What do you feed your pet?

[Kacey]

In light of the recent recalls, I am curious about what people feed their pets, as I am always checking to see that I am feeding my dog food that is appropriate to his needs. After a fair amount of research (links at the bottom), I feed my dog Innova - 1/4 can of wet, and 2 cups of dry, per day, plus Milk Bones as treats (I know... dog candy...), and a rawhide chew each night (made in the USA to avoid bleached hides).

Here's where I got some of my information about dog food to make my choice (nothing on cat food, sorry; I only have a dog):

Kibble Ingredients - what's really in premium dog foods, and how to read the labels

Dog Food Comparisons - a similar site, with a shorter list of foods, but which adds whether or not the ingredients are human grade

Dog Food Comparison Wizard - select the names of up to 4 foods or treats and compare them side-by-side - limited to the foods listed, but it's a pretty comprehensive list; you can also choose to compare cat foods

The Dog Food Project - lots of good information about how to read labels, what to look for and what to avoid, and information about diet and nutrition.

For those who feed their pets home-prepared foods, or like to make pet treats, you can also find recipes (disclaimer: this was sent to me by someone who uses this site, but I've never used any of the recipes). I buy Sable's rawhide chews (he gets the flat ones) from i-pets; they charge a flat shipping few, so I tend to buy a lot at once; it's cheaper, and they guarantee American sources unless otherwise stated.

If you don't use commercial dog food, and make your own, how do you make sure your pet is getting everything s/he needs? I considered making my own dog food, and rejected it, out of concern it wouldn't be balanced (I know my own diet isn't), and because I am not home to cook my own food, much less his - it was much less about cost, and much more about his health, followed by my convenience - because I know, if I try to start this from scratch, he'd likely eat as badly as I do... and I've gotten the same benefits from Innova as people who make their own; his weight is stable, he excretes less, his fur is soft and shiny, and he loves it.

 

[michaeledward]

Gizmo gets primarily 'Timberwolf Organics'.

http://www.timberwolforganics.com/

It ain't cheap, that's for sure.

 

[exile]

We have three male cats, and feed them a special low-ash dry cat food called C/D which you have to get from your vet. It minimizes their chances of developing uric acid crystals that can block their bladders and ultimately kill them (a particular hazard for males). This once almost happened to a much-loved cat we had a long time ago, so we've been careful to stick to this particular type of food for all of our cats.

 

[tellner]

The dogs were on Solid Gold (all human-grade, USDA meats, etc.). The cats still are. The toad (RIP) and chameleons get live crickets dusted with reptivite. The snake gets live rats. She's no rocket scientist and isn't great at counting, but she understands the difference between "one rat" and "more than one rat" and will look for "more than one rat" after she's eaten "one rat"

Now the dogs get a combination of things. Mostly it's ground turkey or chicken backs and necks. We vary it by going to Fubon (a pan-Asian supermarket) and adding organ meats and some of the very miscellaneous bits of pig and cow (spleen, liver, heart, pizzle, kidney, feet, blood, etc.), duck and chicken (feet, raw legs, heads) that are inexpensive and add a lot of vitamins and minerals. They also get whatever veggies are looking a bit long in the tooth from the back of the fridge, table scraps, and leftover veggies with a little bit of fruit thrown in from time to time. For 70-80 pound dogs about a pound of food a day.

The change has been amazing. They've lost weight. They have more energy. Their coats are great. The male isn't greasy, doesn't scratch and doesn't fart nearly as much. Nobody has accidents on the floor. They look forward to dinner like you wouldn't believe. And they're using a lot more of the food that they eat. The end product is very sparse and almost entirely bone meal. Much less nasty and much less of it. It's costing less than the premium food. I just wish we'd made the switch years ago.

 

[Can]

My dogs get Purina One, lamb and rice. When I looked at different foods a while back, everything I could find suggested it was at least as good as Iams, Science Diet, etc.; but it's a lot cheaper. I also throw in some extra glucosamine, a multi vitamin and some oil. The oil helps with their coats and skin, while the vitamin reduces our younger dog's desire to eat random crap he finds (he was starved before being rescued).

 

[Cryozombie]

I feed mine rocks and bottles, with the occasional scrap of paper.

They are tough dogs.



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[mrhnau]

Both cats get Science Diet. The elder gets Senior Hairball Control. She often leaves little presents around! The younger is now having Maintenence Diet. He is pretty chubby! Both cats love begging from our plates, and my wife is always happy to comply

 

[Shaderon]

We only have a gerbil now, he gets "Gerri Gerbil" food. When I used to breed them I looked into different types of rodent food and found that regular stuff that's branded as Hamster/Gerbil food is no good for gerbils, who need a higher protein content and lower fat content than Hamsters do. I've had many an argument with a trader while trying to find the food about "not knowing what I'm talking about" and "they've been feeding Gerbils this way for ?? years". I used to mix my own using rat food, hamster food and rabbit food, but eventually Pedigree Petfoods brought out "Gerri" and made my job easier.

 

[Flying Crane]

Since our cat Beowulf has asthma, and the steroid treatments for that lead to the onset of diabetes, he is on a prescription diet, Purina Diabetes Management diet, that helps control obesity and is all around healthier. We are constantly battling his weight issue, and it doesn't help that his prednisone (needed to control his asthma) stimulates his appetite. He wakes up early in the morning and is hungry, and just starts howling.

His diabetes went into remission, but we have to constantly be on the lookout for its onset again, as it can come back, and being overweight can contribute to it.

Grendel gets the same diet, she doesn't have the health issues that Beowulf has, but she is also overweight, and the vets indicated that all indoor cats should be eating this kind of diet because it is healthier than the openly available stuff on the markets.

We split a little less than 1 cup of food between the two of them per day, and we try to break it up into about 3 or 4 feedings so they don't just gobble it all up at once. They still weigh in at around 14 or 15 pounds, and the vets want them to get down to about 12 or 13. It seems so little, but they just arent' losing any weight. And if we cut it down any more, Beowulf begins to rebel. I don't get it...

 

[Kacey]

I feed mine rocks and bottles, with the occasional scrap of paper.

They are tough dogs.



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Sounds like what the goat down the street used to eat when I was a kid...

 

[fnorfurfoot]

Our dog and cat both eat Iams. My cat is 15 and we usually get him the senior food. The dog gets the large chunks.

 

[jdinca]

Nature Valley "Large Breed Senior". Since she's a lab, she supplements her diet with whatever she can get into her stomach, regardless of whether it stays there, or not...

 

[MRE]

Our 10 year old dog is my wife's baby. She has only eaten food my wife has cooked for as long as we have had her. Her diet usually consists of boiled chicken, steamed vegetables, rice, and sweet potatoes. However, she does get some of the stuff that we eat every once in a while, with the spices washed off of course. We also give her a multi-vitamin for dogs (I dont know the brand offhand) and a glucosamine pill.

Sometimes, the dog eats better than I do.

 

[Bigshadow]

I prepare my Scottie's food. He gets brown rice and boneless skinless chicken thighs, raw baby carrots, some granny smith apple wedges sometimes as a treat, and a daily dog multivitamin (he thinks is a treat).

I have tried commercial dog foods, and they have something in it that he is allergic to. He will scratch his fur out in spots. I have been feeding him that diet for quite a while. Sometimes I will grill him an unseasoned lean beef burger and let him eat that in place of chicken, but not too often.