raw foods

Anyone here feed their dog raw food or barf? I am starting it with 50-50 results.....

So far I have tried chicken parts with one dog who is all for it and one dog who snubs it...

You have a dog who snubs chicken parts? Wow... what breeds do you keep?

Nope I feed Iam's high protein for large breeds. I don't feed people food to my animals, except the cat she loves cheese..I call her my little "cheese elf"..LOL

I feed Innova EVO red meat! :sweeet:

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The EVO line of pet foods have been specially designed to provide all the key nutritional benefits received from the feeding of raw food diets but with the benefits of 21st Century nutritional research. EVO Red Meat Large Bites Dry Dog Food is made from 4 alternative sources of red meat for unparalleled taste and nutrition.

Only the highest quality beef, lamb, buffalo and venison - including the meat, cartilage, fat, bone and connective tissue - are used in the making of EVO Red Meat. Whole fruits and vegetables are added to supply important, health promoting nutrients that dogs would find foraging for food. Live, naturally occurring microorganisms are then gently sprayed on after the cooling process.

If you like the idea of feeding raw, but prefer a gently cooked food that provides benefits that match raw, frozen or home prepared high-meat pet diets, EVO is the answer. EVO is the first grain-free ancestral diet that provides the benefits of modern nutrition in a safe, convenient and cost-effective natural food. Use EVO alone, or as a supplement to your raw or home cooked pet food for a completed and balanced natural feeding.

EVO is an alternative for raw feeders and home-cookers.

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I have a bag of innova evo for both my dogs and cat. In the kibble world, it is a better choice...that and orijen but I have not tried it.

My dachshund/poodle mix is the one who is taking well to the switch. My lab/great dane mix is being finicky....I thought it would have been the other way around...my big masculine dog is being a wuss! lol.

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

I have a bag of innova evo for both my dogs and cat. In the kibble world, it is a better choice...

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Agreed!! Although I wish it came in a larger bag. I go through a 28lb bag in about a week. :O

If you have feed dry dog food for a long time with your dogs and then switch to red meat like steak or hamburger your going throw your dogs digestive system for a loop. Most likely your dog will end up with some really smelly wet farts... dont ask how I know.

I agree that with a change like this, I will probably get to deal with stinky unpleasent things....:eek: :cool:


But this is a change for the best...a change worth a smelly fart or two. :P

haha... one or two? haha...

You see, here's the thing with feeding animals like this. Dry food is everything your dog needs in a balanced amount. If you add raw meat to the mix your throwing off your balance. In order to counter this your dog is going to start eating alot of grass to get the necessary fiber it needs. Your going to be having some problems to deal with. The dogs weight fluctuations, the dog getting the runs from time to time and just generally his new diet is less nutritious than his old. Your just going to need to make sure that you keep an eye on what else your dog decides to ingest for nutrition supplementation that dog food gives that red meat doesnt.

hope this helps

We actually considered doing the B.A.R.F. diet with Diamond when we first got her, but it really was more work than we were able to do at the time, so we abandoned it. I have read a lot of positive feedback on it though.


http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm

http://www.barfworld.com/

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Originally Posted by Gooseman

haha... one or two? haha...

You see, here's the thing with feeding animals like this. Dry food is everything your dog needs in a balanced amount. If you add raw meat to the mix your throwing off your balance. In order to counter this your dog is going to start eating alot of grass to get the necessary fiber it needs. Your going to be having some problems to deal with. The dogs weight fluctuations, the dog getting the runs from time to time and just generally his new diet is less nutritious than his old. Your just going to need to make sure that you keep an eye on what else your dog decides to ingest for nutrition supplementation that dog food gives that red meat doesnt.

hope this helps

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When commercial dog food (which is primarily crap IMO) is killing dogs, then raw diets and human foods sure make a lot of sense! It's natural to them anyway... IMO. My dogs get all kinds of people food with their ever changing brands of dog food and they never get sick ever ever, no vomiting, runny stools, refusing to eat, lethargy, grass eating... although they'll never stop eating the green onions that grow out back LOL... they love them. It would make more sense to me that the raw diet would be more complete than that by-product, wheat gluten, ground corn, crap that comes standard in almost every bag of commercial dog food.

