To people who show dogs/cats

[Mominis]

Last night I was thinking about how much effort I put into getting my horse's diet just right. About that time, a catfood commerical came on. It was showing pieces of salmon, chicken and things like that which are all supposed to be in this particular cat food. I was wondering if cat and dog show people actually feed commercial feeds to the show pets rather than making their own diet for them.

I have 3 dogs (all registered but will never see a show ring) and a cat (not registered anything, but he's my buddy) and I think it would be interesting to hear how the people that show these critters feed. Thanks.

 

[Zora]

We breed chihuahuas and show them, not very many shows in Maine though. They get fed raw chicken/bone/organ meat/Marrow bones/Eggs scrambled and raw, springtime supplements, Diatamacious earth and vegetables raw and cooked.

Occasionally they get Evo kibble as well.

 

[LittleRibbie]

Showed GSD's for a # of years many yrs. ago. Except for a few supplements I think they got good ole plain Purina Dog Chow and an occasional piece of chicken. Back then they didnt have the designer/healthy/organic foods that they do now. Basically Purina or Kal Kan were the choices. My dogs held their own and we had good shows and not so good shows. We were able to finish a few dogs...I often wonder if my dogs are really that much better off now ( B.A.R.F. diet and all the fancy diet aids and supplements ) than when I just feed them cheap ole kibbies and good old elbow grease grooming.

 

[Mona]

I used to raise and show Chihuahuas for several years, and I always fed Purina Pro Plan, and treats of grated cheese, but really did nothing special. It was the same diet I fed to all of my dogs, showing or not.

 

[Sixstardanes]

We show & breed (on ocassion) Great Danes and feed a raw diet.

This winter we'll have been feeding this way for 10yrs.

I personally want to know what is in my dogs' food and boy did we see a chance when we first went raw...

more balanced energy, better muscling & less of a "belly", better breath, nicer coat, cleaner teeth, smaller stool with little odor, less of a need to express anal glands and if they need expressing the smell isn't pungent like many are on kibble.

 

[Tab]

My Mom fed her show dogs Purina O.N.E Lamb and Rice. My sis had a show dog that had a corn allergy (caused her to blow coat/hot spots) and she fed Solid Gold. She did try B.A.R.F, but went back to kibble.

 

[gimp]

Mine get a kibble base and meat along with it. My breeder feels strongly that the very young and very old can have real problems with salmonella, so no more raw chicken here, but I do cook it up (and debone) on a regular basis. They do get raw beef, but raw pork gives them bad gas. They also get salmon oil and Inflight Coat supplement. I spend more time cooking for the dogs than I do for myself...

 

[sfmini]

We feed a high quality kibble here. This one is salmon based as one of our dogs has hot spots on other food. The three big dogs get this cheap dog food called Bites and Bones and they look great on it. We tried to upgrade but they would not have anything to do with that fancy stuff.

 

[anoki]

I have fed Nature's Variety: Prairie brand (a high quality food) for almost 5 years now. I love my dogs on it....but now I can't get the Beef variety up here any more, which is what I usually feed with the odd bag of Venison variety (which are the only 2 'flavours' my dogs like and do well on-one gets hot spots from Chicken, one won't eat the Lamb, and none of them seem to like the Salmon all that well). I have started to switch over to Orijen...since I can't get NV Beef, I end up primarily feeding the Venison, and well, the Orijen is cheaper than the Venison....and the Orijen is also a better quality feed. My dogs seem to be doing really well on Orijen.

While they were on Prairie, I never added ANY supplements, and I had many, MANY compliments on their coats! The Orijen doesn't seem to have taken away from that...but I've only been feeding it for a few weeks so far.

