Royal Canin & Corn gluten meal....
 

In a previous post i mentioned that i did not like the fact
that RC had corn gluten meal in it.
I always thought because it said corn it was bad.
Well i was wrong i guess.
I went to Petsmart today to get Oscar another bag of RC
and there was a Pet Food Nutritionist there
doing a seminar.
I was talking to her about RC and corn gluten meal.
Well she told me that it is not corn but a by product
and in fact a highly nutritious ingredient in dog food
because it contains a high amount of Zinc which is
very beneficial for dogs.
I felt much better after speaking to her , now i know i am feeding
Oscar a good quality food.
I know several of you feed this to your yorkies
so i wanted to share this info
just in case you didn't know , like me..

It's controversial. Almost anyone can call themselves a pet nutritionist. A lot of the folks in Petsmart are well intentioned but sometimes don't know much, and are coached what to say. I worked for a dog food company for a brief period of time (and stood in Petsmart every weekend) and they give you lines to spout, etc, and don't even really tell you or explain to you anything... it's a lot of "say this, promote this, etc".

I don't personally think corn is beneficial. Those who sell food with corn in it will say it is. Just like those who sell food without it will say it's not. Food is a political thing around dog forums and dog people, LOL.

I don't think corn is all evil or anything that it can be made out to be. But I don't think it's necessary at all for a dog, or carnivore. Humans can't even digest it. Jackson ate some corn the other day that dropped on the floor and it was in his poop the next morning, LOL. Just like humans.

I like The Dog Food Project - How does your Dog Food Brand compare? as a reference - she doesn't say corn is "bad" by any means. She just explains a lot of different ingredients, etc.

For my dog, I've found grainfree to work the best for him, thru trial & error and "experiment".

I studied nutrition in college, just one class, but that with a lifetime of interest makes me feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the ingredients and what they do. If I were you, and had any more questions about the food I'd call the company; they do have nutritionists on staff, who have an excellent understanding of the ingredients and what they do. I was really impressed when I talked with one, and she seemed to have a thorough understanding of the product. It’ important also to remember that not all ingredients in a food has to be highly digestible or even nutritional, sometimes,for example, an ingredient is used for fiber to aid in intestinal health.

:thumbup: I'm with Brit

To the OP, I don't care what food you feed your dog; someone will say something bad about it. I believe it's a good quality food too, and Joey's been on it for 5 years and is thriving. He never vomits or has gas, never has diarrhea, his hair is shinny and his teeth and breath are good. He isn’t itchy and he has no eye tearing, which he did on another food. He has plenty of energy and is at a good weight. I wish my food did all that for me!



By the way, the quote in Brits post actually supports the use of corn in food.

I know, I was posting it to show the author of that site's view. I don't know if it was so much as "supporting", but more that yes, it CAN be utilized, in some form. I don't think that particular author really ever says "corn is good" or "corn is bad". It's the OP's decision - I feel that the dogfoodproject site is a good balance, not too biased either way really, so wanted to throw the link and quote out there from it. :)

I think different dog foods work different for different dogs. One type of food could make ones eyes run and the others not or one dog food could make one dog have stomach problems but another not. I personaly dont think dogs need grains and prefer grain free and Callie does really well on it so it works for us. The problem is finding a food small enough for miss picky need small bites :eek: lol

My vet took Miley off RC because of the corn and gluten 3 years ago. And I took Max off it too, and with my pups she will not be eating it.
Miley was beginning to have liver problem , when she ran her blood count , she said lets take her off RC right away and start her on Hills Prescription Diet I/d.
And I love it , her liver count is always good, their poo is less and they both love it. And I try to always give them chicken or turkey treats, so far so good.
I was never so scare than when she was having liver bad courts in her blood. She is well and full of life.

She says that corn can be used for intestinal health, and that's good very good!!!! Intestinal health is so important and often overlooked by hobby nutritionists. She does give information so that people can make up their own mind, but the OP is pleased with her food, and nothing in that link is in anyway saying that corn is bad. Yet your overall post seems to be negative, but that is just your opinion, and it's almost like you use her quote to support your opinion, yet it doesn't. Usually when someone given an opinion and then a quote from a valid source, the quote supports what they have just said.

Totally agree with this. You'll never be able to please everyone.

