What are the best dog and cat foods? What are the worst dog and cat food?

Question

I'm looking for opinions?

Answer 1

Best brand in terms of quality of ingredients: Canidae and Innova
Worst brands: Anything that can be purchased at the grocery store or walmart, along with Pedigree, Iams, Purina, Science Diet.

Answer 2

Cats and dogs have different nutritional needs. Cats are more of a predator species, whilst dogs tend towards scavengers. A cat that is fed solely dog food will go blind and it can damage their kidneys to the point of failing. This is not due to what is in the dog food, but rather what is NOT in the dog food. If you have both kinds of foods available to your cats and dog, they should be getting the nutrition they need, even if they do steal from each other a little. The only concern I have is that your cats may not be getting enough nutrition if the dog is eating their food and then they have to eat the dog's food. You may want to consider separating them while they're eating or even feeding your cats on a counter or a table so the dog can't get to their food.

Answer 3

A species appropriate diet of raw meaty bones and organs is the best diet for both dogs and cats.

The worst is dog food and cat food. Brand? Doesn't matter. It's all got grains and other plant matter, and it's all cooked, which takes the nutrition out of it. It rots their teeth, regardless of what the companies tell you about kibble scrubbing their teeth clean. It creates skin problems, digestion problems, bacterial infection on a much larger scale than raw diet can because they can't process the crap in it, which slows the whole process down, and gives bacteria a chance to colonize. It makes big stinky poops. They add vitamins and stuff back into it, which is usually not bio-available. It is sold as "nutritionally complete". This means that they fed it to a bunch of test dogs for a few months, and *most* of the test dogs did okay on it for that time period. When they come out with another comparable formula, they don't have to test it, because they tested the comparable one.

Here's a fascinating read:

http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1

Answer 4

I know you are just looking for opinions but the FACTS are that: Iams/Eukanuba, Science Diet, Purina, Pedigree, Royal Canin, Nutro, etc ALL make inferior quality foods.

The BEST quality foods are: Innova (#1 in my opinion), Karma, Wellness, Fromm, Solid Gold, Canidae, Merrick.

Oh, and just to make one point clear - dogs are not carnivores like cats, they are scavengers meaning wild dogs actually ate quite a bit of vegetation in their diet...and note domestic dogs are NOT the same as wild dogs. They do not require the stored energy from protein that wild dogs would need to survive.

Answer 5

This is actually a complex question. Any pet food you feed should meet Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) standards at a bare minimum. After that, it is dependent on your pet's age, health situation, allergies, and preferences. There are as many opinions out there as there are brands of pet food. I have seen some foods that work well for one pet that were terrible for another. Though many people swear by some superpremium dog foods like Eagle Pack and California Naturals, I found that my dogs don't do well on them - they have digestive problems even if I transition them to the new diet slowly and carefully watch portion control. Lamb and rice based food are supposed to be good for dogs with allergies, but I have a dog that is allergic to lamb. Nutro is supposed to be a great food and I previously fed it to some dogs I once owned that have since died but one of my current dogs is allergic to anything Nutro. I now feed Eukanuba large breed maintenance to my two goldens which is chicken-based and they are thriving. It's not the highest quality brand but it seems to be the one that my dogs do best on. Some people cook their own foods for dogs or feed a raw diet - there are pros and cons to that as well. So I think it just depends.

There is a site I found that has some consumer comments on various foods - may gave you some insight. I provided it below. I don't know how reliable it is.

The one brand I have consistently had problems with is Purina foods. My dogs have always ended up with allergies with that brand. So I avoid it. I also generally avoid supermarket brands as a whole because some are basically doggy and kitty junk food. But I had an older cat in failing health that was losing weight and the only thing she would eat was Fancy Feast - kitty junk food. But she was old and I indulged her since it was the only thing that made her happy.

Answer 6

My German Shepherd has a very sensitive tummy, and tons of food brands give him diarreah. The one kind he can eat is Nutro, which I highly recommend. It's natural, and it comes with all sorts of different varieties (such as 'for sensitive tummies', which is what we use).

A good rule of thumb is to stay away from the supermarket mega-brands. They're cheaper, but they pass right through the dog, who in turn needs to eat much more to satisfy him/herself, and plus there's way more waste...

We haven't had a good experience using Iams either.

Answer 7

Iams is really good dog/cat food.. for cat food I would say Alley Cat the worst

Answer 8

Depends on your dog or cat's health needs. You shouldn't feed kitten food to an older cat, for example; or your vet may advise that you should feed a certain prescription diet ("kidney health formula" or something) to your pet for health reasons.

That said, I think that Science Diet and Iams are good brands. Stay away from the cheapo supermarket brands (like Meow Mix or whatever), they're the pet equivalent of junk food!

Answer 9

BEST:
Nutro
Authority
other all natrual holistic blends

WORST:
iams
eukanuba
Hills(science diet or prescription diet)
Pedigree
anything bought in a grocery store

Answer 10

Dads dog food is the best !!! The worst dog food is Iams it made my dog sick!!!!!