YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post

mommiesboy · 11-23-2005, 11:59 AM

Hi Theolinda,

I try to provide the information you need to be able to tell which are the best foods on my web page. Just because a food is not listed there does not mean it is not recommended, neither my web page nor the Whole Dog Journal's lists are considered exhaustive.

Vets have almost no nutritional training, and what they do have comes from the dog food companies, who have written their textbooks and even teach their classes, so your vet is not the right person to rely on for nutritional advice, any more than for training advice. They simply can't know everything, and they are not trained in those areas.

I consider Science Diet to be a very poor quality food. It used waste products from the human food industry and is one of the last foods to still use ethoxyquin as a preservative.

Nutro is a middle of the road food. They do not use human grade ingredients, like the best foods do. Here is the ingredient list I see for Nutro Max Puppy:

http://www.nutroproducts.com/maxdogpuppy.asp
Chicken Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Ground Rice, Rice Bran, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Whole Wheat, Lamb Meal, Natural Flavors, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Lecithin, Choline Chloride, Dried Buttermilk, Dried Egg Product, Dried Kelp (source of Iodine),

This food is high in carbohydrates, as most dry foods are, with four different types of grains in the first six ingredients. Corn gluten meal is a very poor quality waste product from the human food industry, and there's a lot of it in there since it's the second ingredient listed. Beet pulp is also a waste product filler. Natural Flavors can be things like MSG. This is not nearly as bad a food as the Science Diet, but it's not top quality either.

I would look for the best foods you can find in your area, and maybe talk to some of the smaller stores about carrying one or more of the better brands, if possible. I would also look at feeding canned food, which is generally higher quality than kibble (lower carbs, no preservatives). Keep in mind that you cannot leave canned food out, as it will spoil.

I also recommend alternating between different foods, rather than feeding the same brand all the time, and you can improve any diet by adding some fresh foods to it. Since kibble is already so high in carbohydrates, what you want to add is high protein foods, such as meat and eggs (raw or cooked), dairy (yogurt, cottage cheese), canned fish with bones (Jack Mackerel, Pink Salmon, Sardines packed in water), and healthy leftovers (the same food you would eat, not the part you would throw away).

There are a number of links on my web site to more information about the various ingredients in pet foods, if you want to learn more.

Mary Straus
http://www.dogaware.com

At 05:37 PM 11/22/2005, you wrote

11-23-2005, 11:59 AM	#43
mommiesboy Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 251	From mary@dogaware.com Hi Theolinda, I try to provide the information you need to be able to tell which are the best foods on my web page. Just because a food is not listed there does not mean it is not recommended, neither my web page nor the Whole Dog Journal's lists are considered exhaustive. Vets have almost no nutritional training, and what they do have comes from the dog food companies, who have written their textbooks and even teach their classes, so your vet is not the right person to rely on for nutritional advice, any more than for training advice. They simply can't know everything, and they are not trained in those areas. I consider Science Diet to be a very poor quality food. It used waste products from the human food industry and is one of the last foods to still use ethoxyquin as a preservative. Nutro is a middle of the road food. They do not use human grade ingredients, like the best foods do. Here is the ingredient list I see for Nutro Max Puppy: http://www.nutroproducts.com/maxdogpuppy.asp Chicken Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Ground Rice, Rice Bran, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Whole Wheat, Lamb Meal, Natural Flavors, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Lecithin, Choline Chloride, Dried Buttermilk, Dried Egg Product, Dried Kelp (source of Iodine), This food is high in carbohydrates, as most dry foods are, with four different types of grains in the first six ingredients. Corn gluten meal is a very poor quality waste product from the human food industry, and there's a lot of it in there since it's the second ingredient listed. Beet pulp is also a waste product filler. Natural Flavors can be things like MSG. This is not nearly as bad a food as the Science Diet, but it's not top quality either. I would look for the best foods you can find in your area, and maybe talk to some of the smaller stores about carrying one or more of the better brands, if possible. I would also look at feeding canned food, which is generally higher quality than kibble (lower carbs, no preservatives). Keep in mind that you cannot leave canned food out, as it will spoil. I also recommend alternating between different foods, rather than feeding the same brand all the time, and you can improve any diet by adding some fresh foods to it. Since kibble is already so high in carbohydrates, what you want to add is high protein foods, such as meat and eggs (raw or cooked), dairy (yogurt, cottage cheese), canned fish with bones (Jack Mackerel, Pink Salmon, Sardines packed in water), and healthy leftovers (the same food you would eat, not the part you would throw away). There are a number of links on my web site to more information about the various ingredients in pet foods, if you want to learn more. Mary Straus http://www.dogaware.com At 05:37 PM 11/22/2005, you wrote __________________ Believe In the Magic !!