Dog Food

[orezok]

I was reading a thread about a dog that had cancer and died. My previous Golden also died with cancer, thyroid problems and other maladies. She was 11 years old at the time and that about average for a Golden.

After speaking with my vet about dog diseases, I did extensive research on dog food because he felt that many dogs and other animals have their lives shortened because of poor food. In the research I did, I came to find out that most dog food companies are subsidiaries of human food processing companies.

It seems to be a standard practice of these companies that when they have diseased, dead, dying or downed animals (the dreaded 4 D's) they then send those products to be converted to dog food. It could contain cancer, tuburculosis or any number of other diseases and our pets are eating it.

The dry food manufacturers spray their kibble with waste oil obtained from fast food and other processors to make the food more palatable. Many are corn based and dogs cannot digest corn.

Finally the "meat by-product' you see on the label consists of any part of the animal that is not fit for human consumption. Feet, feathers, intestines etc. See Meat by-product - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

My question is what are you feeding your pets and have you ever considered the consequences?

 

[shvl73]

Our dogs are fed raw meat (usually chicken on the bone) selected ground vegetables and rice with some other things thrown in. I am not the one doing the feeding (usually) but, she preps the basics a couple of times a week and adds in the meat at feeding time. She also adds in MSM. Our oldest (Dalmation) is 15 or 16. I believe he was 4 when she took him from the shelter. Our Doberman/Rotty mix is 12 and in great health. He does have one really expensive hind leg. Both are showing their age now though. The Dalmatiion needs help with stairs, though at feeding time, he can leap all four off the floor. He lives for food!

 

[RobertN]

I have wondered too. We lost our Golden just after her 8th bday. The cancer got her(this last summer).

My Aussie though, ate the same diet, and lived to 17.

While researching about the Golden's cancer, it seemed they are more likely to get it than a lot of other breeds.

It was a terrible summer that way; had to put both dogs down within a month and a half of each other. Had the Golden since she was a puppy, the Aussie since she was 9 months old(still puppy I guess...).

 

[Bird]

As one of his high school projects, our grandson did his own study of dog foods and concluded that Iams and Science Diet were the best, virtually identical. I have no idea just what his "study" consisted of or how good it was, but when we got our Chihuahua at the ripe old age of 12 weeks, the lady gave us a little baggie with some dog food; said it was Science Diet. So we're still buying Science Diet dog food and it's always available anytime she wants it.

However, I'm afraid our dog eats all the wrong stuff, just as we do. Yep, my fault, but she thinks any time we're eating, she should have some of whatever we're having. My wife discovered that her dog does not like watermelon, but I think that's the only thing she's turned up her nose at. Fortunately, the little rascal doesn't bark; she'll just sit and stare at us to let us know she's waiting, and if we ignore her, she'll reach out with one front pay to tap us on the arm or leg to make sure we know she's there and waiting. So she does get a varied diet, from potato and corn chips to bacon, sausage, and eggs, to ice cream, cake, and cookies, peanuts and popcorn, and everything in between.

 

[HickoryNut]

I've fed Purina to most every type of animal I've ever owned. My dog vet and horse vet both have 30+ years of experience and both insist on using Purina. My Arab stallion is 40yo and still thinks he's a lady's man. My dogs over the years have mostly died from trauma injuries but all of my Labs could fetch a stick till your arm wore out.

Doberman('70-'76) Hank
Black lab ('76-'85) Bigfoot Bayou Monster (Buck)
Black lab ('80-'90) Smokin' Diesel Dually (Truck)
Choc lab ('90-'06) Bodacious Bocephus (BoBo)
Choc lab ('07- ) Doctor Bull Moose (Doc)

These dogs never had anything but Chow often with leftover green beans, peas, carrots on top. A daily dose of Glucosamin/Chondroitin/MSM does wonders for older animals and myself.

