[foX42O]

i'm new to the forum and i was just wondering.. which is better for my puppy? science diet or eukanuba?


opinions are appriciated!!

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Actually there are a lot of other brands that are better. Both use by-products and fillers. Some good brands are Innova, Flint River, Chicken soup for the dog lovers soul. There are more but that is all I can remember now. If you do a search on this site you will find a bunch of other threads about this topic.

 

[Chilly dog]

Between those two I would have to say Eukenuba. If you go to less mainstream pet stores you can find even better dog foods that don't contain by-products.

Hope that helps!

-Mal

 

[foX42O]

leise is currently eating wellness.. but the vet recommended science diet to her today.. so yeah.. i'm just on a food search.. don't know what the best thing for her would be. (it's my first time owning a puppy..)

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Originally posted by foX42O@Oct 6 2005, 04:15 PM
leise is currently eating wellness.. but the vet recommended science diet to her today.. so yeah.. i'm just on a food search..  don't know what the best thing for her would be.  (it's my first time owning a puppy..)
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A lot of times vets recommend science diet and eukanuba because that is what they were told in school is good. I've heard in some schools vets only get 1 class on nutrition and that a lot of times it is taught by a rep from science diet or eukanuba. You want to get a product that has a meat in the first 3 ingredients. You want to try and get one that doesn't have a grain in the first 3 ingredients. Wellness is a pretty good food I think.

Here are the ingredients for the Super5Mix Puppy:

Ingredients
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Ground Barley, Salmon Meal (natural source of DHA), Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural source of vitamin E), Ground Brown Rice, Rice Bran (from brown rice), Tomatoes (natural source of lycopene), Natural Chicken Flavor, Rye Flour, Ground Millet, Flaxseed, Carrots, Apples, Spinach, Blueberries, Sweet Potatoes, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate.[/B]

 

[foX42O]

yeah it kind of seemed to me that all Vets were linked with either eukanuba or science diet.

well thank you so much for your help

 

[Furbaby's Mommie]

Wellness is an excellent natural holistic food. Don't let the vet sell you Science Diet. It's basically ground corn. Since Wellness is not one of the common "store" brands, your vet probably doesn't have a clue what it is. A good place to read the ingredients of a lot of different natural brands is PetFoodDirect's website. Click on "All Natural Dogfood" on the left. PetFoodDirect. On the screen with all the brand Logos just click on them and under "details" they will list the ingredients. Finding a petstore that carries some of those brands where you can get samples is a good way to see if your little guy likes them.
But, like I said, Wellness is one of those good one! No reason to change unless he isn't eating it like he should.

 

[charmypoo]

Between those two foods, I would choose Eukanuba but like everyone said .. there are better foods. However, I do feed my pups Eukanuba Puppy because no other food is as tiny.

 

[foX42O]

thanks for all of your input and support, they are all very helpful. maybe i will stick with WELLNESS afterall. ( by the way, my vet gave me a free bag of science diet dog food) i guess he's paid by them or something, hahaha.

 

[Furbaby's Mommie]

Originally posted by CharmyPoo@Oct 6 2005, 07:56 PM
Between those two foods, I would choose Eukanuba but like everyone said .. there are better foods.  However, I do feed my pups Eukanuba Puppy because no other food is as tiny.
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[/QUOTE]
Speaking of tiny........Solid Gold makes an Adult food called "Just a Wee Bit" that is really tiny. I had a sample of it and Frosty loved it. Trouble is he needs a Senior food with less protien. I don't know about their 2 puppy foods. They aren't called Wee Bit, so may not be.

 

[Tanner's Mom]

My little Tanner also needs a low protein food, I was feeding him the Hill's L/D until I read the Whole Dog Journal's info on dog food, basically I was feeding him rice and water. Anyway, I just switched to Innova Senior, the protein content is 4.4% and he really likes it. Oh yeah, that is canned not dry.

 

[kodie]

well... Kodie was on the Eukanuba puppy food... but he didnt like it too much... try it.. but your pup may or may not like it... these babies are PICKY! I tried many types of food for kodie...

Or like Lexi's mom said... you can try a more natural dog food.