OP, you will want to research what kinds of variety you need to do this right, but I commend your effort to feed the healthiest food you can. With all the critters dying from their food here lately, I've strongly considered switching my 4 dogs and 5 cats (includes fosters) to some kind of prepared by me concoction, but so far have not done so... I'm sure it'd be better than that sick sick feeling I get every time I buy a bag of food... and then I watch to see if the girls eat well and how much are they drinking and are there any signs that something isn't right... I guarantee if it was baby food we'd have it settled but animals are still dying and we're still finding out about new recalls... it's upsetting to say the least... Check with your vet what the dosage of beano you can provide your dogs with would be... my understanding is it's a pretty safe med, but ALWAYS consult your vet before taking net-strangers medication advice :D

jmo

Then don't buy commercial dog food...

I buy Wellness, Innova is good too, as Canidae, Flint River Ranch, etc. Don't buy crapola and you won't have problems.

I've read countless studies where a test group was fed their normal high quality dry food diet, and the other test group was fed a raw only diet with and without vitamins/minerals/etc added. One study was done on cats and over time, the raw food eating group started having heart valve problems, blindness and other problems associated with taurine, an essential amino acid, deficiency.

If you want to feed raw, do it right, feed a whole animal so your dogs/cats are getting everything they need like they would in the wild.

But anyway, that's just me :)

Wow! What a response!


Ok, feeding raw can be a little tricky and confusing..I have read about BARF (which is feeding ratios such as 60% meat, 30% bone 5% organ meat 5%vitamins....as an example) Barf sounds complicated, time consuming, and expensive. Basically, you are feeding raw foods with additives such as flax seed, supplements, and vegetables.

Then there is the prey model diet which is basically just feeding animals carcasses (hmm, yum....carcass). This is simple and is the one I am going to try first. From what I have researched, you just feed animal parts or whole animals (cornish game hen anyone?)YOu can feed a variety of animals to your dogs as long as you introduce it slowly so as not to upset their tummies...
I have seen people feed goat,deer,bison,ostrich,chicken,turkey,duck,fish,lamb,cow,etc.

Now a word on balance. Every meal you feed your dog does not have to be 100% balanced....this is AAFCO's deceitful misleading..you know that symbol you see on dog food? AAFCO balanced nutrition.....blah blah blah...just buzz words to get you to think you are doing what is right. I also LOVE how some companies put on the bag "For a long, healthy life" Yeah, corn will keep my dog in tip top shape. Sawdust gives my dog that extra fiber he needs! PSHHHH....look, dogs have become domesticated, which affects their behavior, NOT their diet. In the wild, wolves do not count calories, and they do not make sure they have equal parts protein to phosphorous every day..They do however, tend to switch up their prey items (not by choice but by availability) Over the long haul, variety is key to promoting balance.
We as humans do not even eat balanced meals everyday, and yet, we THRIVE, don't we? We also aren't forced to eat the same dry kibble day in and day out ...how boring!
The more I read, the more I learn. I don't believe everything I read though, I am no sucker. But I DO beleive that veterinarians get paid to promote certain dog foods...I BELIEVE vets do not know as much about nutrition as they should (I mean, you are what you eat, right?) Eating healthy promotes health, so in doing this for my dogs, I am hoping it will help change my fiance's diet as well..
I guess I am on a health kick

When you feed chicken and any poultry whole, like the game hen you're talking about... What are the concerns/precautions about the bones? I'd always heard that bird bones were very dangerous.

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Originally Posted by gibbrishclown

When you feed chicken and any poultry whole, like the game hen you're talking about... What are the concerns/precautions about the bones? I'd always heard that bird bones were very dangerous.

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Good point! I've always heard that also!

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Originally Posted by daaangconcepts

Good point! I've always heard that also!

