So today I pitched the idea of the amazing deal of 20lbs for $16 (plus 4-5lbs free from NVI) of food to the hubs and of course I got the LOOK and the LECTURE that there is no shortage of dog food anytime soon, nor will all the sales and promotions cease indefinitely… SIGH, I KNOW that, BUT the deal… Anywho, I think I will have to pass on it… It is too good, but I just can’t keep stocking up for this little animal, which doesn’t even eat his full cup of dry/day anyway, so he is extra slow on consumption… At least he’s not one of those pups that you need to watch around food and control their intake. And I feel that he may eat even less over the summer because it is quite hot here in Georgia, SO, the bottom line is – I forfeit the deal to someone else, who will hopefully take advantage of it and can use the PetLand coupon or whatever to get a good deal on foods.
As for me and my dog, we will continue with the endless Earthborn – by fault of yours truly – lesson learned, unless we get another dog next year (or whenever we do really – until then) Bruno will only get a small bag of each food I want to feed him. I will just hope the deals do reoccur often! 🙂
P.S. I am determined to smuggle small “trial” bags of Orijen and Acana to spice up Bruno’s mixes whenever they are on sale at the pet boutique! Now those are small enough to hide easier! Mwahahah! 😀
I do it sort of the same way..I think you taught me Hound dog but I was so confused at first, then I understood….
I takeaway 100% – Moisture% say moisture on tin is 78% then I takeaway 100-78= 22 thats the dry matter =22% then look on can what’s the fat, say 5% I then get the calculater & devide, I put 5 that’s the fat on tin then devide by 22 then I press the % on the calculater & u’ll get 22.727272 so the fat is about 22%..even if u just put 5 devided by 22 I still get the 0.22.727272 there’s just a 0 in front does that make sense.. I cant find a tin food that’s low enough in fat only the vet prescription diets, so I boil chicken breast & I boil pumkin that way I know what he’s eating the only problem Im having my boy has lost weight & I dont know what to feed him that doesnt have much fat & doesnt have much carbs as he gets itchy, maybe I’ll add some rice, I added pasta but he started to itch….
The last 2-3 bags of Costco’s brand of diamond dog food Kirkland lamb and rice which i have fed for years (had has in past had Dogfoodadvisor rating of 4) have all my 9 year old rat terriers with these recent changes: increased licking on front legs and chewing on paws, some not eating well, one has gone through a false pregancy, and my male with sensitive skin now has noticible course hair on his back near his tail and he itches!
Any thoughts on what would be a good choice to transition?
Hi jgr789 –
That bad news is that it is necessary to perform some mathematical calculations in order to compare the nutrient values of kibble and canned foods, the good news is that the math is fairly straight forward.
1. Determine the percent dry matter in the canned food by subtracting the % moisture (listed on the label) from 100%.
2. Divide as fed % value of the nutrient you’re interested in by the % dry matter that you calculated in the previous step.
3. You should get a decimal – multiply this decimal by 100% and you’ll have the % of the nutrient on a dry matter basis.
So, for example, let’s say a canned food claims to contain 80% moisture and 5% fat:
1. 100% – 80% = 20% dry matter
2. 5% fat as fed/20% dry matter = 0.25
3. 0.25 X 100% = 25% fat on a dry matter basis
Hope this helps!
If you have a Nature’s Select distributor, they have a grain free formula and their High-Pro/Puppy grain formula has 33% protein dry matter and they deliver and they may offer discounts. Mine offers a 10% discount for buying over $75 and they also have military, rescue, unemployed and other discounts up to 20%. It’s made at Mid-America Pet Food in Tx.
We are picking up a 7 week old, black lab puppy, next week. I’m at a loss as to what dry dog food to feed him. He will be coming home on Iams Large Breed Puppy, which I’d like to wean him off of as soon as possible. Our previous lab ate Canidae ALS, which I’m open to using again, but I know that there is better available; however, I’d like to stay in this price range and get something that is easily available. I ordered our Canidae ALS bags from Amazon, which is easy since I have 3 young children, so delivered to our door step was great. We also have a Costco nearby, so I looked at Kirkland brand, but I wasn’t sure if this was a good option for a large breed puppy. Could someone give me some good options that are reasonably priced, easy to find and would be a very healthy option for a large breed puppy. Thank you!
I would like to nominate Nature’s Logic (Chicken & Sweet Potato) dry dog food. All vitamins come from food ingredients rather than vitamin additives. Is there a reason this brand didn’t make the list? Also curious about Merrick and comments on this brand. Please advise.
for all you coupon types out there-right now if you buy one of the “natural” brands at petsmart, you get a 5$ off your next bag of food (dog or cat) bought before the end of May. Just found out today when i picked up a bag of Simply Nourish Source. unfortunately i won’t be using it because nothing else from my dry food rotation is carried there, so I’m bringing it to work to see if anyone wants it. Wish it worked on cans, because i buy a few of those there.