I believe breeding plays a much bigger role in the occurences of all the cancer/kidney/bone/hormone maladies we experience in our pets these days. My most recent search for the right pup was a long arduous adventure where I met many people that had no business owning dogs and the dogs they were raising were a disgrace to the breed. I even encountered vicious male Labs, something I never dreamed existed.

 

[YanmarFever]

We feed out rat terriers food from costco, its high in protein and the last terrier made 15 years old.

 

[johnray13]

We feed out rat terriers food from costco, ....

I have been quite happy with the Costco dry food as well. I know the dry food is better on their teeth. My little sweetie has done very well with it.

 

[Boiler74]

I too lost a great dog too soon to cancer. So when I got my Great Dane, I researched food a lot. I now feed Eagle Pack. It's made with human food grade meat protein from four different sources. Also has enzymes added that help nutrition. Been very happy with it. It's made in Mishiwaka Indiana.... no Chinese imports here. I don't know if you can get it everywhere, but if you can, I recommend it.

It is more expensive, but what value can you put on your best friend. After losing my last buddy, I realized I would have paid anything to have more time with him.

Hope that helps.

 

[wrangler6831]

I've been hearing alot about this Dog Supplement - Dog Food Supplement with Vitamins- Dinovite so I recommended it to my mother and her 2 Yorkies. It would get expensive if you have bigger dogs but for her 2 dogs its quite trivial. She said the hers dogs ate alot better with this stuff mixed in and I can tell a difference in there coats in the 1 1/2 months she's been using it. It gets a lot of feedback from users. Might be worht looking into.

Rich

 

[orezok]

Interesting part about feeding my Golden with premium food (I use Flint River Ranch) is that it must be much more satisfying than the cheap stuff. She's about 85# and only wants about 2 1/2 cups of food per day. If you put more in her bowl she won't eat any more. When you figure in that they ship it to your door for free, it actually costs less monthly than the cheap brands.

tractorErnie and johnray13. COSTCO dog food was one of the brands recalled because of the Chinese melamine problem. That would explain the "high protein" content.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

Due to illness both of our pets are on Perscription Diet, prior to that they were on Iams.

 

[Bird]

I've fed Purina to most every type of animal I've ever owned.

Me, too, until we got this pup and it was accustomed to Science Diet so we've stayed with it. Our last dog was a rat terrier and he always had Purina One is his bowl. I used Purina for my rabbits, goats, etc. I still think Purina is hard to beat.

 

[Redbug]

That's what we have always fed our dogs...Purina. They make good products. Purina makes all kinds of critter chows. Too bad they don't sell Purina People Food...no more fussing about what your going to eat that day. It would be great for starving Third World Nations. One last comment...Did you ever see the movie with Charlton Heston..."Soylent Green"? Soylent Green - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[johnray13]

tractorErnie and johnray13. COSTCO dog food was one of the brands recalled because of the Chinese melamine problem. That would explain the "high protein" content.

Thanks for the heads-up. When the melamine problem was first annoucned, I checked it out. The Costco product was affected but it was the canned food (I buy the dry).

Here's a link to the Costco recall: Costco KS Canned Dog Food Recall Page

 

[Alan L.]

We lost our male Cocker Spaniel (Fudge) to cancer on 10/16/07. He would have turned 11 a week later. I've not felt like discussing it at all, until now.

We would have paid anything to save him, and paid quite a bit but he went from a slight limp on Labor day to death not much more than a month later. It was terrible.

In in early years he ate Purina One, and Iams sometimes. When Fudge was 7 we got another cocker, a female. She had skin allergies and the vet said she would always have them. We tried cortizone treatments, etc but sores kept coming up on her belly.

On a whim, we switched to Muenster natural dog food, which is manufactured just 40 miles or so from where I live. Gracie's allergies cleared up literally in a couple of weeks and never came back.

A couple of years ago it become less convenient to buy the Muenster food so we switched to Nutro which is supposed to be anther "natural" dog food. It certainly does not have animal parts in it. Gracie's skin is still just fine on the Nutro.

