Dog Food recommendations

[GaryLock]

I recommend nothing. You need to consult a vet for nutritional assistance, not people on a website.

Well, that's just silly! Might as well close up TBN and start asking the dealer what they think about everything.

 

[wngsprd]

Well, our dog, Coconino, eats better than we do ...she had skin allergies, so after research, started ordering Orijen 6 fish grain free...80% fish (Salmon, flounder, herring, pike, etc), 20% fruit and vegetables. We've cut our vet bills by much more than we're spending, and Coco has more energy than when she was a pup. If I was a better fisherman, I'd catch and feed her some of my fish!

We order from Chewy.com. which ships via FedEx on your requested regular schedule, at no charge and no tax, and we've received it in 1 day when needing an unplanned order.

 

[12Bravo]

Can't recommend any particular brand, just this .... remember that dogs are omnivorous, like us, NOT carnivorous, like a cat - dogs need vegetables as well as meat. Do NOT feed them a steady diet of cat food or only feed them meat.

Meat is important for them to eat and can/should be listed first on the ingredient list - but, don't let anyone convince you that any/all dog foods that contain vegetables and cereals are bad.

I don't think I have ever seen a documentary about Wolves eating blueberries or lettuce from the local farmers fields. Heck any K-9 breed for that matter, might be wrong here, but pretty sure the K-9 family are actually carnivorous.

Now Bears, that's a different topic. Seen plenty eating my neighbor's corn.

 

[JRobyn]

Thanks all! Lots of "food for thought"! We will take all of this under advisement, but not as "thou shalt". Since it's a new dog to us, she has no health issues/allergies/skin problems/bowel problems that we know about yet. If she turns out to have any, I agree that vet recommendations would be appropriate, but in the absence of any of these, we are looking for a good quality, basic food that can be sourced from various places. Sounds like we can't go too far wrong with Blue Buffalo, Costco, or Purina Pro Plan. That should be enough for some trials to see which she likes and cause no ill effects. On the VET'S recommendation, we will start her on the identical food that they have been feeding her at the shelter.

Thanks, No Trespassing, I wonder why that earlier similar thread didn't come up in my search?
Edit - Probably because I didn't look all the way back to 2012!

 

[dmccarty]

I am a fan of feeding raw. I'm surprised the vet recommended cooking the food (probably because he doesn't support raw feeding). You loose more nutrients by cooking, so if your dog needs good nutrients because of the tumor, I would be sticking to raw.

The vet was ok with raw food but with the "medicine" the dog was going to take to reduce the tumor, cooking the food was recommended. The tumor was greatly reduced by doing what the vet recommended which surprised the heck out of me. At some point, the food will go back to being cooked.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

Our experience with a few dogs over the decades is that a particular dog food can be good or bad for a given dog. The food might be just fine for awhile but then the dog does not do well on the food. Even a good quality food. Things change. For at least the last three dogs we have had, we have changed their food from time to time depending on how the dogs reacted to the food. This could mean a change of food within a given dog food brand, moving to a different brand and food type, or as we do now, make our own dog food.

Seems like we are not alone in this regards.

Later,
Dan

 

[jimmyj]

Well, that's just silly! Might as well close up TBN and start asking the dealer what they think about everything.

Agree. There is no need to talk to a vet for simple pet nutrition. Vet's frankly are only moderately knowledgeable, not in a bad way, just that some are experts and some only parrot what they're told by marketing reps. (I have nothing against vets by the way, just want people to understand that they are subject to incredible marketing pressures from pet food companies and it definitely influences them.) Be smart, asking more questions is better than asking fewer questions.

 

[rekees4300]

Another vote for Blue Buffalo.

Steve

Ditto ... we mix in human grade canned salmon and chicken to make it moist.

 

[murphy1244]

Here's some background I found about BB Blue Buffalo admits to bullshitting consumers, lawsuit with Purina heats up - Poisoned Pets | A look inside the pet food industry

 

[ovrszd]

Sounds like a simple misunderstanding Murph.......