Best, healthiest food for a dog

[Sswor]

I think for now at least I am just going to cook for both dogs. I followed the link someone posted to check the toxin rating in your particular commercial dog food and found TOTW is rated 1 star for high levels of toxins and my heart sank. I literally started shaking. I am done with commercial food. I am not even transitioning the other dog as why would I slowly transition her off of poison?? You cease feeding poison immediately, not slowly!

I can’t bring myself to trust any commercial food at this point. What the hell. These companies are evil. They are fooling us into buying and feeding poison to our dogs. I think from now on I will just feed my dogs real food and be done with the worry.

You figure I can feed my dogs REAL food for about $3/lb as compared with even the best priced raw diet which is closer to $12/lb. And really who knows what’s in that raw diet?? I mean, every company is out to make money, really, and what is the incentive to put actually real, healthy, fresh, quality food into that bag? When the courts put a purchase price value on the life of a companion animal, even if they poison your dog to death, they’re only out, at most, a couple grand. And only if you can prove it.

Yeah, we are done.

I was reminded yesterday that my Grandmother always fed her dogs boiled ground beef and rice–and that’s it–and the dog I knew as a child lived to 16 years old. She never fed a commercial food to one of her dogs her entire life. I should be so lucky to have ever gotten 16 years out of a dog I have owned. The best I ever got was 14 years out of my first dog, a 45lb yellow mutt dog–and I used to cook for him!! We come full circle and I never should have let the feed companies talk me out of it.

Thanks everyone for your input. I appreciate it and figure others browsing the web will also find it helpful.

[Sswor]

Ps. I will feed boiled hamburger or ground turkey (or both), white rice, peas/beans/carrots, backyard chicken’s eggs, sweet potato and/or pumpkin, and ground egg shells from said chickens, all slow cooked together into a stew. Done. And I can cook a batch for a week in about an hour and a half–freeze half for the second half of the week–and do it for about $3/lb.

Done!!

[LauraKY]

@Sswor, who is behind the “toxin rating” of commercial dog food. Do you have a link?

[Sswor]

@LauraKY

@Sswor, who is behind the “toxin rating” of commercial dog food. Do you have a link?

Weren’t you the one who posted it? On the TOTW thread?

[LauraKY]

@Sswor

Weren’t you the one who posted it? On the TOTW thread?

Dog Food Adviser? TOTW gets 4 1/2 stars on Dog Food Adviser.

[Sswor]

No, I’m sorry, it was Mr. Mac on that thread. The Clean Label Project.

@MR MAC

Just read this article the other day. Some interesting information about our pet foods.

[h=1]Is Your Pet’s Food Safe?[/h]
By Jennifer Coates July 11, 2017 at 02:26PM

Did you hear about the recent Clean Label Project study into pet foods? The organization screened more than 900 dog and cat foods and treats for over 130 toxins “including heavy metals, BPA, pesticides, and other contaminants with links to cancer and other health conditions in both humans and animals.”

Check out the product ratings list: http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/category/product-list/dog-cat-food/
​​​​​​​http://www.petmd.com/news/view/your-pets-food-safe-36136?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=petMD_PetFoodSafe_1152017#

[Sswor]

Maybe that’s the reason I lost a dog to liver failure 2 years ago and my other dog was recently revealed to have liver problems via blood test last month. These dogs shouldn’t be having problems with their livers–livers filter toxins and I avoid feeding sketchy things. I even thought I was feeding a quality food. Yeah right! I frankly feel terrible and am struggling with guilt over this right now. My only defense is a flimsy one–ignorance.

[LauraKY]

@Sswor

No, I’m sorry, it was Mr. Mac on that thread. The Clean Label Project.

There’s something very odd about those ratings. They give 3, 4 and 5 stars to some foods that are listed on the 10 and 20 worst dog foods, like Beneful and Kibbles and Bits.

There are toxins in all of our foods. If you’re cooking rice for your dog, odds are it has a higher level of arsenic and maybe lead than dog food. The only way to avoid some pesticides and antibiotic residue is to buy organic.

