Dog Breeders Using Terrible Food

Erra · May 2010

Really now? Really??? You're going to breed dogs because you feel like you like them, and you've seen enough videos online and have floated around on forums and think that makes you a breeding expert. You know what? Okay, fine, everyone has to start somewhere I guess. But these people I used to work for out of necessity had a kennel in their backyard and then fed their dogs abject crap! WHY would you breed dogs on poor diets and then use excuses like, "But the commercial said..." and the ever popular "Well I really love dogs so they get better care all around, it balances out." I really don't believe what some would say about, "It's less expensive". I feed my four cats on a very highly species-appropriate diet and I pay less than someone who has two cats and feeds Friskies. Want to know why? My cats are meal fed, and they are on a good diet. they eat FAR less food, don't get fat, don't get sick, receive proper dental care (of COURSE your cat needs dental care, he doesn't get spines and necks from his prey to chew and clean his teeth. NO dry kibble doesn't clean his teeth - do crackers clean yours?!) and all of this on a very, very low income. I am a college student who does not have a paying job, I volunteer and just scrape by on tips. I am living proof that you do not need a lot of money to be a good pet owner. All I want people to do is just think. You don't need a veterinary degree to understand what your pet requires to be healthy. We are all online, right? Most of us do have libraries? *sobs* I just want the correlation between commercial pet food sales and diabetes to be broken, cats to stop needing dangerous procedures to keep their mouths from smelling like death, and people to realize that a dog really shouldn't fill up a bucket with poo every day. Is that too much to ask? xD

reina__ · May 2010

If your cats are living beyond their life expectancy on Friskies, then wth is this breeder feeding?! Tomorrow I'm buying a bag of Orijen to switch my dog onto. My dog is clearly showing the signs of being on kibble food for her entire life. Weak, stinky, weak, stinky, skinny, with an infected tail. Thank God I have some of that Panalog left from last time. Oh, and gross teeth. Next dog, I will NEVER feed kibble food again in my life. I don't even care.

Erra · May 2010

I might have been unclear o.o; I feed Blue Buffalo, and am changing them to a raw food diet as soon as I'm out of college lol. I have never really known a friskies cat to average a particularly long lifespan. If you look at the data from a purely scientific standpoint a very strong correlation between the sales of commercial cat food and feline diabetes becomes astonishingly clear, and it's no surprise. Pet foods like friskies are very high in sugar, and as an obligate carnivore a cat can not handle that kind of sugar load. It is synonymous with someone drinking soda and eating canned fruit in syrup every day. Yeah, at least it's not ice cream, but I'm pretty sure the sugar load from such foods is easy to see lol. It just gets under my skin that people feed their kitties junk food when it is so obvious that they need a diet completely different, and all it would take to prevent that terrible quality of life down the road is reading the label of your pet food

*flails* Conversely, I have seen individual cats that lived more than twenty years on Iams (another food of questionable nutritional balance, actually). It's just not the norm, and an exception does not automatically discard the previous rule. It simply makes that individual exceptional. A note on Orijen: Do be careful when switching your dog over to this food, as it has an extremely high protein level and if your dog's system is not prepared for the switch Orijen has been known to send a dog's liver into shock. It is rare, but it does occur, so be alert! The world needs more lerts. I'm one of those crazies that believes that a responsible, well thought out raw food diet can be inexpensive and contain the best possible nutrition for one's pets. I use the term "species appropriate" a lot, with the intention to remind myself and everyone else to take a step back and really look at the history of the animal from a biological standpoint, evaluating what they really need from a more critical-thinking standpoint. I may have mentioned it before, but I think nutrition in pets and people is one of the most important factors in health that we are seeing lately, and it's really not that difficult to read a few books and remember what you learned in your introductory biology classes. There are a lot of problems in the world, but I've yet to find a perfect solution

reina__ · May 2010

Yeah. I had this conversation with a group of animal activists and believe me it is a super touchy subject with people that love their animals. I know that a big part of written communication is how you read it, but these people made it very clear to me they were speaking in rude and obnoxious tones, that I didn't know anything about animal health and I was abusing my dog by feeding Kirkland. Kirkland's quality is near the top of the list. Not everyone can afford to feed their animals higher end food products than what they feed themselves. North America is pretty much the only place in the world that people regard dogs with high esteem, or as a family member. I think that has contributed to the dog food controversy. On the other end of the scale, feeding crap to any living being, including yourself, is just wrong. But there is an excuse.. although most people tend to take advantage of this excuse even if they CAN afford it or DO have a better food in reach.

A note on Orijen: Do be careful when switching your dog over to this food, as it has an extremely high protein level and if your dog's system is not prepared for the switch Orijen has been known to send a dog's liver into shock. It is rare, but it does occur, so be alert! The world needs more lerts.

Don't be worried, I've done extensive research before making the decision. Switching my dog over to raw would probably have the same risks for a period of time, as in a completely raw diet most of the intake is purely protein from meats, bones, ligaments, tendons, feet, all that. Some people like to include fruits and vegetables but to me it's not necessary, although it probably does add nutrients that aren't in the meat itself. I know some people that feed Orijen mixed in with another food, rather than feed it alone. I will eyeball her and see how she does with it. Stinky fur, breath, horrible poo, weak legs, low energy.. those are signs of bad food. It doesn't matter that she's a senior. I've seen senior dogs stay energetic and strong up until death. I'll keep you updated on her. Thanks for the concern.

Erra · May 2010

Unlike cats, dogs are not obligate carnivores and are known to benefit from certain raw fruits and vegetables. Kirkland IS actually a reasonably good food, better by far than Iams or Eukanuba, and people who spout rhetoric without learning anything pertaining to their topic of choice aren't worth listening to, in my opinion. I hope your doggie does better soon - a good diet supports overall good health, after all

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Dog Breeders Using Terrible Food

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