I currently am buying Iams Naturals as my vet recommended but someone told me Iams isn't so great.
What are you feeding you pooch. What does your Vet recommend?

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Without Health you have no Wealth!

For a long time (over 5 yrs) we fed Nutro Lamb and Rice until I found out from my vet and other sources it's just as crappy as the others. I would NEVER feed my dog dry food now as I learned that euthanized pets are sold to the rendering plant and placed in dry dog food.

Outcry Over Pets in Pet Food
The true horrors of pet food revealed: Prepare to be shocked by what goes into dog food and cat food

After the big poisoning scare I read this book; it's short easy to read and worth reading to open your eyes:

Amazon.com: Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food: Books: Ann N. Martin

So then I started feeding both dogs a homemade mixture of cooked ground turkey, brown rice and veggies. The one dgo died and the other will not eat veggies so now I feed her cooked turkey and brown rice and Priority burgers. It's like Gaines burger. I also feed her natural biscuits for her teeth.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

I feed my puppy Canidae. It is human grade and contains less fillers so you feed less to get the same amt. of daily requirements. It works out to be cheaper per serving than many other brands yet is higher quality. Also, because they eat less they create less waste. Works for me!

Rebecca

We fed Science Diet when it was just my tiny Yorkie. Now with three dogs, (two big eaters)
I serve good old Purina dog chow. My dogs love it, they are thriving and this brand has been around forever!

Because of my dog's food allergies, Eagle Pack Holistic Duck and Oatmeal.

We feed our lab Iams, in the green bag. She loves the mini chunks. We started her out on the Iams puppy food and switched her to adult food after her 1st birthday. Our last lab ate Iams from puppy to adulthood too.

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Friends are like butt cheeks.
Crap might separate them,
But they always come back together.

We feed our Pit Bull (Hayden) Pedigree most of the time. He isn't a big eater, so a 22lb bag last a while!

We use California Natural to our lab.

My Shih Tzu eats Science Diet. My Bassett was eating Pedigree when we got him (at almost 4 yrs old) so I never changed - he still eats that. BUt would you ever guess, the 72 lb baby - only likes it in "small bites " - not the kind for bigger dogs!

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Mom to 3 - one with 2 legs and 2with 4!

I started out feeding our dogs Nutro Max because they gave us 2 free 4 lb. bags when we adopted the puppies. My dogs hated it but managed to eat it anyway with canned food mixed in. So I tried a couple of other premium brands, they hated those too and would only eat them if we mixed in canned food. I tried the Purina puppy chow and they LOVE it, nothing mixed in. Since then I've tried a couple of other types like Kibbles 'n Bits for puppies and they like that also but they LOVE puppy chow. I do occasionally give them brown rice with their food or soup broth from chicken noodle soup...of course they love human food the best!

I don't have a dog anymore, but I started out with Nutro (I think it was a kind for large breed puppies?), and ended up with Purina Dog Chow. She did well on either.. and there was often leftovers from us, or raw chicken legs.

So nobody cares that most of the brands of dry dog food you mentioned contain the remains of euthanized pets? Am I overreacting to think it's gross to put boiled dead pets in the food?

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Yes, it is horrible. So is eating cows and pigs and ducks and bears, oh my (I am a vegetarian). Dogs and cats are carnivores and if any of them were hungry and came up to a dead cat or dog, they would nibble at it (cats not so much, depending how hungry they are).
What I find A LOT more disturbing is that those poor animals are being euthanized to begin with. It is absolutely rediculous how many people want to breed their pets, because puppies/kittens are so cute. It is entirely mans fault, that there are so many pets in shelters.

BTW - I give my 2 girls Pedigree canned with green beans (they need to lose weight ) ), eggs, rice, etc.

I read the material in the link and don't doubt that it contains some truth. I did research the food that I feed my dog and am comfortable that it is the best choice for my him based on his food allergies. I admire you for cooking for your pets and I have done that in the past for another dog with allergies (cockers are my favorite breed and they tend to have skin and ear issues). My current cocker had issues with chicken and I assumed he would have the same with turkey so I didn't try cooking for him. He's done quite well on the Eagle Pack Holistic duck and oatmeal for more then a year now and his ear problems have pretty much resolved.

In addition to my concerns about pet food ingredients I'm even more concerned about cattle growth hormone which shows up in milk and meat but that's a whole other thread.

