facts on dog foods

[borzoimom]

Royal Canin is pretty good too.. And timber wolf ( name?) but that one is not available in this area.

[JenBKR]

I apologize for my last post, I was tired and cranky, and there have been a lot of debates about raw vs. kibble on here. I don't deny for a second that raw is an excellent diet, it's just not for me at this particular time.

[borzoimom]

I apologize for my last post, I was tired and cranky, and there have been a lot of debates about raw vs. kibble on here. I don't deny for a second that raw is an excellent diet, it's just not for me at this particular time.

Thats okay= it does take preparation etc and committment. Actually right now, my guys are on bil jac until I feel better to do the routine again..

[crow_noir]

I've been feeding Ultra, but I am switching to Royal Canin. It's not raw, but it's a high quality dog food.

But i just want to share my experience...

King was loosing muscle mass bad in his last few months of life so i was doing everythign i could for him. I was researching the benifits and risks of garlic (AGAIN.) After careful consideration i decided to try feeding him kibble with out garlic in it. Then meant switching off of the tried and true Wysong and into the unknown. Tried Canidae, but for the third time he got violently sick from it (as did any dog visiting my house did.) Then i tried one of the kitty foods from Royal Canin and he seemed to be doing well on that so we switched him to one of the doggy foods. He started having other problems after a month. Took him to the vet once again... He now had a major protein definicency. The vet told us for what it's worth just switch him back to the Wysong, so we did and the new problems went away.

I wish you luck with the Royal Canin, but wanted to give you a heads up on a possible future problem. If it works out for you and your dog though... GREAT!!! :- )

[borzoimom]

Crow noir-
I have been feeding raw for 18 years. What do you need to know? If I dont have the answer, and several others that have been feeding it for a long time, and will hopefully find you an answer.

[Ceph]

Did the vet say anything about a Taurine deficiency? Most dog foods dont supplement Taurine (Amino Acid) because the dog can typically make it on their own from cystine and methionine....cats however cannot so their food is Taurine supplemented (deficiencies cause eye degeneration, possible myocardial problems and lethargy). It may be that he was doing well on the cat food because of that extra supplementation.

So for a dog that has no problem with Taurine that food might not be so bad, but it could be very dangerous for a dog that has problems synthesizing Taurine on his own.

-Ceph

[borzoimom]

again- right on Ceph. Taurine is also a water soluable vitamin, and most dog foods this is lost in processing. I add fish to my dogs diet every day.

[crow_noir]

The vet never mentioned a taurine deficency, but what you said makes a lot of sense. All the vet mentioned was a protein deficency.

Hindsight is 20/20 though... and it's a little too late to talk about it now. All i can do is file it away for future reference.

Did the vet say anything about a Taurine deficiency? Most dog foods dont supplement Taurine (Amino Acid) because the dog can typically make it on their own from cystine and methionine....cats however cannot so their food is Taurine supplemented (deficiencies cause eye degeneration, possible myocardial problems and lethargy). It may be that he was doing well on the cat food because of that extra supplementation.

So for a dog that has no problem with Taurine that food might not be so bad, but it could be very dangerous for a dog that has problems synthesizing Taurine on his own.

-Ceph

[crow_noir]

Crow noir-
I have been feeding raw for 18 years. What do you need to know? If I dont have the answer, and several others that have been feeding it for a long time, and will hopefully find you an answer.

Whenever i could afford it i would feed King raw. However in the past two years he'd get really sick from some raw meat. I just figured it was his digestive system shutting down. Now there is a recue dog i'm trying to help place. She had been eating raw meat for three weeks (her own fresh kills,) with no problems. She was given some raw chicken from the store and got very ill. I'm beginning to think that there is something going on with the poultry in our area. What are your thoughts?

Basically, if i had no problems feeding dog raw before, and now i can't with out them getting seriously ill, do you think there is something going on with the domestic meat supplies around here. (Especially since any fresh caught mean didn't make them ill.) It doesn't seem to me that it was it would be the problems some people have with the switching between dry food and raw. I had no problems doing that with King for four years. (One month is too short of a time to tell with the foster dog i'd think.)

[borzoimom]

Some dogs have a problem with poultry. I only had one that did.. What are you feeding...

[lovingpaws]

Some organic foods
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab

Sample diets on API
http://www.api4animals.org/articles?p=360&more=1

There are some great kibbles/canned food out there like the ones mentions, chick soup, Solid Gold and others like Innova, Bill Jac. When I had my first dog I got a book from the library Dr. Pitcaryn (spelling) natural health for dogs & cats. That was 1983. The book said basically what the linked article says. I talked to my vet about the book, the recipes in it, and he gave me some guidelines and I cooked for my dog. By the time I got my 2 & 3rd dogs, they were alot to cook for, but I was able to find "healty" options for canned & Kibble that I alternated. BTW cooking was inexpensive. My first to Goldens lived to be 14 1/2 and each came from a pet store (before I new better) My 3rd golden was already 2, and came from a friend who got him from a breeder. He lived to be almost 14.

[borzoimom]

My guys are back on raw after 4 days of back to bil jac while I recupperated.

[Ceph]

does anyone have a list of the good feeds? I have been feeding my dad's puppy purina one supplemented with moist natural choice lately, and it seems to have been doing well for him, but it sounds like it might make sense to change his feed...and neither I nor dad can in now way afford a raw diet. I am also getting ready to get a white shepherd puppy in a few months, and if someone could suggest a good puppy feed (I will usually get kibble and mix it with moist feed, once a day to once every two days). He is getting ready to leave puppyhood so I have to change his feed anyway.

thanks!!!

-Ceph

[buttercup132]

Um wow way to be rude.. Lady's human arent you related to Karen OWNER of the site?

EDIT: Lady's human is Karen's BROTHER know I can say it to you..do you know who YOUR talking to? I wouldnt be disrespectful to the moderator/creater of the site if you want to stay on here..

[borzoimom]

does anyone have a list of the good feeds? I have been feeding my dad's puppy purina one supplemented with moist natural choice lately, and it seems to have been doing well for him, but it sounds like it might make sense to change his feed...and neither I nor dad can in now way afford a raw diet. I am also getting ready to get a white shepherd puppy in a few months, and if someone could suggest a good puppy feed (I will usually get kibble and mix it with moist feed, once a day to once every two days). He is getting ready to leave puppyhood so I have to change his feed anyway.

thanks!!!

-Ceph

Well I feed raw but I keep bil jac as a back up. I live on a mountain top, and the power goes on and off easily. The generator only does the well and the heat if we dont have a fire going.
Here bil jac is easy to get, but there are some others I liked too- but cant get them any more- royal canin, solid gold, timberwolf, nutro holistic, and uhhhhh .. well one more.
Its late for me, but I can look into it if you want me too. I like the bil jac because its not just chicken but also organ meat, and it doesnt sweel. I have a deep chested breed, and we guard against a swelling food with our lives here.