Originally Posted by pstinard (Post 4554527)

I did a little digging into the source of information for the dog food list at the beginning of this thread and posted my findings in another thread on Yorkietalk (http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...-few-more.html). I'll quote my findings here. I'm NOT here to bash the OP, I'm just providing information:



After doing a little digging, I found out that the Healthy-K9.com | "Experts in keeping your dog living healthier & happier for longer" website I mention above is affiliated with Andrew Lewis, the author of Dog Food Secrets and Dog Food Conspiracy. Here is a quote from the Dog Food Conspiracy website Increase the lifespan of your dog by up to 134%

Many world-famous Doctors of Veterinary Medicine and published Dog Care Experts universally agree any dog that eats commercial dog food is at a much higher risk of dying prematurely and by the time symptoms are noticeable, it's often too late to prevent an agonizing death except by lethal injection.

WARNING: If you continue to feed your dog commercial dog food, death-by-disease is practically guaranteed! You must find an alternative and it doesn't have to mean spending more money.

There are a lot of scare tactics here, and not a lot of evidence, so I'll just leave it at that. And yes, the website is selling a product.

Originally Posted by MMartinson (Post 4554364)

am wondering what to feed my baby girl......she is turning her nose up to the Blue Mountain whatever .....it's what her last owner fed her and she is not eating it at all.....hate to give wet food all the time, but she is so picky.......help!!!!!!

Originally Posted by yorkiemini (Post 4553794)

I looked at healthy-K9 site - most articles are written by Andrew Lewis - but no where did it cite his credentials. Is he a vet, or an animal nutritionist.
I admit I tend to only hVe confidence in animal nutritionists.

Guess what I mean is there is a web site for all kinds of opinions on what and how to feed dogs.

Can the OP give more information about him?
Thanks!

Originally Posted by oneofakind864 (Post 4554571)

I am not offering an opinion... I posted that "I" thought the list of potentially bad foods was interesting...and the reasoning behind the list worth looking into. Which I did. And I assumed since they were of interest to me.. they would be to others as well. It obviously has been. And some good things came of it...

To the poster that shared about Blue Buffalo...Many thanks. Quality control is something to be VERY concerned about and your experience brought up something that is indeed a problem.

To the poster who shared about the Hills Everyay formula- many thanks also.

To the poster who offered a link to a nutritionist who will answer questions free of charge... many thanks!

I never bashed Royal Canin ( Both my previous dog was fed it for years and my current puppy is still on it) or Hills ( which I fed my last baby when she needed the KD formula) and I am also interested in looking into the everyday formula for my current baby once she is no longer a puppy.

To the poster who inferred that a "new puppy owner" shouldn't be given respect until they had a 12 year old dog to show for it. THEN to share their experience. Well..if that was aimed at me then here you go.

My last Yorkie, who was eating Royal Canin, developed kidney problems that were caught when she was 7 ( not RC fault) and my vet and I battled it for 5 years ( with Hills K/D) until it claimed her 2 months ago. But 12 years apparently is an old age for a 3 pound dog-so I guess by many of the YT posters standards- I did pretty good especially given her health problems. But I still wanted more time. 50 years wouldn't have been enough because I loved her. But through working with my 2 vets and an animal nutritionist through that process I learned a LOT about kidney disease. Much of that came from stumbling on information that made me curious...and reading up on it...then asking my vet about it. I am an intelligent person with an inquiring mind and am always looking to expand my knowledge. My vet and I had several good conversations due to the fact that I was finding specific information about what my dog was dealing with and I had way more time to dig around then he did with a full time vet practice. I also spent lots of time with the Canine ophthalmologist as Chanel went blind due to retinal degeneration related to the kidney disease. Then cataracts, luxated lens... yeah lots of " Situations" and I know way too much about all the meds eye problems can require (Very expensive human drops too I might add)

I spend 1000's of dollars on her but the point I was trying to make with my comment about people who can't go to the vet is that there are many people who own dogs that love them and in many cases don't have the financial resources to be able to spend that kind of money. They come to YT seeking advice because of all the experienced dog owners on this site.. YOUR "non expert" but experienced opinions may be all these owners can afford. and it is better than nothing..which is what they end up getting if all any of you do is say " Go see a vet" when these people can't afford to do so. if you don't offer them something they will go elsewhere and end up on a quack site with terrible misinformation or at the very least worse than they could have received from you. And they probably STILL won't go see a vet.

