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  #1  
Old April 17th, 2007, 11:51 AM
acheo acheo is offline
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Questions on dog nutrition

I feed my 65 lbs golden retreiver with Hill's Canine g/d dry. My dog is healthy and has no health condition. He will be turning 4 soon.

1. Eventhough he has no condition would you recommend that type of food for him? Please explain.

2. This food is made of oil of fish. Eating fish twice a day is not recommended for us because of the mercury. Wouldn't it be the same for dogs?

3. For a healthy dog would'n't it be better to switch food everyday? ex: switch everyday between Iam's dry (large breed) and Hill's Canine g/d.

Thanks
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  #2  
Old April 17th, 2007, 12:08 PM
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rainbow rainbow is offline
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Hill's and Iams are two of the worst foods out there. I would switch your dog to a premium/holistic brand such as:

Orijen (www.championpetfoods.com)
Canidae (www.canidae.com)
Innova (www.naturapet.com)
Go Natural (www.petcurean.com)

Look at the ingredients of Hill's and Iams and then check them with the foods listed above. A BIG difference. They may be a little more expensive (not much) but you feed less and will have a healthier dogs which means less trips to the vet.

When you first switch to a holistic food make sure you do it slowly over 10 to 14 days. You may still see some loose poops at first as your dog adjusts to a better quality food and gets rid of all the built up toxins in his body.
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Old April 17th, 2007, 12:13 PM
acheo acheo is offline
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What do you think of Medi-cal?
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Old April 17th, 2007, 12:13 PM
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rainbow rainbow is offline
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A good website to check out is www.dogfoodproject.com .....click on the links on the left hand side of the page for some very helpful information.

Good luck and if you have any questions just ask.
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Old April 17th, 2007, 12:14 PM
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technodoll technodoll is offline
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I support what rainbow has said... younger dogs can "do well" on crappy foods, but they will age much faster and have way more health problems later on life than if fed quality foods. please consider a switch and also add some fresh, real foods to the dry, processed diet... no doctor in the world would recommend that humans only eat processed foods from a bag, why submit your dog or cat to that fate then?

PS: if your vet sells the food, it is crap. if you can find the food in your grocery store, walmart, home depot, drugstore, etc - it's crap. the good commercial foods are only sold in quality pet food shops...

good luck and you will see the difference! your dog will explode with new health!
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Old April 17th, 2007, 12:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by acheo View Post
What do you think of Medi-cal?
Medi-Cal is just as bad as Hills and Iams.
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Old April 17th, 2007, 12:22 PM
acheo acheo is offline
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I'm getting lots of differents inputs and for a military pilot who knows very little in dog nutrition it is hard to follow.

I would like to have the point of view of nutritionists/researchers on that matter.

My Vet pretends Hills's prescription Diet g/d dry is great while do not share the same opinion. Could you please provide some information why you think Hill's is the "worst" on the market.

thanks
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Old April 17th, 2007, 12:35 PM
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rainbow rainbow is offline
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We are not professional nutritionists or researchers here. We only know from experience what's best for our pets and by sharing that with others on the board.

Did you read ANY of the information at www.dogfoodproject.com?
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  #9  
Old April 17th, 2007, 12:50 PM
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Scott_B Scott_B is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by acheo View Post
Could you please provide some information why you think Hill's is the "worst" on the market.

thanks
Simple, look at the ingredients. What do you think cats & dogs need more of. Meat or grains? How can corn be a better source of protein then meat? And the type & quality of meats.

Look at hills G/D
Quote:
Brewers Rice, Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Dried Egg Product, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid),
#1 ingredient, rice. Sad really. Thats followed by a by-product. Again, not something you want to see in pet food. You're getting the garbage from the chicken plant. Then followed by corn! Then dried egg product. Again, not even whole eggs, just the egg waste.



Now look at canidae

Quote:
Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal,
First two ingredients are whole meat meals, which mean they contain very little moisture and so remain at top of the ingredient list after cooking. You have two whole rices, followed by another meat meal. Then after the fat another meat meal.

