Do you feed Science Diet?

[Brandi*]

When we moved in with my father our two dogs and his dog started sharing the same automatic feeder. We were feeding Science Diet before we moved here but then we agreed to go along with what my father was feeding, "Come and Get it". We fed that for awhile but I have always heard that those type of foods are empty calorie foods and don't contain a whole lot of nutrition. So now we slowly changed them back to Science Diet.

My question is,

Is Science Diet a good food and is it worth the money. It is EXPENSIVE!

Are all the cheaper foods that are carried in the grocery stores considered bad?

Thanks!

 

[MBhorses]

great food.

we have use it for years. our oldest dog is almost 16 yrs old.

 

[chandab]

I'm not very impressed with Science Diet, but many people like it for their pets. It was a good premium food at one time, but I think there are better foods out there today. I try to feed pet foods without much corn added, and they are hard to find around here; but my dogs like Diamond Naturals (Lamb or Chicken); Tuffy's Gold Lamb and Rice, ProviPet dog foods are nice (I tried a couple, can't remember which ones, then my dealer closed its doors). I've used Purina Hi-Pro in a pinch (corn is low on the list). Last summer, when I got my kitten, I tried it the Science Diet kitten, and neither house cat would touch it; the barn cats ate it fine.

When I could get it; I liked AvoDerm. I've also fed PetsMart's Authority Lamb and Rice (it had no corn or low corn level); don't live near a petsmart anymore and shipping is outrageous.

If you feed a good quality dog food, you will feed less of it, as there are fewer fillers; which also means you will have less to clean up.

 

[Sonya]

I do feed Science Diet, but the prescript kind I can only get from the vet. I think for a "produced" food Science diet is a descent food. Of course the number one ingredient is corn....which is the majority of your common bagged dry dog foods. It is the only thing my dog can eat, so I stick with it. I tried a raw meat and cooked diet for him as well as many many other brands of dry and canned, SD prescript was all that he could eat. I wish I had other alternatives, but he is too old at this point to be experimenting.

Look at it this way...does your vet say that your dog is healthy? If so, don't try to fix what ain't broke!

wanted to add:

my dogs have been eating it for a few years and they both have wonderful teeth (I do have their teeth cleaned yearly)...beautiful coats. My lab with all the hereditary problems is still kicking after 12 years..he is a big one too...120lbs (no fat)..vet thought he would bite the bullet a couple years ago, but sometimes he still acts like a puppy. My vet says my mix (who is also on the science diet) is healthy as can be (he is 6) and science diet is pretty much all he's eaten.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

I have feed Science Diet for years, and have no complaints about it. All of our dogs do/did great on it. Alot less poop to scoop too. (we always had large breed dogs, German Shepards, Great Danes and St. Bernards, and now labs) All our dogs have lived to be a good old age with no health problems. I do believe the "cheap" dog foods contain nothing but empty calories as well...and those with a corn base, well, it goes right thru them. SD is well worth its price.

 

[anoki]

If you'd like to check out different brands of dog food, and which ones are higher quality (and the whys and why nots) than others, check out this link

Dog Food Reviews

Science Diet is not a very high quality food (actually the 'Come and Get it' is about equal)....whether it's presciption or not...just because the vets sell it doesn't mean it's a 'good' food.....but that's jmo

~kathryn

 

[Sonya]

...whether it's presciption or not...just because the vets sell it doesn't mean it's a 'good' food...

I agree it's not the best of food out there, and certainly not the worst, but in my dogs case (having tried organic, raw, and everything that the U of M could think of)...Science diet was the only thing that didn't give him the pukes and the runs....so for us...it's the best.

People get so bent up in arms about dogfood sometime...of course you want to give your pet the best you can....when I was young, my parents bought generic dogfood for our dogs (very active hunting dogs)...the cheapest stuff they could find...those dogs lived long and prosporous lives...never had any issues.

It's all what you choose.

 

[Jill]

I am not very impressed with it, at all.

What I have found is that when I feed cheaper dog foods like from the grocery store (Purina One, Pedigree...) the dogs have lots of gas and honestly eat 2-3x as much as they do when I feed them Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice. It's not the most expensive dog food, but I think it's a very good one and once the dogs get used to it (they will eat "a lot" at first b/c it tastes good), they eat far less and a 40# bag of it goes way longer than of a cheaper brand.

That said, my favorite baby, Winston, is on a prescription diet. He eats either Hills U/D or Purina N/M for kidney stones. The Hills, he doesn't like very well. It is made by Science Diet's prescription line. He liked it at first but then began to refuse to eat it and researching it just online, I have found many dogs don't like this kind of food. He, for now, does seem to like the Purina version.

