Kibble, Just what is in it....

[dmoore132]

Rebuttal

Dog food contains by-products, chicken meal or other non-descript ingredients. I thought you might like to know just what they are and where they come from....

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/PetFood/Processing.htm

That site is just like the Dog food Project,they have some things right and some things way out wrong. I've done a lot of reading obout dog foods for several years. I've found a handfull that state some of the meat that goes in their pet food are human grade (Wellness,Innova,Evo,FRR,Canadie,**** Van Pattens brand)are all good foods.

 

[dmoore132]

what to feed.

Has anyone read this website of WD Cusick the Animal Advocate.For the sheltie to have the proper diet I include a quote from an email I recieved from him that states and I quote from that the following,Nutrients native to the Shetland Islands were all influenced by the environment's unique mineral balance. These included pork, goat, lamb, fish, and vegetables, such as potato, carrots, and cabbage.


I recommend a blend of lamb, fish, potato, and barley for today's Shetland Sheepdog. Nutrients this breed should avoid are avocado, beef, soy, yellow corn, or beet meal.
http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/index.html

 

[Chris]

Has anyone read this website of WD Cusick the Animal Advocate.For the sheltie to have the proper diet I include a quote from an email I recieved from him that states and I quote from that the following,Nutrients native to the Shetland Islands were all influenced by the environment's unique mineral balance. These included pork, goat, lamb, fish, and vegetables, such as potato, carrots, and cabbage.


I recommend a blend of lamb, fish, potato, and barley for today's Shetland Sheepdog. Nutrients this breed should avoid are avocado, beef, soy, yellow corn, or beet meal.
http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/index.html

Cabbage? Eew -- and I think Layla's farts are bad now!

 

[dmoore132]

Best whoesome food

I know everybody on this site is a very smart loving owner or owners of Shelties for many years like myself.I've always fed my shelties which covers many years and which my second Sheltie lived to be sixteen years and this was before the holistic/natural dog foods, grocery store brands.I can't even remember what i fed him,probably Twin Pet or Tony canned if anyone remembers those.Had him to the vet no more than just a distemper and rabies,never was sick a day.Now my last one Luckyboy I fed him the finest dog food to be had.He suddenly came down with Pancreatic Cancer very suddenly around the last of August at ten years old I had to put him down Sept. 08.08,he also had arthritis in all his legs and about once a month one of his legs would give out and then I would have to take him to get a shot.I fed him Nutro naturals al his life.I've got two questions to put forward to all the members on this forum.Are we killing our beloved shelties with over medication as it appears every year they come out with a new vaccine or is it the crappy dog food brands thats put out there.I've read a couple of papers by two of the top vet schools in the country that recommends that it would be a good idea to go six to eight weeks on the Heartworm medicines as they are very toxic.
Second thought I would like to put out there is I've been feeding my six month old Dolly Wellness lamb and rice,she loves it and she's thriving on it.Problem is its very pricey for some one on a limited income.Somebody tell me one or two good healthy,palatable dog foods for around a dollar a pound.I've looked up information for quite a few weeks and I've seen two that may be acceptable and the best of the two appears to be Soup Lovers for The Dog Lover and the other one is Exclusive Lamb and Rice.I'm not to sure I would go with Exclusive but the lamb and rice is better ingredent wise than their other lines.

 

[Ania]

Well, I can't answer all your questions. I feed my two raw. I decided on raw after my last sheltie got cancer this last April. He was always on the 'best' and usually most expensive holistic dog food. My mom bought Nutrol Naturals twice and both times he got grand mal seizures on it. After doing some research on cancer diets for dogs and such, I decided to go the raw food way. It was unfortunately too late for Dorian, but I decided to do raw with my new pups. I can get chicken thighs and backs for under a $1/lb. Feeding raw is just my opinion and my decision. It is not for everyone. We all love our dogs and we do what we think is best for them. I am sure you will get a lot of good advice from the others here. My holistic vet, did recommend Innova and/or Orijen for Dorian too, as far as kibble goes.
I also have decided not to vaccinate and try and stay away from as many medications as I possibly can. I use supplements and natural remedies as much and whenever I can, including for heartworm. I personally do believe that we are relying on meds too much as humans and for our beloved companions. I am not saying never to use them, but I think as a society, we rely too heavily on a 'quick' fix, a pill for every ill. I would rather build up the immune system and let it fight off as much as it can on its own. That is what makes us stronger. The old saying 'if you don't use it, you loose it' applies to our immune systems too. Anyway, I do not want to offend anyone or anything. These are just my opinions after I did research in these topics personally and professionally.

 

[SunChaser]

Hello Ania

I am curious about what you use for holistic heartworm treatment. Can you share with us what you use?

I have no choice but to immunize my dogs yearly. With all of the fosters that come and go in my home I can't take a chance on them becoming sick from parvo, KC, distemper or any other ailment that might be brought in by a dog I pull from a shelter. These dogs are quarrentined for about 10 days if I know they are sick but if the ailment doesn't show itself until after two or three days in the community of the pack then I have exposed my own dogs to it and have to nurse them as well as all of the other fosters that might come down with what ever ailment it is. Some of my fosters are on long term care after receiving heartworm treatment and they catch pneumonia very quickly with their weakened immune systems. It's not an easy task to keep everyone healthy unless precautions are taken before by immunizing as much as possible.

I don't feed raw but I do feed wholesome cooked meats and eggs in their diet. The vegetables and fruits are left in the raw state when fed and I use a good supplement for them. My biggest concern with raw is salmonella. Not for them but for me. I am highly sensetive to that darn germ and if I handle raw meat too often I get sick.....

Hugs

 

[Ania]

For the heartworm I use two things.

1. Artemisia Combination (with Mugwort, Wormwood and Elecampane) It's all in one capsule. The Artemisia is a known parasite killer, and heartworms are parasites. I used that with my last sheltie and he was fine; and

2. Dr. Dodd's homeopathic heartworm nosode support formula (I just got this, so have not used it on my two as it is winter) Dr. Dodd's got this formula from a Dr. Diana Hayes in Australia who has been using this method for many years and has never seen a clinical infection in her treated dogs.

Now, having said this, my vet is NOT happy with my decision (but I'm OK with that, as they usually are not happy when it comes to me and my choices for my dogs, just like MD's aren't happy with my choices for myself ) I did my research and this is what I have chosen to do. I've made an informed decision, which is all I really tell anyone to do: do some research, know the pro's and con's, the risks involved, and then make a decision that you are comfortable with.

If you want more info, PM me