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My girl Cristal got away with it once... stinkin azz dog! I was eating chicken wings on the floor (I get pretty decent respect when I'm eating) but then I had to show a friend out (not sure why people need me to get the door for them to leave but whatever) and she ate my bones... she may have survived because she never chewed, but I was just sick. I'd had a few beers, so I had to stop drinking and the party stopped for me because I was afraid I was going to have a middle of the night vet run :mad: She was fine... still is. :rolleyes: rotten azz mutt :D

Cooked chicken bones are dangerous. They become brittle and splinter easy, which can in turn puncture the esophogus, stomach wall, etc. They are harder to digest and should NEVER be fed to your dog. Raw bones, however, are soft and plyable. Dogs have stronger stomach acids than humans do. In fact,bones are good for your dog if fed correctly. This is where they get their calcium, phosphorus, etc. It is also what keeps the teeth clean and healthy. There is always a possibilty that a dog will choke, however, dogs have choked on kibble and died from it. Dogs have choked on so called "teeth cleaners" like greenies and nylabone which the companies lull you into thinking are SAFE!

People often worry about salmonella, e.coli, etc. Again, the stomach acids are a wonder in dogs. They can handle it, unlike us mere humans.:) Also, I read somewhere that dog saliva contains lysosomes which kill harmful bacteria that get into their mouths from eating raw foods...I still have to research that before I am confident about it.

Anyways, how many wolves do you know that died from eating raw food? If this were the case, wolves would be extinct.

I've heard the BARF advocates say that raw bones are okay, but I've also seen dogs come into the ER with horrible problems from eating them too. "Raw bones don't splinter the same as cooked bones do" is what I commonly hear...maybe they don't splinter the -same- way, but they sure as heck do make some ugly looking spiky shards...not at all pretty when mixed with bloody vomit secondary to eating said bones.

Also, when you feed cornish game hens, how do you compensate for the entrails? I don't know of anywhere to safely acquire E. coli and Salmonella-free chicken guts, yah know? I suppose you could feed whole rodents and rabbits, maybe quail?

Either way, it sounds like too much work and mess. My dogs thrive on their good commercial kibble, and I don't intend to change it....

I was just curious if anyone else fed raw. I am new to this. I am not trying to change anyones ideas, just state what I believe to be true. SLARTIBARTFAST, you keep doing what you do. What do you feed your animals?

Feeding bones is a bit of a concern, but it is a risk I am careful about. I think the dogs are doing an excellent job crunching the bones down and I would intervene if I thought they would gulp anything down. My dogs are pretty meticulous. You really have to "know" your dog when feeding a diet like this I think.

My dogs often eat pork and beef bones... more pork ribs though when momma makes barbecue ribs :D *drool* Those are rather sharp in places too when they're destroying them... so far so good... I only asked the question because I've heard soo much conflicting info on the subject!

As long as the bones are raw. I think the size of the dog might be a factor, as well as his crunching habits. As I am new I closely monitor my dogs while they eat. Too small of a bone has to be watched with my large dog and I will closely watch my small dog with the larger bones. I have only offered chicken thighs and wings but there are so many animals to choose from. I am offering only chicken right now as this is a gradual change. They say the biggest mistake people make when starting raw is giving too much variety in the beginning. So right now they are only on chicken.

Well...I feed my dogs commercial kibble also. As far as bones go. Abosolutely not! None! My oldest dog...Daisy...is a chow lab mix and is a pretty "thick" dog. She is full grown now. When she was younger we would bought her those chew bones at the store and She would decour them. In a matter of minutes. But soon after she finished them we would find she'd have regurged. So we stopped buying those and I never "gave" my dogs chicken bones. Jeff gave Daisy a ham bone and the same thing happened! And any time she would get a bone from an unattended plate or the trash weather it be pork, steak, or whatever...the same thing! She can not digest them. And it would always be little shards and splinters. So we just don't give them bones at all.

I also knew a lab when I was little that ate some chicken bones from out of the trash and it died from the splintering. It was my neighbors and it was so horrible!

but to each his own i reckon!

JEFFNME what you are saying seems to be about cooked bones, which are horrible to give dogs. OUt of the trash, off of dinner plates, of COURSE these animals are going to get sick/die. Cooking makes these bones into weapons basically. I am talking raw, straight off the chickens back.

You bought some chew treat at a pet store and your pet didn't digest it.....what a shocker! The kind of things I am talking about would most likely come from a butcher shop.

