What do you feed your Dog/Cat? - Top quality for me!

[MVPaquatics]

I have recently switched foods on my 2 year old pitt bull/lab mix Chevy.

 

I have had him almost a year now. He came to me from the humane society and was being fed Purina chicken crap (sorry if you feed it but it is), and he was suffering from hair loss, itchy skin, and very itchy feet. He was also on the skinny side..47lbs

 

When we got them, we made the switch to blue buffalo. Lamb and rice. I thought this would be a good switch from purina. It is higher quality, and a different protein/carb choice to help his issues.

 

He also gulps food bad...He eats 1.5 cups twice daily and it literally took him 2 seconds and then he would burp and even retch a few times. I tried balls and rocks in his dish to slow him down and he is very smart. He would take them out before gulping. I then had the magic idea of feeding him out of a muffin pan...it really worked...his larger snout keeps him from gulping the little cups and he has to swallow smaller bites for less gas.

 

His coat and things really improved...hair came back...gained some weight, 59lbs now (no more spine and ribs) He actually ate less with blue buffalo than purina and so there was much less waste, Purina uses ALOT of fillers.

 

Then some small issues started to arise. He goes through a lot of food so I buy a lot of bags, and started to notice a difference in kibble. Sometimes it was dry and light, other times it was dark and oily. There seemed to be a real difference in density also. Then he started getting really bad gas and loose stools. This was daily for a few weeks. I mean it wasnt horrible but noticeable so I started to research it. Low and behold I am not the only one with the issues. Seems to be a rumor going around that some companies get too large and have to outsource ingredients and even manufacturing to other companies and even countries. I was not satisfied with this possibility and switched immediately.

 

I went to Western Pet Supply by my house (who I highly recommend) and had a long talk with someone very experienced there. They pointed me to many different routes for a top quality dog food. I really appreciated they listened to my issues and really helped with the matter. He didnt even go to the most expensive route (which is what I eventually got) but worked up to it. We talked about Talk of the Wild food and such, many of which were made in canada which I hear has higher animal food standards than the USA (you mean they havent gone to china too?!) But after letting him know about my issues with outsourcing ingredients and manufacturing he showed me a very high quality food called ORIJEN.

 

ORIJEN is made in canada. It is a pretty small company who specializes in premier pet foods. They will not outsource anything and everything that goes into the food come from within their region (100 miles or so). I selected 6-fish flavor for high omega-3s (he is a black dog and I love a shiny coat!) I spoke to our areas REP personally and he assured me of these facts and stated they would rather be off the shelf for a week or two rather than outsource things because they know their customer base would rather not feed that food if they had that practice (DOES HE KNOW ME OR WHAT?) I will admit it is very expensive, but I realize I am paying top executives to personally check ingredient batches, etc. (THEY DO IT) I do NOT like vet visits and am a strong believer that the best food is the way to prevent illness and untimely deaths.

 

I was funny feeding it to him the first time...being a gulper I thought he wouldnt notice. His nose was much more active than usual. I gave him 1 cup of his normal food into some of the muffin cups and 1/2 cup the new food in a few other cups. He sampled a few, ate all the orjen, went back to buffalo and finished. I thought hmm weird, not expecting that from shovel face. Dinner time I experiment more. I do the same thing as last time, a few cups of buffalo, a few of orijen, and this time mixed a few with both. This time he scarfed all the ORIJEN, ate a little of the mixed kinds and spit out what he could of the buffalo, smelled the rest and looked at me. WOW! I had like 2 cups left of buffalo and tossed it to the squirrels.

 

They also make cat foods, although mine is on a special urinary prescription diets.

 

Sorry that took a lot but I think some might be valuable knowledge....any other really good foods I should know about?

[pnkrcklives]

Thanks for the write up. We are dealing with the same thing with my Staffy. She is right now on a Vet only available diet of KangarooMeat potatoes and veggies(super expensive food). Skin and coat look great. No chewing her fur off. Once the allergy tests are complete looks like we will be heading the Orijen route as that what my allegist recomends for the dogs(she says at half the price of the vet food). But higher quality food will pay for itself with the lack of vet trips and overall comfort for the animal.