Just a heads up
I also top with canned, instead of feeding it as the bulk of their food. Honestly, I rotate around a lot with canned (dry as well, but less so) whenever I’m at PetSmart, PetCo, or Four Paws (my usual specialty store i stop at) I get whatever high quality is on sale.
I also keep a bag of Sojos (i rotate flavors, haven’t tried the new lamb yet, as it’s hot out and one of mine gets real warm on lamb) for when I don’t have any canned on hand. As long as it’s all good quality, your dog shouldn’t have much problem switching canned flavors often. If something is giving him the runs, take a look at what’s in it, and it could be an intolerance to one of those ingredients
Hi katj813 –
It’s great that you’re adding wet food to your dog’s dry food. Wet food is actually much healthier than dry food – especially if you go with a good quality product. The reasons for this is that wet food more closely resembles a dog’s natural diet – high in moisture, higher in protein and less processed. Providing high quality (unprocessed) protein is especially important for seniors (such as your boy) because as dogs age they become less efficient at breaking down dietary protein yet their body’s need for the amino acids that protein requires doesn’t diminish.
Some reasonably priced and highly rated canned options you may want to consider are 4Health (sold at Tractor Supply), Kirkland Cuts in Gravy (sold at Costco), Pure Balance (sold at Walmart), Natural Life (sold at Walmart and some grocery stores), Whole Earth Farms (sold at Petco, specialty retailers and many online retailers) and By Nature 95% Meat (sold at specialty retailers and online retailers). All of these options are, to the best of my knowledge, around the same price or cheaper than Nutro’s canned food.
Some other options would be using a dehydrated food as a topper. Dehydrated foods, when re-hydrated, are similar in consistency to canned food and when re-hydrated tend to be cheaper on a cup per cup basis.
You could also consider adding healthy human food toppers such as leftover lean meats, tinned sardines or salmon (great source of omega 3’s), cage free eggs (raw or cooked – also a great source of omega 3’s), plan yogurt (probiotics) or kefit (probiotics). Just be sure that if you use unbalanced extras like these that they account for less than a quarter of the meal or else you could risk throwing off the nutritional balance of his food.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by
Hound Dog Mom.
My dog loves the Nutro Max ground beef and rice food mixed with his dry and he’s old so we indulge his obsession with wet food. The only issue is any of the other flavors give him the runs and I haven’t a clue why. Does anyone else know of some reasonably priced ground wet foods that are soft, even after refrigerating? Soft foods mix well and if a piece of kibble isn’t covered in wet food, he won’t eat it. The Nutro Max is about $1.60 and being on a college budget I can’t afford more than that. If you know of any good brands that are of equal or lesser value, I’d love to hear it. Nutrition isn’t an issue because the wet food is merely a topper to his dry which is much healthier.
Does anyone know of any Best Dry Grain Free Dog Foods that come in 50 or 60 pounds bags? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I would think as an occasional treat, it should be fine. My dogs regularly consume canned and dry leftovers without problem. Our cats are so pathetic! (Sorry, gonna go out on a limb for ya) We buy them Chicken Soup dry. Out of all three cats, only one and a half eat it (Panda likes dry, and Maddy is dry/canned. Millie refuses anything with the name “cat food” on it), and Panda only eats a tiny portion of what goes in his mouth – he chews up the food, then spits crumbs back out in the bowl, never to eat them again. We have an entire bowl filled with nothing but crumbs!
And then since they’re so picky, we’ve been buying the small bags. I thought “well, he’s been eating it regularly now…..the bigger bag is SO much cheaper, so I’ll get it!” Of course! Now he decided that he hates it -_- darn cats!
I really have no clue about giving it as a regular meal though…..I’ll let some of the pros answer that one 😉
Hey! I am looking for a little help. I recently had my 4 year old Boston Terrier allergy tested. I just got the results back and am having a very difficult time finding an appropriate food for her so I’m hoping others can help!
Her list of food allergies include
-chicken
-turkey
-peas
-carrots
-eggs
-barley
-tomato
-rice
-soybean
-corn
-white potato
Does anyone here know of any foods that don’t include these ingredients? I am having no luck with any of our local pet stores. It has been suggested I try a raw diet for her but I am hoping to avoid this! I work 12 hour shift work and have to take her to a “sitter” while I work so a dry food would be best.
My vet suggested “Iams Veterinary Diet Skin and Coat Plus KO”. I haven’t heard many positive reviews on Iams or this food so I am unsure.
I have just transitioned her to Nature’s Variety Instinct Lamb Meal. This one is free of all her allergens with the exception of peas. Peas are the third ingredient on the list. I had no idea she was allergic to peas and I had never noticed a reaction to them before. I would really like to keep her on a 4-5 star food.
