Research on Dog Food & Information

[Flatcoatluver]

WOW, now I really understand why people don't like to discuss dog food on pet talk. I thought I was passionate about feeding quality food and I still am. There is one way to educate people about quality food, and shoving it down there throat is not one way.

Let's see a year and half ago (before I had Sage) my parents fed Kirkland lamb and rice. T.j did fantasic on it, Zoey did not. I was then educated about dog food and switched to chicken soup. Again T.j did fantastic and Zoey did awful. I then switched to canidae, at that time I had bought Sage, and he was being fed IAMS. The only problem Sage had on Iams was bad teeth. I switched Sage over to canidae. All three of my dogs didn't excel at it. I then switched to merrick, then solid gold, and then canine caviar. Never really finding the success I really wanted. Zoey was still having her allergy spasms and T.j and Sage not so shiny and soft. I then tried Zoey on Innova Evo and I am sooo pleased. She does not have her spasms or dandruffy skin. But she has horrible gas. T.j and Sage are now eating chicken soup and they are doing fantastic on it. I'm sticking to that and no one is going to tell me that it's not quality, because I like the ingredients and I can still sleep at night knowing what I feed my dogs.

[Jessika]

There is a huge difference between educating and forcing your opinion upon someone.

Educating is giving someone all of the facts and information and letting them draw their own conclusion. Forcing your opinion upon someone is giving them all of the facts and information and then telling them they are wrong is they do not come to the same conclusion as you.

[MS_PAWS]

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

[Karen]

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

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.

[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.

[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.