Natural Pet Foods - Page 7

[~PurityLake~]

http://animalfoodwarehouse.com/2007/products.html

This is the pet store I shop at.
I used to feed my pets Solid Gold, but after moving to Alaska, I couldn't afford it anymore.
I switched to Nutro's.
I'm calling the Pet store now and they say they carry Innova Evo and he's looking up the prices for me:

Dog: 28# bag - $42.99
Cat: 15# bag - $31.99

Those are the largest bags they carry.
The dog food seems quite a bit more expensive that what we have been paying.
Prices have varied at the store we shop at.
The last time, we paid $35.99 for 20# of Nutro Complete Care Adult cat food
and $35.99 for 40# large breed Nutro's natural choice large breed dog food.

I have two cats. They have two food bowls and I usually put a cup of food in each bowl once a day (when I remember or the meow to let me knowit's empty).
I don't know how much the dog eats out of one of those bowls.

My one dog eats 1 cup of food in the morning and one cup in the evening.

[pjlioness]

Nutro Ultra canned is one of the foods that was tainted with cyanuric acid, melamine, and possibly rat poison. Our Pomeranian Bubbles died from it in February. It also caused some kidney damage to our not-then-1yo Papillon, Daisy May. I will not buy any of their food again, now will I buy from any other company that was involved in that recall. Their ingredients are not high-quality, though their recipes may make it sound like that.

We have now switched our dogs completely to a raw diet. We are using a grain-free dehydrated brand now, and will probably be switching between that and a couple of grain-free frozen raw diets from now on.

[~PurityLake~]

I feed dry food only.
One of my cats won't touch canned food, the other only licks it so I quit buying any canned, even as treats, years! ago.

[Evansmama]

TUlsa, OK Area

I started using this service when I was pregnant with DS. It's wonderful! they deliver organic or all natural (depends) dog food, cat food, bird seed, etc to your house! And the prices aren't bad!

http://petsquadok.com/

[Bearsmama]

Mamas,
Thank you for this thread. I have to admit that I am just now becoming much more aware of pet food dangers and the better stuff to feed my pets. Our older cat, who just recently died, ate 9Lives or something similar, basically her whole life. I have been a pet owner my entire life and feel that just now I am getting schooled on this subject. We have two new kittens and I've been feeding them Iams dry (how terrible is this??) and I've purchased a few cans of Fancy Feast (ditto?). So the deal is that cats should never really eat grain, they should eat mostly a meat-based diet, and watch the bag for all those additional things that shouldn't be in the food? Also, someone told me that fishmeal in many cat foods is actually pretty harmful to cats? Is this true?
Thanks so much. Does anyone have a suggestion for a brand of cat food I can buy at PetSmart (large chain) or grocery store that would be a healthier alternative??TIA

[MPJJJ]

Why not just feed your kitties raw food? You can usually get raw meat scraps for free from your meat department if you ask for them.

[Bearsmama]

MpJJJ-You know, I've heard plenty of great things about raw. Our neighbors have a dog that is prone to some health problems and they really have seen a difference since switching her to a raw diet. That said, we are a veg house. My DH is a vegetarian, and the kids and I eat *some* fish on occasion, but that's it. I think we may have just a general first bad idea of feeding raw to them on that level. Is there something similar that mimics raw in can or dry form? I know that is probably a dumb question...

[Mizelenius]

I don't know if these are proven facts, but a holistic vet told me the following:

-any brand of wet food is (on the whole) better than even the best brand of dry cat food due to the hydration issue

-if you use dry cat food, stay away from the grain-free varieties as they are too hard on cats' systems

I used to use Innova EVO but based on that advice, switched to Eagle Pack dry. I also feed my cats at least some wet food daily. Around here, there is not much of a price difference per ounce (like a cent) between the lg. cans of Eagle Pack and something like 9Lives.

[Bearsmama]

Thanks, Miz. This is interesting b/c your doc said stay away from anything grain-free and others here on this thread have mentioned that cats don't do well with grain in their food (wet or dry). Currently I'm leaving a little dish of Iams out for them throughout the day and for breakfast and dinner I give them a little bit each of the Fancy Feast or Iams (bought this today). I will look into other brands (the one you mentioned and others) after they go thru this.

[~PurityLake~]

I have worked with numerous veterinarians.

Typically, their education on pet nutrition is comprised entirely of advertising by Science Diet, and occasionally a couple other brands such as Nutro's.

The vets themselves admitted they knew NOTHING about pet nutrition outside of what will keep the animal fed.



I'd take just about anyone's opinion (who have done their own research) over a vet's opinion on the subject of pet nutrition any day.

