Question:
How dog foods such as Science Diet, Iams, and Pedigree claim to be a nutritionally sound food? I just went on Pedigree's website and looked at their ingredients! It is amazing how a company that is supposed to care about an animal's well-being can outright lie and say their food is good for dogs!!
It is also a shame that Iams sponsors Animal Planet. A show designed to promote repsonsible animal care has a crap dog food sponsoring them! I watch the show "Who gets the dog" and the owner receives a year's worth of Iams products!
It really upsets me!!


Answer:
Denise, almost all foods sold in the US (including Kibbles and Bits, Ol' Roy, etc.) meet the AAFCO standards. Most states lawfully require that companies meet these guidelines. However, if you look at the guidelines, they do little for the nutrition of the animal. The AAFCO sets minimums and maximums for the amount of nutrients, like protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals. The way in which the company chooses to meet these minimums is not specified. So using corn to fulfill the carbohydrate requirement is perfectly acceptable.

It's sad. And so many people just don't know what they are putting into their pets' mouths because they are brainwashed by these large companies and their biased commercials.


Answer:
Candice, that is a good explanation. Before I knew about Wellness, Solid Gold, etc., I thought Science Diet, Iams, and Eukanuba were good quality foods. Also because vets recommend them! And you are right, the commercials are so touching. It really makes you think you are doing right by giving it to your dog.


Answer:
In my family we have always fed our dogs either Iams or Ol' Roy, my grandma's dog lived to be 19 years old and she only ever ate the "cheap" stuff and her cats bothed lived to be 18 and they also ate the cheap stuff from Walmart. None of the animals had health problems, they died of old age. Personally I do not think it matters what you feed your animal, as long as you feed them food made for them.I seriously could not justify spending $40 on a bag of cat food that lasts two weeks when the $5 bag lasts just as long and they love it. Not to be prudent to you, people can feed their animals whatever they want, but honestly if someone can afford to spend so much on their animals, why not go out for dinner yourself every night?


Answer:
I must say, after our clinic just underwent a switch from MediCal to Hill's, I've had some time to argue with the rep over our different points of view (he was actually very nice to deal with). His biggest point is that while alot of foods sound great ingrediants wise, they do little to meet the actual requirements nutritionally. With the hill's 'prescription' diet you do know what percentages are in every bag for all the posible minerals and fats and other things you might want. Not the max and min's but the true guranteed amounts. Alot of canned foods too are for 'all stages of life' meaning they are formulating to meet the minimum requirements for baby, adult and senior stages. This is a problem as a senior needs very different things from a kitten. I have been looking at Merrick, my canned food of choice right now. I have been trying to get info from them so that I can compare the too on his level, but Merrick has not been forthcoming with replying to any of my attempts to contact them. Regardless I am not jumping at the chance to switch to Hill's nor am I promoting them. But it has given me alot more to think about other then ingrediants. At the same time, I am still not a fan of processing corn so that it can be digested by the animal if they can get the same true values from a more natural diet.

However you will never find me buying crap from Walmart! ILoveMyDog, I am happy your animals managed to survive on your choice of food. But your statement makes no sense. It's the same arguement smokers use to keep smoking. Just because you haven't had an animal affected by it yet, doesn't mean you won't. It's a shame it appears that's what it's going to take to get you to thinkotherwise. People who live on the street can survive off of garbage and may live long lives, but are you going to argue too, that they don't deserve/need better?


Answer:
Originally Posted by Ilovemydog
I seriously could not justify spending $40 on a bag of cat food that lasts two weeks when the $5 bag lasts just as long and they love it. Not to be prudent to you, people can feed their animals whatever they want, but honestly if someone can afford to spend so much on their animals, why not go out for dinner yourself every night?
I couldn't justify buying cheap dog food with inadequate ingredients! Animals do not have a say in what we feed them. If crap food is what is provided, that is what they will eat.

As for affording so much on our animals, I couldn't live with myself fully knowing my animals are eating low quality food while I am dining out every night.

Being a pet owner means making sacrifices. It may not always be easy but when you love your animals that is what you do.

The only reason I can justify buying low quality dog food is for a dog rescue. Obviously it isn't cost efficient to buy expensive dog food when there are so many animals to be fed.


Answer:
Originally Posted by Ilovemydog
I seriously could not justify spending $40 on a bag of cat food that lasts two weeks when the $5 bag lasts just as long and they love it.
I spend $30 CDN for one bag of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, Adult Light Cat formula. ONE BAG (18LBS) last TWICE as long as the same sized bag of Whiskas ($15) that we USED to buy. The cats are eating less, and STILL getting all the food they should be getting. Their poop isn't as smelly, and they're having less hairball problems. As well, their coats are nice and soft and their dander is becoming less of a problem.
Our cats (strictly indoors) went from yeowling every time the food bowl was empty, to spreading it out throughout the day and NOT being hungry when the bowl does become empty.


