I feed my 13 pound, 10 month pug Science Diet. I just recently heard this is bad dog food. What should I use?

Question

Factually, what is the healthiest dog food?

Answer 1

There are many high quality dog foods available these days..I used to feed Nutro Chicken/Rice...My pups grew great, and, as my breed is long-coated, they had gorgeous coats in no time...
However, their teeth were always stained..I never knew why, but they seemed to need constant cleaning, to be ready to show..

So, I switched to Eukenuba, and they had better teeth, and nice coats..but bowels were always loose...

I fed Abady's for 2 litters, and liked what it did for the pups..but it stank..and was too un-handy....

I fed Purina Pro Plan when it came out..Pups did well..no complaints...

However, my supplier recommended Canidae 21/2 years ago..WOW! I never knew that my oldsters could be so rejuvenated! Suddenly they were putting on gorgeous coats, and acting as puppies..full of play..dancing as we walked...It just blew me away...
Then I took a 10 year old to have a cyst removed, and the vet came out amazed at her blood-work..he said that it was that expected in a 4-5 year old...He also said that he always cleans teeth while they are 'under', but that her teeth were absolutely clean..

I took another in to be spayed, at 7 years old, and the vet was amazed at how white and clean her teeth were..and then when he took out stitches..commented that she healed so fast that the incision was already hard to see...

All my dogs have just thrived on Canidae, and I would sure recommend it..It is made from all human grade ingredients, and natural preservatives..
there are other foods that are likely as good..but, as Canidae is easy to find, and they are doing so well, I wouldn't want to switch..
Other great dog foods that you can find most places, are Wellness, Innova, Solid Gold, Wysong, Natural Balance, Royal Canine...

Answer 2

Your Holistic foods or all natural foods are the best. There is one called Life Abundance which after months of research is the healthiest and most natural. If you go to their website they will actually break down the major brands for you. go to www.dogfoodzone.com. I stay away from all the commerical foods there is way too much junk in the food. My dogs are on holistic foods which have real meats and no by products ( by products are any part of any animal carcass and could even be road kill). My dogs did awful on Science Diet and that is when I began researching dog food. LIfe's Abundance can only be ordered on line because it is made fresh and then shipped. But there are a couple you can get from a Holistic Pet store that are great like Raw Instinct and Eale Pak. Check your ingredients. You first ingredient should ALWAYS be a meat and ther should be NO by products. Pedigree Iams and the other commerical foods use too much chemical and junk additives,

Answer 3

That answer depends mostly on who you ask?? Everyone will have a preferred, horror stories of a bad food, etc.

Science Diet is certainly not a cheap junky food. Your vet might have a fact based opinion that is more valid than asking here.

If your Pug digest the food well and no problems with coat, gas, etc then you should feel ok to use. Everyone here will have their personal preference. There are so many brands out now and some very expensive, designer brands even!

We in rescue wish we could afford to feed a brand like Science Diet.

Answer 4

Factually??? Well the bad is Science Diet, Pedigree, IAMS/Eukanuba, Alpo and other "supermarket" brands.They contain cheap fillers & by products. Corn & Wheat are pretty much undigestable for dogs, have little to no nutritional value and are top allergens, soy is also of little value and causes excess gas, beet pulp has no nutritionla value and only serves to add unnecassary sugar to the diet.

Dogs are designed to extract their protein and nutrition from meat sources not grain. It takes up to 3 times more of teh grain based foods for a dog to receive proper nutrition then it does a good qaulity meat based food.

Some good foods to consider:

Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Innova, Solid Gold, Percise, Premium Edge, Blue Buffalo, California Natural, Eagle Pack to name a few.


**** vets do NOT get kickbacks from selling Science Diet..they buy it wholesale just as any other business that sells pet foods and sell it retail just as everyone else does*****

Answer 5

You are right in hearing that. Science Diet is full of fillers, cheap ingredients, dyes, and cancer causing preservatives.

Based on the research I've done over the last couple of years a raw diet is the best. But I also realize that raw diets just aren't for everyone. So here is some information to help you find a high quality food.

Here's some information in choosing a high quality dog food.

Anything by Science Diet is pretty low on the high quality foods list. In fact most of your better known brands are, this includes Eukanuba, Iams, Purina, etc.

Vets are great sources of medical information but they very POOR sources of nutritional information. Vets are required to take very little in the way of animal nutrition courses, in fact these are usually just an elective. The few classes they are offered are either taught by or sponsored by major dog food companies. No bias in that teaching huh? Vets also of course make money on the foods they sell, as well as recieve 'perks' from dog food companies for promoting a certain food.