Jackson also never vomits or has gas, or diarrhea, his hair has been super shiny since getting him back on grainfree in particular, and his teeth and breath are also good. Also no itchies or eye tearing, and LOTS of energy and an amazing body, if I do say so myself. :p For most of his adult life, he's been on Acana and after a few months of trying lower protein/grain inclusive foods, putting him back on Acana, I could definitely see the difference just after two bags of being back on it. So he's basically eaten grain-free for all of his life and he's been a very healthy, active dog. One bout of a throw-up session/overnight hospital stay after a lot of bad fatty human foods, but it had nothing to do with his dog food.

Bottom line is that Joey looks fantastic (and I'm not just saying that! lol, Joey is a very very pretty, erm, handsome :p man) and so does Jackson - different foods work differently for different dogs. There are so many factors besides food when it comes to a dogs health (i.e. genetics, exercise, etc) so it's impossible to truly say one dog is healthier because he ate x food while the other dog is more unhealthy due to eating y food.

It's a matter of doing your own research, finding what works best for you and your dog and doing what you believe is right. We all love our dogs and want the best for them. I will always continuously fill my mind with new information, new opinions. That's science for you; always changing.

Lol, sorry, I'm a bit lazy on YT and it's getting late (I should be asleep! :eek:) I like to take a break from English classes while on YT and don't tend to over analyze my posts on a discussion forum TOO much, considering I'm here for "fun" though I do like to watch my spelling and grammar for the most part.

Yup, it's my opinion. I wasn't trying to use her quote to support my opinion per say. I basically said I don't believe corn is all evil, I don't personally think it's necessary, but it's also not "bad". But I was kind of all over the place in my post and was trying to give a view of both "sides" and thought the link would prove to be unbiased and satisfy those who believe corn is beneficial and those who don't. As far as being negative, I wasn't trying to be, but we are all entitled to our opinions and I've seen quite a few negative posts regarding high protein as well, which is fantastic because those reading can read both sides and decide for themselves.

Oh thank you so much, and I think Jackson looks fantastic too. Actually, science doesn't change very fast at all, it just seems like it does because of people who write the articles seen in public publications. They think a study or two changes things, it doesn't. Science is very slow to change and safety is always the primary thing.

The thing of it is she’s not telling other people to make a food switch she’s just saying

Every time I see a post like this, people jump on them and say RC is not a quality food. Are you really so sure you know that? How do you know more than some of the leading canine nutritionists in the world?

I know I'm being a little aggressive here, but some people are so meek and they think you must really have studied to be so sure of what your saying.

Of course corn isn't necessary, no one ingredient is necessary, just as chicken isn't necessary, but it's still suitable, and just as good for them as numerous other proteins.

I don't think chicken and corn are comparable ingredients. Chicken is a meat protein with viable nutrients available to dogs and corn isn't. I too don't feel corn is necessary, and why add something that isn't?-but hey that's just me. OP it's good you found a food that you are happy with, that's all that matters in the end. Thanks for sharing

I don't feel Brit was jumping RC being bad just posting her thoughts on corn in dog food but I do think you were being a little unnecessarily aggressive.

Wow , thanks everyone.
That was very interesting.
I truly respect everyones opinions and i appreciate all the info.
Right now Oscar is doing great on the Royal Canin so
we will just take it day by day.
I am so glad I found this site. I am learning a lot about Yorkies ....

Your right, I’m sorry to Brit and the OP, I was being too aggressive. I don’t know why these posts bother me so. I think it goes back to when I was trying to find a food for Joey and finally found something he’d eat and people called RC garbage. I made food switches based upon what I thought was valid information by people actually informed, and yet they were just repeating what they read on other sites. It’s like the major companies’ foods are vilified and I believe without reason. Anyway, I’m sorry if I came off so strong, I identified with the poster so much wanting to be reassured my food was a good one, and the OP can probably handle this better than I could.

don't worry about it nancy.
like i said everyone is entitled to their opinions.
that is one reason i like this site.
no matter what the topic you can get so many different views.
have a great day...
oscar and mommy

I read a book called "the omnivores dilemma". Do yourself a favour and read it.
I have a whole new outlook or corn and corn by products as in, I don't go near them.
This is my personal opinion only, corn or corn by products in human or dog food are crap.
You can find much better food out there for your wee woofer. My first pup (second one will be later this year yeahhhhh) came with RC and after a lot of research I changed brands. A general rule I've been given is if the first three ingredients are meal or corn, don't buy it.
I figure I don't have kids my dogs are my kids and I wouldn't want my dogs to be eating anything I couldn't or wouldn't eat myself.
It's totally a personal choice thing.