Fudge became overweight so we switched both dogs to Nutro lite, which has less calories and fat.

When Fudge was diagnosed we started making dogfood out of ground beef, pork, or turkey and mixed with beef liver, whole grain rice, and spinach. We mixed it about half with the Nutro and a couple of tablespoons mixed with Gracie's food.

Now that Fudge is gone, Gracie is still eating Nutro lite mixed with the homemade food. We are thinking of switching back to Muenster because we know where it it made and it highly recommended in these parts.

I don't know what causes cancer in dogs, but do know that it is alarming how many dogs die from it. This terrible disease makes me not want another dog because no matter what you do you can't prevent it, and losing your pet is just too painful.

 

[N80]

I personally don't think that dog food has anything to do with dog cancer. I'm not a vet, so its just a hunch. But as far as down animals go, you can't catch cancer from cancer. As far as infectious diseases go, all that food is cooked at high temps and then it goes into one of the most hostile environments for bacteria....which is a dog's stomach.

Toxins are another story and I think any reputable company will not have any toxins in their food.

My first lab lived over 14 years on the cheapest Purina chow we could find.

My wife feeds my current lab some sort of high end Purina. Drives me nuts that she spends extra money on dog food. Dogs were designed to eat anything. Expensive dog foods are for the owners not the pet, in my opinion. But I'm not saying that is a bad thing. If it makes you feel good to feed your pets expensive food and your pets are healthy then its a good thing.

I think the biggest problems with feeding dogs is that most dogs are fed too much and I suspect any vets here will confirm that. Fat dogs are just as unhealthy as fat people. Our lab gets what mamma buys for him and i make it interesting with some table scraps. But, we monitor his weight and make sure we can always see some ribs......just barely but you can see them if the light is right.

I think cancer in dogs is going to be as much about genetics as anything else, especially in highly or overbred breeds.

I've had a good many dogs but I'm more attached to this one than any of the others. He's a black lab named Dash (after Audubon's retriever). He's a registered lab but is the ugliest lab you've ever seen. But he is also the smartest and friendliest dog I've ever seen. I've always been very objective about pets and have always felt that people who spent tons of money on sick pets were nuts. We grew up with a farm mentality that when it was time to go it was time to go and an animal shouldn't suffer. Dad used to 'put down' the sick or aging pets himself. That's just the way it was. I feel a little different about this one. More like family than a pet.

 

[Bird]

George, I agree with you 100%, but kinda suspect we may be in the minority. When I was a kid, we had both dogs and cats out in the country, but they were never allowed inside the house under any circumstances. My dad would never have tolerated that. The only time I can remember a dog going to the vet was once when we had a dog that got bad sick and we suspected a neighbor has poisoned it. The vet agreed that it had been poisoned and he put it down. I can not think of a single time that we bought any kind of dog food. Of course, I was the oldest of 5 kids so my Mother did a lot of cooking and the dogs got the leftovers. And that included all bones except fish bones. The cats were expected to forage for themselves except for the milk we gave them when we milked the cow, and whatever scraps they could get before the dog got it.

But in spite of my agreeing with you, we're feeding a dog Sciece Diet dog food (of course one Chihuahua doesn't eat a lot), and she's a bit overweight because we've spoiled her.

 

[N80]

It funny though. now my Dad has this Jack Russell that he's had for 9 years, Ivan the Terrier. He spoils that dog rotten. Do we get softer hearted as we get older?

I hope so.

 

[Sigarms]

Do we get softer hearted as we get older?

Nah, you get smarter

 

[Redbug]

I had been reading that dogs should not be fed any pork or pork by products...and that also includes in their chow. Most of the better, (more expensive?), dog chows seem to be made with lamb or other meat.

As a question...why is that? I thought meat was meat for a dog? Also, when choosing a good dog chow just what should I be looking for...(other than a higher price)? Orezok mentioned no corn.