Ok with all this recal on dog food whats a good brand like puruna? and also cheap too

rachelcm1994

ekuniba is what i give my dog i know that it is one of the best dog foods out there

labman

There are many more opinions on dog chows than facts to support them. Much of what you read is put out by those selling something. I am in a position to see how large numbers, thousands, do on a few brands. My son is feeding his Fox Hound Purina, because he remembers how well the dogs he saw while still at home were doing on it. Currently we are feeding the 2 dogs in our home Pro Plan. I have also seen dogs doing fine on Iams, Science, Purina 1, and Eukanuba.

None of the recalls included any of the major brands dry dog chow. It was mostly the canned and semi moist chows, plus some of the more expensive specialty chows.

I know very little either way about storebrands and cheaper brands. Many people condemn them, but may do so knowing no more than that they are cheap. I know of no controlled studies of how dogs do on different chows that are available to the general public.

The only downside I know of the regular Purina is the dogs produce larger, softer stools that are harder to clean up than the more concentrated, meat based chows. That may or may not be much of a concern to you. It has no effect on your dog's health. It is very important with service dogs. If you are vision impaired or in a wheel chair, and have to clean up after your dog and carry it off to dispose of it, you want the small, firmer stools.

For more on dog chow, see http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/do...ht-154467.html

shygrneyzs

Cheap is not always good for the dog. Dog foods, such as Old Roy's (from Wal-Mart) cause the dog to have alot of stools. You may think the dog food you are supposed to buy might be expensive, but in the health of the dog, is a best value. Check with your Vet.

labman

So can you document that the larger stools cause the dog any problems? An example of an opinion with no facts behind it.

shygrneyzs

I was told, by my Vet, that the larger and more frequent stools were due to the cheap dog food, mostly because of the fillers in the dog food.

froggy7

Since the recall was because of wheat gluten, it affected canned and semi-moist foods. So any dry food is relatively safe. (I wouldn't ever say it's 100%, no more than all spinach grown in the US is safe from e. coli.) But it would be something besides the China fiasco causing the problem in that case.

labman

Yes, but in what way does that harm the dog? An inconvenience to the owner perhaps.

shygrneyzs

There are additives in some of that cheap dog food that have very little nutritional value, mostly added to bind food together - such as corn gluten. Cereal food fines are also added, that could have chemical residues, poor quality, and sweeteners. There are the food dyes, which the FDA says the "evidence of harm" is not conclusive but also says there are problems. The FDA just cannot figure it all out yet. Then there are the poultry additives - have you toured a rendering plant lately? Do you know where those sick and diseased chickens go? Same with sick and diseased lamb and beef. My ex husband used to haul those animals to plants in Sioux Falls and in Denver. I went with him a few times and asked the foreman what happens to those animals. He told me.

About fiber sources - cellulose is used and that is just fibrous plant materials - dried wood. Ingredients like rice hulls and oat hulls and peanut hulls have little, very little nutritional value, same with wheat middlings.

Preservatives like BHA and BHT have been linked to animal carcinogen.

Yes, some of those items are not directly unhealthy but they provide nothing but a filler. Something to fill up the stomach and not much nutrition.

You have your opinion and I have mine.

labman

Again, any proof?