 

[sassy's mommy]

Hi there,
When I first brought my first little Maltese doggie into our home I decided that I needed to know everything

about nutrition. So I began my reaserch and believe it or not 2 1/2 years later I still research foods. Soooooo I may get slammed for this but I also have an opinion so here goes:

Yes the other members are correct in that the Science Diet and Eukanuba are commercial brands recognized by most vets. One reason being, especially with Science Diet, is the hugh amount of dollars SD puts into the Vet Schools for research. Bottom line...SD basically funds a lot of schooling. However, this is not all bad. Although many think that there are no guidelines in producing dog food that is not 100% accurate. SD for one has guidelines in their quality process. Ex: monthly their products in the production area are tested at random to make sure the "quality" is what is required by their company and the AAFCO. Other companies on the other hand do not randomly check and consequently food produced during certain times of the month many very greatly from foods produced on other days. And yes there is a corn filler as mentioned, but that is not all bad either. There is nothing wrong with a doggie ingesting corn. The by-products are human grade it is just that most humans choose not to eat them.

The dog food guidelines state that companies can NOT use stomach renderings, hoofs, beeks, feathers, hair, etc. Basically waste products. Now I am not saying that a stray hair or two does not get into the mixings, but that happens in canned foods that humans comsume. The FDA approves X amount weight by volumn of get this.......maggots in canned mushrooms. Now I realize that may be TMI (too much information) but these products are considered to be human grade. YUK! I always wondered if the M&M brand of canned mushrooms meant...Maggots & Mushrooms.

Back to the subject of dog food please......When one examines the label on the dog food there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Yes it is good to have meat as the first products; however, these should actually be meat meals or dehydrated meats. This is because natural meat as we think of it is mostly water. Remembering that the nutrition label is based on a serving size, ie 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup, etc. Therefore, if you have a 1/2 cup of solid meat you have more water than protein. Whereas, if you have 1/2 cup of meat meal you have far too much protein than the doggie needs or can digest. Too much protein can actually be a bad thing for dogs. Meat meals are created by cooking the meats until they turn to a powder, basically dehydrating the meat and grinding the remains into meal. Also, with the grains like corn they are ground and they do not necessarily have the glutens and such left in tact. We also have to keep in mind when we see some ingredients that although they are good for humans, the doggie digestive tract is very different and therefore the doggie may not even benefit from the ingredient. So what you have here is something like this, ex: beets, kelp, sweet potato, etc. If in the processing of the food these ingredients are not balanced accordingly, then these ingredients actually become......fillers. So what was their purpose? A filler is a filler whether it be corn or whatever else. We have a habit as humans and mommies, to try to provide the best possible nutrition, however; many nutritious human foods are not as nutritionally sound for the doggie digestive tract. Dogs digest tract is very straight and foods are not in there long enough for some nutrients to be absorbs. With all this said I think that choosing a good dog food ha to be based not only on research but what your doggie will eat. When Sassy was smaller/younger I tried many so called quality foods. This is the short list: Innova, Solid Gold, NutraMax, Nutro. I also tried a couple of foods which I found that were not as good as I originally thought, Royal Canine and Chicken Soup for the Puppers Lovers Soul. I tried the Puppey lovers because Sassy would never eat the Dog one. Sassy hated ALL of the about foods and flatly refused to eat more than a couple of kibbles at the time. While in the vets office about 6 months ago there were some sample of, get this.......Science Diet SENIOR in a basket. So just for kicks and grins I picked up a sample. Heavens knows I had tried everything else that I thought had any nutrition at all. The results are......Sassy loves the SD SENIOR variety. So I went back to the vet and sat down and had a conversaton on nutrition. I had decided on my own that what good is it to waste good money on what we as mommies deem, quality food, if the little BRAT was not going to eat it. She was getting NO balanced diet. I was basically feeding her like a small toddler. What I knew to do as a human baby mother. Dr. Bennett (vet) said that the senior variety would be fine as long as I supplement her vitamins. Therefore he gave me some pet vitamins. (Sassy and I call them her Flintstones

Now, I am going to sum up my thoughts and get off of my little soap box. There are many major brand name dog food companies who spend a gazillion dollars annually on animal nutrition research. So I have decided that I probably do not know as much as their scientist about proper nutrition. Therefore, as much as I would have liked it as a mommy to have Sassy eat what I considered a more quality doggie food, she just will not buy (eat) into that. So as of today, she eats SD Senior and takes her vitamins.