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

JEFFNME what you are saying seems to be about cooked bones, which are horrible to give dogs. OUt of the trash, off of dinner plates, of COURSE these animals are going to get sick/die. Cooking makes these bones into weapons basically. I am talking raw, straight off the chickens back.

You bought some chew treat at a pet store and your pet didn't digest it.....what a shocker! The kind of things I am talking about would most likely come from a butcher shop.

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[QOUTE=jeffnme] I never "gave" my dogs chicken bones. Jeff gave Daisy a ham bone and the same thing happened! And any time she would get a bone from an unattended plate or the trash weather it be pork, steak, or whatever...the same thing! She can not digest them. And it would always be little shards and splinters. So we just don't give them bones at all.[/QUOTE]

I understand...I was simply stating I give my dogs NO bones cooked or raw.

Why not to give cooked bones: a case history.

"Buddy" is a 3 year old neutered male Boston Terrier mix. He presented for vomiting, bloody stool and abdominal pain. When a rectal temperature was obtained, there was a "gritty" feeling, and frank blood on the thermometer.

When queried about possible foreign body ingestions, the owners said that the day before they had given him some pork shoulder bones from a BBQ but felt that was not the problem. The dog immediately vomited a large volume of blood and bone fragments. (This was intensely funny, but of course you can't laugh at clients to their faces).

X-rays revealed a GI tract packed with radiographically opaque material (bones). Buddy was hospitalized on IV fluid support with heavy pain control to allow him to pass the bone fragments naturally. Radiographs are attached.

Lateral view (large image):
http://slrt24.winvoice.com/donteatbones/2005-10-15%20027.jpg
The dog is on his side, head at the left side of the screen and pelvis at the right. You can see that his colon is more dense than his skeleton. This is not supposed to happen!

Ventral-dorsal view (large image):
http://slrt24.winvoice.com/donteatbo...0-15%20028.jpg
The dog is on his back, chest at the top of the image and pelvis at the bottom.
We saw a very similar one with raw bones, but it was a larger dog and the owners didn't authorize x-rays so I don't have cool pics. The dog was vomiting spiky pieces of chewed up vertebra and blood. Not sure what kind of animal, as the dog had been missing all day.

It's interesting this thread came about...I'm starting to switch our pets (cats and dogs) back over to raw foods...weird...great minds think alike!
Because of issues with my rottweilers and there BARK diet (mainly the bones and they fact the dogs ate WAY to fast...being there was 13 of them) I just feed the meat/organs and soft tissues...you can always puree the bones or parts you are worried about...why throw them out?

THEAUDONE, you could try feeding the dogs frozen or partially frozen raw meaty bones. It would slow them down.

Well I can't really say much good about the way my grandmother feeds her dogs. It is terrible, and I just know that if my grandmother doesn't change her ways soon, Haley will die a few years short. She feeds them Kibbles N' Bits dry and wet food. I am going to ask around and see if this food is good or like many of the other pet foods available, CRAP. She also leaves out a BOWL FULL of large milkbones broken into smaller pieces (the dogs are Yorkies), so basically they have a bowl full of treats available all day long. Now, you'd think that just a bowl full of treats, plus a bowl full of kibble, and wet food at night, would be the end of it. Nope!

My grandmother also feeds table food to her dogs. They will sit by the table and whine and beg until she gives them some. She feeds them cooked chicken, fish, beef, ect. Also, these dogs get no excersize (sp). They don't play with toys and the most activity they get is if someone comes to the door or if they go outside for 5 min to go to the bathroom. Yorkies are supposed to be around 5-6lbs, no more, right? The vet said Keltie, the runt of her litter, would probably not reach over 4 or 5 lbs. She is now 7-9lbs. Haley, the biggest one, weighs somewhere around 11lbs. Almost twice what she should be.

I've started taking them for walks to reduce thier weight, but I guess we'll see. My grandmother may be in her 60's, but if she's active enough to work and move heavy furniture, I think she can spare 15 min a day to walk her own dogs.

