This request comes from Happsmjc in the Pet Peeves group.
Emmy, the cat, is currently eating Nutro Max for Kittens. This is what was recommended when we adopted her (what she had been eating). She always ate fine, is growing and happy, but recently has thrown up three or so times. After reading a page of horror stories, I'm thinking it is because of the food. I'm so sad I have been giving this to her and this was recommended.
Patter, the dog, is currently eating Beneful. I am not sure how we chose this for him. He was on Nutro when Bexley lived here, but switched when Bexley switched to a very expensive brand (now I am thinking because the Nutro was making him sick). After researching cat foods, I researched the Beneful.
Learn what she found out and why she needs our help when you read more.
The reviews were bad, but not quite as scary. The main concern was the first ingredient being corn and dyes. We just bought him a huge bag from Sam's Club, but I plan on switching his as well. Should I finish the rest of his food or switch immediately?
My question is: what brands do people recommend? I have been looking into Wellness Core, Innova (Evo), Natural Balance. Any reviews of these brands or others to try? Now I am so scared I even started looking into making my own foods. Are there any good recipes or stories/suggestions? This is not ideal, but I only want the best for my pets. I am getting Emmy new food today, but want to make some long term decisions.
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Hanii Y
Matches Fashion
V.I.K
Also two more quick questions.
Should I also switch their treats. We usually buy them a variety of brands, is this something I should be concerned about?
And, I feed my cat only dry food. She likes it and I know cats that once they have had wet food never go back. Should she also be getting wet food sometimes?
1My vet always told me to read the labels and if it lists cornmeal or by products first don't purchase that one.If it has chicken or beef first that is the one to purchase as they put the ingredient in order of how much is in there. I rotate my pets soft food in the a.m and hard food in the p.m.Treats in between. You can make homemade treats in a food dehydrator and use beef,venison or chicken.They really like that.Goodluck!!
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3?? Don't know why icon didn't work.
4Thanks for the info RubyDreams!!!
For the time being I got her Natural Balance Original Ultra Premium Formula b/c it is formulated for both kittens and cats so I didn't have to make the decision about switching her off of kitten food just yet. I may switch to Wellness Core after her first birthday. Both seem like solid choices with good ingredient lists (Chicken as the first ingredient). I worried about not introducing the food slowly, but so far she is eating it and no throwing up. I just wanted the Nutro out of the house as fast as possible!!
I still haven't bought any wet food. My vet stressed the dry food for her teeth health, but then the one website said the wet food was good for the cat's hydration. However, Emmy does drink a lot of water. I don't want to make her a finicky eater by introducing this, but will probably buy one of those two brands for the wet. Do your pets still like dry even after they get wet? My old golden stopped eating dry after we introduced wet.
May consider these brands for the dog food when I make the switch. Found them both at Petco. Could not find Innova. Couldn't find any of the brands at Petsmart.
5the first ingredient should always be a whole meat.
6chicken, lamb, or beef.
i use avoderm, a human grade food made in the USA>.
avoderm is a part of breeder's choice, other brands include, pinnacle, active care, and avoderm.
I feed EVO to any foster dogs I get. I have fed Wellness Core, but my one dog has allergies to chicken - and I had a hard time finding the Core Ocean formula consistently. I feed my dogs a combination homecooked/home prepared raw diet.
I believe Petco sells Wellness Core for cats, and I'd HIGHLY recommend it. You will be astonished at the difference in coat and stool (yep, poop will get better!) and overall health of your cat. A Grain Free Diet is a cat's best friend!!
As long as the cat intakes a sufficient amount of water, perhaps wet isn't necessary. It's major benefit is adding moisture to the diet.
For your dog - any that you mentioned would be better than beneful. I bet if you went with Wellness Core or EVO, you'll immediately notice a nicer coat and better breath for your dog.
As a rule, I stay away from anything that has salt, food coloring/dyes, flavor that isn't defined (like natural flavor vs. chicken as an ingredient) and most grains (though I think oats and brown rice are better digested than soy, wheat or corn).
Check out dogfoodproject (dot) com!
7I just got done reading "The Dog Whisperer" by Paul Owens and he has a pretty good section about dog food in there. He says that wet food is the best because it is less processed than dry food, but a raw food diet is best over a wet food diet. In short, if you can't afford to make your own food (afford meaning both time and money), then you should at least give your animals wet food and mix in some raw food a few times a week (or you can boil the food for a brief period of time--I'm really worried about feeding my pets raw food!). I've heard the thing about giving cats dry food to help with teeth, so I would probably just try to mix in some wet, dry and raw food altogether.
Right now, I'm looking at switching my animals over to raw food, but I have my cat on Science Diet and my dogs on Authority and they all seem to be okay with those foods. They won't be eating those for much longer, though!
8Raw food has a different digestion time frame than cooked food, and feeding them together would result in dietary upset as the raw wouldn't be able to pass naturally while the cooked food is digesting.
I feed raw about 8 hours apart from anything cooked/processed.
9I've really like the Iam and Eukanuba brands that feature "prebiotics" to aid with digestion and immunity. Since getting our adopted dogs and putting them on brands containing these things, they do not have stomach problems and 2 of our 3 have never, ever thrown up.
10Whatever food you end on settling with (the three you mentioned are reputable brands) it is so very important to switch from the current diet to the new diet very slowly. An immediate switch to a different formula usually causes stomach upset and other assorted digestive problems.