You can't tell me that that the "$5 bag lasts just as long" because I have proof with our cats that it doesn't.

There are foods that are "made for people" that are not healthy and will cause health problems if you keep eating them. I personally wouldn't want to subjugate myself to such treatment, so why would I let my pets suffer?


Edited to add: The first two ingredients are "Chicken, Salmon", before there are any kinds of fillers or anything in the Chicken Soup food.


Answer:
I have been feeding my cats the cheap food for two years and their poop doesn't smell at all, I haven't seen them cough up hairballs, unless they eat them after words again.Just because I don't feel like spending my hard earned money on over priced cat/dog food doesn't mean I don't love my animals, they know they are loved. It's just the same as people, such as myself who buy the no name cans of food for myself, it doesn't hurt me, it saves me money, if I ever have children that's what they will get too. There is such a thing as killing your pet with kindness, what if one day you get ill and have to quit work, you won't be able to afford those "high" priced brands and will have to resort to buying the cheap stuff,I bet your cats get sick because they are used to the "expensive stuff" or you just decide to give your animals away because you don't want to subject them to "harmful" food. I have never heard of an animal dying because they were fed the cheap stuff from Walmart, I even googled it and found nothing. To each his own, and yes I have splurged before and bought expensive food one time because it was discounted, and it lasted two weeks, the same as the cheap stuff. My cats get a refill of their food which is a cup each per day. They are not overweight and probably the most active cats I have ever seen.I certainly don't plan on converting cat foods because some pet owners make a fuss that it's not " good enough" for their animals. My cats are happy and always check out of the vet clinic in healthy condition.


Answer:
[/quote]However you will never find me buying crap from Walmart! ILoveMyDog, I am happy your animals managed to survive on your choice of food. But your statement makes no sense. It's the same arguement smokers use to keep smoking. Just because you haven't had an animal affected by it yet, doesn't mean you won't. It's a shame it appears that's what it's going to take to get you to thinkotherwise. People who live on the street can survive off of garbage and may live long lives, but are you going to argue too, that they don't deserve/need better?[/quote]
I personally think my statement about cat food and smoking are in no way similar. People smoke and are pretty much killing themselves, they know that when they start, feeding your cat food made for them is in no way killing them. And no I don't agree people who live on the street deserve better, they made the choice to be lazy and not work so why should I feel sorry for them? They are lucky that some people out their do choose to give them half eaten sandwiches and such, I feel no remorse for them, I work hard for what I have and they should have to do the same.


Answer:
I would definitely suggest some reading on what kind of ingredients actually go into your Walmart food. This might be a good start.
http://www.pets-on-the-net.com/forum...ad.php?t=14159
Just because I don't feel like spending my hard earned money on over priced cat/dog food doesn't mean I don't love my animals, they know they are loved. It's just the same as people, such as myself who buy the no name cans of food for myself, it doesn't hurt me, it saves me money, if I ever have children that's what they will get too.
Actually, good quality cat food isn't "overpriced". It is priced accordingly based on the quality of ingredients. Buying chicken flesh instead of the leftovers (intestines, beaks, feet, etc.) does cost more and thus, foods that use real chicken will be more expensive for the consumer. Corn is a CHEAP, low quality filler. Foods that use corn instead of high quality grains, like oatmeal or rice, will be cheaper because the ingredients cost less.

As for buying no name brands for yourself, that is hardly equivalent to buying cheap pet food. The ingredients in a cheap food and a more expensive food are not even close to being the same. A brand name can of tomato sauce is going to contain tomatoes, a no name can will also contain tomatoes. A cheap cat food will contain corn, by-products, and harmful preservatives...a good quality brand will not contain any of those.

I have never heard of an animal dying because they were fed the cheap stuff from Walmart, I even googled it and found nothing.
Actually, many cancers can be attributed to feeding low quality feed containing certain preservatives (BHT, BHA, ethoxyquin) as well as coloring and flavoring agents.

And it is true that higher quality feeds will last longer. My dog eats about 3 cups of food on quality feed. If I switched him to a cheaper brand (Purina, for example) his requirement would be 5-6 cups per day. There is more filler in cheap foods and thus, you must feed the animal more for them to get their daily recommended values.

Lizz, that is very interesting. I know that some foods state that they meet and exceed AAFCO regulations. Other foods state that they only meet the AAFCO regulations. The biggest beef that I have with Hill's is the use of by-products (though I heard that they are changing) and the use of low quality grains. Keep me posted on what Merrick says.