Stop buying expensive pet food

[djswizz]

Read on:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/maga ... ood-ov.htm

I'm sure this article will draw a lot of discussion. For me,I'll listen to vets and the reaction my dog has to the food over any other opinion. Just saying....

Also, a good quote:

Should you pay a lot for pet food?
"There's no scientific evidence that any food is better than the next," says Joseph Wakshlag, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Pets can thrive on inexpensive food or become ill from pricey food. If your animal is active and healthy, the food is doing its job. A higher price could mean better ingredients and better quality control during and after manufacturing. But you might also be paying for pretty packaging, marketing, or a fancy name.

[phermes1]

Interesting article.

Gotta disagree with the quote, though. That's like saying eating pizza every day is fine so long as I don't get sick. Not all diets are created equal, which is essentially what that vet is implying.

[ezzy333]

I think that is about as good an article as any I have seen. I think most people would agree with it if they were activily involved in all aspects of ingredient purchasing and feed manufacturing. The rules are strict that we have to abide by and there is a lot of research available to draw from plus the education required of the nutritionist has brought the whole industry into a more uniform product thats biggest difference is in the way it looks. I really think there are a whole lot more dogs being overfed rather than being underfed as far as quality of the feed is concerned.

Ezzy

[djswizz]

Interesting article.

Gotta disagree with the quote, though. That's like saying eating pizza every day is fine so long as I don't get sick. Not all diets are created equal, which is essentially what that vet is implying.

We're talking dog food, not human food. Some champions perform amazing on crappy food while others may not. Yes, not all food is created equal, but how the dog does on that food is individual in nature. Just like humans - some pure mesomorphs and can eat ANYTHING, including junk, and still gain muscle and lose fat. They are superior genetically. While others can't touch a Skittle or they will gain fat. It's purely individual and up to the type of dog. I think that is what the Dr. is trying to say.

[nitrex]

Ezzy,

I appreciate your input on the dog food post. It appears that you somehow work in the dog food manufacturing business. If you don't mind me asking, what is your involvement in the business? It is always helpful to know a little about someone's background to understand where they are coming from. Please understand - I am not asking to start anything, just interested in knowing where all your knowledge is coming from. I am just a consumer and try to keep myself informed to make good choices for my dogs and kennel.

Nitrex

[phermes1]

We're talking dog food, not human food. Some champions perform amazing on crappy food while others may not. Yes, not all food is created equal, but how the dog does on that food is individual in nature. Just like humans - some pure mesomorphs and can eat ANYTHING, including junk, and still gain muscle and lose fat. They are superior genetically. While others can't touch a Skittle or they will gain fat. It's purely individual and up to the type of dog. I think that is what the Dr. is trying to say.

The part of his quote I can agree with is that higher price does not necessarily mean higher quality. I also agree that overall nutrient profile is more important than individual ingredients.
Otherwise - he's clearly saying that there is no evidence to indicate one food is better than the next. While some dogs may indeed thrive no matter what you feed them, do we consider them the exceptions, or the rule? I tend to think that there is a difference between different foods, and I have seen several dogs do better on some foods over others, so to tell me that it really doesn't matter what I feed them - which is what it sounds like he's saying - is inaccurate. JMHO.

[Benny]

I listened to an story about this on NPR a couple months ago when I was traveling for the holidays. Very qualified nutritionists linked poor nutrients in dog food to several developing ailments such as diabetes. The suggestion that athletes do fine from junk food is also difficult to stomach (pun intended). Every College athlete I know (personally) trains rigorously and eats every calorie and milligram of vitamin with more consciousness than I care to tolerate. "Food is fuel" is not a myth. You will get what you put into it, and one Doctorate study would have an exceptional uphill battle to fight by contradicting it.

[WildRose]

We're talking dog food, not human food. Some champions perform amazing on crappy food while others may not.

Please list ten champions from the last ten years that are winning while eating "crappy dog food".

While I agree that price in and of itself is not directly correlative with quality much of the rest of this is pure fiction.

There are optimum protien and fat levels, optimum ash levels, optimum vitamin levels, as well as ingredients which are more or less digestible. Those are the variables which detemine what feed(s) our dogs may perform best on.

There is certainly a lot of hype and flat out dishonesty in marketing but if you have the experience and education it's easy to see that some feeds certainly are better than others.

[big steve46]

We're talking dog food, not human food. Some champions perform amazing on crappy food while others may not.

Please list ten champions from the last ten years that are winning while eating "crappy dog food".

While I agree that price in and of itself is not directly correlative with quality much of the rest of this is pure fiction.

There are optimum protien and fat levels, optimum ash levels, optimum vitamin levels, as well as ingredients which are more or less digestible. Those are the variables which detemine what feed(s) our dogs may perform best on.

There is certainly a lot of hype and flat out dishonesty in marketing but if you have the experience and education it's easy to see that some feeds certainly are better than others.

As one with some expertese and experience, I can say that you are absolutely correct CR. Common sense indicates that hard working dogs will perform better with high-performance feeds.