| What should I FEED? |
There are many different brands of dog and cat feed on the market, and I haven't personally
tried all of them, so I have also gathered information from other sources. This page was
primarily made for dog owners, but many companies make cat food as well and they use the
same philosophies in producing either.
I have lots of information about guinea pig food on the cavy care sheet.
On the Internet, I found a great website about information and care for rats.
For rabbits, The House Rabbit Society has good information.
Disclaimer: All information on these pages is personal opinions and hearsay only, and I only
know as much about ingredients in different brands as they list on their websites. I have no
education or training to validate these statements and take no responsibility for the results of
making use of this information.
The Dog Food Project
I have learned a lot from this great website:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=choosing_the_right_food
Good brands and where to find them
Here are a few personal recommendations:
California Natural from Natura (no corn, wheat or soy). This is a good, slightly more
affordable brand that I often feed to my own dogs and foster dogs.
Canine Caviar and Feline Caviar
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul (no corn, wheat or soy). The dogs have done well on it.
Diamond Naturals series (has no corn, wheat or soy). I've heard some good things about it.
Their regular brand is bad, though.
Eagle (no corn, wheat or soy). Also has a good reputation.
Innova (EVO and others) from Natura - generally highly recommended, but too rich for some
dogs, including some of mine, causing diarrhea. Many give it to their performance dogs.
Merrick (no corn, wheat or soy, "home-cooked"). This is a great food for picky eaters or dogs
that just don't seem to take the time to finish a bowl of food. There are many flavors to
choose from and the dogs love at least one variety. I often pick Wilderness Blend. I love that
it is for all ages and often feed it to puppies.
Natural Balance (no corn, wheat or soy; specific non-allergy formulas). Molly, my food
sensitive girl, and Pepper, the stomach sensitive one, have had a few reactions on this food,
but most dogs do rather well on it. The company have also been open and informative about
the Chinese contamination issue.
Natures Variety (more meat, less grain, no corn, wheat or soy. A grain free formula. Has
frozen RAW food and bones). Too rich for my sick cat but otherwise fine.
Solid Gold is quite good, though Molly sometimes starts scratching a bit more. Their basic
formular can be found at PetCo, too, which is more convenient for many people.
Wellness (no corn, wheat or soy). Very nice brand, and my sick cat, that has trouble with
digestion and up-take really likes the canned food, and does quite well on the kibble, too.
Orijen is generally considered one of the best.
Taste of the Wild is great when you need to get a good food that is a bit cheaper. I feed it a
lot to both dogs and cats.
Premium Edge is a new brand that is quite good for a lot less money. I would still prefer to go
a higher quality but this is a good compromise in these trying times and for foster animals, of
which I feed a lot. Both my food sensitive cat and dog do okay on it.
Blue Buffalo is also a very decent product.
Fillers and additives
I chose to only point out when a food is without corn, wheat, and soy. Here is a link to an
article about the subject:
http://dogs.about.com/cs/dietandnutrition/qt/corn_free.htm?terms=wheat+corn%20dog%
20food
Many dogs have problems with these ingredients, not just those dogs with obvious
allergic/sensitive reactions. Subtler signs may be infections that won't go away, bad breath,
irritability about being touched, abnormal shedding, frequent vomiting or soft stools etc. It is
not that these things are always bad but they are not certainly not healthy in large quantities,
and some dogs may react to smaller amounts, too. The Dog Food Project explains it in detail.
There are other things too be aware of if you feel your dog isn’t thriving on the food you are
currently feeding or you just want to give it the best, and I could have chosen to point those
things instead. Some people are not comfortable with added animal fat, animal meal, by-
products, dairy, beat pulp and all grains, for example, while others have no issues with part or
all of it. The best you can do is read up on the subject and decide by yourself what fits your
philosophy and financial situation.
http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/dogfoods.html
What to avoid
There is an amazing amount of really awful food being sold, and with some of these brands,
the advertising is so good that lots of people are fooled. They especially cater to the human
attraction to colorful foods (because we are omnivores, not carnivores) and the popularity of
words like "natural" and "organic". The problem is that colorful mostly means dyes and
additives, and natural foods may not be species appropriate. No matter how natural corn,
wheat, soy, beat pulp etc. is, a dog's digestive system is not made for processing it and it can
make him or her quite sick. Even if your dog seems to you to be doing fine on these foods, you
probably just don't know how much better they would look and act on a proper food - in
either case, you may be cutting a few years off your dog's lifespan feeding these brands.
