Thoughts on Blue Buffalo?

[Derby_Lyn_Farms]

Recently, I had 3 different friends that had to take their animals to the vet for the crystals in the bladder. 1 is a dog, and 2 cats. All of them fed Blue Buffalo. Is this coincidence? Or have other people had this issue with this food?

We have had cats all of my 30 years of life. Not until 4 years ago did I ever have a problem with the crystals. We always fed the cheap cat food. This cat that got it 4 years ago was being fed a higher quality food since I had him.

These 3 people also have their pets on the prescription diet food from their vet. It is expensive for them. It also contains corn and grains in the first few ingredients, something all of them were trying to avoid.

[Justmyluck]

I fed my cat Blue Buffalo and she had horrible recurrent cystitis. I switched her to Proplan and its been over a year and she hasn’t had cystitis since. She was also a massive 17lbs. She quickly dropped to a spry 13lbs in a year and her coat condition is phenomenal now.

People are going to try and tell you that feeding the animals those prescription diets are awful. However, those diets do work and have been proven to work. Using that diet is better then an expensive invasive cystotomy, or a urinary blockage.

[bfeintn]

The problem I have with smaller pet food companies like Blue Buffalo is that they do not actually make their own food. They send the recipe to the mill and the mill makes it. They have no way of knowing if the recipe is actually being followed and have no quality control of the ingredients that go into it. I agree with Justmyluck that people like to think they know more than the pet food companies about the prescription diets, but they have literally spend millions if not billions of dollars researching and testing the foods to make sure they do what they say they do so I am going to trust them and my vet over the generic “corn is bad” mantra. I actually have a doberman that will only keep weight on when he is on a corn based food. I had him on 12 cups of Diamond and 2 cups of icecream (for the sugar and fat - per my vet) a day and he was skinny as a rail. Switched to Pedigree and now he gets 6 cups a day and is at a perfect weight. As for the crystals you should ask your vet about adding some DLM or d-L-methionine powder as a top dress to their food. You can get it as a horse supplement, pet supplement, I get mine in bulk from the local grain mill. It is an essential amino acid that is a urinary acidifier and generally helps with bladder health. (Those urinary diets usually have quite a bit of it in there).

[Justmyluck]

bfeintn just reminded me that glucosamine as works as an anti inflammatory in the bladder. I put kitty on joint supplement chews during her episodes.

[candysgirl]

My boyfriend manages an animal hospital and he says that a shockingly high percentage of animals develop issues like that who are eating Blue Buffalo.

Ours are all on Royal Canin.

[AlmostDun]

A list worth looking over:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/

[Countrywood]

I finally caved in and fed my dog Science Diet (for sensitive stomach), he looks great and younger and spry since he is on it…should have done it years ago, was influenced by those who downtalk researched prescription diets…there is a reason Vets recommend them.

[SarahKing]

A prescription food has gone through rigorous clinical testing just like a prescription medicine. Plus, they are “fixed-formula” diets, which means that every batch is made exactly the same; unlike over the counter diets, which are often “flexible-formula”, which means that the ingredients can be changed for up to six months before the label has to be changed.

[HenryisBlaisin]

I almost lost a cat to a urinary blockage while on Blue Buffalo food. A family member had a cat block on it as well.

The RX diets have their uses, but owners shouldn’t necessarily jump into feeding them blindly, either. Remember that many vets’ nutrition seminars in vet school are sponsored by pet food companies, with a vested interest in getting vets to recommend/prescribe their product. My cat was on the Royal Canin urinary formula food for several years at $2/can. I recently started using a new vet, and I asked her about replacing the RX diet with regular canned food, and she said that after this amount of time, that should be fine…and that newer research is showing that the RX urinary diets may cause serious kidney problems for pets who stay on them long-term. Information changes rapidly, so don’t be afraid to research and ask for the latest information. RX diets aren’t automatically bad, but they aren’t always as necessary or as beneficial as some people, including vets, would have you believe, either.

Also, IIRC, there is really not a mandatory rigorous testing protocol for RX foods…the companies basically decide what constitutes an RX formula. They don’t have to be FDA approved like prescription drugs.

[Justmyluck]

Yes they do sponsor a couple of our lectures. However I have never sat in one that actually advertised their specific brand of food. Our Hills rep discussed the fact that they do indeed do actual feeding trials so that they can stand behind their diets and know that they do in fact work for the problems they are labeled for. So veterinarians can know that C/D (urinary crystal diet) does in fact reduce and or desolve the urinary crystals responsible for blockages.

Research done into other over the counter urinary diets, shows that many of them add excessive salt causing the animal to drink more. Thus ‘flushing’ the bladder, which is BS. The big food companies can afford to do research trials and test their foods, which is NOT required to produce a pet food. There are simple guidelines that companies must meet to produce pet food and then they can sell it. There is no ‘regulation’ so to speak.

[wendy]

have literally spend millions if not billions of dollars researching and testing the foods to make sure they do what they say they do

actually that isn’t true. Many of the so-called prescription diets have undergone remarkably little testing. For example, the diet to prevent bladder stones? it has NEVER undergone a long-term study to prove clinically that it actually does prevent bladder stones.
And the renal diets- there are studies out there showing they actually take years off the animals lives vs. other kinds of diets.

and there’s a really interesting review article by Hills himself talking about the results of many years of his research on diets- and if you look at what he says, and the composition of the diets sold by Science Diet, there are many severe discrepancies.

as to Blue Buffalo- I’ve never been impressed with their line. They don’t seem to have any consistent philosophy/plan about feeding and just produce various products willy-nilly in an apparent attempt to attract consumers.