[Bearsmama]

Abismom-I agree with this. I think consumers, mothers, pet owners, etc., are in general, much more knowledgeable on the subject of nutrition than the "experts". I think the same can be said for MDs as well as VMDs. I know in med school there is not a huge amount of time spent on nutritional education unless of course, that is your focus. That's why I'm here.

[Bearsmama]

Abismom-I agree with this. I think consumers, mothers, pet owners, etc., are in general, much more knowledgeable on the subject of nutrition than the "experts". I think the same can be said for MDs as well as VMDs. I know in med school there is not a huge amount of time spent on nutritional education unless of course, that is your focus. That's why I'm here.

[thekimballs]

There IS an issue with the grain-free cat foods if your cat doesn't up his or her water intake to compensate for the very low moisture in the grain-free foods. So for cats that have existing kidney issues or who are typically very low drinkers, I would be careful with EVO or similar kibbles. When we put our cat on Wellness CORE (similar to EVO), I noticed that his chin was CONSTANTLY wet, and his water bowl went down very fast. I am convinced that it is a healther food, so I'll deal with the wet chin, but if you have a cat who doesn't "feel" the dryness and drink more I think the dehydrated kibbles can be an issue.

[Alcyone]

I don't get it. Grains have moisture?

[Mizelenius]

Originally Posted by Abi's Mom

I'd take just about anyone's opinion (who have done their own research) over a vet's opinion on the subject of pet nutrition any day.

Um, not me-- I got this info from Dr. Jean. She seems like a pretty solid resource: http://littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=home

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by Mizelenius

Um, not me-- I got this info from Dr. Jean. She seems like a pretty solid resource: http://littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=home

Miz, I wasn't responding to you. If I had been, I would have quoted you.

[Longhorn]

I just wanted to post my experience with pet food. I have a cat (5 yrs old) and a Maltese (4 yrs old) and when I first got them I put them on Science Diet. I 'thought' it was the best food out there, and frankly it is better than what you buy at Target, but not the best. I then switched to Solid Gold this past March. Neither of my pets have EVER been sick. And my cat has the most gorgeous coat and clear eyes. Both of my pets are lean and healthy! My cat eats the only cat food Solid Gold offers, and my dog eats the 'Just a Wee Bit' for small dogs. I can buy it at Petco for $9 for a small bag, each of which last each pet a little less than a month. Totally worth it!

[Bearsmama]

Hi Mamas,
I've learned a lot from this thread. However, can someone break it down for me--like what are the top 3-5 things to look for in cat food, in particular? Regardless of brand of good stuff you choose. I know grains are out for cats (or at least should be a minor part of the ingredients) and I know that they are carnivores, of course. So fish meal shouldn't always be used. I've also heard that the food should be well-balanced, Ph-wise? Can anyone parse this out a bit for me? I am almost through the Iams I bought for the kitties, and so far they have liked every food I've put in front of them, so changing brands/type will not be a big deal. I shop at a local PetSmart and they have wide range of choices for cats. Anyone? TIA Also, for those of you with cats, do you only feed dry, or do you also feed wet? For our old cat, she got a couple of scoopfuls of dry thoughout the day, but we also gave her a heaping spoonful of wet food for breakfast and dinner. Any opinions on this?

[Joyster]

Just wanted to add another food recommendation. We fed raw for a decade, back when it was impossible to find a holistic vet and we were poisoning our dogs. My GSD lived in good health until we discovered 6 weeks before his death he had degenerative myleopathy and leukemia, he was in great shape all things considering until 24 hours before he died, when he was 12. So he definitely wasn't poisoned. Anyhow, after his death, we wanted to move to something simpler, and came across Orijen. Grain free, all ingredients come from Canada, made in Canada, protein levels good for our dog, same philosophy as us, except way easier packaging and a firm committment to quality pet food.

The only problem is, they can't keep up with the demand and I have to fight to buy dog food.

http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/about/

[BedHead]

I also use Orijen for my cats if I don't have the raw made or am going away or something. It does have a few too many vegetables in it for my liking, but for a once in a while treat it's fine.

The raw recipe I use is from catnutrition.org, the 'inferior' one that doesn't use real bones. I don't have a grinder yet and can't find a butcher that will grind whole chickens for me, so it will have to do until that changes. I triple the recipe, so I end up making cat food about once every 3-4 weeks and freeze it in one day serving size containers. I also cook it a bit to kill surface bacteria since I use store bought meat that isn't organic, and I buy the meat in bulk. The cooking actually cuts down on the prep time because it melts all the supplements so I don't have to break them open and add them I add a capsule of taurine every week or so to their bowl, since heating and freezing break it down.

I'm going to check out this Feline Futures website and compare the cost for the supplements. Great info in this thread - thanks ladies! I look forward to the day I'm not cooking and am grinding!