I heard IAMS pet food should be boycotted because of cruel testing. What are pet foods that are safe?

Question

I heard that IAMS among most other popular pet foods cruelly test on animals. (Purina, Science Diet, IAMS, Whiskas, etc.) What in the hell food am I supposed to buy? I don't want to support cruel treatment, but the list I saw was of all the foods I've ever heard of. What can I buy and where can I go?

I've been using IAMs because I thought it was safe and high quality....

I have cats.

Answer 1

Actually Iams and the others you named are pretty low on the quality list. Most contain alot of fillers, dyes, and really poor quality ingredients.

Here's some information on finding a high quality food.

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, Innova Evo 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 2

Yet more ridiculous propaganda promoted by PETA and other such extreme groups. Have you ever thought about what we would test animal food on, if we didnt give it to animals? Do you want to feed your pet an untested food? Have you ever thought about the thousands of animals saved because of these specialty diets (i.e. in recent years the mortality rate of cats Hepatic Lipidosis has decreased from 90% to 10% based on studies Iams did which is just one study of many, let alone the fact that the average lifespan of pets has increased by more than 50% in the years since it became the norm to feed pets well balanced, researched diets over the table scraps they use to get 50 years ago) Did you know that almost all the studies funded by Iams are actually performed by the leading veterinary teaching colleges in the US (Purdue, Colorado State, Michigan State) Do you think that the worlds leading veterinarians would just stand by and let awful things happen to animals? Have you ever even researched or read the actual protocols and policies used in these studies, the strict guidelines that are enforced and the outcomes of the pets from each study? Did you know that the types of tests done (bloodwork, urine test, muscle biopsies etc) are also done in HUMAN medical research, and found completely acceptable. My point is you cannot make a balanced, knowledgeable opinion on this subject unless you have listened to all sides, and reviewed the evidence each has. You cannot just assume that the crap you read on the internet is true. I know there are several examples of animal testing that is cruel and unneeded, but Iams is not one of those.

Answer 3

The best food you can buy for your pet would be Eukanuba its healthy, helps their coat, dental, oragans, brain cells and is a complete diet for your pet do not buy any supermarket foods for your pet such as pal, purina, whiskas ect. they are rubbish and they are made in being cruelty to animals you DO NOT want to know what they put in those foods its disgusting go for dry food not wet as wet results in bad breath and dental eukanuba is dry because they are the ones that founded that fact and by the way iams is really good food it use to be the top pet food in the world and they own eukanuba now eukanuba is the best selling cat and dog food

Answer 4

Make your own at home. It'll be healthier, fresher and free of any animal testing.

When making any dog food, add a sprinkle of garlic powder to aid in repelling fleas naturally and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar to reduce unpleasant dog breath and aid in proper digestion.

Answer 5

I would suggest you feed your dog home cooked meals and natural foods. dog food is made from un usualble parts of animals and most of the time it is made from ROAD KILL it would be much better to use foods that you know where they came from.
here is a website explaining more about dog food.
http://www.husky-petlove.com/dogfood2.html