raw foods

[ZEKESMOM]

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

[slartibartfast]

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

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.

[Epona142]

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.

[slartibartfast]

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.)

[Wolfsnaps]

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!!!

[slartibartfast]

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.

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.

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!!!

This is something we can definitely agree on!

[Epona142]

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! )
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.