I have 2 labs that are 7 and 8 years and have always fed them Iams. I mix dry Iams with the canned Iams. Never had a problem and was recomended by my vet.

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When you don`t know what to do-Walk fast and look worried.

For some reason I don`t believe a word of that.

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When you don`t know what to do-Walk fast and look worried.

The book was written by a woman who did extensive research because she, like you, did not want to believe it when she heard it. Did you read the other links? The pet food companies don't deny it and if you call your vet and ask the name of the company they sell the bodies to you can call that company and ask them if they sell to pet food companies. If you don't believe it after reading the evidence and doing research then I am afraid I don't know what to say.

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

I feed me 4 month old Black Lab Purina puppy chow for large breeds. She is a horse.

As for the dog food made with dogs..... My vet just told me that is hogwash.They don't sell bodies to anyone, they bury them,And to keep doing what I am doing she is just fine.

But thanks for the information.

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"Madison AnnMarie " 6/13/2008

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We use Costco's Kirkland Super Premium Adult Dog Food.

50 lb for $20 and first ingredient is chicken.

Lasts months -- our little Chihuahua eats about 3/4 cup a day!!!

His coat is healthy and shiny and he is lean and happy!

I no longer have a dog but she did eat Innova. I brought it at the health food store. She licked awful until she was put on it. Her white fur had changed colors from licking so much. Went back white after changing to Innova.

I can't remember the name off hand, our dog eats so little I buy it like twice a year!
I agree with whoever said something that has chicken as the first ingredient, I will NOT buy anything that lists corn first, it is just a cheap filler.
And like someone else said , the better food you buy , the less your dog needs to eat of it, so it really is cheaper (and so much better for them) in the long run.

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Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking

Kibbles 'n Bits

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Brenda

GO #24 JEFF GORDON

I don't know what part of the country you live in but most places dead animals no matter if they come from the highway dept of vets go to rendering plants. I would be curious to know where and how they bury them. If that program works perhaps I can convince some places here to do that. Please let me know either by posting or by PMing me. I would like the practice to stop believe me it is real and it happens. I have researched this myself so if you know of a program the works another way please share it so I can enlighten these places around here. As long as the vets makes a few dollars by selling to the rendering plants and the rendering plants make a few dollars by selling the processed animals to other sources until I can convince them there's a better way it won't stop.

Thank you in advance for helping me out with this IrishBlonde.

And I guarantee It Is NOT HOGWASH. It is documented and the companies have not denied it one bit. Did you read the info? Perhaps you can tell me your vet's name and I can find the info out for myself of the way he disposes of the animals so I can share it with the vets here unless he's telling you this just to ease your mind.

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Canidae for my Shih Tzus and Felidae for our two cats.

Some foods listed here are horrible. Iams is one that is on the "bad list" and people think it's such a great food. It's NOT.

I have not taken the time yet to read the whole article. But is there no dry dog food that is safe for a dog? With the list of ingredients in Innova I thought I was feeding my dog the best I could buy.



QUOTE=annadrose;2947452]For a long time (over 5 yrs) we fed Nutro Lamb and Rice until I found out from my vet and other sources it's just as crappy as the others. I would NEVER feed my dog dry food now as I learned that euthanized pets are sold to the rendering plant and placed in dry dog food.

Outcry Over Pets in Pet Food
The true horrors of pet food revealed: Prepare to be shocked by what goes into dog food and cat food

After the big poisoning scare I read this book; it's short easy to read and worth reading to open your eyes:

Amazon.com: Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food: Books: Ann N. Martin

So then I started feeding both dogs a homemade mixture of cooked ground turkey, brown rice and veggies. The one dgo died and the other will not eat veggies so now I feed her cooked turkey and brown rice and Priority burgers. It's like Gaines burger. I also feed her natural biscuits for her teeth.[/quote]

We feed our girlies a mix of Beneful and Purina One.

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While it sounds gross to think of pets eating pets, I really don't have a problem with it. It's protien.

Having worked for many years in an animal clinic, I can tell you that we paid to have dead animals hauled away. This was 20+ years ago, so I do not know the procedure now. We certainly could not bury cows that died while giving birth, dogs that died of old age or that we had to put down for various reasons. It would have taken a backhoe or something to move the cattle, and that's not the business we were in. We tried to save them, and sometimes nothing could be done, and the result was an animal carcass that needed removed.

