[gracielove]

Originally Posted by LuvTaycieGirl

I think the most important thing to remember is that not every dog thrives on the same thing. In the beginning I tried many of the fancy dog foods trying to find something that worked for my very sensitive Taycie. I did read, and went with the advice off the internet. I was never going to feed brands that were not "5 and 6" star rated. And heaven forbid I bought a bag of Science Diet or Royal Canin.

But after many failed attempts with the "best" dog foods available nothing worked. And I mean NOTHING. Either her little tummy would end up would be a mess, and I would be cleaning up diaherra or I was dealing with a very uncomfortable scratchy miserable dog.

Not every dog is not the same so of course their nutritional needs vary from dog to dog. My Taycie does NOT thrive on dog foods loaded with meat and gobs of ingredients.. Her senstive stomach can not tolerate it. So I ended up trying a few very popular Limitied Ingredient Diets, and her allergy symptoms became worse. I was at the end of my rope. I knew my vet would and does have answers and I then had a change of heart. I just wanted her to be happy and healthy. At that point, it became crucial to find something that worked. ANYTHING to keep her comfortable. Her well being and comfort was way more important to me then trying diet after diet to keep coming up with failed results. So I turned to my Vet. Our answer was a RX diet and the results with it have been nothing but amazing.

Believe it or not my "2 star RX diet," does not have corn or by products.. Not all diets are formulated the same. But, even if it did, and my vet felt her little body would tolerate it better, I would feed it to her because at the end of the day her nutrional needs are different and her quality of life is the most important, and I am not educated enough to even try and mess with it.

Regardless, if vets get kick backs and have no nutritional training, or if the product is loaded with corn. Sick or special needs dogs NEED a special diet. Their bodies are different. You can not feed a sick dog something it does not thrive on. As a result, you could be doing more harm then good. No matter what is in it.

I think it is sad so many are scare of RX diets made by Royal Canin or Science Diet because of what is printed on the back of the bag. They save many dogs lives and keep them happy and healthy for years. They have turned my Taycie's life around. And, I am so thankful for it.

I agree with you that not all the highly rated foods are all that great. I will not give my dog any food with white potatoes and most of the higher rated foods have white potatoes in them. White potatoes are very starchy and hard to digest and yet it is in many of the "better" foods. I disagree that the ingredient list is not important. It is important. Knowledge of why the ingredients are there is also important. White potatoes are another form of filler. There are other things in these "higher quality" foods that are not good for a dog but I won't go into it. If a person cannot find or make the food that their pet may need for a particular problem then obviously the RX diet must be used. It's a shame that there are so few really good foods out there.