dog food

[jen24]

Hey this may seem like a trite question, but what's the reccomended dog food brand? I've always used Hills (reccomended by old vet) but was surfing net and found a lot of negative comments about Hills being 'cancer in a bag'- anyone heard the same?

So tried switching the dogs to a more 'natural food' - canidae - and the even though i tried to wean the dogs into it over a week they just refuse to eat it and now my lil terrier has seem to gone off her Hills too! not to mention her stools have all been loose... is a vet vist in order? or do you guys reckon it'll settle after awhile?

[carang]

if she's used to one kind of food and then you suddenly make a change, it is quite common for dog's to get a bad tummy. it is usually recommended to mix the two foods together for a few days so that it isn't quite full on right away.

if she has a bad tummy now, try boiling some chicken breasts and giving it cold with some cold rice

[jen24]

hi Carang,

thanks. i didn't switch foods suddenly did it gradually over a week but she just ate less and less of it, then her bad stomach started.
so tried her on boiled rice and chicken for a couple of days to sort out her stomach but she wouldn't eat. (it's been going on awhile this...) think will just take her to vets on the weekend -

[sunniefaith]

My dog is Spore was on solid gold and I was under the impression that it was holistic but it seems not after all. So what I got was ANF holistic food and now since she's in Spore with mum, mum boils chicken and rice for her. At one point I remember her throwing 'not wanting to eat' tantrums and it went on for about a week and we brought her to the vet and we changed her food as well. And she was fine after that.

[carang]

sounds like a good idea jen... but if it's been going on for a while, i don't know if i'd wait until the weekend... i'd take her sooner if possible.

good luck! and hope she feels better soon!

[VetinHK]

Hello Jen,

This is a topic you have to make your own mind up about. There is a lot of information out there about dog food, and there is also a lot of misinformation. At the clinics I have worked, both in HK and overseas, we have generally recommend Hills and/or Royal Canin, not for many other reasons than they seem to be reliable and we have good suppliers The quality of these foods is very high. An important thing to note is, despite what people will tell you, the Veterinary industry is not funded by Pet Food companies, so we will not recommend their food for "sponsorship" reasons. Some clinics have a close tie to a brand/supplier, and will use that brand exclusively, that is their choice.

As far as Hills and the information you have read - be careful what you believe. There are a lot of anti-pet food people out there, often the same people push their own food or "natural" type recipe of food. But beware of propaganda. There are pros and cons for both processed pet food and home-made stuff, but do remeber this - pet food companies (especially Hills and other "brand names"), have spent millions in refining the foods to best suit the pet population. So unless you want to analyse your pets home-made diet to ensure your pet gets all the nutrients it needs, it is safer to buy a processed food. And, like all things, the more you pay for a product in a competitive market, the higher the quality will be. Just remeber what your dog's gastrointestinal system is designed to digest - a whole animal. It is not designed just for muscle/meat. The body needs nutrients from skin, bone, liver, kidneys, the works. To feed a home made diet often runs the risk of creating a dietry insufficiency of some sort.

As far as your dog's soft poo - as you have not changed food rapidly (as Carang mentioned - very good point ) I'd advise seeking professional advice. See your local vet very soon if the soft poo persists, as there can be many causes.

Hope this helps.

[carang]

when we got our two dogs, science diet was recommended to us, but we foudn that our pooches were poo-ing about 5 times per day and it was very soft (not liquid though). we changed to the "cheap" brands of food and settled on the yellow purina that you can get at p'n's...our dogs haven't been sick a day in the past 5-6 years (we got the dogs at different times)...

we see a LOT of dogs in our business and different dogs have different diets. THE WORST case that we have come across is a regular clien who won't listen to us and insists on feeding the dog human food...at times even ridiculous things like "brussel sprouts drizzled with butter"!!! this dog is very underweight, you can feel the ribs through the hair, and he has diarrhea(can never remember how to spell that) at least 3-4 times per month....we cannot get the owner to understand that what is being fed to the dog is actually HARMING the dog...the owner believes that she is treating her dog very wel... i feel like saying, if you wanted a child, you should have had a child...a dog is an animal and needs to be treated and fed as such.

sorry, rant over!

[jlongboard]

Actually, human food isn't that bad for dogs, brussel sprouts with butter, yes, onions will make dogs anemic, grapes are really bad.
I cook for my dog quite a bit, along with the food we get him. Since the chicken and pork is so cheap here you can actually make a bunch in advance and just freeze it for them. Search the internet for homecooked for dogs, there is so much information out there on dog food it will confuse anyone.
Basically it boils down to what is good for your dog and what they do well on.
A lot of the brands you can get in the supermarket aren't great, but they aren't bad either. They cost the same as a lot of the premium brands out there. Canidae, is what I feed my dog, he does great on it, he was on Purina before we got him and had some skin and fur problems. It cleared up a few weeks after we made the switch. It might be to "rich" for some dogs and give them the puddin poops though.
A lot of the pet supply stores in Mong Kok sell good food for a really good price. Evangers, Nutro, Natural Balance, Solid Gold, Canidae.
What ever works for your dog is the best, growing up we had a dog that lived 17 years on supermarket whatever was cheapest and she did great. Depends on the dog.
If your dog won't eat, take her to the vet for a checkup. Boiled liver works wonders for getting a dog to eat, just mix it in with some of the water you boiled it in and it will eat.
I typed long enough, I'll stop now

[jlongboard]

Dont know if I can post a link or not, but... go to this website and look under nutrition. www.forum.dog.com
There are a lot of vets, vet techs and others there that are very helpful with anything dog related. I'm there and the only member in HK and have learned a LOT!

[carang]

"pudding poops!" i love it... have to add it to my vocabulary!LOL!