High Quality doesn't always mean High Price!

[Britster]

Originally Posted by gemy

I found Brits history lesson on how the pet food industry evolved to be interesting and informative.

Here is the whole thing:

In the late 1850s, a young electrician from Cincinnati named James Spratt went to London to sell lightning rods. When his ship arrived, crew members threw the leftover “ships biscuits” onto the dock, where they were devoured by hordes of waiting dogs.

Spratt had the idea that he could make cheap, easy-to-serve biscuits and sell them to the growing number of urban dog owners. His recipe was a baked mixture of wheat, beet root and vegetables bound together with beef blood. When Spratt’s Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes came on the market in 1860, the pet-food industry was born. In 1870 he took the business to New York and began the American pet food industry.

In 1908 the F.H. Bennet Biscuit company opened, making biscuits shaped like bones, and also made the first puppy food, and was the first to package different-sized kibble.

In 1922 Chappel Brothers of Rockford, IL, introduced Ken-L Ration, the first canned dog food in the United States. It was horse meat. Ken-L Ration became such a success that by the mid-1930s they were breeding horses just for dog food and slaughtering 50,000 of them a year.

In 1931 The National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) bought Bennett’s company and renamed the biscuits Milkbones. They hired 3,000 salesmen with the specific goal of getting Milkbones into food stores — and into national consciousness. For the first time, dog biscuits were part of regular grocery shopping.

By 1941 canned dog food had a 90% share of the market … until the United States entered World War II and the government started rationing tin and meat. Then dry dog food became popular again (the biscuits where considered dry dog food).

In 1950 the Ralston Purina Company started using a cooking extruder to make their Chex cereal. Ingredients were pushed through a tube, cooked under high pressure, and puffed up with air. This allowed Chex to stay crisp in milk.

At about the same time, manufacturers were getting complaints about the appearance, texture and digestibility of dry dog food. Purina’s pet food division borrowed an extruder from the cereal division and experimented with it in secret for three years. The result: Purina Dog Chow.

In 1964 the Pet Food Institute, a lobbying group for the now-gigantic pet food industry, began a campaign to get people to stop feeding their dogs anything but packaged dog food. They funded “reports” that appeared in magazines, detailing the benefits of processed dog food and even produced a radio spot about “the dangers of table scraps.”

The dog food industry was spending an incredible $50 million a year advertising. In the 1960s and 1970s, factors such as increased numbers of breeds and rising crime rates made dog ownership skyrocket. By 1975 there were more than 1,500 dog foods on the market.

Today, more than 1,600 square miles of soybeans, 2,100 square miles of corn, and 1.7 million tons of meat and poultry products are made into pet food every year. There are more than 65 million dogs in the US and pet food is an $11 billion industry … and growing.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Britster

FYI: they have had recalls. Cat food only though I believe.

List of recalls for Pet Food Products from Royal Canin

(not saying this is a huge deal, but they haven't had no recalls).

FWIW, my dog has also eaten primarily Acana (among a few other brands in between) almost all of his life and also has beautiful skin/coat, no bloat, no allergy, no dry skin, and loads of energy, etc. If I put him on RC, would he still have those? Maybe. Maybe not.

I think that's the whole point. Just because Nancy1999 tried one "higher quality" and didn't like the results doesn't mean that she'd have equally good results on another food if she gave a different brand a chance. Just like I don't know how Jackson would do on RC without giving it a chance ... he's been doing fantastic on the foods he's on now, but if I switched to RC, who knows... maybe he'd improve, maybe he wouldn't. But I don't have a desire to switch to it at the moment.

I should be clear about that, I'm not implying that RC is the ONLY food Joey would do well on, I'm sure he'd do well on others, I'm just trying to reassure people that it's not necessary to a food switch just because someone says that your food is garbage. I do believe in scientific testing and that does limit the food choices for me.

[LuvTaycieGirl]

Originally Posted by Britster

But on the flip side, there are loads of healthy dogs who DON'T have these issues eating "high quality" foods as well, and you can also find threads of dogs doing terrible on RC... so it's kind of a moot point I guess. We can argue it til the death lol but in the end, there are going to be ppl that have dogs with issues eating RC and people with dogs with issues who don't eat RC.

That is exactly what I said. Every dog will thrive on something different then the next.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by LuvTaycieGirl

That is exactly what I said. Every dog will thrive on something different then the next.

Totally agree!

[MommytoMiles]

Originally Posted by kodimerlyn

We have been feeding our cats Royal Canin and here in the great white north that translates to BIG dollars! I don't care! I want my animals to have the best and be healthy!

However,...the other night while at Ren's Pet Depot I did a comparison analysis of the Royal Canin (cat food) and Purina One...and I almost died on the spot!!

