Age and Food

Comments

• KFontaine04

  June 2009 edited November -1

  This thread is about posting pictures:
  http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1297
  
  And this one is about food:
  http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1665
  
  My suggestion: Get off the Pedigriee as fast as possible (but makes sure to transition so not to cause upset tummies). There are many foods out there that are 1000X better.
• shibasrules

  June 2009 edited November -1

  What is wrong with pedigree? And what would you recommend, Eukanuba or a brand like it? Because that stuff is really expensive, or at least in my area it is
• KFontaine04

  June 2009 edited June 2009

  Check out:
  
  http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com
  
  http://www.dogfoodproject.com
  
  This is the review of Pedigree from DogFoodAnalysis.com
  Review Date: Mon March 6, 2006
  Would you recommend the product? No
  | Price you paid?: Not Indicated | Rating: 0
  
  Pros:
  Cons: Inadequate meat content, by-products, low quality grains, fat of unidentifiable origin.
  
  
  The primary ingredients in the food are grains (it should be meat!). Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food.
  
  
  The next ingredient is by-products. It is impossible to ascertain the quality of by-products and these are usually products that are of such low quality as to be rejected for use in the human food chain, or else are those parts that have so little value that they cannot be used elsewhere in either the human or pet food industries. The AAFCO definition of chicken by-product meal is “a meal consisting of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.”
  
  
  Corn appears a second time as corn gluten meal. The AAFCO definition of corn gluten meal is “the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm”. In plain English, that which remains after all the nutritious bits have been removed.
  
  
  Animal fat is a further low quality ingredient and is impossible to determine the source. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this as "obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".
  
  
  The 7th, 12th and 13th ingredients are fragments of wheat. The use of wheat is a significant negative: wheat is believed to be the number one cause of allergy problems in dog food. This is another ingredient we prefer not to see used at all in dog food.
  
• shimaurashibalover92

  June 2009 edited November -1

  We feed our puppy Wellness. It's a little more expensive than Eukanuba or Iams but its so much better. Those "popular & cheaper" brands are all fillers and byproducts. You should go to your local pet store and just look at the ingredients on some of them and you'll see the differences. We like the Wellness foods because they have better food and they aren't that overpriced. There are alot better foods like Orijen and other higher end foods but I find that they are very expensive and kinda hard to find locally without ordering online. I would definately stay away from Eukanuba, Iams, Pedigree or any of those popular brands. Especially since NihonKen are known for corn, wheat and soy allergies which most of those popular brands are LOADED with as fillers and stuff.
• ljowen123

  June 2009 edited June 2009

  A lot of the problems that I have with the very prominent names of dog foods out there deal with the fillers that they use and the consumption grade of the meats that they use. There lots of threads on this forum (such as the one Kristin referenced) that goes into details about the different brands and reasons why many of us have chosen to buy slightly more expensive food for our dogs. In the end, I find that I feed less (better food and is apparently more filling to Jazz), Jazz's coat looks & smells great, and her health is wonderful. Many shibas have allergies to corn and some other ingredients that are in the mass-market varieties.
  
  I equate the mass-market pet food as being equal to fast food places for humans - it's not a good place for a healthy, steady diet. Of course, in the end, it's your decision as to what to feed your pup - this is just my $.02
• KFontaine04

  June 2009 edited June 2009

  Also check out They Are What They Eat - Foodie Blog - Tightening the Belt
  
  She compaired the prices of per day dog food consumption and it really is a minimal cost to put your dog on a higher quality food. (I think it was something like $4.00 extra per month to go from Beniful (crap) to a 6* premium food)