Picky eater dog needs limited ingredient diet

[Dry_Clean_Only]

[QUOTE=Ben and Me;5558644]
Are there any veterinarians, nutritionists, or scientists involved in the ratings given by that site? Have they done any peer-reviewed, double-blinded studies assessing the quality of the 6* food over the 1* food?
I have played around on the website before, and I do like their common-sense approach, but it makes me a little nervous that they’re passing judgement (and are regarded by so many on the internet as the #1 authority on dog food) without any scientists on their board.

Like I said before, I feed my healthy dog Wellness, even though I could get Science Diet or Purina for free.

But, I know that if I came down with…say…cancer, I would definitely trust the tested, proven drug over the .com website recommendation. Similarly, if she was diagnosed with kidney disease, she would be on one of the prescription diets in a heartbeat. The prescription diets have been studied and the research backs them up. You just can’t say that for the other foods. In some cases, they are the best option.

However, I know I’m not going to change people’s minds…just wanted to point out what’s gone through my mind as I’ve weighed all the options for my own pup, listened to lunch talks from food companies and taken independent veterinary nutrition classes. :)[/QUOTE]

This.
High five Ben:D

[Ben_and_Me]

[QUOTE=jetsmom;5558673]
Just curious, why you feed Wellness (which is a 5 star rated food), when you could get SD for free, which happens to be a food a lot of vets push heavily…You must believe that Wellness IS a better food…[/QUOTE]

I do personally believe that Wellness is the better food…For a healthy dog. This isn’t backed up by science, but it is what I believe based on my own n=1 experiences. I certainly don’t judge my classmates who choose to feed SD.

The dog in the title post is not healthy and was interested in a food trial. If someone wants to pursue a “true” food trial, they need to go prescription.

[RougeEmpire]

Science Diet PESCRIPTION is totally different than their over the counter corn meal crap! Royal Cainin also makes a perscription line as well, note Royal Cainin is also mostly corn meal Dogs don’t need to eat corn, ever! Don’t don’t need to eat Soy, ever. Yet dog food companies make a fortune by using Soy and Corn Meal to bulk up their product, create the kibble shape and add weight. My own vet refers to SD, Iams, and Purina as “terrible” and anything Walmart brand dog/cat food as “dirt in a bag”. My fathers ex wife was a vet for more than 20 years specializing in dogs. She pretty much said the exact same thing and said many times that most dog owners do a great of job of adding on a new wing to her house by feeding their dogs “terrible food in pretty bags” thus creating more sick dogs. She also joked that under no circumstances should pet food ever be bought from a grocery store unless you WANT to have a dog that is a walking vet bill. The sad fact is MOST dog owners by thier petfood at the grocery store. Most common grocery store brands are Purina(Dog Chow/Purina One), Iams, Store Brand/Ol’Roy, ect. Her best comment was “I would only feed that crap to a dog if I really hated the dog”. She felt the same way about Science Diet OTC.

[Boomer]

I had a GSD-mix that used to get: yeasty ears, chew her feet terribly, anal-gland issues and red-itchy patchy skin.

She was allergic to: beef, lamb, rice, corn, soy, carrots, peanuts

At the time, the standard “allergy diet” was a rice + lamb or rice+ (fill in protien)- needless to say things didn’t improve until we went to sweet potato + fish.

Her skin cleared up, no more ear infections/anal gland problems and she wasn’t “stinky” any more. She did continue to chew her feet some, but not chew them raw like she used to.

[Boomer]

[QUOTE=RougeEmpire;5558807]
Science Diet PESCRIPTION is totally different than their over the counter corn meal crap! .[/QUOTE]

I don’t know about this one. I had a cat on one of the SD -RX foods and the ingredient list was awful. I was paying premium money for a long list of by-products.

[RougeEmpire]

[QUOTE=Boomer;5559183]
I don’t know about this one. I had a cat on one of the SD -RX foods and the ingredient list was awful. I was paying premium money for a long list of by-products.[/QUOTE]

Well there is a reason why it perscrition. As far as MEDICATION goes it’s good, but yes as far as the “food” part it’s terrible. Sadly Royal Canin who also makes an RX line is also a corn meal bases food. Most people I know feed the percription for the medicine and feed a much better quality of pet food for the actual FOOD part. It’s really sad that their isn’t a GREAT petfood company making RX food.

[Boomer]

[QUOTE=RougeEmpire;5559544]
Most people I know feed the percription for the medicine and feed a much better quality of pet food for the actual FOOD part. It’s really sad that their isn’t a GREAT petfood company making RX food.[/QUOTE]

The food was the food for kidney issues/crystals and such.

I’m with you that it is sad they don’t use healthy ingredients + meds to help make your pet healthy. I doubt any human doc would say you can take your cholestrol meds + fast food and it would be ok… sigh

[RougeEmpire]

[QUOTE=Boomer;5559675]
The food was the food for kidney issues/crystals and such.

I’m with you that it is sad they don’t use healthy ingredients + meds to help make your pet healthy. I doubt any human doc would say you can take your cholestrol meds + fast food and it would be ok… sigh[/QUOTE]

Sadly I think if a really good company made a really high quality pet food in RX it would end up being so expensive that no would buy it. The thing the RX petfood is a bIG money maker for Vet Clinics, as are medications in general. Also many clinics get “kick back” (SD for instance) for buying stock in the company and then pushing it to their clients. Im pretty darn sure nearly all (if not ALL) of the medication found in “perscrition” pet food is avaliable in pill or liquid form. All you would have to do is add it to the food. Your definetly right that the RX pet food thing is the equivelant of a Bacononator RX!

[TheHorseProblem]

[QUOTE=Boomer;5559183]
I don’t know about this one. I had a cat on one of the SD -RX foods and the ingredient list was awful. I was paying premium money for a long list of by-products.[/QUOTE]

I am reminded of a poem from Unleashed: Poems by Writers’ Dogs:

Science Diet?
Yeah, you try it!
:lol:

The picky little dog is getting her teeth cleaned and checked today. As mentioned, she has an underbite and bad teeth in general, maybe even a few loose ones, so maybe there will be a change. She seems to hate the canned NB Potato and Duck more than the kibble, so maybe I will switch canned food for now.

Bye the way, Her Pinkness doesn’t have any other symptoms of bad skin–she smells great (excluding breath), and has no hot spots or hair loss. It’s just chewing on herself in the middle of the night.