I am sorry this is so long, but I hope it is helpful.

 

[Ladysmom]

I think everyone selecting a pet food should first read API's article on what's really in pet foods. Most people don't realize that the pet food industry is a multi billion dollar spin off from the human food industry, specifically, it's waste.

http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm

Then download a copy of the definitions of commonly used ingredients and get out your reading glasses and read those labels!

http://www.sniksnak.com/ac/petfooddefinitions.html

Finally, compare brands here:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

 

[paris'mom]

I wouldn't recommend either one!

I feel very strongly about that because of this WEBSITE on Eukanuba's parent company IAMS.

Science diet is not a good brand either, there are many of us on this board that feed alternative sources such as home cooked, raw, organic, or just better brands that are more ingredient conscience.

We feed Artemis and Natural Balance by Dick Van Patten. Paris really loves it

 

[Furbaby's Mommie]

After all is said and done, like Sassy's Mom says, if they won't eat it---it doesn't matter how GOOD it is. That's why I try so many samples of the supposed to be natural "good" ones. I have had the same experience with SD Senior. It's the only dry kibble that Frosty actually seems to like. Since I don't want to use it I keep looking for one of the "good" ones that he'll eat at least some of. They recently changed (big mistake) the SD "Advanced" Senior to a large kibble piece. It is too hard for him at his advanced age so I've had to look for smaller kibble pieces. He mostly eats wet not dry anyway. The dry is always there mixed it with the wet, but he rarely eats more than a few pieces. I mix at least 2 kinds of kibble. And use several kinds of wet, along with chicken breast, rice, veggies, cottage cheese, egg, or whatever I have on hand that he likes. I think feeding only one thing and hoping they get everything they need is chancey. He gets 3 different supplements because of his age, plus his RX med. Feeding an old dog (13 yr. 8 mos.) is worse than feeding a toddler and full of experimentation to find things to keep them eating. Variety to keep him interested seems to help.

 

[miko's mommy]

--

 

[foX42O]

thanks for all the great resources.... to sassy's mom, i read everything through, Leise said thanks!

 

[sassy's mommy]

I totally understand what everyone says about the SD not being a great choice. I agree with that, but as I said getting some kind of balanced nutrition is better than nothing.

OKW, Olga...........whew! boy am I glad that SD is not funding med schools.

Hospital food is bad enough without them feeding the patients dog food. Although, come to think of it that might even taste a little better.

Okay, I am just kidding. I couln't resist.

fox420, a lot of the choice in feeding is, as you can see, personal preference. We all do our homework and then make the best possible decision. Truthfully, I would choose something different for Sassy, but she refuses to eat the other brands. So I go with what she will at least eat.

Also, I wonder if little dogs might be like humans in that, some foods seem to do well with some folks and not others. Something that I eat might totally disagree with someone elses system and through them all out of whack. .....Hummmmm, I'll have to do some more research. :new_Eyecrazy:

 

[dr.jaimie]

Originally posted by Sassy's mommy@Oct 7 2005, 10:28 AM
Hi there,
When I first brought my first little Maltese doggie into our home I decided that I needed to know everything 

  about nutrition. So I began my reaserch and believe it or not 2 1/2 years later I still research foods. Soooooo I may get slammed for this but I also have an opinion so here goes:

Yes the other members are correct in that the Science Diet and Eukanuba are commercial brands recognized by most vets. One reason being, especially with Science Diet, is the hugh amount of dollars SD puts into the Vet Schools for research. Bottom line...SD basically funds a lot of schooling. However, this is not all bad. Although many think that there are no guidelines in producing dog food that is not 100% accurate. SD for one has guidelines in their quality process. Ex: monthly their products in the production area are tested at random to make sure the "quality" is what is required by their company and the AAFCO. Other companies on the other hand do not randomly check and consequently food produced during certain times of the month many very greatly from foods produced on other days.  And yes there is a corn filler as mentioned, but that is not all bad either. There is nothing wrong with a doggie ingesting corn. The by-products are human grade it is just that most humans choose not to eat them. 