BTW, the Clean Label Project isn’t credible. So far they have released none of their research or data for fact checking or peer reviewed journals. Take it all with a huge grain of salt.

https://www.snopes.com/2017/10/26/baby-food-arsenic/

[Sswor]

@LauraKY

There’s something very odd about those ratings. They give 3, 4 and 5 stars to some foods that are listed on the 10 and 20 worst dog foods, like Beneful and Kibbles and Bits.

There are toxins in all of our foods. If you’re cooking rice for your dog, odds are it has a higher level of arsenic and maybe lead than dog food. The only way to avoid some pesticides and antibiotic residue is to buy organic.

BTW, the Clean Label Project isn’t credible. So far they have released none of their research or data for fact checking or peer reviewed journals. Take it all with a huge grain of salt.

https://www.snopes.com/2017/10/26/baby-food-arsenic/

Ok well that might help me back away from the ledge… but still. To have one dog die of liver problems and the other to develop liver issues, and the third to have serious GI issues twice in 2 years? It’s too much, unacceptable.

I am aware of the problems with white rice and am feeding organic. I do appreciate the warning, however, and it’s important to state for the record–and for the internet browsing reader too.

[LauraKY]

@Sswor

Ok well that might help me back away from the ledge… but still. To have one dog die of liver problems and the other to develop liver issues, and the third to have serious GI issues twice in 2 years? It’s too much, unacceptable.

I am aware of the problems with white rice and am feeding organic. I do appreciate the warning, however, and it’s important to state for the record–and for the internet browsing reader too.

I’m not a fan of TOTW. and had on and off issues the period of time I was feeding it. I was buying it from Tractor Supply, and they appeared to be pretty lax on their inventory rotation. I learned to check the expiration date on everything I bought there. The 4Health food I wanted was never on the floor, so they were pulling my bags off a freshly delivered pallet.

I might worry more about an infection with liver issues, like lepto or too much copper in the diet. My last cocker had elevated liver enzymes, we thought originally it was the crap her previous owner was feeding her from the table, but she ended up needing gall bladder surgery and the values returned to normal. NSAIDs can elevate liver enzymes too…so can Lyme disease. I wouldn’t necessarily blame the food.

[Sswor]

The food is the only obvious common denominator with these 3 dogs so to be on the safe side, I’m done. But thanks. I am a little less clinical today thanks to your posts, Laura.

[Nezzy]

i cook for my 5 small dogs. i make a big batch in a crockpot every 18 days or so, freeze in portions, and thaw out enough for one day, every day. There is a great book on cooking for your dog, it’s called ‘feed your best friend better’, or similar. I use Wysong’s Call of The Wild supplement to add what my dogs are not getting. Very easy to do and my allergy dog does better and my UTI dog also does well on it. The other 3 are all healthy and active.

I had a JRT with Inflammatory Bowel disease years ago and she was in a lot of discomfort when she tried to eat. i had to stop all the proteins she had ever eaten before and use a different one, i had to include a probiotic daily, and she was on prednisone for 6 months to try to heal her. This may be what is going on with your dog.

[pony_baloney]

I adopted an elderly dog last year and she’s had GI issues from day one. Now she’s doing well on The Honest Kitchen Zeal, which is fish-based. They also have a few foods in their “Minimalist” line that only contain six ingredients for dogs with food sensitivities. Their food is quite expensive (my dog is only 6 lbs.) but is designed to be balanced if you add extras, like meat, so you can feed less of it.

For my dog, the low-fat fish diet seems to be helping, along with digestive enzymes, probiotics, and THK Perfect Form supplement. The only issue is she’s a bit underweight and it’s tricky adding calories without increasing fat. So far some cottage cheese and coconut oil hasn’t bothered her. Another thing that’s working is cooked old fashioned oatmeal on days when she’s NQR. This seems to have helped avoid the almost weekly diarrhea episodes.