So the dead animal truck came and hauled them away once a week. We were in a rural area and probably could've found somewhere to bury them instead, but as I said, that's not the business we were in. It certainly would've taken a lot of time and money to maintain the equipment to haul deceased large animals away, dig holes big enough for cattle, and then bury them. Sure, we could've buried small animals a little more easily (post hole diggers, maybe?)... but why?

Not to be gross, but once it's dead, it's going to decompose, regardless of what you do with it. Certainly, if an owner had a relationship with the pet and wanted to take it and bury it at home, on the farm, etc., that was respected, and the carcass sent home with the family. If I recall correctly, we simply asked, "Do you want to take him with you, or would you like us to dispose of the remains?" Usually people who had a "relationship" with their pets took them, and families who had six other dogs on the farm, and had brought in a dog that got hit by a truck, well, those families just said, "You can take care of him, thanks."

I don't know what they did with them, and I honestly never really thought about it. I guess, however, if their carcasses could be "recycled" and used to make food, that's fine with me. The thought of eating a dog is gross to me, but if I lived in Vietnam, it wouldn't be. And coyotes - which are dogs - eat and kill other dogs when given the chance.

We're all part of the food chain. That's just how it is.

1004990877

Well I know that there is no magical place where some generous people just donate their land to bury dead animals and I know there are no magical elves that donate their time and labor to bury dead animals. As far as I know unless a pet's owner pays for burial and/or cremation the carcasses go to the rendering plant.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Do you have a better idea for what to do with them?

If I could buy cat poop in a bag my dog would be in HEAVEN.

While gross (and perhaps disturbing) I can't say that it's morally wrong for dead animals to find their way into a bag of Kibbles 'n Bits. Perhaps if the dog food industry sought out LIVE animals to slaughter I might find it offensive. But it's not like they're sending out covert operatives to steal Fluffy and Benji out of your backyard so they can finish off that last metric ton of doggie kibble.

But if they did raise animals for slaughter, what's so different about that from any other slaughterhouse in the world?

Annadrose, I'm curious: are you a vegetarian? Just wondering.

We feed Canidae also. The breeder was feeding him puppy chow and he had lots of poop, gas and a little pot belly. One we got him off of that corn based food full of fillers his belly is now normal size, he has no gas and his poops are much smaller and less frequent. I am very happy with this food.

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"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way."
Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

I eat fish but not animals.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Last I checked, fish were animals.

Fish are animals.. oh wait.. let me run tell my daughter her favorite fish in her fish tank aren't 'animals'.. I am sure that will go over like a lead balloon.

sometimes someones reasonings only make sense to themselves.

Apparently you have never been to a fish factory or see how the fish live before they die? They aren't living in a river after years of life .. there are thousands of fish in one 12 x 12 tank in the ground where they are fed until xxx size then take out of water and killed.

Now do I have a problem with that? heck no.. but i wanted to show you that 'eating fish' isn't saving anything from harm.. they are breed to be eaten... not plucked from a river and lovingly given to you.

You sound like a commerical for PETA.

I have been on the PETA site and searched everywhere .. No where do they say anything about Dog food that contained the remains of euthanized pets. Or if they are against it.
If you can find it then show me.

As for giving you the name of the poster vet. I would not give you the name of my vet without his or her permission just so you can call and ask questions.

And yes if you could bag Cat poop then my dogs would be in line to devour also.

My animals are our pets, yes at times they are treated just like family, but if I had to cook special food for them, then I would be in the poor house. I have BIG dogs it would cost me an arm and a leg to just feed them. They are healthy on what I feed them now., Not overweight, or underweight. They are thriving.

They have never had people food, and I wont start giving them table food.
Annadrose I dont know where you are but if you want to come on over to KY. then be my guest and we can go and talk to my vet in person.

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Don't argue with a fool. The spectators can't tell the difference

Another Canidae user here. We have been very happy with this food for our little guy.

I only eat fish because I was sick the first two years of not eating meat and my doctors recommended it. And when I say I don't eat animals I mean animals that are like us. Mammals. I don't eat fowl because to me the only difference between a chicken and a cat is fur and feathers and I would not eat a cat. Mostly I don't eat animals because of the horrible way they are bred, treated and killed on factory farms. I do believe God intended for us to eat animals.

I HATE PETA. I disagree with almost everything they say and if you read my first post you will see the links. If you read the book which is very short and easy to read even a non reader could get through it in one day then you can make up your own mind.

