The NEVER ending quest for the "right" food to feed...
 

Does it ever end...

Hairs infood in one food. (EVO Red)
Bones in another food. (Wellness Salmon)
Ethoxyquin in lots of others with fish meal/fish. (Chicken Soup, TOW, Natural Balance, Solid Gold, any Diamond produced products,...)
HOW can we trust any of these companies with the ethoxyquin in their fish? Even to buy a formula that does not have fish in it?
They LIED about the ethoxyquin by not listing it. Is this don't ask, don't tell?
At least Orijen and Acana state on the front of the bag they do not use ethoxyquin.
But even Orijen/Acana had the issue with irradiation of food????

I just DO NOT know what to feed anymore! :(:(:(
So depressing.

Right now I have switched to Wellness White Fish & Sweet Potato and Wellness Small Breed.

Max needs to lose a pound so I need to be careful of what to feed him (protein and fat).

The companies with the fish meal and ethoxyquin issue didn't lie. If they don't put the ingredient in themselves, it doesn't get listed. They don't actually use ethoxyquin. The fish supplier does. The same would go for human food. If you want to feed a food made in the US and you don't want to feed ethoxyqin, then yes, all foods with fish meal need to be avoided. :(

I don't want to say that all dog food companies are bad because I may have to feed the stuff someday, but really even the "holistic" foods are still bottom of the barrel in comparison to what humans get (unless these companies would like to give tours and prove otherwise). The better and fresher food goes to people. And unless the food is fit for human consumption, it probably isn't the quality that we get. There is no legal definition for "human grade" which I see lots of companies like to use. That doesn't mean human grade food isn't fit for human consumption, but it might not be.

I think if you are concerned with Natura, Natural Balance, all foods made by Diamond, Orijen, Wellness, and grocery store brands, there is nothing else to go to. :( What about NV kibble?

I understood that US law requires fish meal to be preserved with ethoxyquin. So if a US manufacturer sells a food containing fish meal, they have no choice but have that meal preserved with ethoxyquin. Is this correct? That would explain why Orijen & Acana can advertise their products as being ethoxyquin free - Canada doesn't have the same strict standards as the US.

That is how I understand it.

Thanks, Crystal. I just wanted to make sure that I was understanding all that I've been reading on this.

Nature's Variety...
Have they had any "issues"?
The pet store near here carries it. :thumbup:
Prairie or Instinct in a bunch of flavors.
Prairie is higher protein.
Instinct is lower protein.
Which flavors of NV are good to try?

I love NV Instinct. But, they all contain salmon meal or another fish meal so they're probably out for you. I've never tried any of the Prairie line but you might check their ingredients.

So if any dog food has salmon meal it contains ethoxyquin? :confused:
If it is made in the USA & no matter what the company tells us?
I am getting confused?

That is the general rule.
It goes something like this.
You buy a loaf of wheat bread. The ingredients listed are wheat flour, salt, sugar, and water. Before the bread company bought the wheat, it was sprayed with pesticides. Whatever chemical was used will not be listed because the bread company didn't actually use it, their supplier did. In the case of fish meal, ethoxyquin is evidently required to preserve it (i.e. the government says so). To be sure this is the case, you could contact Nature's Variety and ask them specifically if their fish meal was ever preserved with ethoxyquin even if they didn't do it themselves.

Life's Abundance! perfect food. Never has any issues!!!!

So...NO Fish Meal Types of any kind or ANY brand?
This includes Wellness even though they did not use it? It was in it before they bought it???? :eek:

Are there any foods out there that are like this?

I know NB has some non-fish meal foods.

Any others? :confused:

Thanks

Are you opposed to a raw diet? By far the healthiest and best food you can feed your little carnivore. There's a good link here with raw food info, posted by Wylie's mom I think. Give it a look and keep an open mind. Raw is what your dog was MADE to eat! :)

I was looking at the NV raw

I LOVE Nature's Variety Instinct. It's the only food my picky dog adores and eats well. I think it's got great ingredients in it! :thumbup: I'm really really happy with this brand. It's never had any issues I've heard of and another member posted in my thread http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...-instinct.html that They make Natures Variety here in NE they are one of my accounts.. I have to tell you I went in and toured the place... it was so clean in there you can eat off the floor. It smells like food not dog food. it is a Great Place!

