Ivyna_J_Spyder
New Member
Ever since that melamine tainted pet food thing a year or so back, people have become more concerned with what they feed their dogs and cats- for good reason.
One thing that was common with the tainted foods were they were mostly 'bargain' brands you'd find in grocery stores, and foods that used low quality ingredients to save a few bucks. Things like Dog Chow, Ol' Roy, Beneful, even supposed 'good' foods like Science Diet. Even when they aren't tainted, their ingredient quality, is, well... lacking. Some of them don't even have real meat in them.
I would say that while any pet food will keep your pet ALIVE, (as AAFCO testing says...) only a good one will really make them THRIVE to their fullest. Healthy coats, no 'dog' smell, smaller and fewer droppings, more active and all that good stuff.
The best thing to do is look at ingredient labels... Just because a brand says 'all natural' or has lovely pictures of meat and vegetables on the bag does NOT mean the food actually contains that stuff. Or it could be one of the last ingredients on the list- while the first are Ground Corn and Meat By-products. (Really 'meat'?! What KIND of meat? Cow? Chicken? Rat? Hobo? What don't they want us to know?)
Most of these sites cover dog food only- but the stuff still applies to cat food for the most part. Companies that make good dog food tend to make good cat food, and companies that make crappy dog food will make crappy cat food.
Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost (Do a search on the foods you feed and see how they rank! It's only for dog food though)
Rate Your Dog Food Or if you can't find your brand in there, follow this little quiz to see what 'grade' it gets.
The Best Dry Dog Foods A site with good and bad dry dog food info.
Yet Another Goddamn Internet Guide on Cat Food (This one is mainly focused on cats but most applies to dogs too. Very comprehensive with links to studies and things, and some alternate viewpoints and such)
Choosing a good kibble (dry dog food) (Similar info to above. A boxer site but can apply to all dogs)
My two cats only get the best quality food I can find, like Innova EVO, Merrick, and Prairie- and really it's not expensive at all. I'd say it's maybe a buck fifty a day for their food- and that's for TWO of them! A better quality food tends to have less filler and more actual nutrition- so your pet will eat less of it! They're incredibly active (almost TOO active) and sleek with beautiful coats and good muscle tone. You can also barely smell when they use the litterbox since better food is more digestible.
Many people complain that their dogs smell, scratch or lick themselves too much or aren't as active. A lot of this can be attributed to a poor diet. Did you know stuff like corn is a common allergen in dogs? It can cause irritation of their stomach, skin, and so on, but it's a VERY common filler in cheap foods. (It's also not very digestible to carnivores... which means more poop. eeew.)
Another common thing I hear is 'well my dog/cat likes to eat*insert crappy food brand here*!' Well your 5 year old child may want to eat nothing but pizza, ice cream and candy- but it's your responsibility to make sure they eat healthy, right? No different than your pet. (And dogs also think stuff like poop and antifreeze are delicious treats- so do you really think the have the ability to judge what's healthy for them?) There's a WIDE variety of high quality foods out there- there's got to be at least one they like.
There’s a place over on Solomon’s called ‘Clipper’s Canine Café’ that sells a lot of good food, including some frozen raw diets. PetCo carries a few decent brands but not as many.
Links to other good food makers:
<a href="http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com">Wellness</a> You can get Wellness at Petco
<a href="http://www.canidae.com">Canidae and Felidae</a>
<a href="http://www.merrickpetcare.com">Merrick</a>
<a href="http://www.timberwolforganics.com">Timber Wolf</a>
<a href="http://solidgoldhealth.com/">Solid Gold</a>
<a href="http://www.naturesvariety.com">Nature's Variety Prairie</a>
<a href="http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com">Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul</a>
<a href="http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com">Natural Balance</a>
<a href="http://www.naturapet.com/">Innova AND California Natural</a>
<a href="http://www.newmansownorganics.com/pet/stores/">Newman's Own</a>
<a href="http://www.bluebuff.com/products/retailers.php">Blue Buffalo</a>
<a href="http://www.petpromiseinc.com/>Pet Promise</a>
<a href="http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/">Nutri Source</a>
I hope this information is helpful to my fellow Southern Marylanders and more people start feeding their pets better food.