These are brands to stay away from
Almost anything by Purina. Beneful, Dog Chow and Puppy Chow and such may look good on
the package but they are just awful. You are better off feeding table scraps! Oddly enough,
their Pro Plan Natural has gotten good grades, but the regular Pro Plan fails the tests. Other
famously bad foods are Ol Roy, Kibbles 'n Bits, Bil-Jac, stuff from Diamond, except they
recently launch a new, fine looking brand, and most of what you find in a grocery store, even
a high end one (Albertson's is actually worse than Fred Meyer), and most pet stores even
carry this junk. In Boise and Meridian, PetsMart seems to have chosen to focus on cats, and
most of their dog food is worthless. The exceptions are Blue Buffalo and Natural Balance,
which I have heard they finally decided to have. I much prefer to shop at PetCo for dog food if
I can't afford or don't have time to go to the high-end pet stores.
Our local Zamzow's stores sell their regular Zamzow's brand which is terrible, so they
developed GrandMa Z's which is much better but still of medium quality.
Not as horrible but still not recommended
Science Diet has weaseled its way into the vet profession by providing vet school clinics with
free food, marketing to vets, and giving large kickbacks when they sell their specialty brands,
of which only the cancer diet is said to be any good and some of the others actually contain
ingredients that can worsen the condition they are supposed to treat. Shockingly, vets have
very little education in pet food but generally don't like to admit it and will just repeat the
sales literature. I cannot recommend buying any food from a regular vets office. If you need
veterinary advice about food for your cat or dog, you should to go to a specialist or a holistic
vet.
Iams (also know for their horrible lab animal conditions) and Eukanuba are other well
advertised but not so good brands.
GrandMa Z's is of medium quality but priced as if it was a good food.
Two of the better ones in this category are Nature's Recipe and Nutra Nuggets (the last one is
a grocery store brand that is way above the other grocery store brands because they have
chosen not to spend money on advertisement and instead use some better ingredients). These
are the kind to choose if you can't afford the more decent stuff.
Ratings and grades
Probably the two best resources for seeing dog food rated are:
A list of graded feeds by the Sarah Iricks' method that can be found on websites such as http:
//www.the-puppy-dog-place.com/dog-food-ratings.html, and The Whole Dog Journal
evaluates brands every year - special issues can be purchased separately.
RAW and BARF
A number of people swear by RAW or BARF diets. It has to be fed with care, just like human
food but some feel it can be very valuable in a healthy canine diet. If you are reading this as an
adopter from the Idaho Humane Society, note that the IHS does not support feeding raw
meat and other animal products due to the risk of food borne pathogens. This page expresses
my personal views only.
Since most salmonella and other pathogens are found on the surface, it may be useful to dip all
raw product in boiling water or hold it in steam for a few seconds. I have not tried it, though,
except when using raw eggs (most salmonella is on the shell and is transferred when handling
and opening the egg). Most people i have talked with about feeding raw foods have
surprisingly few problems with the animals getting sick, and mostly that is in the beginning
while the animals are getting used to the richer diet. Catching something from the food
seems quite rare. Naturally, vets primarily see those animals that do get sick. I can't help but
wonder if that also goes for those animals fed medium or low quality food - maybe they get
more infections, teeth problems etc. while the raw or high quality fed ones don't come to the
vet's office very often, and therefore the vets don't realize, how many are out the doing well
on such food.
While there can be little doubt that the wolf ancestors/relatives of our canis familiaris are
geared to eat raw meat it is less clear what is the most natural and optimal way to feed our
dogs. RAW and BARF advocates argue that it is best to serve meat raw and discourage
cooking it. Remember that just because something happens in nature doesn't mean it is ideal;
the number of animals in the wild that die before they have become mature and reproductive
is staggering and much bigger than most people realize (you don't see the dead ones, only
those that survived). On the other hand, animals that have problems with raw food are often
already compromised and in bad health, and eating meat raw is more natural even though our
widespread, "industrialized" and globalized food pathogens problem is not.
The vote is more out when it comes to vegetables. While wolves and dogs obviously can’t
cook their food, it can successfully be argued that steamed vegetables come closer to the
processed stomach content of herbivores than do raw ones. The benefit of the processed
product is that it breaks down the fibers and structure of the vegetables and make them
digestible and nutritionally available to dogs. Some don't feed vegetables at all, but maybe
whole carcases like rabbits or fowl.
I see pros and cons to feeding raw meat and bones, but it is more important that you make up
your own mind based on decent information.