I have one dog on a completely raw diet.....since it was having some skin problems, a breeder suggested I switch over to raw. He has been on raw for 3 months now, and once the skin problems are 'fixed' (it's almost better now), I will be switching him to a kibble. I have had a heck of a time getting weight on him (which I heard this past week can be a problem with some dogs on raw), his coat is worse than the ones on kibble (and yes, I realize that the skin problems are mostly to blame for that, but everyone keeps telling me, the raw will fix that....it hasn't), his poops were waaaayyyyy bigger than they were on kibble......and well, I just don't think the raw is agreeing with him that well...kinda like people, some can eat some things with out a problem, the next it just doesn't work.

I had to put him on probiotics and digestive enzymes, which I did about 3 weeks ago. Since doing that, his poops have decreased in size, and he has finally started putting some weight on....but I am feeding him THREE TIMES what I should be.....and it is costing me a fortune! He is also on 'marine oil' (Omega 3-6-9) supplement.

I am totally for raw food, but for some reason it just doesn't seem to be giving my guy the 'extra benefits'....don't know what I'm doing wrong....

~kathryn

 

[Mominis]

Okay, I've been getting the dog and cat feding all wrong it would seem. I aviod Purina pet foods like the plague, having had two male cats encounter urinary tract issues while eating Purina. My dogs and my cat are all on Iams. My horse eats Purina. I've fed Omolene for years and love it with horses.

What is the definition of a "raw" diet? I am guessing from your posts that it is what it sounds like...all raw foods. I know humans can't eat like that (pork, etc) without bacterial issues, why is it not the same for dogs and cats?

Also, I do not understand B.A.R.F.. Can someone please explain? I want to make sure that my house pets are getting the highest quality care that I can manage and afford.

My dogs are two older (10 and 8 years) Jack Russell Terriers and one Old English Sheepdog. My cat is your garden variety Heinz 57 of 8 years of age.

 

[Bess Kelly]

If your animals are healthy and doing well on their current diets, I don't know that I would entertain a big change at their ages. Just my thoughts -- why put their digestive tract on a spin unless there is a need. Only one I've changed, well added to, was my daughter's 19 y/o cat. He was looking less than good last yr and I got a great supplement, and began adding a little raw beef to his daily ration (as a small meal) as well as his usual easy to eat little kibble (for sensitive stomach). The raw ground beef was initially used to carry the supplement but, also to give him increased food. He's gained weight, looks good and seems to still feel pretty good! Obviously, he's missing some teeth

so the ground beef is easy to eat.

 

[Zora]

We do not feed just raw, but usually they get the chicken/bones for dinner. Raw keeps the teeth clean and I think it's much more natural for a dog than just kibble or biscuits.

 

[anoki]

Here is a really great link on hundreds of different brands of dog food. It states why they like the food, or what they dislike about the food (and it is not tied to any dog food brand).

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

There is tons of information on the raw (or B.A.R.F) diet on the internet....soo much so that it can be overwhelming.

Basically you feed raw muscle(meat), bones & organ with veggies (usually leafy greens) mixed in. Dogs systems do not have the same problems with bacteria as we do. Feeding cats raw is more tricky because they need taurine added to their feed (which they get naturally from eating one mouse for example). I can get you some links on info if you like....

~kathryn

 

[krissy3]

Interestingly enough my cat is allergic to cat food, he gets large itchy bumps on his neck, and it takes a long time for them to go down and the itching to go away. We feed him dog food , Ceasers dog food , and its working for him, he also eats raw meat, milk bones, and bread (wheat) funny cat. Friskies food had a very bad reaction on him, but he loved the stuff. He gets a bit of Swiss brand bio food that he tolerates.

 

[Mominis]

Thanks for that link Anoki! I checked out the food I'm using for the dogs on there, but there weren't any comments. They did have the complete nutrition information there though. That was nice. I'd love to see other links that you have, if it isn't too much trouble.

My old lady dog has a few teeth missing, like your cat, Bess. She doesn't seem to be slowed down by it though. She eats dry dog food (and I give her table scraps too, I know I shouldn't...) with no problem at all. Her weight is a little high, to be totally honest. Okay..fine..she's fat.

