Dog food and meds

[Val_2]

Slightly off topic but I felt I should my experience. My dog suddenly became very allergic in spring 2010 to just about everything you could name from all cereals and rice, meat,oak trees, certain weeds and plants and of course fleas. He suffered terribly with loss of fur on tail and back and had continual irritated skin which bled and caused him to be so miserable. We had him treated with cortisone and tablets which worked for about two weeks and then it re-occured.Frontline had no effect and we switched to Advantix which was and still is very effective for him.After blood tests found the allergies he has been having a monthly injection of vaccine made from those irritants to try and de-sensitise him and it is working even though we were warned it could take upto three years to be really effective. His diet consisted of the usual supermarket tinned dog food and named biscuits such as Fido etc which the vet said were not good but we felt specialist biscuits were a tad too expensive. However after some trials of different dried foods we have finally found Hills Z/d low allergen to suit him and the results are amazing.His beautiful red coat has re-grown, he has lost weight because he was so lethargic before and now is as frisky as he was before all this and he is only 3.5years old. Having kept strictly to this dried biscuit diet it has worked out at €1,49 per day for his two meals which is not at all expensive. His droppings are smaller and more compact and less than the four or five daily ones before which ended up rather liquidy. The vet said commercial tins of meat were mostly water and she was right. Therefore, buying an expensive recommended brand of specialist pet food is not expensive in the grand scheme of things because we have saved so many visits to the vet for cortisone jabs and creams. The cost from our vet for this food is no more expensive than UK outlets when you include the exchange rate and postal charge,so its not always a saving to buy from what you may perceive to be a cheaper supplier and some suppliers as discovered on consumer programmes are selling inferior products under brand names too especially Frontline etc.

[Merlin]

This is good information Val_2. For many years I have tried to persuade people to spend a little more on a good dog food because it makes sense and there are some very alarming articles that expose manufacturers' ruthless ingredients that can actually kill your dogs! I start to sound like a crank so try to keep my research to myself and just tell people who ask me. This is why I posted the link to the site above where I get my dog food from, delivered to my door with a good discount for multiple orders (yes ok I have 10 dogs so my order attracts 30% discount) but all the brands from these people come from the UK and are healthy, hypoallergenic, safe and top quality ingredients. All my dogs are rescues and arrived in pretty dire condition with some chronic conditions - they ALL recovered within weeks with good food and certain supplements. I am sorry that it's false economy buying from supermarkets here in France as most of it is utter rubbish and will not be good for your dog. Back in the UK supermarkets have a much better range of tinned dog foods - still not brilliant contents in my opinion but far superior to here! Be watchful of what you feed your dogs - economy is not always the result when vet bills kick in!

[Val_2]

I found the Z/d biscuits on various UK mail order websites but they worked out the same price or a little more expensive than ordering from my vet who gets them in within 48hrs of asking for them. A friend of mine was married to a french vet who always maintained one big petfood maker (begins with F) actually added adictive additives to entice animals to eat their products and get them hooked on it.

[audio]

[quote user="Val_2"] A friend of mine was married to a french vet who always maintained one big petfood maker (begins with F) actually added adictive additives to entice animals to eat their products and get them hooked on it.[/quote]

I find that quite alarming, if this vet suspects something I wish he would report it.

Val_2, can you narrow the list a bit? I know only 3, Friskies, Fido and Florics is it one of these?

 

I find it quite sad that some owners feed their pets on the same old rubbish day in day out without even a change of brand or taste.