The dog food guidelines state that companies can NOT use stomach renderings, hoofs, beeks, feathers, hair, etc. Basically waste products. Now I am not saying that a stray hair or two does not get into the mixings, but that happens in canned foods that humans comsume. The FDA approves X amount weight by volumn of get this.......maggots in canned mushrooms. Now I realize that may be TMI (too much information) but these products are considered to be human grade. YUK! I always wondered if the M&M brand of canned mushrooms meant...Maggots & Mushrooms. 

  Back to the subject of dog food please......When one examines the label on the dog food there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Yes it is good to have meat as the first products; however, these should actually be meat meals or dehydrated meats. This is because  natural meat as we think of it is mostly water. Remembering that the nutrition label is based on a serving size, ie 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup, etc. Therefore, if you have a 1/2 cup of solid meat you have more water than protein. Whereas, if you have 1/2 cup of meat meal you have far too much protein than the doggie needs or can digest. Too much protein can actually be a bad thing for dogs. Meat meals are created by cooking the meats until they turn to a powder, basically dehydrating the meat and grinding the remains into meal. Also, with the grains like corn they are ground and they do not necessarily have the glutens and such left in tact. We also have to keep in mind when we see some ingredients that although they are good for humans, the doggie digestive tract is very different and therefore the doggie may not even benefit from the ingredient. So what you have here is something like this, ex: beets, kelp, sweet potato, etc. If in the processing of the food these ingredients are not balanced accordingly, then these ingredients actually become......fillers.  So what was their purpose? A filler is a filler whether it be corn or whatever else. We have a habit as humans and mommies, to try to provide the best possible nutrition, however; many nutritious human foods are not as nutritionally sound for the doggie digestive tract. Dogs digest tract is very straight and foods are not in there long enough for some nutrients to be absorbs. With all this said I think that choosing a good dog food ha to be based not only on research but what your doggie will eat. When Sassy was smaller/younger I tried many so called quality foods. This is the short list: Innova, Solid Gold, NutraMax, Nutro. I also tried a couple of foods which I found that were not as good as I originally thought, Royal Canine and Chicken Soup for the Puppers Lovers Soul. I tried the Puppey lovers because Sassy would never eat the Dog one. Sassy hated ALL of the about foods and flatly refused to eat more than a couple of kibbles at the time. While in the vets office about 6 months ago there were some sample of, get this.......Science Diet SENIOR in a basket. So just for kicks and grins I picked up a sample. Heavens knows I had tried everything else that I thought had any nutrition at all. The results are......Sassy loves the SD SENIOR variety. So I went back to the vet and sat down and had a conversaton on nutrition. I had decided on my own that what good is it to waste good money on what we as mommies deem, quality food, if the little BRAT was not going to eat it. She was getting NO balanced diet. I was basically feeding her like a small toddler. What I knew to do as a human baby mother. Dr. Bennett (vet) said that the senior variety would be fine as long as I supplement her vitamins. Therefore he gave me some pet vitamins. (Sassy and I call them her Flintstones

Now, I am going to sum up my thoughts and get off of my little soap box. There are many major brand name dog food companies who spend a gazillion dollars annually on animal nutrition research. So I have decided that I probably do not know as much as their scientist about proper nutrition. Therefore, as much as I would have liked it as a mommy to have Sassy eat what I considered a more quality doggie food, she just will not buy (eat) into that. So as of today, she eats SD Senior and takes her vitamins. 

I am sorry this is so long, but I hope it is helpful.
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i totally agree! SD has donated so much food to the katrina relief...im really impressed with their efforts. they have been around a long time and there is a lot of research behind it, so i trust them. they dont pay my vet n e thing to see their product..he only sells perscription. as for the free bags vets give to puppies, SD donates them to the clinics so people can try to see if their pups like it. i see nothing wrong with that.