Anyone else trying to be frugal and buy quality pet food? - Page 2

[krisnic]

I feel your pain on the large amounts of dog food! Our 2 dogs (golden retriever and lab/shepherd mix) go through about 75-100 pounds a month. We give them Beneful ($23 for 35 pounds).

[KayleeZoo]

serentabbie, thanks for the pmi link. unfortunately, the protein content is too high for a giant breed puppy and they do use corn gluten meal and rice flour as fillers in their food and we're staying away from grain fillers. it's always neat to read about other foods, though!

[instant coffee]

My kitties only eat Wellness brand and it's spendy, about $18 every three weeks, but we cut in other places to make it happen.

[Dar]

This is the Costco brand food... it's the exact same food as the Diamond Naturals. That's the one we feed, but they carry a few others. At our Costco it's $16.99 for the big bag (40 pounds, I think?). My 40 pound border collie eats a cup and a half a day, and she's pretty active... oh, no corn or wheat.

Dar

[Scribe]

Oh, another idea--write an email to Innova and ask for coupons. I have no idea if they'll send them or not, but lots of companies will.

[serenetabbie]

Oops, so there is corn gluten meal. Sorry about that. I did not realize you were staying away from all grains, I must have missed that in the OP. I stay away from ground yellow corn and wheat, so my eyes just slid right over "corn gluten meal"!

Just wondering... How much protein is the right amount for a giant puppy? How big of an adult dog would be considered "giant"? Like a Dane? The PMI Large Breed Puppy Formula has 27% protein, is that way too much? If you fed a puppy raw, wouldn't they be getting a lot of protein that way also? I am wondering b/c my dogs are pretty large (not giant though by any stretch), and one is still a puppy. I have been feeding her the Large breed puppy kibble... I would not want to inadvertantly harm her.

[KayleeZoo]

You don't want to feed a giant breed puppy (same applies for large breed puppies, but it's not quite as crucial) no more than 23-24% protein. Fat should be right around 12%. Giant breeds are usually breeds that are 100+ at maturity, but that doesn't mean you'd say that an overweight large dog was a giant breed just because they were 100+, kwim? And you want to feed a lower protein food until age 2, usually. And the reason that a lot of Mastiff breeders don't recommend feeding raw to Mastiff puppies is that the protein content is so high- it's a great quality protein, but it can contribute to uneven growth patterns, and you absolutely cannot afford to have a Mastiff put on too much muscle (or fat or bone) at any one time, it can really damage the way their whole skeletal system forms together.

[heartmama]

The best AND the cheapest food for my cats has been homemade. There is an initial investment in supplements (bone meal powder, kelp powder, cod liver oil, vitamin E), but it lasts forever. My two cats have more than enough to eat with a weekly purchase of 1 3lb package ground turkey, cooked just till done in olive oil, then cooled, pureed with a small amount of water and raw veggies, and supplements added. They get a scoop of that 2x a day. The weekly cost is only about 4$ for the turkey.

I'm sure something similar could be used for your dog.

Then the dry food can be kept as a supplement or treat, not the bulk of their diet.

Also keep in mind, dry kibble isn't best for cats as their main dietary staple--cats just don't get enough liquid that way and often wind up with kidney and bladder problems. T

[serenetabbie]

Hmmm, that is interesting. I never really understood before, thanks. is there a type of kibble with out grains and with low protein?

I do make my own dog & cat food on a regular basis, and suppliment with the kibble like heartmama said. If I only fed them kibble our dog food bill would be really high!