My younger male JRT is also in good flesh, but he isn't what I would call fat. The same for the Old English. He was quite thin when we got him, but that has changed now. So, I guess I'm going to do what Bess said and stick with what works. But it is nice to be more informed about a good feeding program for them. Thanks.

 

[Katiean]

I used Eukunuba (sp?) when I was showing Yorkies and Keeshounds (sp?) until I had one have an allergic reaction. I think my friend uses Science Diet. She shows Toy Fox Terriers and does quite well.

 

[tagalong]

I have never had a dog that liked Science Diet. Anything you can buy at the grocery store (Eukanuba, Purina etc.) ... I tend to avoid. My smooth fox terrier and border terrier eat the high-end natural kibble with Missing Link added... and look and feel great. Their favourite snack is a carrot! No B.A.R.F. diet for us - the Smoothie did not do well on it when I tried to go that route a few years ago.

ETA:

I forgot to add that you never know what will work best for your own dog... a friend used to feed her Borzois really cheap, crummy kibble... and yet they both lived to be 14 years old and died of old age.

Similarly, the barn kitties here only like their kibble if it is shaped like fishies and drumsticks and steaks and coloured appropriately... none of that natural kibble stuff for them!

 

[uwharrie]

You may want to be sure he is getting enough Taurin in his diet. While dogs are somewhat omnivourous cats are considered obligitory carnivores. Taurin is added to all commercial cat diets and a deficiency in it is fatal to cats

My cat gets a standard commercial canned food as I cannot get him to eat raw ( or cooked homemade) If I were starting with a kitten they would be on raw.

My dogs get a combination of raw and kibble.

Interestingly enough my cat is allergic to cat food, he gets large itchy bumps on his neck, and it takes a long time for them to go down and the itching to go away. We feed him dog food , Ceasers dog food , and its working for him, he also eats raw meat, milk bones, and bread (wheat) funny cat. Friskies food had a very bad reaction on him, but he loved the stuff. He gets a bit of Swiss brand bio food that he tolerates.

 

[wildoak]

I don't show my dogs but will tell you what we've done. The older dogs have eaten run of the mill dog food, usually Purina small bites, for years and seem to do fine - the Jack Russells can and do eat everything, including rabbits they kill and hamburger wrappers anyone leaves in an open trash can! Same with the cats. My Papillon/mini Aussie cross has more issues with allergies so I've been through several things trying to find one that he likes and that likes him.

. He gets a venison based limited ingredient food I find only at one feed store. He's also a picky eater which makes it harder. I've started my new pups on the Blue dry food and I see a difference in them in just the week we've had them! They were also competing for food with the whole litter before, but she had them on a TSC puppy food - their coats were dull and they were pot bellied - coats already are softer and the bellies are reduced, more overall tone. At $44 a 30 lb bag I'm not sure they will stay on it when they are over 100 lbs LOL, but the nutrition right now is important for them.

Jan

 

[love_casper]

Love the dogfoodanalysis.com site, I practically lived on it when I first found it, and switched both my dogs' food pretty quickly. My Yorkie is allergic to her own shadow practically! She gets hot spots, looses hair, welts, scabs, etc if she has wheat, corn, soy, rice, or chicken. My Shiba Inu, as typical with some of the japanese breeds, cannot digest red meat, so beef is out too. We have them both on Acana salmon based stuff. My 9 yr old Yorkie has quit acting like an old dog, lazing around the house from pillow to pillow, and now boucnes around and actually plays with toys! The change is amazing. After researching a lot on marketing ploys of the large name pet food companies, I'm trying to get everyone off of Purina products. We still have Omelene in the feed room, but I really don't like it, or any of it's ingredients... it's just hard to find a non-purina products at our feed stores. I'm thinking I'll have to start making my own. On marketing commercial products, I personally have gotten my own diet off all comercial products, and now the packaged things with HFCs and MSG disgust me.

My friend has 5 Alaskan Huskies that she shows, and she doesn't feed one of them bagged dog food, it's all raw. Doesn't trust the ingredients and I don't blame her.