Ok so I went to a different pet store and I bought Nutro dog food small bites.I threw away the Science Diet...I made sure there was no By-products and corn meal.Thanks Again
Holly
Holly
Nutro is excellent dog food, IMO. Chico ate it as a puppy and had a very smooth, healthy coat. I feed my cats NutroMax gourmet classics because it's the only cat food my Gizmo can eat without throwing up everywhere...so i think that makes it good and i'm stickin with it!Hollyspup said:Ok so I went to a different pet store and I bought Nutro dog food small bites.I threw away the Science Diet...I made sure there was no By-products and corn meal.Thanks Again
Holly![]()
I can only reply with the article by the Animal Protection Institute which clearly states they don not sell nor recommend food, only the labels to watch and ingredients. http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm They are not the pet food industry.ilovesadie said:Ok I'll put my flame suit on for this one, but I'll stick up for the veterinarians in regards to Science Diet, Eukaneuba, Purina, IVD, Royal Canine etc...
Doctors are scientists. They don't go by fads, media, or labels claiming "all natural" or "no by products". They make their best professional nutrition recommendations based on the research that is available regarding daily and prescription diets.
If a vet recommends a food that hasn't gone through extensive testing to a client, and the dog becomes ill and dies or becomes sick, it is the vet's fault for recommending a bad food. Therefore, a vet can only make recommendations for foods that they can scientifically vouch for and are backed up by years of research and testing that is done by other scientists and veterinary nutritionists. As far as foods that appear to be good by the label, that's all they can say or vouch for. It "sounds good". But since there's no testing, they won't put their license on the line for it, and they won't recommend you put your dog's health on the line for it either.
This same rule appies to medications. Would a veterinarian prescribe a drug that has been unapproved for medical use? Even if it has been lauded by the general public, and someone (not a doctor) has written a few articles praising it and demoting their tried and true medications? No way, that's practicing irresponsible medicine and a malpractice lawsuit in the making.
Food is much the same way.
Only a handful of companies have done the scientific testing to show the medical community that their foods are safe and contain the right balance of nutrients and ingredients. These are the companies who veterinarians have no choice but to recommend based on the information that is available.
I am sure that if some of the fad diet or organic diet companies put the time and money into the R&D that it takes to do a scientific study, that veterinarians would take them more seriously. Since they cannot market their foods through this route, they instead appeal to the general public who is always a sucker for the "all natural" "no additivies" "no by products" deal. I know I am.
So, before we all scorn our vets for promoting Science Diet, and believe that there is a big conspiracy going on, consider this: your veterinarians job is to practice good medicine and make recommendations for your pets well being based on good science. To do otherwise is NOT sound practice, and while ABC brand of dog food MAY be better, they have not put forth the effort to prove it to the medical community, so instead they go after the companies that have.
The veterinarian is not necessarily there to make money, in fact they are the lowest paid doctors of all. The pet food industry, however, IS out to make a buck. I would trust a good vet over an article I read on the web any and every day.
Thanks for listening to my 2cents.
-Nate
was wondering where you were heheilovesadie said:Ok I'll put my flame suit on for this one, but I'll stick up for the veterinarians in regards to Science Diet, Eukaneuba, Purina, IVD, Royal Canine etc...
Doctors are scientists. They don't go by fads, media, or labels claiming "all natural" or "no by products". They make their best professional nutrition recommendations based on the research that is available regarding daily and prescription diets.
If a vet recommends a food that hasn't gone through extensive testing to a client, and the dog becomes ill and dies or becomes sick, it is the vet's fault for recommending a bad food. Therefore, a vet can only make recommendations for foods that they can scientifically vouch for and are backed up by years of research and testing that is done by other scientists and veterinary nutritionists. As far as foods that appear to be good by the label, that's all they can say or vouch for. It "sounds good". But since there's no testing, they won't put their license on the line for it, and they won't recommend you put your dog's health on the line for it either.
This same rule appies to medications. Would a veterinarian prescribe a drug that has been unapproved for medical use? Even if it has been lauded by the general public, and someone (not a doctor) has written a few articles praising it and demoting their tried and true medications? No way, that's practicing irresponsible medicine and a malpractice lawsuit in the making.
Food is much the same way.
