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halleybird


Hermes

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Dog food recs?
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In the past couple of months, both my dogs have been having stomach/barf (sorry) problems on and off...nothing serious or prolonged, just little upset-stomach episodes now and then. I am thinking it must be their food -- we feed them Kibbles n Bits, which is like the Coco Puffs of dog foods (it's the only thing Halley would eat when we got her). They "improved" their formula a while back, and I think they might have added a new ingredient.


Anyway, I am in the market for a new food -- something that's not plain and bland, b/c Halley will go on a food strike (seriously), but good for sensitive stomachs. Bonus points if I can buy it someplace like Target.


For reference, my dogs are 5.5 and 1.5 years old, around 60 lbs, and pretty active.


Also - I know there's a major dog food brand that does terrible kinds of testing on animals -- does anyone know who it is?


TIA



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Elle


Hermes

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Iams is good - that's what we feed our cat and what many breeders feed their animals .  Whatever new stuff you get, make sure you introduce it gradually so they don't reject it or get even more upset stomachs.  Hope they feel better soon!

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Deuce


Dooney & Bourke

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I have heard terrible stories about iams. I don't know if they have cleaned up their act but I heard bad things a year or so ago. I have had pretty good luck with pedigree, easy to find in stores. purina also has a higher quality food. pro plan is their best food. they also have purina one and beneful (supposed to taste good) which are good.


I personally feed nutro. I buy this at petsmart or petco. My dog has a sensitive stomach and this has been good for her.



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Elvispezley


Nine West

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It is a bit more expensive, but we feed our oldest dog "Science Diet-Sensitive Stomach" dog food. We too started her out on Kibbles and Bits when we got her, 5 years ago, and she was always sick at her stomach. The vet recommended the Science Diet and she has been great every since we switched. It has been about 4 years and I don't think she has been sick like that once. I highly recommend it!

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Cricket


Gucci

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We have 2 labs, Toby and Holly.  Toby is 5 and Holly is 1.  Toby has been on Purina One for about two years now.  Holly has been on it all her life.  They both love it and are doing great on it.  We used to give Toby and another dog we had Eukanuba, but it was hard to find overseas.  My good friend, who is a vet, recommended Purina One.  It was a lot easier to get, so we switched.  The 2 dogs loved it and my husband loved it because they pooped less.    It's funny that you mention Target, because that's where we usually find it the cheapest (for the mondo bag).  In each bag they give you a coupon for the next bag, so we usually get it for $20-22 a bag. 

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JMR


Dooney & Bourke

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We use nutro as well....but if your dogs are sensitive make sure the dog food is made of lamb (this is what I am told at least - I am no expert)

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Cricket


Gucci

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JMR wrote:

We use nutro as well....but if your dogs are sensitive make sure the dog food is made of lamb (this is what I am told at least - I am no expert)
I don't know about sensitive stomachs, but we buy the lamb and rice Purina One.  Our vet said that a LOT of foods are essentially the same, so the most important thing to look for is "lamb, chicken or beef" listed as the top ingredient (or in the top two).  She said if you look for that, it's a reputable brand and your dog likes it, you'll be okay.

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halleybird


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Thanks guys -- I will be looking into all of these. I appreciate the help!

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luckylily


Gucci

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Nature's Balance Duck and Potatoe is also good for dogs with sensetive stomachs (and skin allergies too).  I also really like Nutro for a mid-level priced dog food, but it makes our dog throw up a lot.

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kisa


Dooney & Bourke

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ALL of my friends used to work at a place where they test different pet foods. They recommend first and foremost the incredibly expensive foods you can only buy at the vet, Science Diet, and Eukanuba. Eukanuba is part of Iams, which is also supposed to be pretty good, but there is some pretty sick video floating around the internet from the Iams test facilities.

-- Edited by kisa at 12:33, 2005-09-04

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Metric


Gucci

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we feed Ness a mixure of 1/2 Science diet sensitive stomachs (she has a finicky digestive system, if she eats even a morsel of people food- well, it ain't pretty) and 1/2 Pedigree Active formula-which she loves.  My vet doesn't recommend Pedigree but Ness seems to really like it and she's in great shape and she's very healthy. IMO they don't recommmend it b/c they want you to buy the food the vet stocks.


We used to feed her Science Diet Adult but its pretty expensive and we had to go to three different stores trying to find it.


My boss has her dog on the BARF diet, where they eat raw meat. But its quite expensive and quite controversial; a lot of vets, breeders, kennels etc don't agree with it.



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dot


Marc Jacobs

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all dry pet food has an expiration date (although they don't make it obvious on some brands). maybe they had a bad batch of dry food?

i don't think iams is that great. i like wellness for my cats, but my vet recommends to feed animals only wet food and not dry. he says that wet is better for portion control and also less carbs. i'm not too carb crazy in my human diet, but i can understand that outside of a home situation, it would be unlikely that an animal would eat anything other than meat. i know my noodle, although fat and pot-roast-like, lost weight and became more active when we switched from dry to wet.



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blink


Coach

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Nutro!  I used to feed Science Diet, but then I heard some things about Nutro were better, so now science diet is a second favorite.



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MissMee


Kate Spade

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I had that happen w/ Kibbles, too!  I'm having good luck w/ Iams in the green bag.  Now he only barfs if he gets ahold of people food (which, unfortunately, is quite often since my babies seem to think food-throwing is a fun game).

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halleybird


Hermes

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kisa wrote:

ALL of my friends used to work at a place where they test different pet foods. They recommend first and foremost the incredibly expensive foods you can only buy at the vet, Science Diet, and Eukanuba. Eukanuba is part of Iams, which is also supposed to be pretty good, but there is some pretty sick video floating around the internet from the Iams test facilities.-- Edited by kisa at 12:33, 2005-09-04
IAMS is the one I'd heard about...thanks, kisa. If even HALF that stuff is true, it's horrible. I did find a list of cruelty-free brands; looking into that as well.

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JoceyBaby23


Gucci

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Try Science Diet.. Costco also carries good Pet Food. I think it just might be their Kirkland brand.

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bliss


Dooney & Bourke

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My puppy is on Science Diet and he likes it just fine. When he's about a year I will be switching him to Royal Canin, Chihuhua formula. I have heard rave reviews about their products. Good luck.

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greendiamond


Marc Jacobs

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I love Nutro, and so does my pup! We mix the dental and the glucosimin condrton.


-gd



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-gd
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