The Royal Canin is CRAP! (sorry..no offense to those who feed it!) It's full of corns and grains and just garbage! Chicken by-product instead of CHICKEN and corn is the second or third ingredient on the list! Filler! This food is INCREDIBLY expensive and my animals don't even like it that much!

We compared all the other ingredients, and the Purina One came out WAY ahead! I understand that SOME of the ingredients can be open to interpretation such as ASH content (I have been researching foods for 20 years so I get it believe me), but the Purina One still came out way ahead.

So...we switched....and so far they love the new food. Archer is our Border Collie and has been on Legacy PUPPY (not Royal Canin but supposed to be excellent) food his entire life. While they don't use a lot of grains and fillers, I could NEVER get him above 42 lbs....and the food is also very expensive. He's almost always under 40 lbs, especially in the summer when he's running more...which is okay for a Border Collie but 43 to 45 is a bit of a healthier weight. Within a week of feeding this food I can already see he's got a bit more weight on him and his ribs are less pronounced....and he isn't having any more BM's than before. We will see how things progress over the next few weeks as I am observing my critters closely.

Anyway....this has been my findings...what foods do you feed and why? I know this can be a VERY controversial subject so I'm not looking for an open debate on dog food...I just wondered if there is something in particular that Yorkies need in their diet beyond the regular good quality dog food (sorry I kind of took the long way around to asking this question huh? LOL!).

I am sticking to Taste of the Wild for Miles; it's what he was raised on before I got him. Too much hassle trying to switch. Sometimes these brands are created to appeal more to the pet parents than for the pets.

[MommytoMiles]

Originally Posted by Britster

Here is the whole thing:

Interesting!!! Thanks for sharing.

[gemy]

Thanks Brit.

But on is there a more serious note here, given we are talking about the basics of health the foundation ; ie food.

For what it is worth, a caution for all pet owners; and it is just a caution. The pet industry is a multi billion dollar arena. As such it attracts dubious folks that market this n that. All the way from pet toys, food, to shampoos, brushes; and yes to health arenas.

So take out your critical mind when you review anything about dog paraphenalia. What is of concern to me much more than dog food, is geting and keeping educated on the best practices on vaccinations(particularly for a small breed dog), and also the spay and neuter timing, followed by I think regular pet owners should be doing a bit of testing for their pups annually or every two years.

If over time the vets start to move away from un-necessary vaccinations, they certainly will take a hit in income. I believe that "wellness" checks and healthy living seminars could make a whole lot of difference in the vet "business". There is a very real need for this kind of service. Establishing baselines through bloodwork, and other testing protocols are very valuable over time to help the pet owner provide the very best of care.

It does mean that the pet owner really needs to get educated about their breed, and the health concerns specific to their breed, and in general to dogs.

Breed clubs and particularly their Health Committee is one way to do this. As is this forum, and other breed forums.

[Yorkiemom1]

But you know what I got from someone I was interviewing prior to him filling out an application to purchase a puppy from me????? I was discussing almost everything you mentioned in your BELOW quoted email, and he sat there looking at me like I had another head growing out of my shoulder. I finally stopped talking and asked him if I had lost him someplace with an explanation....he looked at me and said, "No.....I am just amazed at all this is apparently going to require....I am NOT asking YOU to adopt ME....I am just wanting to buy a dog! Since when did just buying a dog require a Phd in animal science, pharmacology, nutrition, husbandry, and disease intervention protocols? I just want a dog....I dont want to obsess over it, or spend 90% of my day researching everything the dog eats, drinks, breathes, plays with, chews, or sees a vet for." THANK YOU SIR, END OF INTERVIEW!

Originally Posted by gemy

Thanks Brit.

But on is there a more serious note here, given we are talking about the basics of health the foundation ; ie food.

For what it is worth, a caution for all pet owners; and it is just a caution. The pet industry is a multi billion dollar arena. As such it attracts dubious folks that market this n that. All the way from pet toys, food, to shampoos, brushes; and yes to health arenas.

So take out your critical mind when you review anything about dog paraphenalia. What is of concern to me much more than dog food, is geting and keeping educated on the best practices on vaccinations(particularly for a small breed dog), and also the spay and neuter timing, followed by I think regular pet owners should be doing a bit of testing for their pups annually or every two years.

If over time the vets start to move away from un-necessary vaccinations, they certainly will take a hit in income. I believe that "wellness" checks and healthy living seminars could make a whole lot of difference in the vet "business". There is a very real need for this kind of service. Establishing baselines through bloodwork, and other testing protocols are very valuable over time to help the pet owner provide the very best of care.

It does mean that the pet owner really needs to get educated about their breed, and the health concerns specific to their breed, and in general to dogs.

Breed clubs and particularly their Health Committee is one way to do this. As is this forum, and other breed forums.