Only a handful of companies have done the scientific testing to show the medical community that their foods are safe and contain the right balance of nutrients and ingredients. These are the companies who veterinarians have no choice but to recommend based on the information that is available.
I am sure that if some of the fad diet or organic diet companies put the time and money into the R&D that it takes to do a scientific study, that veterinarians would take them more seriously. Since they cannot market their foods through this route, they instead appeal to the general public who is always a sucker for the "all natural" "no additivies" "no by products" deal. I know I am.
So, before we all scorn our vets for promoting Science Diet, and believe that there is a big conspiracy going on, consider this: your veterinarians job is to practice good medicine and make recommendations for your pets well being based on good science. To do otherwise is NOT sound practice, and while ABC brand of dog food MAY be better, they have not put forth the effort to prove it to the medical community, so instead they go after the companies that have.
The veterinarian is not necessarily there to make money, in fact they are the lowest paid doctors of all. The pet food industry, however, IS out to make a buck. I would trust a good vet over an article I read on the web any and every day.
Thanks for listening to my 2cents.
-Nate
Chico's Mama said:Nutro is excellent dog food, IMO. Chico ate it as a puppy and had a very smooth, healthy coat. I feed my cats NutroMax gourmet classics because it's the only cat food my Gizmo can eat without throwing up everywhere...so i think that makes it good and i'm stickin with it!Hollyspup said:Ok so I went to a different pet store and I bought Nutro dog food small bites.I threw away the Science Diet...I made sure there was no By-products and corn meal.Thanks Again
Holly![]()
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Royal Canin's Chi Formula's third ingredient is ground corn.Mr Chi said:What did you decide on switching to in the end??
Well, the thing with Nutro is I think it's a good food...the corn gluten meal isn't necessarily harmful, it's just corn is not easily digested by dogs. something helpful to remember is that the farther down the ingredient list a certain ingredient is, the less there is in it...for example: lets say a dog food lists corn gluten meal as the tenth ingredient, and there are 15 ingredients in the food. since corn gluten meal is the 10th out of 15, there really shouldn't be that much in it.punky said:Royal Canin's Chi Formula's third ingredient is ground corn.Mr Chi said:What did you decide on switching to in the end??
Which Wellness, do those of you who use it, buy for your Chi?
I found the Wee Bit in the Solid Gold.
Does anyone know if it's important that we buy small breed specific food?
Just waiting now to hear from Abundance Life if they'll ship to Puerto Rico.
At least now I have the choice down to 3. :scratch:
Fad diets have also been around since the dark ages, but are still refered to as "fad diets" by vets because of their verbage and use of "all natural" marketing. Anyhow, I was not stirring a debate, just providing a background on why vets recommend certain diets, and not others. Believe me, there are no "kick-backs" and it is NOT cheaper for our hospital to order Science Diet vs. another brand. What IS to our advantage with science diet is that they provide free veterinary consulatations to staff veterinarians and frequently publish in medical journals regarding veterinary nutrtition research. This is a resource that is much needed, and not provided by any other means. They also continue to keep current on prescription diets to meet the needs of animals with lifetime ailments such as kidney disease, food allergy, and diabetes.punky said:I can only reply with the article by the Animal Protection Institute which clearly states they don not sell nor recommend food, only the labels to watch and ingredients. http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm They are not the pet food industry.
Also the natural foods are not fad diets this information as been out for years, I just didn't know until now.
I did ask my Vet about "better" foods and he said they're all okI trust him with Punky for healthcare but he's not a food expert. I also included some links to Vets opinions. Anyway the links I posted are just the tip of the iceberg and none of them are new. As I've been asking others, I almost feel like I'm in the dark ages because so many others already knew this and have changed their pets. I just see no reason to take a chance with Punky çause it's gonna be hard enough when her time comes so I'll do what I can to keep her around as long as possible.
BUT I really think it's a very individual choice and my intention was to pass on what was "new"news to me. No intention to offend anyone especially a whole profession.