But it is TRUE and someone saying it's hogwash is like saying I made it up. People who study and are educated on these issues know the facts and what surprises me most about some of the people on this board is that they don't say to themselves "this is interesting..it applies to my life...I better do some research and find out if it's true."
But no many of the people around here take new information as a personal insult. When someone tells you there is something nasty or unhealthy in what you eat or feed your pets they are not saying "you are an idiot for eating this" They are saying "I have some info that most people are not aware of. Take it find out for yourself how valid it is then make your own decision"


It is a fact and instead of doing your own research or maybe gasp how stupid of me reading the book yourself and making up your own mind you attack me. Do I eat meat? Even if I ate every cow in the world how does that not make it nasty that vets are euthanizing peoples' pets and grinding their dead bodies into dog food? Why do you feel the need to insult people who are trying to teach you something?

Thank God I am an intelligent independent person. When I see some of you acting so childishly it makes me laugh and be glad and I always remember to thank God for giving me common sense.

Go ahead and insult me. Call me a PETA ad laugh at me for eating fish whatever. Whether you care to bury your head in the sand or find the truth about this about anything that is a personal choice and ignorance really is bliss so I don't blame some of you for wanting to keep your head in your sand.

After all if Purina (or any dog food co) has a tv commercial telling me their food is wholesome who am I to disbelieve a big corporation? After all they have NEVER lied to us before just to get our money have they?
Now that you mention it I am sure it's filet mignon and sirloin in those dog food bags right?

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul : Home

For me, it's not a matter of burying my head in the sand. It's just not something I find morally or religiously objectionable.

Dead animals represent a potential protien source for living animals. In the wild, animals eat each other with no compunction, which leads me to believe that God created them such that they need meat to be healthy. Domestic animals really don't have that opportunity, and while yes, we can go to extrordinary lengths to create protien-filled foods for them without resorting to having deceased animals being part of that equation, if in fact protien sources are readily available via animal carcasses that must be disposed of, anyway, so be it.

If we bury the carcasses, or if we creamate them, or if we feed them to other animals, in the end, every cell is going to break down into carbon, oxygen, calcium, etc.

If it was between me NOT eating meat or chicken and starving, ya bet your sweet patootie I will eat a chicken and meat.

I think to each their own. Annadrose if you want to believe that and live by that, then that is entirely up to you. I think most of the members that have posted on this thread, did read the link you provided and they can make their own minds up And what is good for THEIR pet.
I am now off to KFC to get my family some dinner.

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"Madison AnnMarie " 6/13/2008

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Chalk another one in the Canidae category.

My Beagles eat Canidae.

My cat, unfortunately, eats canned Friskies Urinary Tract formula. I hate feeding it to him, but he just had a major potty episode, and the vet recommended canned food. I do, however, have some dry Felidae on hand for him too.

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"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

My beagle also eats Candidae. He was raised on it before we got him and I continued. Very happy with it. I do use Nutro canned. He did not like candidae's wet.

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Freedom Stands...Because HEROS Serve

Mary

Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul
Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul

The dogs seem to like this the best. They have also been on Innova and Wellness. They LOVED Wellness, but my local pet store stopped carrying it . . .

I used to work at a local vet clinic in town and they incinerate the cats and dogs. Large Animals like horses were left for the owners to deal with - but I do know that you can pay to have someone haul away the remains. Who knows what they do with them . . .

Vets DO NOT know everything, by the way. They recommend pet foods like Science Diet (for one because they are paid to carry their products) and Iams because that is what they are taught in Vet School. As far as I am aware there is NO course on Pet Nutrition in their curriculum . . . They really know no more than any other average person who has done their research on pet food

While I'm not sure that that's accurate - that they have no training in pet nutrition, I mean - there certainly is a whole industry built around selling things for pets through veterinarians. Unlike a Dr/Pharmacy relationship, where the Dr. can't sell you something he has prescribed for you, vets are bombarded with products - from vitamins to shampoos to dog tags to catnip toys on down the line - to sell as impulse-type items. There is as much money in selling products as there is treating animals for illnesses, I'd say.

The clinic in which I worked never carried any pet food, almost as a point of principle. The vet didn't want to get into the business of selling "stuff" under the umbrella of his practice, as though getting it from him gave it more credibility. A lot if the stuff he'd encounter at vet med conventions was simply fluff. The sample items he'd bring back were fun, but never anything he wanted to carry, it seemed.