As for the wet kitteh food, I have always fed my Persians a combination of dry (available all day and night) with their canned food fed as a treat a couple times per day. Oliver (the cutie in my avitar!) has polycystic kidney disease (PKD) so it is crucial that he be fed canned food so that he stays properly hydrated. As a rule, even healthy cats benefit from the added moisture from the canned foods as most don't drink enough water.
As for the canned food spoiling the dry diet, I have yet to encounter that problem, and I am on Persian #4. They may try to get you to feed them the canned more frequently, but if given as a treat and with dry being the only option, they will hit the kibble! Good luck!
11We use a mix of Eukanuba and Science Diet for Zena. Her former owners had her on a mix of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul: Chicken and some other brand I can't remember. She wouldn't eat the old food and this was the only stuff she DID eat.
Also, my vet abhors wet food for adult dogs as it causes a lot of dental problems. If your dog needs its food a little wet, add some water to it. Zena likes a teeny bit of water in her food.
12We feed Wellness Core Ocean to our two allergy-prone dogs and they do wonderfully on it. I personally think grain-free dry food is a great way to go. Don't be put off by the price - remember that with high-quality foods, you'll actually be feeding them less. Two good sites to help pick a dog food: http://www.dogfoodproject.com & http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
13I work for petco, and I would just say there are many types of great natural food, I wouldnt say there is one that is the best because it depends on the dog or the cat and their dietary needs. I would definately say go for the foods without by-products, artificial colors & ingredients, corn, wheat. I like the Natural Balance formulas for dogs & cats with allergies and sensitivities because they have tons of protein sources and grain-free options. They and Wellness also make great wet foods for dogs and cats. Definitely read labels and ask if your not sure. And outside of petco there are also really great natural foods at small pet stores and even supermarkets now have some natural foods. Stay away from the basic grocery and premium foods though, most of them have tons of by-products, etc.
14Evo makes great food without crazy fillers. Our vet recommended it. It's a little pricey, but it's been working out great
15Thanks for all the info and advice guys! I am so happy to be learning all of this and switching my pets diets now instead of later. For those of you that use Evo where do you find it? Where do you get your homemade food recipes?
I'm writing down all of this info and going to keep researching, and have been passing it on to all pet owners I know!
So far Emmy has been eating the Natural Balance without issue. I am planning on making Patterson's switch gradual, but was too concerned to do Emerson's that way. She is young and not finicky, so no stomach problems and she has been eating. I am watching her like a hawk!
16Usually smaller pet food companies such as Evo sell only to independent Mom and Pop-style pet supply stores. If you cannot find this or any other super premium pet food in your area, a great source is onlynaturalpet.com
17I have used them many times in the past, and they are very knowledgeable about their products and animal care. Best!
dogster (dot) com has some fun forums, including nutrition (dry/wet foods) and they have a homemade food forum and a raw diet forum.
Do you have any Pet Supplies Plus chain stores near you? They carry EVO.
18One of our dogs has a sensitive stomach and we have gone through numerous "natural" dog foods or even prescription ones over the past years. We also began focusing on the label and looked for dog food without corn, gluten or soy. It was difficult to go to any major pet store and find a pet food without any of those major ingredients. I was extremely disappointed that some foods like Beneful claim to be healthy and natural and the main ingredients are corn, soy, gluten and sugar.
We also watched the move Food, Inc and determined that our family needed to make a life style change and that includes our dogs!!!
Our dogs now eat Eagle Pack Natural Formula. Where I can't guarantee that it is organic, the list of ingredients is the best I have seen. It also has a plus side of being half the price of the prescription dog food we use to buy, but more importantly our Siberian Husky loves it and has no more problems.
http://www.eaglepack.com/SP_Natural.html
19Thanks again!
Wakeuppandora, I just checked the eaglepack food and it said it was at Pet Supplies. It is a smaller store in our area so I never thought they would have these brands. They probably have Evo too. I never thought to look there. Thanks!
Reesie, I too saw Food Inc. and that has totally got me in an uproar about what is in all of our food! I'm going to check out Eagle Pack and pass it on to my brother whose Golden has a very sensitive stomach.
20i have been feeding my dog Blue Buffalo since i got him at 4 weeks old! it is a great food for them no by products or anything! i also have a cat who is getting up in age and i had been feeding her random food all the time and noticed she started throwing up a lot as well, i have recently switched the cat to blue buffalo as well and she has not been throwing up! best of luck with this!! blue buffalo is the way to go for all my pets!!
21Both of my dogs eat Solid Gold brand dry food. Tara eats "Just a Wee Bit" for small breeds and Morgan eats "Wolf King" for big pooches. As for treats, I love the Charlee Bear treats because they are low fat and my dogs love them!
22T S (another Sugar member) suggested these two sites for me a while ago when I got my dog:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=labelinfo101
23Both sites are really helpful and give a ton of good suggestions and reviews. I wound up finding the first one to be the most helpful.
24INNOVA (EVO, California Natural) is currently very good food, but the company has recently been bought out and everyone in the industry is expecting changes for the worse. Our rescue group is switching to Wellness Core after considerable research.
25I feed my dog Blue Buffalo. He loves it and has a beautiful coat. It has no corn/fillers/byproducts. He's very active. I have been quite happy with the brand.
26I recommend Blue Buffalo. I've been giving my Papillon Blue Buffalo since she was a puppy (she's almost 4 years old). It is a little pricey but she is thriving on it. Whenever I see her next to her litter mates and parents I can tell that her coat is shinier and her eyes are brighter. It may be the rose-colored glasses I look through when I see her or it may indeed be the Blue Buffalo food! Worth trying. Good luck!
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