Purina Beneful?????????????????

[Lescoop77]

ok, I have to add my two cents here. I have read all your posts, and though I do agree with 90% of what has been said here...let me start off by saying I feed my two labs Nurto and switch on/off with Beneful. I switch to give them variety...they also get raw eggs every now and then and 1/2 can of wet food in the mornings.

I know that Beneful may contain some "fillers" etc, etc but....you have to realize..that dogs eat bugs, grass, sticks, dead animals, and sometimes even their own feces. As long as you are feeding your dog....and it isn't making them sick and they are staying at their ideal weight they are FINE!

Hope I didn't offend anyone ..just had to let it out. LOL

[coco-bean]

ok, I have to add my two cents here. I have read all your posts, and though I do agree with 90% of what has been said here...let me start off by saying I feed my two labs Nurto and switch on/off with Beneful. I switch to give them variety...they also get raw eggs every now and then and 1/2 can of wet food in the mornings.

I know that Beneful may contain some "fillers" etc, etc but....you have to realize..that dogs eat bugs, grass, sticks, dead animals, and sometimes even their own feces. As long as you are feeding your dog....and it isn't making them sick and they are staying at their ideal weight they are FINE!

Hope I didn't offend anyone ..just had to let it out. LOL

THANK YOU! Im totally with you on that whole post! The one problem i have is that coco my oldest lab gets sick on everything and is now doing great on EVO and cainan my youngest eats poop and wont stop until i am right next to him getting close to swatting his butt! I truely believe if your dogs eats their food and enjoys the food they are on, there is no problem with it! I would still want to give my dogs something healthy that i know is helping them but if they prefer the cheaper stuff, more power to them! My lab at my dad's house is 13 years old (in all honesty she's actually 14 or 15, but my dad refuses to believe me) and she's eating people food for as long as i can remember and she is healthy and still kickin! she still runs still chases the ball on occasion, other than being over weight she is still happy and loving life! If you find a food your dog prefers, then thats what the like!!!

[Lescoop77]

Amen sister!

[LilacDragon]

Hey, everyone is allowed their own opinion.

My 8 year old son would probably maintain a healthy weight and have plenty of energy on a diet of McDonald's but I sure wouldn't feed it to him. Same thing with dog food. I am quite sure that my dog could survive on Ole' Roy but I am also sure that he will live a longer, healthier life eating the premium food that I feed him.

[Lescoop77]

Does your son eat feces? Sorry, I couldn't resist. You make a valid point but I think every dog owner has their preference. Think about the old days, when dogs ate whatever you fed them, lived on a farm with hardly any vet visits, no heartguard, frontline, or even vaccine shots.....my grandma's dog lived to be like 20 years old..no joke. My neighbors outside dog is like this and is 16 years old.

[coco-bean]

Hey, everyone is allowed their own opinion.

I am quite sure that my dog could survive on Ole' Roy but I am also sure that he will live a longer, healthier life eating the premium food that I feed him.

to each their own! Like i said my dog has been WELL and kickin for 14 years on poeple food, and that includes everything that is bad for her, i have little brothers and sisters and they feed her chocolate, potato's, the list goes on the on! each dog is different and what one can survive on, another probably cant! I've had one bad experience with Beneful but that doesnt mean i hold a grudge on food of less quality! There are tons of thing that can be supplimented to make up for what the less quality takes away, all and all what your dog prefers and likes, is what they like! we cant take that away from them! Just like a person, i love subway(i cant live off of it) but i prefer it over quizno's, sub city, cafe fit and my list goes on and on! just what the persons prefers, same as dogs! either way we love our dogs/pets and try to make them happy any way we can, along with healthy! dont get me wrong for not being totally against the "less" food, but it's just a preference thing i think!

[Jessika]

My lab at my dad's house is 13 years old (in all honesty she's actually 14 or 15, but my dad refuses to believe me) and she's eating people food for as long as i can remember and she is healthy and still kickin! she still runs still chases the ball on occasion, other than being over weight she is still happy and loving life! If you find a food your dog prefers, then thats what the like!!!

See, "people food" is not bad to feed to dogs... at all. In fact, dog food IS people food, lol. Well, for the most part (you won't find me snacking on kibble...). But you can feed "people" food to your pet and it is perfectly fine. You just need to make sure they are getting all the nutrients they need though! There are actually diets out there from "people" food... RAW diet is one of them :P

[coco-bean]

yea i guess it sounds stupid once i read it to myself and then read what you said! i guess what i was getting at was, my other dog (her name is Lucky) eats all the "people food" that she isnt supposed to eat! all the stuff that makes doggies sick...well she gets it in mass quantity!! not saying that we just hand it out to her, but my little brothers and sisters kinda sneak it to her when the fam. isnt looking you know!

[bckrazy]

Does your son eat feces? Sorry, I couldn't resist. You make a valid point but I think every dog owner has their preference. Think about the old days, when dogs ate whatever you fed them, lived on a farm with hardly any vet visits, no heartguard, frontline, or even vaccine shots.....my grandma's dog lived to be like 20 years old..no joke. My neighbors outside dog is like this and is 16 years old.

Eating feces is most often an obsessive habit. It isn't for nutritional purposes. My dogs have never even considered eating poop

Dogs on farms were Raw-fed either completely or mostly, in the old days. They didn't eat a diet consisting of food coloring, corn syrup, fillers & starches (referring to Beneful here...).

Last but not least, old age does not necessarily mean quality of life. I know people with a 16 year-old Yorkie who is blind, has no teeth, and is crippled by arthritis but they still spend thousands on the dog and have for the past 3-4 years. I'd rather have healthy dogs that die at a reasonable age.

[coco-bean]

Last but not least, old age does not necessarily mean quality of life. I know people with a 16 year-old Yorkie who is blind, has no teeth, and is crippled by arthritis but they still spend thousands on the dog and have for the past 3-4 years. I'd rather have healthy dogs that die at a reasonable age.

Oh most definately! Im with you on that one! just keeping a dog alive and spedning thousands on a dog that could very well not enjoy not having teeth or being able to see things, along with what could be other problems not so obvious is just mean! A healthy dog is (most of the time) a happy dog, i would take quality of life over quantity anyday!

[timlewis]

I Hope If My Teeth Fall Out And I Go Blind My Wife Doesnt Hope I Die Soon. Lololol

[coco-bean]

haha, i didnt mean it like that! haha!!

[Catlady711]

Not meaning to get anyone's fur up or anything here, however at the hospital I work for....

Not all vets are given perks by pet food companies or even sell regular pet food. At our hospital we ONLY carry the more common prescription only foods. Head vet says that if he wanted to run a pet food store he would have bought a pet food store! He doesn't think too highly of other vets that carry numberous brands of non prescription foods, as well as tons of toys/treats. The profit margin vs. space/inventory just isn't worth the trouble, as well as the fact that people are more likely to take his advice concerning nutrition if they realize he is not making any money on the sale of the pet foods he recommends.

I don't know about other vets, but at our hospital keeping up with the latest seminars and such on pet nutrition is a routine thing. Head vet prefers to attend the ones hosted by independent companies that aren't trying to 'push' their own product with skewed statistics.

As for our hospital's stance on pet food in general is:

Stick with major name brands, not generic store brands (you get what you pay for) We will typically recommend foods like Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro, etc. We never push for any particular one of these, just that they feed a high quality, well balanced diet.

Stay away from foods with dyes (particularly reds/greens) as they can sometimes cause allergies in the form of skin problems or cause stomach upset in some animals. If I'm not much mistaken Beneful is full of dyes like this.

Sudden changes in food can sometimes cause diarrhea or vomiting. We always recommend staying with one food unless there is a medical reason to switch, and then make the switch gradually over a period of a few days. While some animals may take a sudden switch well and others may not, switching foods exposes the animal to more things which makes it more difficult to track down any food allergies. Also most allergies to food can take a few years to show up from repeated exposure, and any benefits from switching to a low allergy food can take up to 3 months to show.

As for dogs eating poop..Sometimes it is simply a bad habit, however it can also be because of a lack of specific digestive enzymes. A simple test at your vet can determine this, and the remedy is a simple, fairly inexpensive pill (at least at our hospital) given daily.

While I have only been a vet assistant for just over 5 years, our head vet has been in practice over 30 years.

Just my comments.

[timlewis]

Thank You Cat Lady This Is Some Of The Best Info I Have Got Here On Pt.

[Suki Wingy]

I just have a quick question while we're (or were) on the subject of soy. Is it bad to feed my dog soy nuggets as a treat every once and a while? They're one of his favorite foods.