I agree with you totally dead animals in nature do represent a food source but animals have to be poisoned to be euthanized. If something is killed by poison and you eat that something don't you eat the poison?
I guess I was not clear on that being my main concern. I read back my posts and I neglected to mention it. I know when you poison say mice or possums you are not supposed to throw their bodies in nature because animals eat it and become poisoned.

Quote
Here are the brands that tested positive for pentobarbital residue:

(please note not all brands of pet foods were tested)

Nutro
Ol'Roy
Trailblazer
Dad's
Weis Value
Super G
Richfood
Pet Essentials
America's Choice
Ken-L-Ration
Heinz
Kibble Select
Champ Chunx
ProPlan
Reward
PetGold

end quote
Are Euthanized Pets In These Foods?



Read a story written by the wife of a trucker that actually hauled
euthanized pets to rendering plants go here:
Do Euthanized Pets....Really End Up In Pet Food?



If you still belive it's "hogwash" then there are sure a lot of vets and other people in on the big conspiracy scam to try to trick us into believing this. Even the Food and Drug Administration
FDA/CVM Report on the Risk from Pentobarbital in Dog Food


What's Really In That Pet Food?

NewSage Press presents the New Edition of Food Pets Die for: Shocking Facts

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

We use Purina cat chow and Purina dog chow. I understand that thinking about dead animals ending up in a pets dinner might seem gross. But, after seeing what my dog has done when she managed to catch a rabbit, I am not surprised that she likes to eat dead things.

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Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

Have a dog w/allergies and the only commercial dry chow he's been able to tolerate and thrive on is Go Salmon. Can't have chicken or turkey or beef or pork or veal or lamb. Made homemade w/all those meat (things never improved w/the homemade) , as well as doing several months of the BARF diet for him. (for our husky it was great, for allergy dog it was disastrous).
We mix in pumpkin puree with the dry chow every day to keep the dogs' weights down (both of our dogs would eat themselves into oblivion if we let the, the pumpkin makes them feel full without getting too many calories for their ideal weights), and several times a week we add some yogurt, brewer's yeast, and garlic.
Go is very expensive (almost $45/a big bag), but it has drastically cut down on our vet visits and bills, so we're gonna stick with it. Our dogs are 9 and 10 years old and act like puppies still, the big galoots. One is a husky/malamute mix, the big guy is a St. Bernard/shepherd mix.
Big Guy also had some behavior/temperment probs that weren't solved w/ behavioral interventions, so he's also on 20 mg of Prozac/day! Since he got on meds and GO Salmon, those probs are gone.

MZ

annadrose, I guess my biggest question would be if the trace amounts are enough to be harmful, and if they are things that are harmful when ingested or only when given into the bloodstream. Unless things have changed, when we put animals down it was via an injection. Do they let the animals bleed out before the rendering process? Does that eliminate the majority of the substance?

Trace amounts of many things aren't harmful, and excessive amounts of many things that are commonplace can be deadly. I have a relative who refuses to take coumadin anymore because it was developed as a rat poison initially. He is taking aspirin instead. The thing is... the minuscule amount of coumadin my 180 lb relative was taking was, if I recall correctly, 1/2,000th the dose it would've taken to kill a 2-lb rat. If my relative had given a rat aspirin, how many of those would it have taken to kill the rat? More than 2,000? If so, then aspirin just might actually be more deadly than coumadin, kwim? And yet ,the idea of it having been used to kill rats keeps him away from it entirely.

Even though aspirin would also kill rats....

I don't claim to be a scientist, so it's difficult to sway me using scientific "facts" that may have been proclaimed by an entity that has an agenda. Ingesting and injecting so often produce such different results that I don't know if there is merit to being horrified at the thought of a dog ingesting another dog that died of an injection.

I can;t imagine that they bother to bleed out each carcass. It seems it would be just about impossible. My main concern would be diseases that could be transmitted because you are turning them into cannibals. We started mad cow disease by feeding cows to cows. The prions (sp?) are not destroyed by cooking. It also seems the build up from constantly ingesting these harmful chemicals can't be good. Dogs are scavengers so I have no problem with the processing plant left overs or even the road kill to a degree but cannibalism leads to problems and toxins do build up. I feed my kitties Science diet and would love to know more about its contents. Its always good to be exposed to new ideas even if, or especially if, we don't agree with them.

I find it disgusting on all levels (as if you guys hadn't deduced that LOL)

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.