just look out for sales and you can average $2/lbs which is roughly what good kibble goes for. take into account the reduced vet visits and you save a considerable amount of money.
Does anyone just feed their cat sardines? That's what I want to do is just feed a cat sardines its whole life. I know my brother fed his cat a lot of deli turkey meat (in addition to regular dry food) until, one day, the cat thumbed his nose at it and wouldn't eat it any more. His other cat died from stomach cancer.
My shih-tzu was on Science Diet when younger. Then I tried to switch him over to Blue Buffalo and it did not sit well with him. My vet didn't recommend it neither. I then went with Orijins: http://www.orijen.ca/dog-food/ However, nowadays he's on Texas brand - Merrick: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/ Make sure to check the ingredients!
You can get chicken quarters and pork for under $2 a pound. You should be feeding your dog about 2% of its body weight a day. for my 80 lb. dog, that is 1.6 lbs of food a day, so I spend a little over $2 a day feeding my dog. That may seem expensive relative to dry food, but I am okay with it. Raw meat is what dogs are designed to eat by means of evolution. They have been eating it for 99% of their existence. Their body is completely unfamiliar with dry, starchy, grainy foods.
Regarding crystals in the urinary tract (and boy, doesn't THAT sound fun), I had a cat that had the same issue, and we switched him Royal Canin Urinary SO food. He never had a problem again. Downside: you need a prescription from your vet to get it, and it's a bit more pricey. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12964507
It seems that a lot of vets try to sell certain brands like Science Diet and Purina when it may not even be the best option. I am guessing they get paid to sell these and push them onto customers. I have 2 GSD's and the breed is known for having sensitive stomachs. One of my dogs periodically has issues with the diarrhea...just out of nowhere. They are just like that and we tried Science Diet, Purina, and Natures Recipe and none of it helped. The only food that helps to prevent stomach issues is Royal Canin GSD formula I told the vet what food we use and why but she kept on trying to sell us some Purina product which had nearly identical ingredients but missing some of the things that our current formula has. So, yes you should listen to the vet but you should also research what they say. Sometimes they are just trying to make $ especially when they say you have to buy certain foods from them...
All the high protein dog food is bad. Dogs do not need more than 30 percent protein in their dog food.
So I can't feed them the stuff I get at the pet store, WTH? What's the point then? The reason I buy these dry dog food at a pet store is CONVENIENCE!!!!! What's with this raw meat bullshet? I ain't got time to be messing with that stuff, the last time I gave him some quarter legs, he spit that shet out!!! My dog is fine with the dry food stuff, you guys are making this worst than it really is.
if the kibble is working for you and your dog then don't change it. but bad kibble is like feeding your kid fast food every day. it's convenient and the kid may even look fine, but is it really healthy?
You have a point. When talking raw food, just any raw meat at krogers or this is sold at Petco I can buy?
Stuff at your local grocery store is fine. I have a big tupperware container in my fridge and just dump all the meat in there. Every morning and afternoon my dog gets about 3/4 pound of meat and bone. I don't see how it less convenient then buying dry dog food. Ask your vet how she/he feels about a raw meat diet. Don't take some random internet stranger's opinion.
When I got into researching dog food, one of things that was prevalent that kept coming up was that dogs in the wild prior to domestication ate mainly protein like their wolf counterparts. They say dogs never had high carb diets in the wild so why would you feed a dog a high carb diet when domesticated? A lot of people are taking a more natural approach to dog food now and just cooking dogs meat (and some vegetables) to eat versus feeding them dry food or anything processed. I would never have the patience to prepare a dog diet like that. About all I can handle is opening a can or bag...and dumping food in a bowl. lol Everything I've heard....high carb diets for dogs are bad. But, who knows what to believe? It's all a bunch of bull. Dogs are going to live however many years dogs are going to live regardless of what they eat...just like we humans. I used to own two Ridgebacks and they were pretty healthy for 11 years. Then, in their 12th year, the problems started but they were freaking senior citizens then. So, for 11 years they ate canned food (whatever the supermarket brand was...Alpo?) and dry food (Purina for many years...then Blue Buffalo in their latter years). I think that one of my dogs got cancer in that 12th year just because it used to eat a lot more than the other dog and it caught up to her. The other dog got neurological problems later six months after the cancer dog died and couldn't walk...and that was that.
True. We don't even have time to cook for ourselves much less for a dog. They better be happy with their fancy dry food which costs us $60 for 35 lbs ... and both of our dogs are over 100 lbs so they eat a lot!
I have a 14 year old husky mix who owes her life to the raw diet. She was born with demodex mange that became symptomatic at age 5. By age 8, the medications to suppress it had lost most of the effectiveness. I was told by no fewer than three vets that she had the worst case they had ever seen. All of them said she was a lost cause and probably wouldn't make it to 10. I switched her to raw shortly after and things started to get better within weeks. She still battles the demodex but but we have had the upper hand for the last five years. I can't think of anything but her diet change as the reason. She is in such great shape that people ask how large she will be when full grown. My vet supports me 100% and says there is huge difference in the overall health of his raw eating patients and the ones who eat commercial dog food.
Yeah that's another thing about the dry dog food from Blue Buffalo duck flavor or something. That sheit is like $65 for a 25 Ibs I think.
Don't know about Blue Buffalo. We use Royal Canin and that's about how much it is. It is never on sale and there are never any coupons
Switching foods cold turkey will not sit well with your pet. You can switch to blue buffalo from supermarket cheap food and it will cause problems. Additionally, there are bad batches of food and old food. This can happen with any product. I have seen animals thumb their nose up at brand new food and wouldn't eat it for days. As someone else mentioned, vets are usually not trained very well on nutrition. Vets do not choose Science Diet because its the best out there. You can ask multiple vets why they choose Science Diet and what other foods they would recommend and you will get a variety of answers. In other words, if you are looking for a diet nutritionist, do not goto your family doctor. The only food/diet that I have heard works best is a raw diet. I don't think I have heard of anyone having problems with that.
My cat has the same issue. We use the Hills brand C/d food for him and he has to eat it the rest of his life as well. Urine crystals in male cats can be a serious issue if not given the right diet
This thread made me re-examine what I'm feeding my dogs. Two of them were getting Iams Sensitive Naturals Ocean Fish, Rice and Barley. I like it. My Jack Russell has skin issues and with this food they've gone away completely (turns out she can't have beef, chicken, or corn). It's also not a bad price - $19.99 for a 10.5 lb bag. The third (fat) dog was getting Royal Canin Satiety Support as recommended by a former vet. It's a prescription food and is pretty expensive. For the first time I actually looked at the ingredients and I wasn't very impressed. I've always planned on getting the fat dog off that prescription diet and get all three dogs on the same food, but he gained weight with the Iams food (the others didn't; he just has unfortunate metabolism I guess). So after a couple days of research, I've settled on Castor and Pollux Ultramix Grain Free. It's even a little cheaper than the Iams food ($1.83/lb vs $1.90/lb). I just ordered it today, so hopefully my dogs like it!