Is it wrong to own a dog when you can't afford vet care?...In my opinion yes! But does it happen...ALL THE TIME! But then again... if they rescued a dog from being put down- maybe a poor but loving owner is better than no life at all. But that is a whole new thread.


And by the way the Cindy poster was blasted because the pet store owner Had a dog in the hunt" to make a profit on selling dog food. ... my " Vet" sells "Hills" and it is the only food he sells. Does that give him a dog in the hunt as one poster said? You also need a prescription for hills which you have to get from a "vet" so they are making the money on the food AND on the appt needed to obtain the prescription. Does that make it any less or more valid than the owner of the pet store who is special ordering a food for a client who is only making the profit on a bag of food? Does that mean vets' will offer unbiased opinions when they benefit from the sale of Hills two ways?? Thats opening a big bag of worms. BOTH the pet store owner and the vets want the same result...YOU TO HAVE A HEALTHY DOG. And they will BOTH profit from it. that is why they are both in the industry to catering to pet owners. The lack of a degree in veterinary science doesn't mean the store owner is any less interested in your dogs health as was inferred. And having one doesn't mean your vet is immune from wanting make a buck. Most vets do way better financially than most pet supply owners. Just saying....

Also need to say when Hills started making my girl sick( again not Hills fault- it was the kidney disease) My vet printed out recipes from the internet..and told me sites to look at to try to figure out a diet that met her kidney needs and that was tempting enough to get her to eat. I then had to run the diets I came up with by the nutritionist. But One of those sites was healthy k-9 as mentioned before. The author has a whole section specifically on health issues dogs normally have and several Kidney specific menus and treats. Other than adding a tiny piece of Tums for calcium because my little one wouldn't eat the " Ground egg shells" recommended in the kidney diets my vet provided, and adding amphogel and tinnic soluton to supplement..they both agreed the kidney recipes Andrew Lewis offered were a good option for Chanel. She did eat and lived another 3 years with kidney disease after the first 2 years of being on the hills KD.

So if the Barney poster was inferring that I am a new pup owner which having a 12 year old dog would give credibility to...been there done that. I have also fostered dogs. I may not know it all but I am not ignorant. I am also always open to new information that may make me revise my opinions. This article was simply thrown out there as "possibly interesting information" Not the Doggy Nutritional Bible. My comment was not aimed at you specifically. But to posters in general that tend to go for blood. ..OFTEN. It makes posters who only have the goal of trying to bring up information feel attacked.

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88 (Post 4554634)

Vets do not make lots of money off of prescription food and I really wish people would stop saying that untruth. My dog is on prescription Royal Canin I do not have to make an appoint every time I need a new bag and she doesn't get massive amounts of money for it.

Originally Posted by 107barney (Post 4554637)

Of course they don't. They barely make like $1 on it. Plus, my vets will always script out whatever I want. I like to order from chewy so they dump my stuff at the door. My vet makes zero off those orders. This concept that vets are raking in millions selling Rx dog food is absolutely laughable. Vets carry this Rx food as a convenience to their customers, not because they think they are golden nuggets toward a retirement in Maui. Seriously.

Originally Posted by ladyjane (Post 4554590)

Thank you, Phil, for your information on this person/topic. There are those of us who value the time you put into these things.

Originally Posted by megansmomma (Post 4554654)

It's just insane how people believe that nonsense. When I was having problems with Pebbles food I was the one that suggested the RC Hypoallergenic food to my vet. He ordered it for me to try because he didn't carry it at the time. But he did give me an RX and I went to buy a small bag at Petsmart. Now THEY have a huge markup unlike my vet. He now stocks it for me because I can get it cheaper through him!

Originally Posted by smelcerk (Post 4554701)

Still do not know how to do the thumbs up but had to jump in here to agree with you. I completely value all the time Phil puts into this research and sharing with all of us in ways we can understand. Very helpful.

Originally Posted by smelcerk (Post 4554701)

Still do not know how to do the thumbs up but had to jump in here to agree with you. I completely value all the time Phil puts into this research and sharing with all of us in ways we can understand. Very helpful.