(And no I don't work for any of these companies. I'm just crazy about my pets.)
One thing that was common with the tainted foods were they were mostly 'bargain' brands you'd find in grocery stores, and foods that used low quality ingredients to save a few bucks. Things like Dog Chow, Ol' Roy, Beneful, even supposed 'good' foods like Science Diet. Even when they aren't tainted, their ingredient quality, is, well... lacking. Some of them don't even have real meat in them.
I would say that while any pet food will keep your pet ALIVE, (as AAFCO testing says...) only a good one will really make them THRIVE to their fullest. Healthy coats, no 'dog' smell, smaller and fewer droppings, more active and all that good stuff.
The best thing to do is look at ingredient labels... Just because a brand says 'all natural' or has lovely pictures of meat and vegetables on the bag does NOT mean the food actually contains that stuff. Or it could be one of the last ingredients on the list- while the first are Ground Corn and Meat By-products. (Really 'meat'?! What KIND of meat? Cow? Chicken? Rat? Hobo? What don't they want us to know?)
Most of these sites cover dog food only- but the stuff still applies to cat food for the most part. Companies that make good dog food tend to make good cat food, and companies that make crappy dog food will make crappy cat food.
Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost (Do a search on the foods you feed and see how they rank! It's only for dog food though)
Rate Your Dog Food Or if you can't find your brand in there, follow this little quiz to see what 'grade' it gets.
The Best Dry Dog Foods A site with good and bad dry dog food info.
Yet Another Goddamn Internet Guide on Cat Food (This one is mainly focused on cats but most applies to dogs too. Very comprehensive with links to studies and things, and some alternate viewpoints and such)
Choosing a good kibble (dry dog food) (Similar info to above. A boxer site but can apply to all dogs)
My two cats only get the best quality food I can find, like Innova EVO, Merrick, and Prairie- and really it's not expensive at all. I'd say it's maybe a buck fifty a day for their food- and that's for TWO of them! A better quality food tends to have less filler and more actual nutrition- so your pet will eat less of it! They're incredibly active (almost TOO active) and sleek with beautiful coats and good muscle tone. You can also barely smell when they use the litterbox since better food is more digestible.
Many people complain that their dogs smell, scratch or lick themselves too much or aren't as active. A lot of this can be attributed to a poor diet. Did you know stuff like corn is a common allergen in dogs? It can cause irritation of their stomach, skin, and so on, but it's a VERY common filler in cheap foods. (It's also not very digestible to carnivores... which means more poop. eeew.)
Another common thing I hear is 'well my dog/cat likes to eat*insert crappy food brand here*!' Well your 5 year old child may want to eat nothing but pizza, ice cream and candy- but it's your responsibility to make sure they eat healthy, right? No different than your pet. (And dogs also think stuff like poop and antifreeze are delicious treats- so do you really think the have the ability to judge what's healthy for them?) There's a WIDE variety of high quality foods out there- there's got to be at least one they like.
There’s a place over on Solomon’s called ‘Clipper’s Canine Café’ that sells a lot of good food, including some frozen raw diets. PetCo carries a few decent brands but not as many.
Links to other good food makers:
<a href="http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com">Wellness</a> You can get Wellness at Petco
<a href="http://www.canidae.com">Canidae and Felidae</a>
<a href="http://www.merrickpetcare.com">Merrick</a>
<a href="http://www.timberwolforganics.com">Timber Wolf</a>
<a href="http://solidgoldhealth.com/">Solid Gold</a>
<a href="http://www.naturesvariety.com">Nature's Variety Prairie</a>
<a href="http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com">Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul</a>
<a href="http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com">Natural Balance</a>
<a href="http://www.naturapet.com/">Innova AND California Natural</a>
<a href="http://www.newmansownorganics.com/pet/stores/">Newman's Own</a>
<a href="http://www.bluebuff.com/products/retailers.php">Blue Buffalo</a>
<a href="http://www.petpromiseinc.com/>Pet Promise</a>
<a href="http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/">Nutri Source</a>
I hope this information is helpful to my fellow Southern Marylanders and more people start feeding their pets better food.
(And no I don't work for any of these companies. I'm just crazy about my pets.)
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I have fed that to my dogs for several years without any problems.