lady at 7 1/2.

My cats get Before Grain and my dogs get V-dog along with extras I add to theirnfood (veggies, sweet potatoes, pumpkin or other)

I feed my dog Orijen Regional Red. I also put my cats on the orijen cat food - may as well. I have a deal at the pet store I shop at where if I buy 12 bags, I get the 13th free. Good deal when it's $80/bag for the dog food [and I have a great dane so he goes thru a full large bag in 3 weeks]

FerretFan I'm curious - what kind of meats do ferrets eat raw, I have never looked into that before. I just heard of dogs on raw food :dizzy: ?

Hey, SweetScrumptious. Ferrets can be fed any meat that is not processed/smoked/salted/or 'enhanced'.I feed mine all manner of meats; beef, pork, chicken with bones (bones are OK as long as they are raw ONLY), cornish hen with bones, gizzards and giblets, livers of any kind, almost any organ, but no tripe unless it is green, and even then they don't like it. I feed chicken necks, turkey necks, rabbit and the bones, whole eggs (never more than 2-3 per week), ground turkey, etc. Usually, you want to limit bones to smaller animals, and they need a variety of meats so at least three different kinds. 80 percent muscle meat, 10 percent bones, 10 percent organs. Remember, hearts are great for muscle meat and have a ton of taurine but don't count as organ. Liver and kidney or other secreting organs count. Also, including oils is a good idea. Fish and olive oils are fine in small amounts. I also feed a little bit of pumpkin for them to share everyday, as it counts for roughage they don't get from prey. I also feed them the occasional frozen mouse, but that isn't necessary. I think it's good enrichment.

When I bred Portuguese Water Dogs I fed my darlings a bones and raw food diet which I made up weekly and froze. My current dogs are on a kibble for small dogs most of the time. Disney, the Katrina rescue, had intestinal problems when I got her and was on a special kibble. Jazz, the wee Tsvetnaya Bolonka, eats kibble by putting it all on the floor and then eating it piece by piece - he's a picky little Russian prince! I do cook liver, hamburger and veggies for them occasionally and they do get bits of apple as a treat.

Our store does buy 10, get 1 free. You should see if you can find a better deal. I couldn't imange feeding a great dane Orijen, ouch!

I feel my dog the Orijen Adult Formula. Thankfully the smallest bag lasts her about 4-5 weeks!

I have 2 dogs (Boxers) and 9 cats. The dogs get Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul ($40 for a 35 pound bag on Amazon and they deliver to my door!) and the cats get 4Health - the food that Tractor Supply makes.

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:

My three cats are being fed Wellness Core. My chinchilla eats oxbow pellets and hay.

Before I got my second dog, I was feeding reuben meat. but duke didn't seem to like it so I switched to blue buffalo. Since I don't have anymoney i've been buying them different brands of dog food which i truly truly truly hate to do, but i have no choice. blue buffalo is very good. they seem to itch more with other brands and reubens has dandruff since hes been off of blue buffalo. im not sure if its the dog food or not, but it could very well be.

:) I feed my ShiihTzu (Baxter, who is 8) a dental formula (kibble)that I get from the Vet. Small dogs are notorius (sp) to be prone for bad teeth. And bad teeth can lead to other health problems. The chunks are bigger than small dog chunks so he scrapes his teeth while chewing. I don't mix anything with it. And I have just bought Medi-Treats that are low-cal, low protein, etc etc. I think they are better than "regular" kind. So interesting to see what everyone feeds their critters. Everyone have a great weekend! :wave:

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I work for a vet. I haven't heard of all the foods mentioned, although the Blue Buffalo does seem popular. We market Science Diet, exclusively. That said, as far as the itching, try feeding your dog a 1/4 of a can of tuna in oil daily. The omega fatty acids, are lacking in most foods for dogs. It may take several months to see a difference. One other thing coat wise we recommend, is once a week, fry a slice or 2 of bacon and pour the drippings on the food. This only needs to be a tablespoon or 2 , but the fat does help.

Also, are you using lots of scented cleaners? Washing their beds in TIDE, bad! Scented air fresheners? Febreeze on their beds? Cleaning with over scented, over processed stuff? Simple vinegar and water are good options.

So many things can affect the itching.

What we find most of is a diet lacking in omega 3 fatty acids, cheap dog food, and the worst is drug manufacturing. Unfortunately, (not accusing anyone here, or you wouldn't be asking) but the worst skin cases we see, are in pit bulls, who live in meth houses and are living on Ole Roy dog food and whatever anyone throws at them. We do report them.

For a decent, yet inexpensive, food option, Purina, Lamb and Rice Healthy formula is a good option, add a little tuna in oil a couple of times a week, and add a tablespoon of olive oil to the food on a daily basis.

Purina is a good stable brand. The Lamb and Rice formula, will agree with most dogs. The tuna and olive oil are a good addition that will help with itchyness, and flaky skin.

Stay away from Pedigree. We see so many dogs with seizures, that are fed Pedigree, must be some crappy food.

The only saving grace for Ole Roy, is, it's so full of sand, the dogs that eat that have HOLLYWOOD smiles, it grinds all the tarter off of their teeth. We can spot an Ole Roy dog a mile away, fat, crappy coat, greasy, etc., but teeth that would make a model jealous.

Just my opinion, from what I see after 6 years working for a vet.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, I'll do my best to help out!

Currently, I feed my 3 dogs, Purina Lamb and Rice, Healthy formula, (purple bag) they split a can of tuna in oil twice a week, and get bacon drippings on Sunday, plus plain ole rawhides, cheap from the dollar store. All are very healthy, except for Ruby, who is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, who is an easy keeper. She is fat. We're working on that.

My DH is a sucker, and does feed them from his plate, but he is getting better about that. He does now agree to feed them only veggies from his plate, except for Sunday morning, when the get a bit of turkey sausage or bacon, and each gets 2 bites of egg.

Thankfully, we live on a farm, and they do get plenty of exercise, but that also equates to dragging up all kinds of yukky stuff, and thinking I should love them for the prize they brought me, Ikk!