[MVPaquatics]

So true! Sorry to hear of your issues. I feel for you if orijen is half the price! Kangaroo isnt cheap. Dogs have so many weird allergies! I knew someone that had to get their dogs shoes because it was allergic to grass and it would chew its feet.

 

If you dont mind me asking what did allergy tests run?

[pnkrcklives]

We have just finished running food allergy tests. Wheats, grains, soy, the binding agents in food. There were a few others on the first round. I dont have the list in front of me as I am at work. She will be going in on Tuesday for enviromental allergies. Trees, grasses, weeds stuff like that. I also have a Doberman that is highly allergic to wheat and soy. The Dobe also has Color dilution alopecia. So she is pretty much bald now at age 6. Dogs have weird issues but I cant stop loving them or giving them the best care possible.

[pantherguy30]

I've been useing Merricks for both my english bully and my newly added basset hound puppy. Granted the puppy scarfs his down in secounds. The bully has gotten slower as she's aged. Haven't had any noticeable issues with this brand.

[pnkrcklives]

Oh I miss read your post. The first round including medication, skin scrape, allergy tests, exam, and 30 lbs of food. Was just over $400. Second round should be $200 or so just depends on if I need to buy food again.

[Gabe]

We feed our ridgeback Avoderm. Just switched to senior formula. (this is his 9th Christmas) 2 cups twice a day. 90 lbs and healthy. We havn't had any real health issues, he seems to be aging gracefully.

[NoobtoSalt]

I have heard a lot of great things about ORIJEN. I wish my store carried it. The best the big box retailers carry like my store are going to be blue buffalo, wellness, or castor and pollux. C&P is a local Clackamas company which is kind of cool. I plan on checking out ORIJEN for one of my dogs as well as I have tried just about everything out there for her and nothing seems to do a good job with her allergies. Did the allergy pannel years ago and found out that she has high allergies to just about everything. We had shots made specific for her at about $120 every three months (I couldn't even give them to her since I hate needles so my wife did it). We did the shots for a few years and just decided that she wasn't really getting any better. Thanks for the heads up about the ORIJEN. Even working at a petstore that carries a lot of food not every dog will work great with the type we carry.

[Derbird]

I feed my Lab / Healer Natural Balance. Great dog food at a sort of reasonable price. Out in Scappoose its $50 for 35lb but I paid less for it when I lived in the city. Its made in california with US grown ingreadents. I know they will not skimp on the quality. A few years back they had trouble getting the grade of lamb they wanted so instead of using a lesser quality they stoped production. It uses several protien and carb sorces in there original formula but also have special types. Lamb / rice, Duck / Potato, Fish / Sweet Potato...and so on. Cat food too.

 

It can be a bit hard to find. They won't sell to most pet stores. I know Petco and some smaller shops have it, but its worth tracking down.

 

One nice thing is its for all ages so no switching because of age.

 

If your dog is gulping his food and burping you may want to try to elivate his food dish. My girl was doing the same thing until I bought a elivated feeding dish and it stopped the next feeding. You don't have to buy anything special just put a box or something under it. Might be a good idea for the water dish too

[tif]

My dog, Shadow, is also a rescue and a food inhaler. He's a golden retreiver mixed with standard poodle. He weighs about 78lbs and I keep him just under his ideal weight, so he is lean and muscular. He, too, was on Purina when I acquired him. Soon after, I switched him to Taste of the Wild and that's what he's been eating since Feb. 2009. I switch the flavors each month with no ill effects. His coat is silky and shiny for which he gets complimented on almost daily on our walks. He's had no more problems with dry skin or chewing on his skin/coat. He gets 2 cups of food a day, once in morning and once in evening. I also supplement his diet with fresh steamed green beans, pumpkin puree and other veggies like carrots, raw or steamed. I think Taste of the Wild is the next best thing to feeding raw. My stepbrother trains Belgian shepherds for police work, e.g. criminal apprehension and bite work, bomb and drug detection and search-and-rescue. Before he went to a raw diet, he fed Taste of the Wild exclusively.

 

My husband's Greater Swiss Mountain Dog passed away in February at the age of 12 (nearly 13 years), which is old for this breed. She was fed Natural Balance for most of her life. I'm sure it contributed to her long, happy life.

 

Hope this helps.