THANK YOU another HELPFUL link!! Since Chico didn't like Solid Gold, no reason for me to take a chance shipping it down here. So that brings me to 2 choices. Wellness and Life's Abundance. I figure this way, IF there's a chance "some" foods can possibly cause problems, why take a chance,right? Can never hurt to take precautions. I eat enough JUNK food for both of usChico's Mama said:Well, the thing with Nutro is I think it's a good food...the corn gluten meal isn't necessarily harmful, it's just corn is not easily digested by dogs. something helpful to remember is that the farther down the ingredient list a certain ingredient is, the less there is in it...for example: lets say a dog food lists corn gluten meal as the tenth ingredient, and there are 15 ingredients in the food. since corn gluten meal is the 10th out of 15, there really shouldn't be that much in it.punky said:Royal Canin's Chi Formula's third ingredient is ground corn.Mr Chi said:What did you decide on switching to in the end??
Which Wellness, do those of you who use it, buy for your Chi?
I found the Wee Bit in the Solid Gold.
Does anyone know if it's important that we buy small breed specific food?
Just waiting now to hear from Abundance Life if they'll ship to Puerto Rico.
At least now I have the choice down to 3. :scratch:
I feed Chico Wellness. I buy him the dry Super5Mix Chicken flavor. (it's in a purple bag) and i also give him the Wellness canned Chicken and Sweet Potato as a treat (thats in a purple can)
I don't think it's THAT important to buy small breed formula versus regular adult formula, because all dog foods list feeding guidelines for dogs 1-15 lbs (small dogs) but you most likely wouldn't want to feed him a Large Breed formula or anything. I have seen the Royal Canin Chihuahua28 formula but i've never given it to Chico. Theres a few people on here who do feed it to their chi's royal canin and they say really great things about the food. whats most important is that your chi likes the food you are feeding. I tried the Solid Gold Hund-N-Flocken (gold bag) with Chico and he really didn't like it, but he loves the Wellness.
I'm the same though about Chico's food...I only want the best for him. Here's a link that might be able to help you: http://www.mashvet.com/forms/food_rating1.htm It lists recommended foods..."super premium" being the highest recommended. They also talk about a "human food" diet, but having a dog on that kind of diet is A LOT of work and requires a lot of research and giving supplements...I was considering it but I really don't want to gamble with my chi's health seeing as I have never ever done anything like it before. I hope that link helps you.![]()
i wasn't implying that science diet was gonna basically kill any dog that eats it, i was just trying to explain that it has certain ingredients in it aren't really that good for dogs and that a few people i know that fed it to their dogs ended up having to take them to the vet with skin allergies.xx-nathalie-xx said:i actually don't believe science diet is a bad food !!! it's recommended by vets in the whole world :shock: that article comes over on me as one big ADVERTISEMENT (although i would like to buy it :wink: ) so all the foods are bad and that is the wonderfood :roll:
i know one thing for sure ....it will take a long time to get me eating a big-mac or a sausage again ....bweek , i don't eat a lot of meat because i'm a bit wary of it ....but now i have it massive again ....yak yak yak
ps i'm not throwing my science diet away that's for sure !!!!!
ps 2 ; is it really possible to let a dog get 25 years old ??
kisses nat
No advertisements, no products for sale,no endorsements; just facts;xx-nathalie-xx said:i actually don't believe science diet is a bad food !!! it's recommended by vets in the whole world :shock: that article comes over on me as one big ADVERTISEMENT (although i would like to buy it :wink: ) so all the foods are bad and that is the wonderfood :roll:
i know one thing for sure ....it will take a long time to get me eating a big-mac or a sausage again ....bweek , i don't eat a lot of meat because i'm a bit wary of it ....but now i have it massive again ....yak yak yak
ps i'm not throwing my science diet away that's for sure !!!!!
ps 2 ; is it really possible to let a dog get 25 years old ??
kisses nat
punky said:No advertisements, no products for sale,no endorsements; just facts;xx-nathalie-xx said:i actually don't believe science diet is a bad food !!! it's recommended by vets in the whole world :shock: that article comes over on me as one big ADVERTISEMENT (although i would like to buy it :wink: ) so all the foods are bad and that is the wonderfood :roll:
i know one thing for sure ....it will take a long time to get me eating a big-mac or a sausage again ....bweek , i don't eat a lot of meat because i'm a bit wary of it ....but now i have it massive again ....yak yak yak
ps i'm not throwing my science diet away that's for sure !!!!!
ps 2 ; is it really possible to let a dog get 25 years old ??
kisses nat
http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm