Purina Pro Plan?

DogzRule1996 · Post by **DogzRule1996** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:01 pm

Its amazing how you caught that. You're very observant. I read right through it!

We feed Kirkland. Its not the best, but its not the worst either. Its fairly good and is a money-wise choice.

Kristen · Post by **Kristen** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:05 pm

Never heard of Kirkland. Would you believe mine like Alpo Come 'n' Get It? It's a grocery-store brand but not found at Wal-mart, not our Wal-mart. I'm trying to wean them onto something better, which is why I'm researching dog food. It's too much to think about.

DogzRule1996 · Post by **DogzRule1996** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:41 pm

Do you have a Costco nearby? I never heard of Kirkland's until someone on this website told me. I do not remember who it was though. Costco is the only store that holds Kirkland's, since it is made by them.

Kristen · Post by **Kristen** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:01 pm

I've never heard of a Costco, either. Apparently, we don't have anything useful in this county. I can't find a dog park, wish I could. There's traffic everywhere I go...sorry, got off-topic. I'll keep looking at dog foods.

littlehorses · Post by **littlehorses** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:24 am

Where in N Tx (near Dallas) are you? I live up near Denton.
If you are anywhere within driving distance to Plano or Garland check out Canine Commissary (Plano & Garland) or Pet Supplies Plus in Plano. They both offer Taste of the Wild, Orjen, Evo, and a few other of the grain free kibbles. Both also carry more of the high quality kibbles and have better prices than the big box pet stores. If you west of DFW check out Pets West. There are a few other places I can suggest if you're not near any of these!

DogzRule1996 · Post by **DogzRule1996** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:34 pm

I actually live in Plano, and adopted a second dog (Buddy) in Denton at Denton Animal Shelter (or Rescue).

littlehorses · Post by **littlehorses** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:24 pm

DogzRule1996 wrote:I actually live in Plano, and adopted a second dog (Buddy) in Denton at Denton Animal Shelter (or Rescue).

Check out Pets Supplies Plus at Coit and Legacy, next to Sprouts on the SW corner.
Canine Commissary is on the SW corner of Custer and 15th. Both are great places to find quality dog supplies.
Hope that helps!

kelleyanne1988 · Post by **kelleyanne1988** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 10:33 am

Question... I've noticed that everyone says NOT to use anything from Purina... I've had a long conversation with some of yall on picking a food for Gunner before and I still don't get it sometimes.

If the dog eats it, is healthy, not sick, and growing properly... Then what is bad about it?

Yall have recommended Diamond a few times, but everyone I've talked to outside of this forum has completely been against Diamond. A few mentioned that it had a ton of recalls not to long ago. While others mentioned that buying foods like Purina, They will always be the same with the same amount in each bag, while buying foods like Diamond that you can't guarantee the same in each bag.

So... I've heard yall tell me what ingredients in Purina aren't good for a dog, or usually what yall said was something along the lines of well that doesn't sound good or tasty. So... If the dog eats the food, has a pretty coat, active, all around a healthy dog, then does it really matter what the food is?

Leigha · Post by **Leigha** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:03 am

I just know what my vet has said--he's very much a homeopathic/holistic type guy and he's pretty much against any kind of kibble food and would prefer his patients were fed their people's food. According to him, especially with the larger brands, there is no different between each formula except for the bag and the corn, grain, etc that is put into those foods are not fit for human consumption so they're put into dog kibble so the farmers and what not can continue to make money on low quality crop.

My vet says if I can't cook for them and HAVE to feed my dog kibble food I should feed them Solid Gold. Unfortunately I can't afford $50 dog food so I feed them Nature's Recipe. The "flavor" doesn't use corn which we thought Bruiser was allergic to since he's always itchy (and a few of his litter mates turned out to be allergic to corn). I don't even know if Nature's Recipe is a good brand, it's just what we were recommended so we tried it.

My vet also doesn't want us to give our dogs unfiltered tap water.

I do want to start cooking for my guys again, but I don't make a lot of food they can eat (I think)--I make a lot of italian food that uses bunches of garlic and onions which I've heard is bad for them. So it's not really feasible for me to give them our left overs and I end up having to cook a whole separate meal for them which gets costly.

kelleyanne1988 · Post by **kelleyanne1988** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:17 am

See my vet highly recommends (along with everyone else i talk to outside of this forum) Purina and Science diet

littlehorses · Post by **littlehorses** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:56 am

I kicked kibble to the curb many years ago, but still try and keep in tune with what should and shouldn't be in kibble. Certainly many dogs can live on low quality kibble- if that wasn't the case those companies wouldn't be as huge as they are. The best thing you can do is learn to read the ingredient list for yourselves and make your judgements with knowledge.

That said, the hallmarks of a good quality kibble include a superior choice of meat protien. This means either whole, fresh or single source named meat, meat meal (Chicken meal vs poultry meal). This should be one of the first 2 ingredients. Better wold be two meat sources in the first 3 ingredients.
If a list begins with, say whole chicken followed by 2 or more grains it's a safe bet the food contains much more grain then meat protien.
When it comes to the grains in kibble (grain free is best IMHO) look for unprocessed, whole grains, vegtables and other food items. A previously unprocessed food has the best chance of surviving the kibble making process with some of it's nutrients intact! Look for whole wheat, whole ground barley, etc.
Food fragments- These are lower costing by-products from other food manufacturing processors such as brewers rice (waste from alchohol industry). Many kibbles contain at least one fragment food to keep costs down. Beware kibbles that contain several fragmented foods.
Meat by products- thes aren't really bad but aren't always handled as carefully or quickly as higher quality food stuffs. This decreases palatability and nutritional content.
Generic fats or protiens- "animal fat' for example can be just about anything including recycled grease from food industry or an unwholesome mix of mystery fats. Preferable would be 'beef fat' or chicken fat'.
Avoid foods containing BHA, BHT or Ethoxyquin as preservatives. These are known carcinegens.
Avoid foods with sweeteners such as corn syrup, sucrose, ammoniated glycrrhizin that are added to lower quality foods to increase appeal. Any dietary sugar can aggravate or induce health problems such as diabetes.

Were I to ever go back to kibble, EVO or Orijen would be my two first picks. Both are grain free. Taste of the Wild might be a 3rd selection.

More affordable kibbles I'd consider include Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul, Evangers, Innova, Lifespan, Organix, Premium Edge, Timberwolf Organics, and Blue Buffalo.

Sorry to write a mini-novel but I hope that helps some.

springermomx3 · Post by **springermomx3** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:50 pm

Read the ingredients on a bag of Purina and ask yourself if you'd eat that everyday.

Then read the ingredients on something like Innova, Wellness, Orijen, Natures Variety, Fromm, Merrick, etc., and you'll find you'd much rather eat that everyday than something with by products, gluten, artificial colors and flavors and lots of crap that just makes ya poop more than ya should.

kelleyanne1988 · Post by **kelleyanne1988** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 10:47 pm

but my question is... is it bad for you? There's plenty of things that I don't think sounds tasty (like liver, spinach, head cheese, bologna, etc.) but it doesn't mean that it's bad for you.

If you feed a dog purina and they are active, healthy, good coast, good teeth, etc. Then... Is it bad for them?

When I switched Gunner to Diamond from Purina he actually started pooping more. Even after he adjusted to it. And his poop was NEVER consistent. Runny one day, firm the next, and then completely watery a few days as well. He was fine on Purina ONE and I've recently switched him to eukanuba and he's doing fine on that as well.

It just seems like most people on here are the only ones I've ever notice say that Purina was horrible stuff. Purina has been the most popular brand suggested to me outside of this forum for years. Even friends of mine that raise breeding and show quailty dogs.

I just want to know stuff similar to... What does animal by-products to do a dog that makes it so bad? (MANY people eat beef eyes, testicals, etc, which are all considered by-products and they aren't bad for you). Theres stuff called Head Cheese that is just pig parts. You have NO clue what kind of pigparts it is and thats a pretty popular lunchmeat in the deli that I work at. I would never eat it, but it obviously isn't bad for you and many people find it tasty.

What does artificial food coloring to that's so bad? A majority of the things that humans eat have artifical food coloring AND flavoring.

Also a lot of human food as Gluten in it as well and a lot of people in the world eat it. Like cereal and bread.

I'm not saying yall don't know you're stuff, I'm sure yall know more about dogs than I will ever know. But it's not a bad question ( I don't think) to wanna know exactly why it's bad for the dogs.

Nettle · Post by **Nettle** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:25 am

Not at all a bad question.

Additives (colourings, flavourings, synthetic chemicals) make people and dogs ill. With a basically sound person/dog, these illnesses won't show up for a while, but when the human/dog gets older, the damage will already have been done. Some people/dogs show up straight away that something is wrong - it can be skin problems, bad breath, bad teeth, runny poop, generally feeling lousy, and most of all, irrational or extreme behaviour.

Often we only realise how bad that person/dog felt when they start eating decent food and feel/look/behave better.

With dog food: dogs are not designed to eat cereal. Processing to make it "digestible" takes a lot of the nutrients out, so these are replaced with synthetic nutrients. The other ingredients are often refuse from the human food chain, which similarly has to be heated to kill bacteria, which also kills many of the nutrients. In basic terms, you are feeding rubbish. That the dog doesn't actually die does not mean the food is good.

Similarly many owners take the easy option of buying what is nearby and cheap, and doesn't require the use of any brain cells - just dip the cup in the pack and put the contents in the bowl.

Vets recommend what they sell and make a big profit on. Many vets know nothing about canine nutrition, but they do know what makes the cash register ping. Some vets are more moral than this, but they are relatively few.

Therefore it is up to us as owners to research research and research some more, while understanding that vets and dog food companies don't have our dogs' welfare as their first port of call - it is their own profits they put first.

maximoo · Post by **maximoo** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:18 am

Also these meat-by-products are the rendered parts of the animal and said animal can have cancer & other diseases. Also think about what a dog would eat naturally. They eat the stomach of the killed animal and meaty parts, they don't eat the feathers, etc.
Early death and illness in older dogs will be the result of junky food like purina. Keep asking & learning!