Here are a few RAW websites – you can find many more on the Internet:
http://b-naturals.com/Jan2005.php
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/barf.html
http://www.secondchanceranch.com/training/raw_meat/index.html
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/rebuttal.html
tried all of them, so I have also gathered information from other sources. This page was
primarily made for dog owners, but many companies make cat food as well and they use the
same philosophies in producing either.
I have lots of information about guinea pig food on the cavy care sheet.
On the Internet, I found a great website about information and care for rats.
For rabbits, The House Rabbit Society has good information.
Disclaimer: All information on these pages is personal opinions and hearsay only, and I only
know as much about ingredients in different brands as they list on their websites. I have no
education or training to validate these statements and take no responsibility for the results of
making use of this information.
The Dog Food Project
I have learned a lot from this great website:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=choosing_the_right_food
Good brands and where to find them
Here are a few personal recommendations:
California Natural from Natura (no corn, wheat or soy). This is a good, slightly more
affordable brand that I often feed to my own dogs and foster dogs.
Canine Caviar and Feline Caviar
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul (no corn, wheat or soy). The dogs have done well on it.
Diamond Naturals series (has no corn, wheat or soy). I've heard some good things about it.
Their regular brand is bad, though.
Eagle (no corn, wheat or soy). Also has a good reputation.
Innova (EVO and others) from Natura - generally highly recommended, but too rich for some
dogs, including some of mine, causing diarrhea. Many give it to their performance dogs.
Merrick (no corn, wheat or soy, "home-cooked"). This is a great food for picky eaters or dogs
that just don't seem to take the time to finish a bowl of food. There are many flavors to
choose from and the dogs love at least one variety. I often pick Wilderness Blend. I love that
it is for all ages and often feed it to puppies.
Natural Balance (no corn, wheat or soy; specific non-allergy formulas). Molly, my food
sensitive girl, and Pepper, the stomach sensitive one, have had a few reactions on this food,
but most dogs do rather well on it. The company have also been open and informative about
the Chinese contamination issue.
Natures Variety (more meat, less grain, no corn, wheat or soy. A grain free formula. Has
frozen RAW food and bones). Too rich for my sick cat but otherwise fine.
Solid Gold is quite good, though Molly sometimes starts scratching a bit more. Their basic
formular can be found at PetCo, too, which is more convenient for many people.
Wellness (no corn, wheat or soy). Very nice brand, and my sick cat, that has trouble with
digestion and up-take really likes the canned food, and does quite well on the kibble, too.
Orijen is generally considered one of the best.
Taste of the Wild is great when you need to get a good food that is a bit cheaper. I feed it a
lot to both dogs and cats.
Premium Edge is a new brand that is quite good for a lot less money. I would still prefer to go
a higher quality but this is a good compromise in these trying times and for foster animals, of
which I feed a lot. Both my food sensitive cat and dog do okay on it.
Blue Buffalo is also a very decent product.
Fillers and additives
I chose to only point out when a food is without corn, wheat, and soy. Here is a link to an
article about the subject:
http://dogs.about.com/cs/dietandnutrition/qt/corn_free.htm?terms=wheat+corn%20dog%
20food
Many dogs have problems with these ingredients, not just those dogs with obvious
allergic/sensitive reactions. Subtler signs may be infections that won't go away, bad breath,
irritability about being touched, abnormal shedding, frequent vomiting or soft stools etc. It is
not that these things are always bad but they are not certainly not healthy in large quantities,
and some dogs may react to smaller amounts, too. The Dog Food Project explains it in detail.
There are other things too be aware of if you feel your dog isn’t thriving on the food you are
currently feeding or you just want to give it the best, and I could have chosen to point those
things instead. Some people are not comfortable with added animal fat, animal meal, by-
products, dairy, beat pulp and all grains, for example, while others have no issues with part or
all of it. The best you can do is read up on the subject and decide by yourself what fits your
philosophy and financial situation.
http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/dogfoods.html
What to avoid
There is an amazing amount of really awful food being sold, and with some of these brands,
the advertising is so good that lots of people are fooled. They especially cater to the human
attraction to colorful foods (because we are omnivores, not carnivores) and the popularity of
words like "natural" and "organic". The problem is that colorful mostly means dyes and
additives, and natural foods may not be species appropriate. No matter how natural corn,
wheat, soy, beat pulp etc. is, a dog's digestive system is not made for processing it and it can
make him or her quite sick. Even if your dog seems to you to be doing fine on these foods, you
probably just don't know how much better they would look and act on a proper food - in
either case, you may be cutting a few years off your dog's lifespan feeding these brands.
