What foods are our non-US forum members feeding?

lindsaytlindsayt
edited May 2009 in Food, Nutrition, & Health
Out of curiosity, what dog foods are available to some of our non North American residents? For instance, what can you buy over there in Sweden, Japan, Portugal, England, etc? I feel we have a lot of info here about available prepared foods in the US and Canada, but I was just wondering if there were other equally good or better prepared products overseas. Thanks!

Comments

  • LeonbergerLeonberger
    edited November -1
    Around here, we can get Orijen and Acana (that's what Kuma and Nyx get), of the quality stuff. Then we get a bunch of the crappy (in different levels of crappiness) stuff like Pedigree, Eukanuba, Hills, you get the point. There's also Nutro, Bento Kronen and others that sound a bit better than the crappy ones.

    The online store where I buy their Acana or Orijen told me that we should be getting the petcurean range, Now! and Go!, grain free, but so far nothing showed up.
  • TheWalrusTheWalrus
    edited November -1
    Everything that is available over there, I can pick up here.

    It just costs at least twice the price, and most of the time closer to triple.

    It makes me sad.

    There are a few companies that make good food over here, but they charge as much as the import brands (because they can).

    I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to keep Haru on. Something that works well for her, and doesn't bankrupt me.
  • LeonbergerLeonberger
    edited November -1
    Ah yes, I forgot the price part. A 30lbs bag of Orijen Puppy Large is 75euro (106 USD at current rate) and the 6fish is 90 (127).
    We only get the Acana Pacifica, and that goes for 65 euro the 30lbs bag (92USD)
  • miss_mallinsonmiss_mallinson
    edited November -1
    we'll probably be buying our food from the Breeder who own a company specifically designed for the breed, but unfortunately I can't remember the name and it's not on their site, as soon as I find out I'll post it and it's price etc. The breeder is nosferatuakitas.co.uk - if you really wanted to find it out you could email them and ask :)
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    Wow, an Akita dog food company?
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    Wow, Rui, that's a lot of money for dog food...and I thought $50 was a lot
  • Chanur AkitaChanur Akita
    edited November -1
    In France, we have several dog food: Eukanuba, pro Plan, Hill's, Royal canin, Nutro, Bento Kronen....
    I used Eukanuba since 15 years with excellent resultats for my Akitas :-)
  • miss_mallinsonmiss_mallinson
    edited November -1
    :) yes, when they brought Akitas over to the UK they set up the company with another set of breeders, or something. I'll know more when my pups born etc. I will keep you in the loop though.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    How is Eukanuba good for a large breed dog like an akita? Especially when sources claim that poultry/etc fat sources in the top ingredients have cause bloating problems.

    Plus their recalls...
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    I didn't appreciate how large the reach of the major commercial food companies was.

    Rui-OMG! So expensive for a big dog.
  • Chanur AkitaChanur Akita
    edited November -1
    Tsukitsune: no recall in France with Eukanuba and no problem...
    if you've got more information about problem with Eukanuba: i'm interess to know
    ;-)
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Emilie, What formula do you feed? How long have you been feeding it? What is the average lifespan of the dogs you have fed Eukanuba? Do they exhibit any growth issues? Allergies?

    I realize many feed Eukanuba for the life of their pet with little or no problems, which is great... this is just the information I have that makes me seek out a better feeding system.

    My vet is a solid believer in foods that do not include Sorghum or corn (carbohydrate filler) as they are a major allergen and have a tendency to expand in the stomach and cause a greater risk of torsion (bloat). In larger breeds that is a major cause of concern!
    Iams/Eukanuba also include many forms of fat in their top ingredients as a flavor boost. Research at Purdue University has identified a fat in the top four ingredients of a dry food as a factor that increases the risk of bloat in large breed dogs.
    http://www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/bloat.htm

    Eukanuba also freely admits to using Ethoxyquin as a preservative in their foods, claiming benefits only. It is a synthetic preservative, natural sources of Vitamin E are available in many other dog foods.
    http://www.eukanuba.com/EukGlobal/en/premium-dog-food-ingredients.jsp
    Look up ingredients under "E"
    Ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative commonly added to fish meal, and that is banned from use in human food because it is believed to be carcinogenic.
    http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients
    http://potency.berkeley.edu/chempages/ETHOXYQUIN.html

    Proctor & Gamble are also the manufacturers of Iams/Eukanuba. They do major animal testing.
    http://www.uncaged.co.uk/pg.htm
    Check out the list of their products... Eukanuba pet food.