So you get 3 meats in the canidae compared to one crappy one in the hills.
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  #10  
Old April 17th, 2007, 12:51 PM
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technodoll technodoll is offline
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Well... in a nutshell...

BAD dog food contains (among other things): corn, soy, wheat, meat and grain by-products, dangerous preservatives such as BHA/BHT, unidentified meat sources ("poultry", "fish", "meat meal", "liver", "digest"...), colors, excessive salt, sugars, etc.

GOOD dog foods will contain whole ingredients and list identified meat meals in the first ingredients (ex: chicken meal, lamb meal, turkey meal, salmon meal, etc). More meat, less grains and no fillers. Did you know Hills uses peanut shells in some of their foods? yep. gross isn't it?

Whole eggs vs "egg product"
Whole fruits and vegetables vs "dried or powdered" versions
Whole tomatoes vs "tomato pomace" which is the leftover skins, often full of pesticides
Identified meat meals vs mystery meats, or by-products, or whole meats (which contain mostly water, which tricks the consumer into believing the dry product has more meat than it actually has)
Whole rice vs "brewer's rice", which is a by-product from the alcohol industry
Corn and soy are fillers, dogs cannot digest these grains - they are just there because they are cheap and artificially boost the food's protein content - it just ends up in your dog's poop!
Wheat is a major cause of allergies in many dogs
Beet pulp is full of sugar and is a stool hardener, good foods don't need this

Once you know how to identify good ingredients vs bad ones, and know the tricks the petfood industry uses to trick consumers.. you'll be fine

check this out for grins and giggles: 10 Secrets Pet Food Companies Don't Want You to Know http://www.petextras.com/birclubbon.html#pfsr

exerpt:

Quote:
5. The #1 vet recommended brand is probably the #1 worst pet food value.

Without mentioning any names, if it lists corn as the first ingredient on the label and gets blasted by the competition for it, you know the company. Read the label! Compare it to the cheapest stuff you can find. There isn't a dimes worth of difference in most cases. How much does it cost them to make a 40 lb. bag of this stuff you may wonder? Right? Sit down. How about less than $3 including the cost of the bag? How much does the duped public shell out for the bushel of corn and peanut shells most recommended by vets? About $35. "Have a nice flight to Maui, Dr. Cutter and thanks again for your support". .
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  #11  
Old April 17th, 2007, 01:38 PM
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SuperWanda SuperWanda is offline
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We know that nutrition and science show that it is more healthy for us to eat certain foods than it is to eat lower quality crappy foods all the time. Have you ever seen the movie Supersize Me?

I think it must be the same for our pets. I don't think you have to be a nutritionist to make that connection - it just makes sense that nutrition must play a part in how we look and feel.

I myself have gone from a crappy brand to a better quality brand and also give fresh foods and I have seen the world difference in my pet's health. It was when they got older that I started to see how the wrong diet was playing in their health.

You just have to learn about the ingredients and that will give you a better idea what you are feeding and help you pick out the better quality brands.
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  #12  
Old April 17th, 2007, 09:29 PM
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Goldens4Ever Goldens4Ever is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by technodoll View Post
.....you will see the difference! your dog will explode with new health!
Oh my goodness YES!!! You will see a difference!

There is no comparison between a dog on a healthy holistic/raw/home-made diet versus a commercial kibble. If you think your dog is 'healthy' on Hills, try switching to holistic kibble/raw/home-cooked & you will be amazed.
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  #13  
Old April 17th, 2007, 09:33 PM
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Goldens4Ever Goldens4Ever is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by acheo View Post
.......My Vet pretends Hills's prescription Diet g/d dry is great while do not share the same opinion. Could you please provide some information why you think Hill's is the "worst" on the market......
There are LOTS of reasons why your vet thinks this. In fact, this issue was recently discussed on a thread here.

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=39198&page=2
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  #14  
Old April 17th, 2007, 09:39 PM
Prin Prin is offline
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Ditto.

I posted some ingredients of vet foods here:
http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=39198
Although I didn't get into a heap of detail as to why they're full of badness.

If you want me to compare two foods side by side for you, I could.
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