As for me, I can't tell you what I feed my dogs because I don't have dogs of my own. I have cats, and they eat Nutro Indoor Formula. They love it. The ONLY time I give them people food is when I eat tapioca pudding and they only get to lick the carton. Occasionally, and we are talking like once or twice a month, they will get tuna or some other kind of fish. Other than that, no people food.

I was considering trying a raw diet for them, so if anyone could provide some really good links about it, I'd be a very happy cat-owner.

Wow, it seems like the only good thing your grandma's yorkies are getting is the table scraps. Cooked meat is ok, its better than kibble....no cooked bones though, can't stress that enough. Kibbles and bits, ol roy, beneful, purina dog chow (which is what we were giving our dogs before :( ) ALL CRAPOLA....just because the dogs will eat it doesnt mean it is good for them. I wouldn't let a child eat chips and candy everyday!

But it is hard to get people to change their minds on things like this. If they don't want to learn ,they wont. I am getting so much flack for feeding my dogs actual chicken. Stuff like "your dogs eat better than you" "Those poor kids in china" blah blah blah. I love my dogs, they are my furkids. I want them to live a long, healthy happy life.

Yea, I told my grandmother that the food she was feeding was bad for them. She says that the other foods were too expensive. I pay about $25-30 on food for my cats a month. As far as I know, they are eating the good stuff. Before they were eating Whiskas which I was told was crap, so I switched them. I'd rather pay a lot of money and know my cats are getting the right kind of food, then feeding them junk just because it costs less.

Well I broke down and the cats are licking up some plain vanilla icecream. They've had a lot of exersize lately so I figured a little bit wouldn't hurt. But I'm going to add some extra play time tonight to make up for it. Normally I don't feed them anything with dairy since some cats can't digest it.

My grandmother won't change her mind on the kind of food she feeds her dogs. I've been trying for almost a year to get her to change the food, and she won't listen. Since they eat it, (one of them is a picky eater) she buys it.

Isn't it amazing that people will buy expensive dogs (ex: yorkies....400 to 2000 dollars) but won't shell out the $1 a pound to feed their pets something good? Seriously, you can get by on a dollar a pound for something good for your dog.

My grandmother paid $600 per dog and feeds them crap. I paid $0 for one cat, and $100 adoption fee for the other and I feed them good food. I noticed when I fed them Whiskas, they would eat and eat and eat. With Nutro dry, they fill up faster because the food is better for them, and they don't eat as much. They love it. Tyran walked around on my chest meowing this morning until I got up to feed them.

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Originally Posted by daaangconcepts

I feed Innova EVO red meat! :sweeet:

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good food!

We started using this brand within the last year: http://www.canidae.com/

We had some issues with our dogs eating their poo and throwing up. We tried a few different types of foods all of good quality as hard as it was to be careful about changing foods on them. The Canidae has been the best so far, both dogs have shown improvement. My dog (redbone coon hound) still has a bit of a poo fetish but not nearly as bad. My wife has done real well with them as far as feeding. We only give each dog the recommended amount based on weight as well as a time limit to eat it (not an exact time). We also separate them to make sure both get what they need.

I think the poop eating comes from malnutrition. A dog doesn't fully digest its food if it is a crappy dog food, so some of it passes. The feces still has edible matter that I suppose would *gag* entice him to eat it.

I get this feeling you're being kind of condescending towards people that don't do a raw diet. I have three healthy dogs that eat dry food, and have thrived on it. My dogs have been very sick when exposed to actual meat. I know part of the argument is 'why should their domesticated diet be different from what it is in the wild', etc... But there are many things different in domestication then there are in the wild. Domesticated dogs eat twice daily, do not have as high an activity level, etc... I don't think all dog food companies are "evil." It just doesn't make sense. I know there's been a huge scare because what has happened with the foods recently and they're being sharply scrutinized now. But I have a hard time believing so many vets would endorse foods that are absolutely awful for your dog. Companies may cut corners, as they do with our foods, but it is simply a fact of life. In regards to the bones, I would never feed cooked or uncooked bones to my dogs. About ten years ago, my border collie had SEVERE digestive tract problems stemming from eating an uncooked chicken bone, and I've decided that it's just not the way to go...

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Originally Posted by darkangel

I get this feeling you're being kind of condescending towards people that don't do a raw diet.