    Also more comprehensive reviews/scrutiny of ingredients here:
    www.dogfoodanalysis.com
    http://www.dogfoodproject.com
  • the_november_rainthe_november_rain
    edited November -1
    (Sarcasm Implied) OMG - Eukanuba is the Devil!!!!! Where's my pitchfork!?!?

    - Zeke
  • HeidiHeidi
    edited November -1
    Wow, I've got it pretty good! I just found out that the local ranch/farm supply store sells "provincial" and "regional" lines of Acana, so it's grain-free and made from local ingredients. I can't remember exactly how much each bag costs, just that I paid $90 CAD ($82 USD) for dog food and cat food last time I went, and I get the biggest bags they have... which I think is 30 lbs...

    So my Acana is made in Alberta, where is everyone else's made?
  • Chanur AkitaChanur Akita
    edited November -1
    Tsukitsune:
    I used Eukanuba since 1994, for my kennl: only Maintenance Eukanuba, Puppy/Junior Eukanuba and hight activity Eukanuba.
    I never had any problem with all of my dogs.
    Lot of other breeders in France use Eukanuba too: no problem.

    About the chemical preservative, it's forbidden in France in premium food.
    Perhap's it's why we don't have problem with our dogfood...

    Thanx a lot for lot of information you give, very interesting!!!
    ;-)
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    So does that mean that dog food ingredients for a single brand can vary in different countries?
  • the_november_rainthe_november_rain
    edited November -1
    Yes, It is very common, since regulations vary from country to country. It is the same with human products and human food.
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    Really? I had no idea that was the case, regarding ingredients for 1 brand differing from country to country.
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    That is so interesting...Makes me wonder how the dog foods rate in other countries compared to their US counterparts.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Yeah, I had no idea of that either, Lindsay. Why would the companies go through all that effort?
  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    I know that for my company (dealing with non-edible seed), we are constantly monitoring what is allowed in country and not. Some weed species are considered invasive and cannot be present at the .001 level. Also, depending on what coatings are on the seed, specific tests have to be done to make sure they meet import/export laws. When you begin dealing with edibles, there's a lot more going - in Europe, you have stronger regulations on GMO than you do anywhere else, so that can play a part with what is imported. Some of the regulations vary, but when we set up an edible item for our Pet side in the GDSN system (Global Data Synchronization Network) we have 120 more fields of information that we have to include - they are all based on various regulations from country to country. Once we submit the item, we'll get feedback that advises us on whether the item can be sold to the companies we are wanting to load it to or if we have to send it back to R&D for a formulation change, due to the country that it has to be exported to.
  • obukobuk
    edited November -1
    I guess that is why my mom recommended Eukanuba lamb & rice, in Austria.
  • yukidomariyukidomari
    edited November -1
    When we're home in Japan, we still have the dogs on Orijen. There're still suppliers there. It's expensive and travel is far, and if we can't get any, we're fine with putting the dogs on raw as they already do get half and half (at night, raw, morning, kibble). Meat is of course easy to find anywhere..

    We do have other national brands but mostly like in the states, junk. We also have American brands there like Pedigree. We also have "breed specific" foods like Royal Canin does in the states, which really to me is just bologna (sp??) .. unfortunately, my aunt has her Shiba had what she thinks is good "Shiba specific" dog food. The thing is that a lot of people here still supplement the dog's food with dinner scraps (which is generally healthier and less fatty than American dinner scraps) so the dogs do reasonably well despite the lack of good protein sources in most commercial food.

    My boyfriend's mixed dog died last year at 17 years old. Her whole life, she was on generic corn-based dog food, supplemented everyday by home food.

    *shrug*
  • TheWalrusTheWalrus
    edited November -1
    We are now settled in with home cooked, some medium grade kibble, and occasional raw. Basically back to what I used to feed my JRT's, thanks to my wife taking the time to cook for Haru as well. She's doing great on it, licks the bowl clean every meal.
  • AkiraleShibaAkiraleShiba
    edited November -1
    Sorry to contradict but I don't find the ingredients of dog kibble to vary much in Europe, there is still BHA and BHT that I would never ever feed to my Akira. I know in France people rather stay with the big companies.

    As a Canadian living in France, Akira still gets Orijen 6 fish even though we're paying close to double for it (70 vs 120$ CDN). I've tried to find a local brand but I get very angry when I read the ingredient list that's pretty non-descriptive like: Meats, Animal fat, grain by-products, colouring, salt ...

    I wish I could feed raw but our fridge is way to small and we don't even have a freezer !
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Thats interesting, AkiraleShiba, about the ingredients being pretty much the same. Its what I've found while doing online searches for European dog foods as well... thanks for the insight!!
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