 

[Merlin]

I dare not get on my soap box about this - but believe me when I tell you that the biggest names (and I DO MEAN the biggest names) put some vile things in - unbelievable minced up detritis (animal corpses) and then they coat the finished article in greasy oil to make the kibble palatable! If you use your hands to serve out the kibble, see how it all coats your skin.... Please don't challenge me on this as I know there will be many of you who think I'm talking rubbish and how can it be allowed etc etc. That's why I'm not keen to start - the information is all out there on the net, you just have to look and it names and shames. One of our rescued puppies was horribly ill when we fed her Royal Canine..... which was why I started to research what I was feeding the dogs - we nearly lost her and it was entirely due to the food! The dog food industry is BIG business and despite appearing to have a variety of different foods - most of the names are in fact under the huge umbrella of just a handful of the giant manufacturers. So, Hills is made by someone else for instance and the marketing and pricing designed to make you think it's top notch stuff. All the vets get kick backs for stocking it and only the few will actually give you the honest truth about the food if they have bothered to actually investigate it and ask the right questions. A dog's diet should be varied and understood - too many people just stick a bowl full of kibble down every day for the dog's entire life and nothing else - dogs were never made to eat kibble anyway! Before there is a hue and cry on this post, I KNOW it's not always possible to vary a pet's food and yes hundreds of dogs live health energetic lives on such a regime - but plenty don't....

[Jonzjob]

We too use Seulement Naturel and have had no problems with them. We just have 1 choky Labrador, Celé, and our stuff is post free too, so you don't have to have the quantity that Merlin has.

We get Nature Diet and Lillys Kitchen from them. We have been getting Nature Diet for a few years before we moved over and have always been pleased with it. We too look to the quality of the food we get for Celé. We get good quality for ourselves so why not for her. After all she is a big part of our family.

I have never understood anyone having a pet and scrimping and saving only to get the cheapest c r a p they can find[8-)]

We have used Zooplus and after a couple of bad incidents and the reply to my complaint was hard luck we kicked them into touch. I would not order from them again with their rotten attitude.

We have also had a courier try to deliver a box from Seulement Naturel when we were out. No reply to the bell so he chucked the box over a 2 meter wall! I phoned Seulement Naturel and they were very helpful. They replaced the damaged packets of Nature Diet and got onto the couriers to find out what the hell had happened. They don't use that courier any more.

Basically, I would recomend Seulement Naturel to anyone who wants to get good quality food for their pet/s. After all whereas children can arrive in alkward circumstances, storks for instance, a pet is in the home because the owner made a positive decision to have it there, so why not treat it as you treat yourself[:D]

[Christine Animal]

Thought for food.   [8-|]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO2FAk3QS1c

 

[Ligs]

For quality moist food, you can try NatureDiet, Natures Harvest, or Natures Menu (in tins), all good quality natural moist foods. The Arden Grange is good but more expensive.

Sorry, but I don't think that Yarrah is a good quality food, it is full of derivatives, bio derivatives true, but in my view nowhere near as good as the brands I mention above.

The Seulement Naturel sites sell all of these if you are interested..Zooplus as well I think..

www.seulementnaturel.eu (in english)

www.seulementnaturel.com (in French)

Enjoy

[audio]

Thank you for the suggestions for good quality wet foods.

Today I received a delivery of Arden Grange, yes it’s expensive but my dog means a lot to me, fortunately he liked it. [:)]

[Ligs]

Good choice and good news!

You will probably find that most dogs will really enjoy the quality moist foods with >60% fresh meat in them.

All the ones I mentioned above should fit this criteria.

[Ligs]

For a real treat and occasional feast try the Lilys Kitchen Goose and Duck ..just don't be holding a fork when you open the tin, as there is a temptation to dip in yourself...the odour is wonderful!

Lilys Kitchen (UK Brand) is the most expensive of all the moist food ranges, but also I would suspect the highest quality with bio ingredients. They also have 100% bio as well in alu trays, my guys just loved it.

You can find this at Seulement Naturel, no idea if Zooplus sell it.

Sorry I should have mentioned them before in the original list..

[audio]

Thank you Ligs, along with the Arden Grange I bought a few Bozita reindeer chunks in jelly, just for a bit of variety, do you know anything about this product?

[audio]

Couldn’t find Lily’s on Zooplus, no problem I’ll go to Seulement Naturel.

Yes it’s expensive but I will buy some for the occasional treat.

[Jonzjob]

Lily is a dog. The last time we saw one of those tins was this evening. Our Celé has it is for her diner. She has Nature Diet for her breakfast along with minced up fresh veggies. The minced veggies, raw, are also served with brekkies. She loves it all.