So, Winston gets his prescription and the other dogs have free-choice with Nutro Natural dry food and at night get homemade dinner. I make up a couple weeks worth and freeze it -- pasta or rice with lean meat, veggie, eggs and mix in a little yogurt before feeding.

 

[Brandi*]

Thanks for all the great info guys

I have always wondered if all of it was just a bunch of hype. After reading all of your responses I think it will be worth my time to look into some other brands. Science diet is expensive and if it ranks right with Come n Get it then whats the point of spending the extra money? This is all very good info! Thanks so much!

 

[Jill]

Brandi --

If you do decide you want to try the Nutro Natural Choice, I know the lamb and rice comes in like big chunks and more recently in small bites. I think your dogs might not like the bigger kibble kind (it's a little too large for my shih-tzu's).

Sometimes, I think I spend more time contemplating what my dogs and horses eat than what H and I eat!!! And I'm someone who loves to eat

Jill

 

[chandab]

Sometimes, I think I spend more time contemplating what my dogs and horses eat than what H and I eat!!! And I'm someone who loves to eat

Jill

Me, too! I think many days, my animals eat better than we do.

 

[Brandi*]

Thanks Jill! I will look for the small bites. I liked that part about SD. They had the small bites which were very easy for my dogs to chew

I'm sure lots of brands offer that though.

 

[Sixstardanes]

Here is a good link in regards to seeing how good your dog food really is.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=grading_kibble

 

[suz]

My corgi eats the Science diet light, as she has to watch her girlish figure! But to get that nice figure, we had her on, I believe RD, which got the weight off of her safely, and now use the light to maintain.

Our cat had kidney stones once so now he is on the Science Diet prescription WD and it seems to be working well for him.

so, yes, both kids are on Science Diet and it seems to be working!

 

[Shelley]

I will never pay the price for the off-the-shelf Science Diet food as I think it's waaaay overpriced for a food where corn is the first ingredient. The prescription Science Diet is another matter.

Shellee

 

[CZP1]

I feed Natural Balance Small Bites from Petco. It is by Dick VanPatten (Eight is Enough fame, I am dating myself). It is an all natural food and the first few ingredients are meat, it is about 8.99 for a 5# bag. I have a miniature schnauzer who loves it. I feed less than what the "supermarket brand" says on the package and there is less cleanup.

I also feed my cat the Natural Advantage cat food after switching her from Purina One. She loves it too.

I have to agree that I spend more time worrying about what the horses, dog, cat, and guniea pig eat than what we humans eat!

My other animals in the past tried SD but didn't like it.

 

[River Wood]

Not all that keen on that brand but we do really like Pro Plan

 

[mininik]

I wouldn't feed my dogs Science Diet, Purina, Iams/Eukanuba, Kibbles N Bits, Ol Roy, etc. if the companies who make them GAVE me the stuff.

Saying some dogs do great on it is like saying some people do great eating fast food every day.

I second the suggestions to check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com and www.dogfoodproject.com You might also look into www.rawlearning.com

We feed our six pack raw prey model.

 

[Minimor]

I've never bought Science Diet for our dogs. These days I mostly buy Priority at Safeway--it does contain corn, but lower down in the ingredients when compared to some other brands, even the "better" brands--the dogs all like it & do well on it, and they don't need a whole lot of it. It doesn't give them a sugar high or make them goofy with excess energy.

I have bought Performatrin a few times, it's supposed to be an excellent food, but my dogs just don't like it.

Kibbles N Bits--now there's a sugar high. Someone gave me a bag of it once and I fed it to the Shepherds we had at the time. Woohee, two meals of that and those 2 dogs were WIRED. I bought a bag of Pedigree last year, just because it was all that was available at the store out here and I wasn't going into the city for a few days--I don't believe it's high in sugar, but something in that food sure did make the dogs into idiots. I'll make a special trip into town rather than buy that stuff again.

 

[Chpmnk1]

Brandi --

If you do decide you want to try the Nutro Natural Choice, I know the lamb and rice comes in like big chunks and more recently in small bites. I think your dogs might not like the bigger kibble kind (it's a little too large for my shih-tzu's).

Sometimes, I think I spend more time contemplating what my dogs and horses eat than what H and I eat!!! And I'm someone who loves to eat

Jill

Hey Jill, where do you normally buy this Nutro Natural choice? I just bought a boxer a couple mths ago and just read recently about them gulping their food so smaller kibble is not as good for them, so I would like a bigger kibble for her. but I still need a puppy food for her growth. thanks jill!