These are brands to stay away from
Almost anything by Purina. Beneful, Dog Chow and Puppy Chow and such may look good on
the package but they are just awful. You are better off feeding table scraps! Oddly enough,
their Pro Plan Natural has gotten good grades, but the regular Pro Plan fails the tests. Other
famously bad foods are Ol Roy, Kibbles 'n Bits, Bil-Jac, stuff from Diamond, except they
recently launch a new, fine looking brand, and most of what you find in a grocery store, even
a high end one (Albertson's is actually worse than Fred Meyer), and most pet stores even
carry this junk. In Boise and Meridian, PetsMart seems to have chosen to focus on cats, and
most of their dog food is worthless. The exceptions are Blue Buffalo and Natural Balance,
which I have heard they finally decided to have. I much prefer to shop at PetCo for dog food if
I can't afford or don't have time to go to the high-end pet stores.
Our local Zamzow's stores sell their regular Zamzow's brand which is terrible, so they
developed GrandMa Z's which is much better but still of medium quality.
Not as horrible but still not recommended
Science Diet has weaseled its way into the vet profession by providing vet school clinics with
free food, marketing to vets, and giving large kickbacks when they sell their specialty brands,
of which only the cancer diet is said to be any good and some of the others actually contain
ingredients that can worsen the condition they are supposed to treat. Shockingly, vets have
very little education in pet food but generally don't like to admit it and will just repeat the
sales literature. I cannot recommend buying any food from a regular vets office. If you need
veterinary advice about food for your cat or dog, you should to go to a specialist or a holistic
vet.
Iams (also know for their horrible lab animal conditions) and Eukanuba are other well
advertised but not so good brands.
GrandMa Z's is of medium quality but priced as if it was a good food.
Two of the better ones in this category are Nature's Recipe and Nutra Nuggets (the last one is
a grocery store brand that is way above the other grocery store brands because they have
chosen not to spend money on advertisement and instead use some better ingredients). These
are the kind to choose if you can't afford the more decent stuff.
Ratings and grades
Probably the two best resources for seeing dog food rated are:
A list of graded feeds by the Sarah Iricks' method that can be found on websites such as http:
//www.the-puppy-dog-place.com/dog-food-ratings.html, and The Whole Dog Journal
evaluates brands every year - special issues can be purchased separately.
RAW and BARF
A number of people swear by RAW or BARF diets. It has to be fed with care, just like human
food but some feel it can be very valuable in a healthy canine diet. If you are reading this as an
adopter from the Idaho Humane Society, note that the IHS does not support feeding raw
meat and other animal products due to the risk of food borne pathogens. This page expresses
my personal views only.
Since most salmonella and other pathogens are found on the surface, it may be useful to dip all
raw product in boiling water or hold it in steam for a few seconds. I have not tried it, though,
except when using raw eggs (most salmonella is on the shell and is transferred when handling
and opening the egg). Most people i have talked with about feeding raw foods have
surprisingly few problems with the animals getting sick, and mostly that is in the beginning
while the animals are getting used to the richer diet. Catching something from the food
seems quite rare. Naturally, vets primarily see those animals that do get sick. I can't help but
wonder if that also goes for those animals fed medium or low quality food - maybe they get
more infections, teeth problems etc. while the raw or high quality fed ones don't come to the
vet's office very often, and therefore the vets don't realize, how many are out the doing well
on such food.
While there can be little doubt that the wolf ancestors/relatives of our canis familiaris are
geared to eat raw meat it is less clear what is the most natural and optimal way to feed our
dogs. RAW and BARF advocates argue that it is best to serve meat raw and discourage
cooking it. Remember that just because something happens in nature doesn't mean it is ideal;
the number of animals in the wild that die before they have become mature and reproductive
is staggering and much bigger than most people realize (you don't see the dead ones, only
those that survived). On the other hand, animals that have problems with raw food are often
already compromised and in bad health, and eating meat raw is more natural even though our
widespread, "industrialized" and globalized food pathogens problem is not.
The vote is more out when it comes to vegetables. While wolves and dogs obviously can’t
cook their food, it can successfully be argued that steamed vegetables come closer to the
processed stomach content of herbivores than do raw ones. The benefit of the processed
product is that it breaks down the fibers and structure of the vegetables and make them
digestible and nutritionally available to dogs. Some don't feed vegetables at all, but maybe
whole carcases like rabbits or fowl.
I see pros and cons to feeding raw meat and bones, but it is more important that you make up
your own mind based on decent information.
Here are a few RAW websites – you can find many more on the Internet:
http://b-naturals.com/Jan2005.php
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/barf.html
http://www.secondchanceranch.com/training/raw_meat/index.html
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/rebuttal.html
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