Do you feed Science Diet?

[mininik]

I'm not Jill, but I used to feed Nutro Natural Choice. Around here it is available at Petsmart and Petco, as well as some feed stores. Another way to slow your pup down to avoid gulping would be this product: http://www.brake-fast.net/

You can also spread the food out along the floor, or put it into a Kong toy. Sometimes I will even feed entire meals by hand which works great for training.

 

[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

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!

We get it at Petsmart or Petco. We have a Petco in the town where my husband and I work, and a Petsmart on the way home from work. They both carry the Lamb & Rice small bites

 

[Bluerocket]

We feed Nutro products to our dogs and Science Diet Original/Adult to our cats. Dogs are fed a measured amount.

The vet insists on the Science Diet for our cats because we have one with a digestive tract problem - all cats are doing well on it and eat less than when we fed other brands (including Nutro products). Their fecal output is less as well - so less waste. We tried other Science Diet "flavors" and they did not work as well (hairball and indoor - cats actually don't seem to like it). The cats are fed free choice.

We are happy with the Nutro for dogs and the Science Diet adult (original) for the cats.

 

[Sterling]

I had been feeding the Nutro Natural to my pups. Loved the stuff and how it got their hair to glow and shine. However a problem we were having was with them throwing up yellow bile some mornings. Once I started reading into the dog food analysis program I realized I was not the only one whose dogs had this happen while on Nutro. I wish I could still give it to them as I loved the shine they were getting. I have since changed over and am trying a few new brands. Once I took them off the Nutro...no more vomiting in the morning. I've never tried the Science Diet brand.

On another note. I've tried some very good brands for Larry (cat) and some very mediocre ones. The only one that does not make him throw up all over the place we have found is Purina.....go figure.

 

[Jill]

Cheyenne --

I'm not sure it's true, but I had always heard that when they throw up yellow bile, it's because their stomaches are empty? And that if you give them a night time snack (like if they do it early morning) it stops. Not sure though if this is true.

Our dogs do it once in awhile, but always have all my life, so hadn't attributed it to the Nutro.

Jill

 

[Sterling]

Hey Jill

. Thanks for that info. Since Lakota is a giant breed we make sure her belly is full or has something in it regularly. Her and her sister (my Boxer) get 3 meals a day...not to mention healthy treats in between. They get breakfast in the morning, a good dinner in the evening, and a snack a couple of hours before bedtime. I had never had that problem with any other dog food except with the Nutro. And since changing from Nutro, to Canidae and now Merrick it's pretty much eliminated that problem. Weird, I know.

 

[Jill]

Yes, it does sound like it must have been something in the Nutro with your girls. I'm not telling mine that yours get three meals a day or they will want to come live with you

We feed them in the morning and at night (but they think it's called "breakfast" regardless of the time)

 

[Sterling]

Yes, it does sound like it must have been something in the Nutro with your girls. I'm not telling mine that yours get three meals a day or they will want to come live with you

We feed them in the morning and at night (but they think it's called "breakfast" regardless of the time)

hee hee heee.....but they can always come visit!! Most people think my girls are spoiled ...but Nancy (Equuisize) and I like to say they're "indulged"...lol.....

 

[twister]

I have never fed science diet, used to feed eukanuba for 15 years was a fan of it until they started messing about with the formula. Now I feed Orijen which comes from Alberta, it does not have any grain in it. It has meat,fish (70%) and fruit & vegetables (30%), all low temperature cooked so it doesn't kill the nutrients. I switched to this food last year and couldn't be happier with how the dogs look. Their web site is www.championpetfoods.com

Check it out.

Yvonne

 

[Chpmnk1]

I'm not Jill, but I used to feed Nutro Natural Choice. Around here it is available at Petsmart and Petco, as well as some feed stores. Another way to slow your pup down to avoid gulping would be this product: http://www.brake-fast.net/

You can also spread the food out along the floor, or put it into a Kong toy. Sometimes I will even feed entire meals by hand which works great for training.

Hi Nicole, no problem that you aren't Jill, lol, I'll take the info from whomever is kind enough to give it to me!! anyway thanks for the hints on the gulping too, I may try some of them, as just putting a ball in doesn't seem to slow her down much either. lol

and thank you too Jill! I will check out both places & see what the costs are!

 

[Carriage]

I think you have gotten very good advice on researching diets.

This is a topic of strudy that has been near and dear to my heart for over 20 years now.

We coined a phrase nearly that long ago that simply stated " science diet ain't science". It may have been at its inception, but back then canine nutrition was a fledgling field of study. Also vets on average at that time got aprox. 6 hours of nutritional training, sponsered by................ any guess's?

Thats right Hills/ Colgate / Palmalive sponsored a BIG part of Vet school expenditures. Thats why you see this unholy alliance with the vets and science diet.

As to special diets, they aren't the only game around. There is (or was) a company out of Canada that had ALL of the specialty diets that S.D. has, at a MUCH lower cost AND with better ingred. and without the carcinegenic content. Sorry but senelity prevents me from remembering the name at this point......

The same canid dietary rules still apply today.

1) The first four ingredients of the diet give you a good feel for the diets make-up and quality

2) Try to select a diet without wheat or corn. ( #1&2 allergen sources)

3) Choose a dry diet free of man made (carcinigenic ) preservatives . ( preserved with vit. e and or c)

4) What is the fat content of the diet preserved with? This is one of the ugly truths in the industry. If the fat was rendered by a different company and sold to the diet company, the diet company is not required to list what the fat is preserved with. If you think you have a "naturally" preserved diet, you in fact may not!

There is no such thing as "100% complete nutrition" out of a bag. There can't be for two reasons.

1) Not everything is known about canid nutrition and we are learning more everyday.

2) The diet building process is harmful and destructive to varying degrees of various dietary componants.

How to counteract these hard truths is a comprehensive tretise in itself however, simply said supplimenting a superb diet with fresh COOKED vegitables goes a long way to rounding out vitamin and mineral content.

Believe it or not your dog is an omnivore in relation to its dietary needs.

Bb

 

[Carriage]

*****Another way to slow your pup down to avoid gulping would be this product:*****

I must respectfully dissagree with this. A carnivore's digestive system and even the shape of its teeth makes it a "gulper". That is how they eat and indeed how their digestion system is set up. Tearing and eating whole is what their teeth are designed for. The stomach acidity will quickly and efficiently break down the whole food.

An enthusiastic eater is "generally" a sign of a healthy animal. When an animal slows down on its feed or is uninterested in food that would otherwise normally be devoured, it is, many times, the first indication that that animal may be sick.

The two points stated above are why "free" feeding is a bad idea. Demand feed "gulping" is the way to go for nutrition and gastronomical health.

Bb