Research on Dog Food & Information

[Flatcoatluver]

With all due respect. I've joined that fourm, didn't learn much more then I know now. I wasn't treated with complete respect. I will always stick to pet talk. I'm sorry your just not going to get anyone to suade to your side. We are all educated on our pets health here.

[pitc9]

I think everyone needs to visit this forum
http://www.ourdogsonline.com/

Oh Gawd....
I personally think you need to go visit that forum and stay there.

[Spiritwind]

Both of my dog's are dead...

This was before I read about dog food, they were always on Science Diet from day we got them, Misty however was on Purina when she was a puppy. They both had really bad health from the start.

Misty had a rare weird blood disease at age of 9-10 her life was a rocky start to begin with she had a illness called non-genetic blood cell disease which you can read more here http://www.geocities.com/aihadogs/

When Misty started to get ill I rush on internet and did so much research it was beyond what I found that I had imagine!

We put Misty on pedigree and I didn't like the results at all, then tried Newman's Own then we decided to home-cook prepared her meals throughout her life. She had to be on meds and we had to rotate cooking and kibble. Then we finally stick with Canidae all other source of kibble like Innova, Cali Natural, Eagle Pack were just impossible to find

And Lacey however died of spleen cancer results of that she was on science diet and was living off of table scape she died at age of 12.5 yrs old

I went here to compare to other food with Natura food as well
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp

Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA) (Formerly known as autoimmune hemolytic anemia or AIHA) can have MANY causes, some thought to be genetic. If it didn't show up in your dog until 9-10yrs old, I would guess its less likely to be genetic but it is thought to be genetic in some cases.. and then sometimes there is no apparent cause that can be identified.

I've worked at vet clinicis for 9yrs... several years ago we had a Havanees (sp??) PUPPY come in who was diagnosed with IMHA/AIHA.. luckily she was quickly treated and on TONS of meds for a long time, but was slowly able to be weaned off the meds and never had a recurrence as long as I worked there. The other experience I had with IMHA/AIHA was with a smooth Collie puppy a friend of mine had. He seemed fine up until about 9-10 months of age and it hit him HARD. He tested positive for the disease with the coombs tests. He wasn't so lucky though, he died a few days later.

Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA) This link has a lot of info about the disease... along with the possible genetic link, its ALSO thought that it is possibly caused by over vaccinating, over exposuer to some chemicals, or heavy metals.. or zinc etc..

And a 12.5yr old dog that died of spleen cancer doesn't sound to uncommon! Again, do you have any proof to back up the claim it was caused by the food she ate??? I'm guessing no, since everytime someone asks you questions like this you don't reply to the questions.

[dragondawg]

To just use this one statement as an example -

Remember, you have no proof that your dog's illnesses were caused by their food. How can you state that the spleen cancer was because of Science Diet and table scraps? Do you have any scientific data to support that? And where did you get that data? It is scientifically unsound to just make assumptions, and to try to convince others based on your own guesses is just not right.

Ding ding ding we have a winner. And I'm not trying to slurp up to the owner of the forum.

There is more than a little epidemiology evidence of a breed genetic link to cancer. If you're dog is carrying an increased load of oncogenes around as a side effect from hap hazzard breeding a couple generations ago, it matters not what you feed them. Sooner or later those genes will turn on.

Per the religion of dog food, outside of my two beasties helping themselves to a natural barf diet of deer parts in the forest they have no digestive problems. With my female approaching 5, and my male approaching 4.5 yrs they have eaten Large Puppy Propet all their lives. If too young then I'll throw in my previous dog of 11 years. No allergies, no metabolic disorders, good weight control, and high energy levels (or so the deer and squirrels will atest to). I'll admit to supplementing their diets with 1000 mg of fish oil for their two daily meals. This was in response to my male having excess dander which is probably a left over consequence of puppy mange when he was 8 weeks old. It has helped a little. But most important of all besides the continued good health is the fact both enjoy eating their "dry" food - 20 secs to 2 minutes at most it's gone.

It matters not to me which new fad diet comes out, or the next and greatest dog food advertised. As long as mine are healthy, and enjoying their little (80 lb, 68 lb) doggy lives they will remain on the food they are on now. There's absolutely no reason to shop around for trouble.

[Jessika]

Just for reference, we actually learned about protein in class today, and I learned some surprising information... I created a new thread so as not to take over this one, but I think some of you may be interested in what I learned. I'm open for discussion, too, since I am still learning if you have ANYTHING to add please do!

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=139993

[Kfamr]

The other members of OurDogsOnline are very respectable and knowledgable. Mordanna, the owner of the site, is incredibly knowledgable in dog nutrition and other aspects of dog ownership. I don't want to give that forum a bad reputation as it's wonderful. I've met a handful of the members personally and they are very nice people.

[Whimsy]

Taken from http://www.dogfoodproject.com/ :

I'm answering many, many emails from people asking questions about dog foods on a daily basis. One of the most common topics is dog owners second-guessing themselves after buying a product they read somewhere is "highly rated" or got a "high grade" in some reviews but their dog does poorly on it.

They now wonder whether it was a good idea to switch foods in the first place and if they should go back to the old food, even though the ingredients may not be so great.

The best advice I can give is keep in mind that your dog is an individual and any reviews you come across will always be based on generalities. If your dog has a delicate digestive system, a grain free food may be nice, but the high fat percentage most of them have can pose a major problem.

If you have a dog who is prone to bloat, a very nutrient dense high-calorie food may also not be ideal, even though "popular" reviews may not rate lower fat, lower calorie foods particularly highly.

Brown rice may be more nutritious than white rice, but a dog with a sensitive stomach may benefit from the product that contains white rice, which has had its (sometimes irritating) bran layer already removed.

The bottom line: What's more important to you: how well a food works out for your dog, or what some unknown person (who may or may not even be aware of differing needs in individual dogs) thinks about a product?

*shrug*