Re: NV Raw... Is it like eating canned food (texture, form) or can he carry it around to eat it?

Another option is ZiwiPeak. Absolutely fabulous food. Sort of a jerky that most dogs go crazy for. It is dehydrated raw. I've never heard of any quality control or recall/contamination issues with it. One of the best foods you can buy. Wysong Archetype is also good.

It's a medallion, sort of the size of a golf ball. Formed into a little patty. You can smash it with a fork. It's about hamburger consistency. I don't think he could carry it around and eat it. Most dogs just eat it right down with no problems. It's not like a chicken wing that could be picked up and taken somewhere.

I'm also confused about the medallion thing. Jackson's a bigger boy at 12.5lbs so he would be a lot more expensive to feed I'm sure. Is it possible to just feed him the medallions maybe every 3 days? or something like that? And then he eats his kibble the other days? I'm picturing just like a slab of raw meat being thrown in a plate.... LOL

Life's Abundance doesn't have the fish meal

LOL This is how I picture it!!!!! :doghop:

We just started prey model and that is essentially what we do! :) When it's a bone meal we just lay down towels in the kitchen (or feed outside) and give the dogs a chicken wing/drumstick.. etc. They love it and I know it sounds cheesy but there was something awe-inspiring about watching dogs eat what they were meant to eat in the wild.

You could feed a rotation diet, alternating kibble and raw. Nature's Variety recommends this for variety. Personally I will never feed kibble again unless I absolutely have to but I can understand the economic concern and the convenience. Feeding pre-made raw can be quite expensive but I've found that prey-model is costing me the same as what I was paying for Wellness CORE every month. Once I start buying in bulk and get a deep freezer it will be even less. There are some raw-feeders on my groups who feed 3 large dogs for under $50 a month! It's incredible.

PS. The medallions are just 1 oz. round chunks of raw meat, comparable to ground beef. They come frozen and you just thaw in the refrigerator, throw it into their bowls and mash it up with a fork or whatever. They eat it pretty quickly and it's relatively mess-free.

Yes, you can do that. A little raw is better than none at all. After you are comfortable feeding the Nature's Variety, you can graduate to "real" raw food like bone-in chicken breasts, chicken legs, cornish game hens cut up, etc. Once you see how they thrive on the raw, you'll be sold. :) The difference is amazing.

I don't think it would be that expensive to feed him NV raw. But yes you can certainly feed him raw every few days - that's how I started out feeding mine. Then I saw how much they love it so I started giving it for breakfast every day. I can't afford to feed them all raw all the time so I free feed Instinct of TOTW kibble the rest of the day. This way, about half their diet is raw & I can still afford to feed it.

I feed Gizmo Life's Abundance and they have not had any problems. No recalls, no Ethoxyquin and if you really need it, they have a weight-watcher formula. Our poor babies...we want the best for them but all these dog food companies are just making it hard sometimes!

We do NV raw, I would like to eventually do just raw myself but for now this is working out fine. Lola gets 2-3 mediallions a day. Usually though I give her two in the morning and have kibble out during the day or do 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. She loves it and I can say that her hair looks great!! I am so happy we switched, she poops only once a day now too. I don't thaw them in the fridge. I usually take out what I need and pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds, they thaw a bit but are still a bit frozen, I just break it up into a few small pieces and she chews them up and eats it. I also throw in some green string beans too every other day.

You could do that for sure, but I've notice Lola doesn't like kibble that much and for the first few weeks she refused to eat her kibble lol Now though she will munch on a few pieces here and there. She gets about 2-3 mediallons. It says 3-4 I think per 10 lbs, so he would probably eat about 5 per day, you get 48 in a bag so it lasts me 24 days if I fed two per day.