I’ve been doing tons of research on feeding sensitive dogs and some do better with fiber, and some don’t. THK has a few that include sweet potatoes, chickpeas, quinoa (supposedly soothes sensitive stomachs, but it’s in their chicken-based food, which I’ve been avoiding), oats, barley, parsnips. Some are OK with fats up to15%, others need lower. My tiny dog is eating the amount they recommend for a 10 lb. dog, and she poops a LOT on this food (a common complaint).

In the past with my previous dog, I fed a home-prepared raw diet, but at that time I had no problem finding the meats/bones I needed. It’s more difficult where I am now, plus this tiny dog has tiny old teeth and would probably not take the time to chew things thoroughly. I’ve tried Steve’s Real Food (frozen raw) and had problems with each protein. THK doesn’t have anything really exotic in their line like other brands, but the low fat fish may be what your dog needs.

THK also has a low fat beef and grain (oats, barley) food called Verve. I’m thinking of trying this just to switch proteins for a bit. It’s also much cheaper than the Zeal food. I’ve never tried beef with her before.

[Rackonteur]

When I read threads like this one I am amazed that so many of these dogs’ ancestors lived to a ripe old age half a century ago on foods like Purina Dog Chow, bought at the neighborhood grocery store. With maybe Gaines Burgers crumbled up once in awhile, along with table scraps. Their owners didn’t obsess, the dogs got plenty of off-leash exercise, and were healthy.

Like the cats who lived long lives on Puss n’ Boots and Kozy Kitten.

[MR_MAC]

@Sswor

The food is the only obvious common denominator with these 3 dogs so to be on the safe side, I’m done. But thanks. I am a little less clinical today thanks to your posts, Laura.

Yes, I like to read everything I can about food, as I have a critter w/allergies or ?

It’s important to review what’s available, research it and discard what doesn’t make sense.

The article on snopes is very recent (Oct '17) and I’ll be checking into some of their claims that I found interesting.

[sisu27]

@Rackonteur

When I read threads like this one I am amazed that so many of these dogs’ ancestors lived to a ripe old age half a century ago on foods like Purina Dog Chow, bought at the neighborhood grocery store. With maybe Gaines Burgers crumbled up once in awhile, along with table scraps. Their owners didn’t obsess, the dogs got plenty of off-leash exercise, and were healthy.

Like the cats who lived long lives on Puss n’ Boots and Kozy Kitten.

And my grandma lived forever and smoked so I probably could too?

Pet food used to be made on a more local level with actual food. Corn is a traded commodity. These companies don’t buy their ingredients from the same supplier all the time they find the cheapest. It’s big business now.

I briefly worked in the industry and would never, ever feed commercial kibble again. It is not remotely like the Dog Chow of old.

[LauraKY]

@Sswor

Ok well that might help me back away from the ledge… but still. To have one dog die of liver problems and the other to develop liver issues, and the third to have serious GI issues twice in 2 years? It’s too much, unacceptable.

I am aware of the problems with white rice and am feeding organic. I do appreciate the warning, however, and it’s important to state for the record–and for the internet browsing reader too.

Arsenic is in organic rice too…and there’s more arsenic in brown rice than white rice.

[LauraKY]

@Sswor

The food is the only obvious common denominator with these 3 dogs so to be on the safe side, I’m done. But thanks. I am a little less clinical today thanks to your posts, Laura.

It’s possible there’s a mold or other toxin in the food that caused your dogs problems. My brother lost all of his dogs to kidney failure back in 2007 when there was that huge recall with contaminated dog food.

[Foxtrot_s]

We used to buy cheap food from the feed store - “Field and Farm” – C$9.00 for a huge bag. Dogs lived to be a ripe old age! Now I obsess about whet they are eating…we, too, watched the Netflix film.

[PDDT]

We top up our dog’s kibble with some canned food. DH had bought TOTW and she had problems digesting it. She got such a small quantity that what I noticed was her breath. I wonder if it is too high in protein?

I have an older cat that has digestive issues - explosive diarhea. I tried different all-natural, organic brands. I tried cooking for him - chicken, rice and pumpkin. No better. He is now on Hill’s d/d and has normal poops.

The lesson for me was to listen to what my pet was telling me and not get scared by everything I read on the internet.