Science Diet
 

Just wanted to know everyones thoughts on science diet... I feed my puppy this but was hoping to get some feedback from others on it.

I think there are lots of people on here who don't like science diet but I have fed Murfee and my last two dogs nothing but SD. When all the dog food scares were going around I switched him to Merricks but he didn't like it so I switched him back to SD. He is 4 and does great on it. We started on the puppy sd and then switched to adult. good luck

I really don't like Science Diet. I used to feed Ellie this and thought she was doing well. When we went to homecooked the rough hair by her butt got softer and she stopped throwing up every week or two for no reason. I could never recommend it. It is full of corn and they even use ethoxyquin in some of their products. They also use by-products.

Welcome to YT! Great question! I personally would never feed Science Diet or Eukanuba to my dogs (but I used to until I researched it). Vets recommend these brands-but realize that many vets get grants from these large companies, so that may be part of the reason they recommend them. It's difficult not to agree with and/or trust the vet when they recommend foods, but after doing my own research on this, I chose the best options that work for me and my dogs.

Check it out at www.dogfoodanalysis.com

You'll find that most SD foods are not very high quality dog foods. A 4 or 5 star food is recommended by most YT members for yorkies. Skip the 6 star foods, as they are too rich for toy dogs, and meant for large breed working dogs.

Many members feed Canidae, Innova, and others. I fed Blue Buffalo, but have now switched to homecooking/home prepared food for my two.

I would NEVER feed Science Diet to my pets. It's full of corn, fillers, and byproducts. It doesn't at all rank in the "premium" foods to me.

Most vets sell Science Diet because they get a lot of free products. Hill's also gets to most vets while they are in vet school. I'm in vet school right now and I've learned that Hill's donates so much money to the AVMA - millions of dollars. Hill's Nutritionists teach most of the small animal nutrition classes in vet schools around the country - and these nutrition classes are extremely short compaired to other classes vet students take. Vets honestly learn very little about nutrition in vet school, and what they do learn comes from the biased teaching of a pet food company. As a vet student, I am given free Hill's products as well as 80% off any Hill's pet foods (same for Purina). Vet students use these foods because they are cheap or free (most vet students live off student loans and don't have a lot of extra money for pet food) - so by the time they get out of vet school they've been using these products. Vet students are easily set up to promote Hill's once they get out of vet school, especially because they don't know anything about nutrition besides what the Hill's nutritionist told them.

So if you ever wonder why most vets sell science diet, there it is. It's not because it's a good product - it's because vets don't know any better and get a lot of free things for selling it.

Anyway, I do NOT feed it to my pets and never will.

Personally, I would never feed SD - chock full of fillers, fragments, allergens etcetera. It really is not the best quality food.

If you're going to feed kibble, look for grain free, high protein - like Orijen, Innova EVO, Nature's Variety Instinct. If you want some grain - there is Canidae, Evangers, Wellness etcetera.

If you go the dog food analysis site - look at 5 & 6 star foods - and don't shy away from higher protein unless your dog has liver/kidney disease. High protein is what they are meant to consume and meant to digest. Here is a GREAT educational paper on canine nutrition, it is really wonderful: http://www.championpetfoods.com/orij...hite_paper.pdf

I also feed Science Diet and always have. My four Yorkies have bright eyes, great coats, good stools, and are very healthy. They also get scrambled egg from time to time, treats, and other healthy food items. I'm not about to change now, they are as healthy as can be.

I feed Science Diet Natures Blend, but I also feed two other kinds of foods, rotated with homecooked foods and along with supplements. SD was a recent addition to our feeding regimen a few months ago when we changed up food due to accomodate for our newest addition--I have been very pleased with it so far. You just have to make sure that your dog gets a balanced diet.

Not all dogs can eat the 'high end organic foods' (like mine) so you have to base your decision on what is best for your dog(s) individually. As far as the dogfoodanalysis.com link--there is alot of good information on there, but the ratings of the foods are nothing more than the opinions of the site editors based on an educated guess. (their words) So take that for what it's worth and don't use that alone to make your decision.

All dog foods are made from a quality of ingredients that none of us would eat if put in front of us--even the high end expensive ones.

I wouldn't use Science Diet either, because it's gotten so many bad reviews on here.