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I don't get that impression at all. :confused:

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Originally Posted by darkangel

I don't think all dog food companies are "evil."

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I agree. Not all commercial dog food companies are "evil." Their has been a few brands mentioned in this thread that make great HEALTHY dry food.

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Originally Posted by darkangel

I know there's been a huge scare because what has happened with the foods recently and they're being sharply scrutinized now.

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As they should be.

???

Not like I'm offended or anything. Just read the thread and felt like I should feel guilty for not feeding my dog raw food. I'm sure many people have success with it. Just giving my opinion, that's all.

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

I think the poop eating comes from malnutrition. A dog doesn't fully digest its food if it is a crappy dog food, so some of it passes. The feces still has edible matter that I suppose would *gag* entice him to eat it.

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You would think this was the case but as I said it was not. We tried vet recommendations which I think was science diet, as well as some other higher end dog foods and the stuff we have now seems to be the best on both dogs digestive systems. My hound has/had the issues more so than my wife's jack russel. The hound gets bad gas often as well, she was a rescue who clearly came from an abusing owner so who knows what she was eating then. Maybe its nerves even now years later she is easily scared :(

Did you know your vet is paid to reccommend Science Diet? By the Science Diet (Hills Farms I believe) company themselves.

I feed my chihuahua and chihuahua/dashie mix raw. I don't really pay much attentian to the BARF trend, as all the suppliments just seem unnessasary to me. They get whole prey, along with large meats, on and off the bone. All raw.
My dogs have clean shiny smooth coats, sparkeling clean teeth, no stink, no health problems, and miniscule poops, even for their small body!
I made this choice long before the petfood recalls, after reading over and over awful things about kibble. And after all, shouldn't food spoil? Not sit on a shelf for months and months, as kibble does.
Here's a fairly good link, with a few pages of info (the best I could dig up on short notice, on the worst possible dial-up!)
http://www.husky-petlove.com/dogfood.html

As for those who feed kibble, no I do not look down upon you! I have seen MANY happy and healthy dogs who eat kibble. This is a choice the owner makes, and I, nor anyone else, has the right to call someone a bad owner by the choice they make, as long as their dog is healthy and happy! And with the millions dieing in shelters....better a home with Ol'Roy (ew!) than no home at all!!

I don' t feed raw but my dogs do get people food...sort of. I cook brown rice and lean ground beef with peas and carrots weekly for them. They are each fed a little over a quarter cup twice a day....both my dogs together do not weigh 10 lbs. I also keep down a dish of pedigree small bites for them. I switched to this about 4 months ago and I am amazed at the change in them. Not only has my littlest one lost weight....he was extrememly chubby from getting "anything" he wanted. I have also not had anymore probs with constipation or runny stools. I did not get them to switch quickly believe me...it was a month before they were actually "looking" for the food at meal times:)

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Originally Posted by Epona142

Did you know your vet is paid to reccommend Science Diet? By the Science Diet (Hills Farms I believe) company themselves.

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Really? Tell me more...I'd love to get some of the fat profits my vet clinic is raking in. Honestly, the only "kick-backs" we get are coupons for Science Diet, should we choose to feed it ourselves. That whole "paid to recommend" thing is a big myth, I promise.

Perhaps I phrased it a little too strictly. Certainly not every vet office is paid to sell and advertise Science Diet, or other brands. But I do believe many are, in some way, shape or form. Why else would they recommend a food with corn (I believe its corn, I may be wrong, but its certainly not meat) as the first ingredient? Heck, we humans can't even digest most of corn, so why do we expect our dogs to? If you feed kibble, I recommend looking for one that has a meat (beef, chicken, lamb) as the first ingredient. That's your best bet!
These are the links I could dig up about it.

http://www.simplyschnauzer.net/hills.html
http://www.4pawsu.com/vet_dogfood.htm (on second look this one looked to be the exact same essay as the first link?)
There's more information out there but my internet is the worst ever, and refuses to load alot of pages, so after a while trying, that's the best I could find on the subject. :(



Am I right? Maybe. I might not be. It wouldn't be the first or the last time! I'm just sharing information that I have had others share with me. :)

I notice that the harshest criticisms in those links come from competitors...hardly an unbiased source. They seem to be saying "We're just as good as them!"