[SuckerForHorses]

as to Blue Buffalo- I’ve never been impressed with their line. They don’t seem to have any consistent philosophy/plan about feeding and just produce various products willy-nilly in an apparent attempt to attract consumers.

^ This.

When my ACD was on BB, he was CONSTANTLY itching. And it wasn’t from fleas. I think their food has way too many ingredients which means its like playing russian roulette with food allergies and then trying to figure out which one caused the flare up.

[bfeintn]

[QUOTE=wendy;7315025]
actually that isn’t true. Many of the so-called prescription diets have undergone remarkably little testing. For example, the diet to prevent bladder stones? it has NEVER undergone a long-term study to prove clinically that it actually does prevent bladder stones.
And the renal diets- there are studies out there showing they actually take years off the animals lives vs. other kinds of diets.

and there’s a really interesting review article by Hills himself talking about the results of many years of his research on diets- and if you look at what he says, and the composition of the diets sold by Science Diet, there are many severe discrepancies.

as to Blue Buffalo- I’ve never been impressed with their line. They don’t seem to have any consistent philosophy/plan about feeding and just produce various products willy-nilly in an apparent attempt to attract consumers.[/QUOTE]

There is a TON of research out there on these diets. These companies constantly sue eachother to prove claims they are making and when they go to court they have to either provide the research or pay the company that sued them. My husband has worked in the Research and Development Department of a major pet food company for almost 14 years. The competition between companies is insane and a whole lot goes on behind the curtain! It actually makes me feel a whole lot better about pet food than I did before I met him.
As for the renal diets - there is a reason they diets are called prescription or veterinary diets. They are not intended for long term use. They are intended to help with an acute problem that needs to be addressed in as many ways as possible. As horse people we generally understand that. Our horse has something medical going on and we put them on a supplement - similar concept. The renal diet is not intended for a pet that has years left. Cats in particular are a difficult one once they go into renal failure. You are trying to pack as many calories into the cat as possible with a little protein as possible, all the while understanding that a cat requires a LOT of protein in their diet.

Does it surprise me at all that what Hills said conflicts with his own research? No. Does that mean the research is invalid? No. Many people in his position have so little hands on work in their company anymore they have an idealized view of what goes on, and have their own concepts in their head that people within their company aren’t always able to correct. Think about it this way - does the president/CEO of the company you work for REALLY understand what’s going on in the workplace?

I COMPLETELY agree that BB has too many ingredients in it - It almost feels like they tried to put everything in there that someone said is supposed to be good for a pet! LOL

[Finding_Serenity]

Our dog has a rather picky stomach… we’ve been doing the Blue Buffalo freedom grain free dry dog food (and did the puppy food too) and it’s one of the few that she doesn’t get all funky from eating. We work to avoid any corn, wheat etc with her diet.

As to specialized diets, or for cats I can’t tell you much but she’s never had an issue with the grain free variety.

[Marshfield]

I have also heard of Blue Buffalo (presumably the dry formulas and not the wet) being associated with a lot of crystalluria in cats.

[BansheeBreeze]

We put our 2 of dogs on it. It helped our Frenchie gain a lot of weight and look much better, we’d been having issues since we got him. I’m against the Science Diet crap but gave the prescription a try at our vets recommendation, he looked horrible on it. Anyways he got much better on the Blue but the farting was uncontrollable, and his stomach issues were always going in and out. We also had our underweight stray puppy on it (both the Wilderness) and she did great but super farty too, and did develop a urinary infection (peeing on the floor, blood in the urine). We put them both on Taste of the Wild and no more farting, no more diarrhea. We’d been having serious allergy issues with the Frenchie too but once we put him on the TOTW Salmon they cleared up. It seems like the BB is just too rich? I chose it because it had the highest calorie, fat and protein levels of any food I could find and we needed to put weight on both of them. Maybe it just has too much, too concentrated.

[dani0303]

IMO there are better quality food for the same price as BB. Their batches are inconstant.

My cat eat this-
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/product.aspx?ProductId=35&product=Ultra+Premium+Ocean+Fish+Canned+Cat+Formula

And my dog eats this
http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/dog/kibble/duck

They’re comparable in price and my animals are just thriving on it.

[Beau_Justice]

My cat was on BB for awhile with no ill effects.

Then again, she likes to switch brands at her whim, so she’s rarely on a food for longer than 6 months. She has food allergies and this is JUST as obnoxious as it sounds, because we’re running out of brands she can eat…

[Pookah]

I researched extensively and tried several brands of dog food for my Great Dane, and she does fabulously well on Blue Buffalo. She’s been on it for years and I’ve been very happy with it.

However, it’s very possible that there is a link in those cases having nothing to do with the food - several years ago, Ella went through a period where she seemed to be very prone to UTIs, and she had a lot of crystals in her urine on every urinalysis that she had done. My vet kept wanting me to get her to drink more water, wet her food, etc, and nothing helped. Eventually one of the techs mentioned that our area has an exceptionally high mineral content in the water. I gave her only distilled water for two weeks, then put a Pur filter on my tap and started giving her filtered water. The vet was shocked at her next urinalysis that the crystals were totally gone. I’ve since learned that people in my area apparently has the highest concentration of kidney stones in the country, which is attributed to the mineral content in the water.