Why does everyone hate Science Diet?

Question

I agree that it is a good food, although I do like Blue Buffalo as well. I feed my pets a mix of both and they've always been happy and healthy. The Vet I work for highly recommends it. I've seen so many say NEVER to feed Science and I was wondering WHY they felt that way.

Also, it's really not that expensive...a 4lb bag where I work cost $9.50 (before discount). That used to last my cats (before I was using Blue Buffalo as well) 1 week, so for 1 cat it should last almost a month....pretty cheap if you ask me.

Answer 1

Here are the ingredients for Science Diet adult maintence-

Ingredients:
Chicken, corn meal, ground grain sorghum, ground wheat, chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), natural flavor, vegetable oil, dried egg product, flaxseed, preserved with BHT and BHA, beta-carotene, minerals (iodized salt, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), vitamins (choline chloride, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, ascorbic acid (a source of vitamin C), niacin, thiamine, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement).

First, Chicken is the first ingredient- did you know that ingredients in dog food are listed by wieght? This is whole chickens, which includes water wieght, they'll lose all that water in processing and it accounts for about 80% of the weight of the chicken, so the chicken content here is really very low. The only other meat source listed is chicken by-products, and even that isn't listed in the first 4 ingredients

Second, it contains chicken by-product meal, by products being anything that people don't want to eat. That includes organs and bones, which are ok, but also feathers, feet and everything they swep off the cutting room floor

Third, it contains "animal fat" I'd really like to know what kind of animal they used, was it beeef, chicken... raccoon?

Fourth, notice that it uses ALOT of BHA and BHT as a perservative. Both are known carcinogens, I'd rather not see ANY BHA or BHT in my dog food

Finally, look at all the filler grains! wheat,corn and soy are NOT easily digestable by dogs and are actually three of the top canine allergens. Brewers rice is not exactly rice- its a by product of the rice miling industry, devoid of most of its nutrients. All of that corn is going straight through your dog, resulting in more waste volume. Also, any protein contained in those grains is included in the protein analysis of the dog food, even though your dog isn't able to use the protein in those sources!

For a comparison, here's your other food, Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Oatmeal, Rye, Whole Potatoes, Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Natural Chicken Flavor, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Blueberries, Cranberries, Flaxseed, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Taurine, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Yucca Shidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Turmeric, Garlic, Sunflower Oil (natural source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Herring Oil (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Fructooligosaccharides, Monooligosaccharides, Dried Chicory Root, Black Malted Barley, Oil of Rosemary, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin C, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta Carotene, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Calcium Pentothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Calcium Phosphate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Potassium Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Potassium), Cobalt Proteinate (source of Chelated Cobalt), Potassium Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Salt, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Bifidobacterium thermophilum, Bifidobacterium longum, Enterococcus faecium.

It does contain chicken as the first ingredient, but it is followed by Chicken meal "meal" is a good thing- thats just chicken with the water taken out. So you can be assured that this product has a good amount of chicken in it. Then it uses whole grain brown rice- thats rice with all the nutrition still in it. All of the grains they use are easily digestible and are not known to cause allergies. They list the source of the fat in the food "Chicken fat" as opposed to "animal" fat. What is really nice is that it contains NO harmful perservatives- this food is naturally preserved with "mixed tocopherols" which is basically vitamin c. They even include probiotics, which is a nice touch (the bacteria listed at the bottom of the list)

Do you see why science diet is not so good, and blue is a MUCH better food? The reason Vet's reccomend science diet is that science diet is heavily involved in Vet schools and research. They even get it FREE as vet students. Most vets aren't nutritionists, and they ust don't know any better. Science Diet reps sell thier product to vets like drug companies sell to doctors. It gets thier product swold, but it doesn't mean its a good buy. -Neb

Answer 2

I've never seen a wolf or bobcat eat an ear of corn....
My dog is allergic to corn, so feeding Science Diet is out of the question... The increased frequency of corn allergies is very very well known and acknowledged in the veterinary industry. So, why doesn't Science Diet change their formula to reflect that information?
Because they don't have to.. The same vets that learned about it 10 years ago will keep recommending Science Diet.. People will buy whatever their vet recommends without reading the label.. They make a lot more profit filling it with corn then they would make if they switched to a no grain formula. I don't trust any company that doesn't make changes for the better because they're making more money doing things the old fashioned way..
I feed grain free because there is no such thing as a carnivore that would just eat an ear of corn.. It would never happen.. I feed Innova Evo or California Natural..

Answer 3

I wouldn't say that I 'hate' it, but after working in a pet store and knowing what goes into making it... I won't buy it for my animals.

I read ingredient labels before I'll consider buying anything and the inclusion of any animal "by-products"(necks, beaks, legs, feet, intestines, etc.) gets an automatic NO for me.

There are better quality foods available and are usually no more expensive than Science Diet's formulas. Some of these are Blue Buffalo, Flint River Ranch, Life's Abundance, Nutro, Pet Promise, and Timberwolf Organic.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Soon as I took mine off Science Diet and had them on another food their coats went from dry to silky and their dandruff cleared up.

Look at the first line of ingredients in the list. "Good" food has 3 meat sources and one grain, with NO corn and no by-products listed anywhere in the ingredients (Cats can not digest corn). What are the first five ingredients in Science Diet?

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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I have always heard that Science Diet was supposed to be really good for cats. I had to put my cat on a diet and my vet gave me a bag of it, and my cat that was supposed to be dieting did not like it. My kitten who needed to be putting on weight not losing it LOVED it. but i think it messed with his stomach a bit. I dont think its bad food, but i think a lot of cats dont like it and its so different from all the other brands that a lot of cats arent used to the taste and the quality.

Answer 8

I've never heard of this before, I imagine because it is quite costly.
Hills, the company that makes Science diet, as well as Prescription diet, is one of the best dog foods out there.

Answer 9

We've always fed our dogs and cats Science Diet... it's expensive but it's good food. Every vet I've ever been to recommended it.

Answer 10

It's actually much more expensive then IAMs. When I had my dogs on it, they were obese. On IAMs, they lost weight. Lots of vets reccomend it because they sponser lots of vets offices

Answer 11

I personally think that Science Diet is the best dogfood on the market! Ginger, our dog loves it!