Thank you in advance for any help!!
C4c:
I just dug up this article, couldn’t find where I saved it earlier. Just a little more info on K3:
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-only-approved-vitamin-k-supplement-in-pet-food/
Off the top of my head Rachael Ray includes K3 in alot of her recipes but not Zero Grain, the tubs, or the two chicken wet foods. Purina adds it to most dog & cat food (wet & dry); I have found a few of their canned dog foods w/o it. Nature’s Recipe includes it in most of their recipes for cats & dogs and some of the Soulistic cat food contains it. Basically, pet foods considered lower to mid-tier quality might include K3 in their recipes.
Just another ingredient to add to the list of undesireables and another reason a rotation diet makes sense.
I haven’t tried it yet, no. I printed out the B2G1 coupon a while ago, and I haven’t even seen it available locally yet! I thought about taking it PetSmart and trying to get some Simply Nourish with it LOL But I won’t. They hate me enough as it is :p I do have a sample of the dry cat food coming though. I’ll likely just toss it in the dog food. Whats a 1/2 cup of cat food gunna hurt when they eat like 7 cups between the two of them? lol The dry cat food is in no way anything I’d feed to a cat. Its all corn gluten (how can they advertise no corn when its got corn gluten???) and grainy. Yuck! It appears to have very little animal protein.
Publix has all their 6 pound bags of RR dog food on sale for $7.99, btw, guys! Bust out them $4 coupons!
I have two rescue dogs – Millie (8years old, spayed female terrier mix) and Fonzie (3years old, neutered male cock-a-tzu (cocker/shih tzu mix)
I have issues with both, but the main one at present is with Millie who has a bout of mild/moderate pancreatitis. This is the second time she has had it, with a more serious incident two years ago. Her CPL reading is 360, which is way above the reference range of 0-200 ug/l and her Red Blood Cell count, hemoglobin, cholestrol and lipase readings are way up as well.
For the past 6 – 8 weeks I have been feeding them Natures Variety Raw Bites in the honest belief that I was doing the very best for them. They both seemed to like it and have shiny coats etc but the end result with Millie (who is the pickiest eater on the planet!) is pancreatitis and the end result with Fonzie is excessive weight gain – 2kg+ since I began this diet!! I am devastated as Millie was actually enjoying her food for the first time ever (she has always refused dry kibble) but what good is that if she is suffering illness as a result?! To make things worse I was over-feeding them up to a few days ago, which may have caused the pancreatitis to flare up – or maybe the food would have caused it anyway.
I desperately want to feed them a good, nourishing and wholesome food but I am completely frustrated by the choice available and the vastly differing opinions I get in the pet stores. To make matters worse I am leaving them in kennels for 12 days in just under three weeks time when I go to Ireland and I have to have them settled on a suitable food before I go. Please help!
FYI: For anyone interested, Rachael Ray has the $4.00 off Zero Grain coupon posted again along with a free dry cat food sample offer, and various other coupons. If I remember correctly, they are good for a month after you print them. 🙂
http://nutrish.rachaelray.com/switchto
I found this to be an interesting site an article regarding cats’ and dogs’ diets: http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/ Enjoy!
My mini poodle suffers from UTI’s after periods of stress. You can help stave them off by making sure your dog gets plenty of water AND has plenty of bathroom breaks. The extra water flushing through the bladder keeps bacteria levels lower. I feed all moist food (no kibble) to my boy and I also have a pet water fountain (Cat Mate brand). My pup is 19 lbs and the size is fine for him. He has been UTI-free for several years using this fountain and moist food combo; prior to that I fed him kibble and bowl water and he had 3 UTIs in about 8 months. The UTIs occurred 2 out of 3 times during times of stress.
I was not feeding any Nature’s Variety products during the times he got his UTIs. So I do not know if there is a correlation between UTIs and brand or simply UTIs and stress and dry kibble.
Check out the website Cuckoo For Coupon Deals. She does a pet food matchup and links to printable coupons. Also, PetSmart’s facebook page has fan-only coupons that are pretty good. When I lived by a PetSmart and Target I would use all the coupons I could to get free food or very cheap food, and donate it to the local animal rescue. Every little bit helps.
I found that Nature’s Recipe had a lot of good coupons. And the PetSmart marked down food in the middle of the week, so you could get a slightly older bag of dry food on 25% or 50% off AND use the dollars off coupon and not pay much at all.
Thank you for the replys. Is there some ratio of raw diet (chicken, deer, etc) to dry kibble? Is kibble the main diet and some raw mixed in? Or is one total meal raw then other meals are kibble. She is 11 weeks old now, and only been on dry kibble. I want to slowly introduce raw meat. We give her fruit (strawberries, apples, bananas with veggies carrots, sweet potatoes,) as treats and training food.