Just my little two cents

thanks , i will check into that book.
it sounds really interesting...

Manina, vets get kick backs for selling hills , just to let you know, there is much more crap in hills than RC. Its full of soy, fat and filler but if it's working why not.

it's an eye opener I tell ya. I've been doing my best to cook everything from scratch and even spending the extra on organic meats since reading it.
love to hear what you thought of it. A friend highly suggested me reading it as he knows I'm a massive foodie

i have often thought about cooking for my dogs but i am not sure
what i should use for ingredients.
how do i know they are getting everything they need?
are there any good dog food recipes you know of?

You need a nutritionalist to formulate you up a recipe to make sure it is balanced with the right amount of nutrients a dog needs. There are people on here that homecook and just give their dog a vitamin and they are not giving a balanced meal and it can affect skeletal or other areas later on

I am much too scared to cook meals for my baby. I feel Id be missing vital nutrients, vtamins, or giving them disproportionally.

It is super confusing to find the best food for your pet! You want the best but you hear 5 different things telling you what that could entail!

My little opinion on the whole corn thing is, if I won't eat it,i won't feed it. Even if corn or corn by products could be somewhat helpful to the intestinal track (which I'm still unsure how this could be when we all know how corn goes in...and how it comes out lol) there are a lot of other things that are more easily digested and much more beneficial to overall health and intestinal health. Things such as flaxseed, probiotics, prebiotics, and yeast also do the trick and are digestible.

But most important is having a food that your baby will actually eat. We all know yorkies can be picky picky so sometimes it's just like, if he will eat it it's good. My breeder of my baby to be suggests to feed life's abundance. I checked out their site and the ingredients all said things I would eat myself so I am gonna go with that :)

I guess my problem with corn started when I asked myself why would a dog need corn in it's diet to begin with. It certainly is not a food a dog would naturally go looking for. I started researching dog food when the newest member of the family refused kibble of any sort.

The main reason the pet food industry uses corn and most of the other grains is because the industry cannot put together a natural pet food with the ingredients that a dog would naturally eat and have it be able to sit on a shelf and stay fresh for months at a time. Besides meat is expensive, corn not so much. Corn is also high in glucose and is one of the ingredients that help make our dog's teeth go bad so quickly and it can help develop diabetes in dogs.

I know many dogs have eaten it for years and have lived pretty good lives. But the older dogs I have been seeing for the past few decades live pretty uncomfortable sad lives for the last few years of life. I just think the closer we can make our pet's diet's to the one their bodies were designed for the better.

:thumbup:

Another thing is corn is not all that great for humans to eat. It's high in glucose and not all the nutritious. So why would we want our pet's to eat it all day everyday?

Anyone pushing the attributes of corn for pets is representing the pet food industry. It's a cheap ingredient and it works for them but it is not meant for a dog or cat's body. It does a good job of fattening up cows though.

I certainly can understand how some of you feel about this dog food controversy. I always fed my other dogs what I thought was good dog food at the time. My last dog lived for 15 years but I have to say the last 6 years were not healthy years. Now when I look at the ingredient list of the foods I fed him I cringe.

I never had a dog refuse dog food until I had Gracie. I tried the starving the dog method. (If they are hungry they will eventually eat) But I didn't feel right about it. I have read many sources on pet food but when it comes down to it I just had to use common sense. I learned how to make my own body healthy by eating healthy, fresh and not processed foods. Kibbles are baked at least 3 times in order to bring them to the state that can be packaged. There is not much left in the way of natural nutrition or enzymes by then. That is why all the other strange sounding ingredients are added.

Gracie loves the food she is on now but I honestly don't know what I would do if I had a big dog. What I feed Gracie is expensive but I know she is getting the best I can give her. It would be difficult to feed a big dog or several small dogs that way. I think there still is a lot more work to be done to create the perfect commercial pet food.

What do you feed her?

I don't think vets get enough of a kick back to make a difference if one at all. I do not think my vet recommends a prescription food because she gets more money I think she only dose it when she thinks it would help the dog although my vet uses RC prescription diets not Hills. My vet only once recommended a prescription food for Callie and it was when she first started having allergies so we could rule out food.