And I'm not sold on the "OMGZ! Corn is teh suck!" thing either. I feed my dogs SciDi Adult Maintenance...I have healthy coats, sparkling eyes, lean muscular bodies, minimal amounts of firm (not loose or hard) stool, and a general vitality that speaks to me of a healthy animal. Where is the eeeeevil corn in any of this? *shrug* There are dogs with allergies to just about anything you can come up with...in the dogs we've done allergy tests on, I've yet to see a single dog come up with anything less than "High" reactivity to human dander. Should I don a gown and mask when I enter their quarantined quarters, just in case my dogs -may- develop an allergy to me? Not bloody likely...they'll keep on sleeping on the bed as they already do. :-)

I really and honestly think that corn as a bad-guy is highly over-emphasised. Yes, it can be hard to digest...when whole. Ground corn is pretty readily accessible, and a good source of one essential amino acid.

Hill's has the studies and the data to back up their claims. Few other diets can say that...there's a lot more anecdotal stuff than real clinical trials. I've seen enough research trials with dogs fed various SciDi products vs. Purina Puppy Chow (they always use that as their default Brand X) to be convinced. Does that mean I'll steer clients away from competing high end brands? Not at all...but it's a heck of a lot better than Meow Mix or Kibbles N' Bits.

(True story...we had a cat with chronic urinary tract inflammation and crystals in his urine...put him on a SciDi prescription (c/d) for life and he got so much better that the owner thought he didn't need it anymore and switched him back to Whiskas or something...cat presented six months later needing emergency bladder surgery to remove the stones that had formed. Now he's back on c/d and doing well and we hope to not see any more stones from him.)

I am sorry if I mad you feel bad about feeding kibble. That wasn't my intention. I am just excited about my choice and disgusted by some of the things I have learned about many commercial foods. They aren't all bad but the most televised ones, the most popular ones; these are some of the worst.

Yes, feeding cheap food is better than being put down in a shelter! I am a proud owner of a former stray and a pup from an accidental litter....

I just think if you educate yourself you will see what I am talking about. Corn, wheat, rice....do they need these things? These ingredients are found in so many dog foods and we as consumers have to ask "why are these things here?" Simple, to make a profit. These things cost less than meat and so it is used as a filler and the companies boast about carbohydrates and energy! Sigh
Dogs have a short digestive tract, which means they can not process a lot of that stuff and so it gets passed. Humans on the other hand, have a long digestive tract and handle grains very well.

Some kibble is ok. I have a back up bag of innova evo for my guys in case they start refusing raw or I have to have somone watch them for me while I am away (getting married soon). I know my mother will watch my little dog and will not want to feed raw while I am gone. Kibble takes about twice as long to digest as raw foods.

You are what you eat. A healthy diet promotes health....a crappy one usually ends up with being sickly, unhealthy, and not happy. I am trying to eat better myself, why not let my dogs eat better too? They have no choice but to eat what I give them. Whether it be kibble or raw, better is best!!!

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

Dogs have a short digestive tract, which means they can not process a lot of that stuff and so it gets passed. Humans on the other hand, have a long digestive tract and handle grains very well.

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This is a bit of misconception. Our systems are pretty similar to a dog or cat's, far moreso than that of any herbivore. We don't digest raw grains very well at all but processed ones are a whole 'nother story and the same is true for dogs.

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You are what you eat. A healthy diet promotes health....a crappy one usually ends up with being sickly, unhealthy, and not happy. I am trying to eat better myself, why not let my dogs eat better too? They have no choice but to eat what I give them. Whether it be kibble or raw, better is best!!!

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This is something we can definitely agree on!

I also must apologize, I'm afraid I may have come off as "high and mighty" ! I certainly didn't mean to.
I believe in feeding what works for your dog/cat! If Science Diet works, well that's perfect! :)
I also my concede you are right about ground corn/wheats being more easily digested than whole. (We all know what happens when we eat whole corn! :P)
If your dog is healthy and happy, then what you are feeding them is just as good as what the next person chooses to feed. :)