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Originally Posted by DJDB  The breeder we got Ozzy from was feeding him Iams puppy, but I don't like that so, we are trying the Science Diet dry puppy food for small dogs. He likes it, and the vet said it was one of the best brands. BUT, reading a few reviews of Science Diet, and reading all these posts, I'm now thinking of switching to a different, more premium brand. |
Science Diet pays for many vets start up costs and supports them as long as they agree to sell or at least recommend science diet to their clients. I sat through one of their promotional meetings for vets, if you aren't really knowledgeable about nutrition specifically, their sales pitch is really good. Unfortunately they claim that corn is the best you can feed your animal and have "studies" and lots of cool diagrams and information to support that claim.. ugh.. So if a vet is looking at medical conditions and not researching nutrition on their own Science Diet seems great, after all the company supports the Veterinary community so it must be good right?
I would really read the ingredients of your dog food, the first 5 ingredients are the most important as ingredients are listed by volume, meaning the first ingredient is what that the food contains the most of.. the stuff at the bottom of the list is what the dog food has the least amount of. You want to make sure that those first few ingredients are in order to what is healthy for your dog, corn, wheat and by-products are usually linked with poor health and skin condition so I would avoid those ingredients especially if found at the top of the list of ingredients.
Here's an example of Beneful, Science Diet and Merrick.. if you just take the top 5 ingredients and realize this is primarily what their food is made out of..
Beneful:
Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E)
Science Diet Lamb & Rice:
Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Whole Grain Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Brown Rice
Merrick:
Chicken,Turkey Meal,Chicken Meal,Ground Rice,Oat Meal
Another tip: When it says "meal" that means is it is cooked down to remove the water and fat from the item prior to measuring it out and adding it to the mix of ingredients. Chicken for example is 80% water, so after it's cooked you have only 20% left.. For dry kibble this is a huge difference..
Personally, I read the ingredients of everything I give my animals, even treats and chews to make sure that their diets aren't spoiled by something extra they are eating.
Good luck and glad you're doing your research
