Dry Food Comparisons

[Sagittarian]

Let's talk about poo.

:cool:

Nearly everytime an Artemis feeder tells me the dog is producing soft or excessive poos and I check out how much they are feeding, it is well over the dog's needs.

By feeding the correct amount for the individual, poos then tend to be firmer, smaller etc, all the good stuff!

White poos can be created by a long of bone in the diet.

Aren't you all pleased you read this!!

:D

Sags

[twodoggies2001]

What I don't like about the dry food you listed is that the 2nd and 3rd ingredients are 'meal'. That could be any rubbish, not to mention the 'flavours'.

Isn't chicken meal and salmon meal just squished whole chickens and whole salmon?

Yes, but the chicken etc. used is of inferior quality

Perhaps but still human grade.

I don't think so. Jump on to google and see what really is in pet food.

Having been inside some Petfood manufacturing plants and having friends in the industry, there is a big difference between the ingredients of the top brands and that of the lower priced brands.

Roadkill and Euthanased animals do not feature in Australian products or in the super premium brands.

If you want to feed organic free range human consumption meats to your pets then that is all well and good, but there is nothing wrong with feeding a good quality processed food if that is what the owner chooses and the dog thrives on.

Chicken feet, chicken necks, carcasses, offal, bones and offcuts are all perfectly acceptable food sources for dogs some of us might feel better feeding them prime cuts, but they don't need them.

That's the point I'm trying to make. The processed part. I wouldn't like to eat processed food day in and day out. I do not feed prime cuts or organic, and I never said I did, but I do feed fresh meat, including chicken necks, feet, carcasses, offal raw fish etc, and I control what goes into their stomachs. In the long run, not that it makes any difference, it probably costs me cheaper to feed my way, than it does to feed kibble and canned.

[Shmurps]

I looked into all this a while ago. I found 2 brands that the dogs do well on and I swap them over every 6 months. They also get chicken carcas, necks, wings, lamb brisket and fish.

Did anyone see onToday Tonight about the old dog? We didn't see all of the sho but there was one mix breed dog and has lived on what the family ate

with the odd dog food meal . The dog turns 21 next year and looked great. We met a Matese x the other day and we thought it was under 12 months, he was 18. Great teeth, coat and body condition. So go figure..

[sezling]

I had my dog on Artemis maximal and fresh mix subsequently as they looked like the perfect dry food in theory however my dog's poos weren't great (loose and smelly) and he was getting the recommended amount on the pack and even then he was underweight (thats another story but just trying to say I wasn't feeding excess amounts as sagittarian suggested couldve been a reason for some). after a few months I changed to nutro and his poos immediately firmed up, the only thing is the amount was much more. The Artemis kibble is also really small and for my dog who tends to wolf down his food, nutro encourages him to chew a bit more. It really is different for every dog (which makes it kind of annoying when trying to get it right ><)

Edited March 13, 2010 by sezling

[poodlefan]

That's the point I'm trying to make. The processed part. I wouldn't like to eat processed food day in and day out. I do not feed prime cuts or organic, and I never said I did, but I do feed fresh meat, including chicken necks, feet, carcasses, offal raw fish etc, and I control what goes into their stomachs. In the long run, not that it makes any difference, it probably costs me cheaper to feed my way, than it does to feed kibble and canned.

Who said anything about feeding their dogs a completely kibble diet That may happen in the USA but I don't know a single person here whose dogs get nothing but kibble. My dogs get RMBs two days out of three.

I agree that rotating kibbles every now and again is a good idea.