So when looking for a high quality food, I'd stay away from your better known, highly advertised brands, and look for the following:

Here is some information on finding a high quality food for your dog.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 6

Try Natural Balance. The only reason science diet is so popular is the vets get kickbacks from the company for selling it. The most important is to find a whole meat source as the first ingredient on the ingredient list. NOT by-products.

Answer 7

Try Blue Buffalo, you can probably find it at your local Petsmart. It's one of the only few brands that doesn't use steroids or any artificial food. It might be a little bit more expensive, but it's truely worth it.

One of my dogs was on Kibbles N Bitz a few years ago, and she got a rare type of food poisioning, so the best thing to do is always look at the first 10 ingredients to make sure your dog isn't getting anything that are just fillers.

Answer 8

Everyone has their own opinions about dog foods. You will find that the dogs worry much less about it than their owners do. Best advice is do your own research and decide for yourself. The only opinion I have is that many on here want to make a mountain out of a molehill. You will find that most who say a food is no good have never picked up a bag of it and read the lable, they only read somewhere (probablly on YA) that it is no good. $5 says that there isn't one of those that said SD is no good that can tell you how many different formulas of SD there are, so forget about them being able to tell you what the formulas are.

Answer 9

science diet is a crappy over rated over priced food...............
i have a friend that is a vet and they DO get a profit of 40 percent on what they sell. This is the reason they promote the food. It is for the money, not because of the nutritional factor. Remember vets are pet doctors NOT nutritionists..........................
Huge conglomerates use pet food companies as a cheap, and even profitable, way of disposing of the waste from their human food companies. Three of the five major pet food companies are owned by these huge corporations.

Who owns what?

Corporation Pet Foods
Nestle Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, Purina One
Heinz 9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature's Recipe
Colgate-Palmolive Hill's Science Diet
Proctor & Gamble Eukanuba and Iams
Mars Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham's
Veterinarians belong to the Veterinarian Association (a Union for Vets), in belonging to said union, the vet must promote Hill's Science Diet/Prescription Diet and/or Eukanuba. This is, in part, because the Veterinary Association owns stock in both Hill's and Eukanuba (aka Colgate and Proctor and Gamble), the Hill's Company was bought by Colgate and Eukanuba/Iams was bought by Proctor and Gamble. The other reason why Veterinarians support Hill's is because if our pets are healthy, they don't make money. Thirty years ago, dogs and Cats were living to be 20 and 25, now 15 is considered old. This is because of the many poor ingredients used in Hill's Science Diet/Prescription Diet. Corn is one of the most allergenic substances to dogs, it is also a cheap source of protein. When reading a lable, it only state CRUDE protein, this is the total amount of protein in the food, not neccessarily from the meat. This is particularly important for cats since they are natural carnivorse and are not meant to eat grains and corn. By-products are another poor meat product that includes everything on the animal specified other than the meat. Ever looked at one of Hill's Science Diet cans? The first ingredient is WATER. So, essentially you are paying for flavored water. One of the worst attributes to Hill's Prescription Diet, and the leading contributor to the increasing mortality rate in dogs and cats, is that they preserve their food with Ethoxyquin. , it is a preservative that is a known carcinogen. In laymens terms...it causes cancer, particularly in the Kidneys! Ethoxyquin (hereby referd to as "E") is only allowed in amounts of 5ppm to .5ppm in human foods. It is highly frowned upon and is only used in products such a peprika and other spices. In dog and cat food, it is allowed in quantities of 150ppm. In a dogs/cats life, they are eventually consuming 300 times more "E" than any human. It is no wonder that dogs/cats are dying at 15 from cancer. The veterinarians prescribe it to them. Now remember, this chemical is not found in Hill's Science Diet, it is only found in Hill's Prescription Diet. Although, the ingredients are just as bad in both.
canidae, solid gold, california natural, and innova are great foods with all natural ingrediants. this is just a few, artemis, dick van pattens, and even wellness are great foods, but get your poor dog off of science diet if you want it to be healthy and live for a very long time.

Answer 10

From what I understand Science Diet is one of the best on the market, where did you hear it is bad?? I was feeding my puppy Puppy Chow until I found out that this dog food is mainly corn meal and not healthy for them so recently switched her to Pro Plan Healthy Puppy Formula which it's number one main ingredient is lamb.