OK, I have did soem searching thru the forum and I can not get a clear answer to a question i have thinking about. I have a 11week old Great Dane. She is currently eating Innova Large breed puppy. I see that Innova had a recall in late 2013, but the list had a 5 star for Innova food. I am considering switching her to Orijen dry puppy. Thoughts? She likes Innova and do not want to change unless there is a neccissity to do so, but I do not like P&G either. I fed our last great dane (who lived to be 11.5yrs of age) Purina Pro Plan sensitive stomach because that was the only thing she would tolerate. I know its not the greatest nor on any list but it worked for her.
She’s got super clean, non smelly ears. They aren’t red or inflamed. Nothing lodged inside ear.
The vet tech was praising both Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin’s feather food.
Vet doesn’t know what’s up. He wasn’t concerned at all. Might be an allergy which I why I asked about using benadryl. I’m really hoping it’s not a food allergy.
Nutro isn’t as good as it use to be years ago. I won’t feed it or recommend it.
Canned food is normally 72% moister, you would do better to use Raw or dry kibble that you have weighed out and then soak with water. It will save you money too.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by
JASTECH.
Guysguysguysguys! I found something this cat won’t eat! (Besides raw chicken, but I’ll work him on that lol) Whitefish. Yep! I made up his food yesterday and since it was small cans I had to mix them to get the right amount ( I mix canned and dry together so that he doesn’t get picky on me). He’s never cared about what I mixed together and some of his wellness cans are tuna, but I had a can of Blue Buffalo weight management whatever and it was whitefish. In the morning he ate it, but he was like “what the crap is this?” And then after I got home from work (around 6:30), I was immediately shoved off to my grandparents for dinner and we didn’t get home until like 9 or so, so I couldn’t feed him his 3 meals, and had to give him a big meal before bed.
Usually he just munches all night, but this morning over half of it is still there LOL The BB did have a strong fish smell. I don’t think he liked that to begin with. Fine by me, but don’t waste the food, you brat! You could at least pick at it Lol I woke up entirely too early this morning, and he came up and bothered me and tried to eat my fingers, then decided he’d go back down and eat the food anyways, but I took it up since I want him to actually eat his food today and it’s been sitting out all night.
So there we have it! A food he actually won’t eat. I’m so proud LOL
Hello HDM et al!
We just brought home our new 9 week old / 13 lbs Newfoundland from the breeder this weekend and I’m looking to soon transition from the Pro Plan Adult Large Breed she’s currently eating to one from the recommended list (dry kibble). She’s already on the small side for a newf and also a bit too skinny, so we’re trying to bulk her up (though still keep her on the thin side). Based on what I’ve gathered from reading nearly every post in this forum, I’ve narrowed it down to 1) Earthborn Holistic: Coastal Catch, 2) Innova LB Puppy and 3) Dr Tim’s Kinesis. Was looking at Fromm’s as well but a bit concerned about some of the recent posts about owners having issues. Also A bit hesitant on the Innova and Dr Tim’s due to the lower protein levels. Any thoughts on what food from either the grain or grain-free lists would be best for trying help her build up some some muscle but also maintain healthy growth?
Many thanks!
Geez….pro plan went GF? I’d guess this is their first GF food. I seriously have lost all respect for them! They trick so dang many people! Most people don’t think about researching out the ingredients, they’re going to trust the back of that bag to be telling truthful things. Ugh!
I mean, if they even had /one/ decent food line, then I might not hate them as much. But everything is about money, not “your pet. Our passion” smh!!!
And I’m especially upset because I have to feed it to a puppy that I take care of -_- Pro Plan Focus large breed puppy. They are a wealthy family who thinks they’re giving the best to their lil girl. I’d try to slowly move her to my food instead, but it’d be bad for her if anything. As soon as she’d get used to my food, she’d have to go back to her home and eat that junk :/ she’s only 13wks and already has that signature “Labrador” stink as well as a super dry flaky coat! Poor baby!
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This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by
Shasta220.
There shouldn’t be any problem with dry food at all unless you are flying overseas. Canned food can be a problem, you would have to put it in your checked baggage and I don’t know if there is a chance the cans would pop. I think they should be stronger than that. You could try mailing food ahead.
So, I have two dogs. My female is a 12 year old Old English Sheepdog and my male is a 4 year old Dachshund/Terrier mix. I have noticed that my OES has been pretty picky with what she eats lately. She was normally on anything with Lamb and I wasn’t really paying too much attention to whether or not her food was grain free despite her constant itching and chewing of her paws throughout the years. She was constantly getting yeast infections in her ears but my vet never told me to change her diet. I recently decided to switch up her diet on my own to various reactions. I tried Zignature’s Lamb formula and she seemed to like it but wouldn’t touch it after a month of eating it. Then I moved her onto Earthborne Holistic Meadow Feast, which she had a HORRIBLE allergic reaction to. I am not sure what in that mix caused the reaction (eye swelling, lethargy, fever, vomiting, etc) but I wondered if it might have been the Tapioca? I am not sure though. Since that experience I put her on California Natural’s Kangaroo formula but she would only eat it if I put about 1/4th cup of warm water in it…this is something I had never done before but thought I would try after reading that someone else did that with their dog’s food…this caused ANOTHER problem with my dog…she didn’t chew the food with it being watered down but instead decided to just slurp it up and then wound up with food stuck in her esophagus. This ended my watering down of the food.
Since THAT I have put her on Acana Duck & Bartlett Pear and at first she seemed to go CRAZY for it but her love for it has cooled and now I have started mixing canned food with her dry food which she goes nuts for. However, I am not sure how much to give her? I normally let my dogs have a full bowl every day since I have grazers but the canned food has become scheduled at night. Before that, she will not touch the dry food. Should I be concerned about this? She has the dry food out to eat but she isn’t eating it unless the canned is mixed it. Buying both grain free canned and such an expensive grain free dry for her is a little much for my budget. Should I try a new less expensive grain-free? I was thinking of moving over to Fromm’s to see if she would like their Beef recipe or maybe the pork? I don’t know if those are ok for senior dogs though? Someone I know mentioned that I should watch the form of protein she is getting since she is older now but they didn’t say WHAT protein to go for. Is there truth in that??
Of course, my main concern is that she is getting enough food. Is it ok that she is just eating one big meal a day but not touching her dry food the rest of the day??
A few thoughts, as I am studying this topic as well. FYI I have given my 10 yr old golden retriever the little round garlic capsules from Whole Foods-pinkish label. One in AM and one in PM. I drop it in her food bowl. We live on a wooded lot in NC and I have NEVER seen a flea on her! I studied for 6 years for a PhD and my chair was the founding president of the American Holistic Medical Assoc, a former Harvard Neurosurgeon, BUT VERY BIG ON avoiding chemicals and pharmaceuticals whenever possible (which can be most of the time actually). He is very informed on holistic remedies, incl homeopathic, and says HE uses a product called CEDARCIDE on his several dogs for ticks and fleas. Says it’s great and it works! He lives in Missouri also in the country/ woods. It’s sold at Amazon by the quart but you can get a better deal by ordering a gallon. My container arrived yesterday and I have already sprayed it on the dogs. It has a cedar-ish fresh smell. Dr. S told me he just sprays and rubs it into the fur a couple times a week. Reviewers swear by this stuff. It’s called “BEST YET” by Cedarcide. And it is super – SAFE! My doc advisor does not put the chemicals in his dogs either. I have not asked him about heartworms but I will. Someone ELSE Who has several dogs and who I respect told me there is a product called PBG-51. The link to the site is http://www.firstchoicenaturals.com/resourcearticles/parasitesbegonefrom mypet.php. I am told that this product is not advertised for heartworms for legal reasons BUT it protects against them. I am studying that now as would like to get OFF Sentinel. I used to give my golden Sentinel only half the year. Two yrs ago my vet sat me down and nicely chewed me out saying the dog is vulnerable in NC all year around. So I promised I would keep her on it. Last thing – I am the one who has the GSD who was 18 mos in jan and wandered into big digestive troubles trying to transition him to Origen then to ACADA — several of you have helped me so much. I have discovered in this awful experience with all his loose stools and diarrhea that a flea/tick collar I bought at the vet (Solesto – made by Bayer) is probably one of the culprits for my Shepherd’s digestive disorder. The DAY after the vet’s secretary fitted Axel with the collar he had diarrhea IN the house and IN the yard. Everywhere he went the entire weekend diarrhea was falling out of him. I was going crazy. Two weeks later I realized that it was NOT the HILLS nasty WD Rx dry food he was on that caused this sudden diarrhea– geeze that stuff is like eating HAY and no way could he have the squirts on it. I had just started giving him a little Science Diet Sensitive Stomach. BUT I bought that collar as I went out the door at the vet. It HAD to be the collar. I looked on line and found that among all the LOVERS of the collar there are some detractors as well whose dogs also had bad diarrhea. So watch out about that collar!
That’s all I know for now. PS: Cedarcide gets rid of all insects, including BED BUGS!!
Nancy C
Well Pet makes Wellness & Holistic Select, the Holistic Select Grain free Puppy is suppost to be very good it has 4.5 stars, The Holistic Select Duck meal & Lamb meal is a hydrolized kibble so it goes nice & soft within 1 minute when you add a bit of water… I then quickly drain… They also have a good selection of wet & dry foods if you want to rotate between proteins… http://www.holisticselect.com/recipes.aspx?…
I agree, it is probably the sugar in the Beneful that he likes. If you can, get him off of it ASAP. I would also go with the Wellness Core Puppy and see how he likes it. If he likes it softer, you can always top it with some canned, or add lukewarm water, let it sit for a few minutes, then mush it up and serve.
Remember that rotation is always good, so you can try other puppy foods or all-life-stages foods from the link on the right on the homepage, Best Dry Foods (it has sub-links I believe, called “5-star dry puppy foods” and “4-Star Dry Puppy Foods”) and browse around. Some better kibbles that have been tried by forumers are Earthborn Holistic Grain Free (but the puppy grain-inclusive one is good too), Dr. Tim’s, Victor, Vets Choice Holistic Health Extension, and then the slightly more questionable Blue Buffalo Wilderness, TOTW, Canidae Pure.
Good luck!
Just add a little bit of water to dry food. Let it sit for a few minutes, mix it up, and let him at it. I used to have to that for my 8 pound Jack Russell mix.
If you want to go the grain inclusive Wellness route, the Complete Health Small and Toy Breed recipe is the best looking one, and super high in calories (meaning you feed even less than the others). It has a puppy counter part, as well, that is a bit lower in calories. I don’t know if the first one is All Life Stages or not. Thats now to say the rest of the Complete Heath recipes are bad foods, but those be my first pick of the Complete Health line. But I’d still go for the CORE recipes over the Complete Health ones. 🙂
One local pet store chain in my area does the $5.00 off of $30 or $10.00 off of $60 coupons, but they don’t let you use any other coupons with that one due to the “not valid in conjunction with any other offer” printed on it. 🙁 They will ring me up separate if I want to use any other coupons for purchases though. So I save their $5.00 in house coupon for dry cat food purchases if I don’t have any better coupons to use on the cat’s dry food.
Hi everyone,
I’m new to the forum, I came across it when trying to find out if the puppy food we recently purchased was all that the bag said it was. We bought Purina beneful puppy food with soft morsels, and I’m sure you can imagine my horror when I found out that not only was the packaging less than honest about its nutritional content, but that it was downright bad for our dog!
We adopted him at about 11 weeks, he’s now 6 months old, and we believe that he is a labrador/jack russell mix. He was always picky about his kibble – we started him on the kirkland dry puppy food, then went to Taste of the Wild, which he sort of ate, and then moved to Purina – which he seems to really enjoy. Problem is, it’s not good for him!
I think the main reason he enjoys it is because it has softer bits in it, though that’s just a guess. So, my question is, what dry puppy food do you think would be the best fit for him? I’d like to find something that’s 4-or-5 stars, but nothing extraordinarily expensive. I was thinking about getting the Wellness Complete puppy recipe – it’s relatively affordable, and he went nuts over the Wellness salmon puppy treats, so I figured he would enjoy the same brand of kibble that’s also made with salmon.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Jakes mom:
Yes, I agree we are doing better! 🙂
I love the kids pool idea!!! You were a crazier cat person. lol
I don’t mind cheating once in a while. I am always thinking of what to give them for a meal a few times a week, other then cat food, that is good for them for budget reasons of course. Only a few of them will eat boiled chicken.
My hypo cat (11 yrs) is doing well also, has energy, seems happy, always loveable, but I have been battling dry skin. Fish & coco oil has helped a great deal and it is much better now that winter is over. Fingers crossed, Kefir will help also.
Did you give them the livers raw? I am so jealous, my cats walked away from the gizzards and hearts, Bobby just played with his. Maybe livers will be next to try, I am not going to give up. lol Let us know how the chicken back went.
I gave the cats and Jake some chix livers today, they loved it!! Also bought some chix backs, will give one to Jake tomorrow.
Bobby dog, I agree with you, I wish my guys had never eaten dry food or soy, wheat, etc! But you know that old saying,” when you know better, you do better” Now that’s us, doing better for our kids!
I keep forgetting to tell you and C4c about another DIY cat box. When I was a crazier cat lady and had 13, I used one of those plastic kid’s pools as a cat box. The sides aren’t very high so not a good choice if you have a cat that flings litter around but good for older cats or babies to climb in and out.
I also have a hyperthyroid cat, he’s almost 19 and doing great. He still loves to play and holds his own with the other ones when we play with the fishing pole type toys.
One more food to add to our list if you don’t mind “cheating” once in a while . I accidently grabbed a can of dog food instead of cat. My cats absolutely loved BB Basics turkey and potato dog food!
BobbyDog-
My hyper kitty does not, thankfully have dry skin. Her main issue is occasional vomiting. Which gets a little old cleaning up. But the meds have definitely helped. Also Nutro Max is another canned food I use for cats that is on the budget friendly list. It usually runs about $1 for the 6 oz can. I wish I could find as great of a deal on cat food as the Pure Balance or Cuts in Gravy dog food though.
I am Halle’s mom. Halle is a greyhound, a breed that’s known for touchy gastric tracts. I got Halle from Greyhound Pets Northwest. When I got her from her foster mom, she was 5.5 years old, and didn’t have particularly firm stool. Things went from bad too worse, there was almost constant diarrhea. We finally ended up with TD Science Diet, which is intended for dogs with bad teeth. I have to get it from my Vet and it’s pretty spendy. It’s also so dry that it practically bounces when it hits the ground. Halley has lost several pounds over the last couple of years. Both my Vet and I wonder it its time to switch food. Last bit of info: She is 11 years old and doesn’t show much sign of aging. Any help with this problem will be most gratefully accepted.
C4c:
Purina loves to put fish in everything. But at least there is the Pro Plan Finesse chic, One Turkey & Fancy Feast Turkey varieties to give a whirl with the coupons (every little bit helps). I feed something with fish once or twice a week because the cats go on hunger strikes if I don’t; they are such brats.
Last Sunday I started giving my older kitty with hyperthyroidism kefir daily to see if that will help with his dry skin. He had a round of antibiotics about a month ago when he lost his tooth. He developed a small infection but had no other problems with the loss of his tooth and his bloodwork came back excellent. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I swear the dry spots don’t look as irritated. IDK…
If I had to do it all over again my cats would never had eaten any dry food, fish, corn, wheat, or soy. They would also eat pumpkin puree’ and coconut oil without any issues. Oh well, now I know better. I am going to give Chicken Soup a try for my kitties since you and Jakes mom have had success with it. They are getting tired of Wellness and Merrick. I am going to see if I can find out where Natural Balance and TOTW is canned too.
Akari:
I wish Petsmart was closer to me! ugh It just isn’t worth the gas even with the coupon because I just stocked up, oh well. They also irritate me because they don’t sell canned food over the Internet.
I think you will be fine trying some dry food. You know what to look for as far as his litter habits are concerned. I think the dry with the fish ingredient will be fine also. I feed dry too just not as much as they would like to eat. I actually bought three small bags of the Wellness kitten that has fish meal in it for $3.24 each that were on the clearance rack to mix in with their regular food. I couldn’t pass up that bargain! lol
See what happens when you give up on a cat!! Next thing you know they start doing what you wanted them to do; I’ll write it again, they are such brats. 🙂
Oh I know! I plan to do half the recommended amount of dry and half the recommended amount of canned, and still add water to his canned.
I did not use the SN coupon that PetSmart has out, but if you go here… -> http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/allthosethingsilove_2?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.allthosethingsilove.com%2Fpetsmart-5-off-simply-nourish-pet-food-coupon-2-free-cans-with-purchase-2%2F&dm_redirected=true#2494
… It tells you how to get it. I used a $5 off any Natural or Specialty food coupon that prints out on the receipt. It would have worked the same either way lol
I think that would be fine. Just remember how important it still is to keep feeding some wet food everyday. I’ve never given my cats rabbit. I’d like to give it a try. Is Simply Nourish a Pet Smart brand? Where did you get the coupons? As far as the fish being the 12th ingredient, I personally don’t think it is an issue. My senior, 15 year old cat has developed hyperthyroidism, but I fed her the fancy feast fish variety pack for probably 4 or 5 years along with her dry food everyday. Oh how, I wish I knew better! I thought I was feeding them really well. I caught it early and with a tiny pill daily, she is doing fine. So point being, I don’t think a little fish now and then will hurt. I believe it is the high level of iodine that can lead to the condition. Sounds like you are turning in to a crazy cat lady. Welcome 🙂 lol!
Hey guys! The cat is drinking really well now (another inch gone from the fountain over the last day!), so I’ve decided to add dry food back into his diet. I’ve got a good deal on Simply Nourish Source, so I’m gunna get a small bag of the Rabbit and a small bag of the Kitten Chicken and Turkey. The rabbit one does have fish, but it’s 12th on the list, so I don’t think it matters too much, but I’d still like to hear thoughts on that. Still an hour before I get there, at least. I’m also gunna get two free cans of the Source. Not sure on the flavor yet lol
Akari, yay! I knew he’d finally try it. I bet seeing the dog do it was the push he needed. He wouldn’t want to let the dog have anything just to himself! lol!
I’ve tried several flavors of Sheba and my cats won’t eat it. I bought some wellness food, dry and canned and they weren’t thrilled with that, either, brats! They do like chick soup, Merrick, TOTW and Natural Balance. That’s why it’s good to have a dog, too, he’s more than happy to clean up the unwanted cat food.
BCn, I bought chicken backs and chicken livers today, will let you know what the kids think about it. Also saw pork necks, would that be good for Jake?
So, maybe it doesn’t have to be senior food. I’m getting a bit overwhelmed and quite honestly, I’m sure i’m overthinking things too much. I’m a dog mom who loves her furbabies.
I have two seniors eating wellness complete health senior dry food (rated 3.5). I started feeding them that because one of my beagles had a couple of blood tests showing elevated BUN levels and she has a history of low specific gravity results. Now does my dog have renal issues? The vet isn’t sure because the last two or three tests have been normal. So, she has sort of said she may have some renal insufficiencies. That is sort where we are.
So I was looking for foods .7, .8, or no higher than .9 phosphorus, that was moderate in protein, low in fat based on the fact that both aren’t as active as they used to be. Both seniors are not as active as they used to be. They do go on walks every morning and evening and keeping their weights in check is always something I have to close monitor, but they don’t play like they used to.
I had pretty much decided on the Blue Buffalo wildnerness senior formula, and possibly the new red meat formula. I’m on the fence now because it seems that opinions are the food is overpriced for what’s in it (marketing) and it may not be as good a food as I thought. I wanted to go grain free because I am noticing a little bit of digestion issues over the last few months. From some of your wonderful feedback, I’m beginning to learn that grain free isn’t always best either. I’m willing to go with grains, but I’m still not educated enough to know what are good grains. From what I have learned, its looking for foods rich in meat? That sort of balances out some grains? I hope I am getting that right. Someone at our local pet store (pet valu) suggested holistic select senior as it’s moderate in protein and fat and low in phosphorus. Is this a good food even though it has grains?
So anyway, I would love some thoughts or feedback….
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This topic was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by
Sarah Y.
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This topic was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Sarah Y.
Hi Guys and Gals
A few years ago when it became clear that there was a problem with the Chinese Jerky I started to make my own jerky treats. I use only free-range chicken for my chicken jerky and wild caught fish for my fish jerkies. My treats have only one ingredient, meat fish or poultry. I use fresh meats from local supermarkets like Whole Foods so all of my treats are human edible. I gently dehydrate the meats to make jerky. I vary the drying times so I can make a more chewy treat or a crunchy treat.
Since dogs are designed to eat a diet high in meat and low in carbs plus they absolutely love jerky treats I wish you guys would make your dog’s treats with more meat and less carbs. You don’t need to use flour or a lot of starches if you make jerky type treats. You can use whole meats, fruits and vegetables or you can grind up mixtures of meat and veggies or fruits and dehydrate them. You can make them in an oven at the lowest temperature or you can use a dehydrator. Veggies and fruits will add antioxidants and vitamins while meat will supply the needed protein and fat.
Even though I call them treats the jerky I make is designed for a carnivore like a dog and since dogs absolutely love meat based treats it is a win win situation!
Hi C4c:
I don’t know if you read all of this thread, but I made a “grocery store” food list. We discussed it before how our cats can/are addicted to Purina foods for various (mostly unhealthy) reasons, what are we gonna do? So I have a list of the less offensive varieties from Fancy Feast, Sheba, Purina One, and Pro Plan. The difference between Purina’s Friskies and other lines is basically you will find a named meat first in allot of them, some don’t add fish, some may contain artificial colors/flavors and some don’t, all have K3, and maybe some other undesirable ingredients. If you want I can share my list and you can see what I have weeded out solely on ingredients and carb values.
I get frustrated paying almost $2.00/can for good food only for my cats to snub it. So I am now rotating in some Purina foods. After figuring out the carbs for each recipe, then eliminating recipes that don’t have named meats first and are high in carbs you are pretty much left with the pate varieties. I have a few fish recipes in there also because my cats still crave their fish.
Go to the Purina website and at the top of the screen you will find a button for coupons. They have a buy one get one free of the Pro Plan canned cat food. This month there are also Fancy Feast and Purina One coupons along with some others that I don’t use for dry dog and cat food. Sheba offers coupons on their Facebook page.
Akari:
I don’t know about the greasy spot maybe someone else will have some info for you. Do you see him licking the area? I just started giving my cat some Kefir daily on Sunday to see if the probiotics might help with his dry skin. I have been mixing it in his food, he has been eating it with no problem.
Bentley found a new toy and it sounds like he may be training Kitty to drink out of the fountain. 🙂 What a good big brother!!!
Give us an update with your diet trial. I was checking out the stew meat also, but I foolishly decided on the toys I mean gizzards and hearts. lol
BTW, Purina has some new coupons up and has reset the pro plan canned cat food coupons.
Hi apologises if there is already a post regarding which puppy/dog food is the best but I am rather new to all this.
We are collecting our 8 week old Labrador puppy called ‘Charlie’ next week. He is currently on IAMs puppy food. When I researched puppy food to find the best online deals it opened up a whole can of worms. Lots of different brands started to grab my attention. Which would you say is the best dry food. As much as the ‘raw diet’ sounds appealing it is just not achievable. I am a busy full time mummy of 5 children ranging from 6-years to 2-years so do not want to commit to that sort of high maintenance diet.
I would be very grateful of any help. Never had a dog before
2 months, 1 week ago