You could do raw one meal per day and then kibble. So maybe 2 mediallions for breakfest and then kibble the rest of the day.

Thanks to Yorkiedaze I home cook for all nine of my dogs and they are happier Healthier and I know they are eating well.

I would never go back to any dog food now.

For snacks they get baby carrots, apples, broccoli, winter squash, summer squash, cauliflower, etc.

This has even helped with our Krissy who has Cushings. She is less food agressive and is still not gaining weight.

Did Yorkiedaze provide you with information on "home-cooking" for your Yorkie? I am interested in doing the same. Would you share the information? Thanks.

This all came from Yorkiedaze.

I did buy a whole turkey!

If I were feeding 9 pupsters then I'd just buy a whole turkey (which would be much cheaper) and you could even grill it to save on gas. Cook the turkey, cut up and let cool. You could either hand chop the meat or if you have a food processer that would be much quicker and easier to chop fine. With a whole turkey I would cook 3 cups of brown rice and steam three large heads of broccoli till just crisp tender, not soft and chop or put in food processer. Mix all these together and freeze in plastic containers ( I use ones from the deli and the plastic zip loc containers that are so cheap. For your crew, I'd freeze enough in each container that would last for 5 days of feeding 1/4 cup twice daily. (that would be 4 1/2 cups total per day.

For red meat, I buy any on sale or round steak. (whatever is cheapest) Sometimes even a big roast is a good price. Cook the meat (I use my crock pot, and if I happen to buy a big roast, I will quarter it to fit in the crock pot) and cook two cups of harvest grain blend and two large heads of steamed broccoli. Mix all together and freeze.

Sometimes I had 1/2 cup of lentils and 1/2 cup split peas to the brown rice. It's a wonderful source of fiber.


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In Dr. Pitcairn's book, Natural Health for Dogs and CATS, he has a recipe for what he calls Healthy Powder, and I've made this for dogs for many years. Here is the recipe:

2 cups nutritional (torula) yeast
1 cup lecithin granules
1/4 cup kelp powder
1/4 cup bonemeal (or 9,000 milligrams calcium or 5 teaspoons eggshell powder)
1,000 milligrams vitamin C (ground) or 1/4 teaspoon sodium ascorbate (opotional)

Mix all ingredients together in a 1 quart container and refrigerate.
You can add this to food as follows: 1 to 2 teaspoons per day for cats or small dogs; 2 to 3 teaspoons per day for medium-size dogs; 1 to 2 tablespoons per day for large dogs.

I put one teaspoon on their food twice a day.

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This is the treats:
DOG BONES

4 cups unbleached flour
4 cups wheat or rye flour
1 package dry milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 packages calf liver (cooked, chilled then ground)
4 eggs slightly beaten
liver broth

Cook the liver in enough water to cover till done. Save the liver broth. Place liver on a plate in ref. till cold. (grinding warm liver ends up like pate). Then ground till it resembles coarse ground beef. Mix all ingredients together and pour liver broth a little at a time. Not too sticky or too dry. Like making bread. If you don't have enough liver broth then add some chicken broth. Roll out on floured surface to about 1/3 inch and cut in what ever shape you want, or roll out on a parchment lined cookie sheet. (I use a bone shape cutter). If cutting out with a cutter, place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a 300 degree oven for 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, place in freezer zip locks and keep in the freezer. If rolling out on a parchment lined cookie sheet, bake an additional 15 minutes, cool on a wire rack then break up into small pieces and freeze in zip-lock bags.
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I also mixed up my own using 5 LBS lean ground beef, 5 heads broccoli, small white beans, split peas, bag of brown rice, beef broth, parsley, 4 lbs beef liver. I cooked everything and pack it in a container in balls the size of a golf ball. Each dog is getting three a day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

OH the best thing is their POOP DOESN"T STINK anymore!!