Iams or Eukanuba?

[CrazyDiego]

Iams or Eukanuba.... is their really a difference between the two. My vet's office seems to really push Eukanuba on customers.. ... Just wondering what you all thought...thanks

[Denaluvscorgis]

To be honest with you, I wouldn't feed either to my animals. I feed my dogs a brand called "Exclusive". I've heard on here that alot of the people feed organic food to their dogs.

[Gustav]

I wouldn't feed either!! I think some vets practices must have a commision deal with the food companies (please correct me if i'm wrong!!), and of course owners thinking that their vet must be selling it because it's in your pets best interest! There are loads of pages of food info here (in the food section), it's been a real eye opener to me!!

[CrazyDiego]

WOW I had NO idea that they were bad foods! My parents have fed Pedigree to their dogs there whole lives!! I guess I will do resurch... man... I guess I am out of the loop.. good thing I came here!! :):):) Thank you!

[Mordy]

I think some vets practices must have a commision deal with the food companies (please correct me if i'm wrong!!), and of course owners thinking that their vet must be selling it because it's in your pets best interest!

yup, exactly. according to an article int he wall street journal some time ago, pets selling science diet for example pocket profits of up to 40% of the amount they sell a bag for.

in addition to that, most of the research and education on pet nutrition is sponsored and provided by the pet food industry giants, which of course will not allow any results being published that show their products in an unfavorable light.

as an example, have a look at the entry page (http://207.42.85.203/nutritioncurriculum/Opening/MAIN.htm) for the "veterinary nutrition program" part of the american college of veterinary nutrition (http://www.acvn.org/) to see who is a major sponsor.

other major names in the field are hill's (science diet/prescription diet), waltham (now owned by mars) and iams/eukanuba.

if you are interested in this topic, read tom lonsdale's book "raw meaty bones promote health" - even if you are not interested in raw feeding. this book documents the links between the pet food industry and veterinarians and their various associations. it's a true eye opener that goes even deeper into the matter than ann martin's book "food pets die for", since lonsdale is a veterinarian himself.

[shredhead (DOG LOVER)]

Vets normally dont know anything about pet nutrition unless they take extra courses on it. They have to not know anything, they reccomend Science DIE! Iams also does inhumane tests on animals.

[puppydogheaven]

inhumane tests.........eeeeehhhhggg. I fed one of my dogs iams for a while and she started havin problems and the stopped eating alltogeather so we went to the pet store and asked for advice. It seemed like the pet store employee new more about dog nutrition the our vet did. we feed our dogs a food called show coat. its really expinsive though. geez. she said to stay away from foods with corn and bi- products as the first ingrediants.

[Emilyette]

I work in a pet food store and I've also lived on a farm where we sent animals to the pet food plant. For 8 years I made my own food because I woulnd't feed them that stuff. I know what's in it. Since working at the pet food store I now know there are decent foods on the market. I've researched almost every food I've heard about. If you want to know about the foods go to Animal Protection Institute or Peta. There are now lots of good foods. One man I recently met told me that if it wasn't advertised on tv it was probably a good food!

[CreatureTeacher]

Here's a great article to scare you out of ever feeding a commercially prepared food again: http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm

[Emilyette]

Hey! that's the animal protection institute! ;)

[CreatureTeacher]

Yup! :D Are you affiliated?

[Khristine]

someone had posted this on another thread..


http://www.iamscruelty.com/

[hanslynch]

Wow!! Eukanuba or IAMs. That is like asking should I feed my kids McDonalds or Burger King everday. They are both pretty bad and are made for with a lot of potential allergens and by products. Corn is often used as a filler in dog food and is a leading allergen in dogs.

Has anyone here heard of the Whole Dog Journal? They rank commercially available dog food in one of five ranks, one being the best and five being the worst. If I remember correctly IAMS was a level five and Eukanuba was a four. It has been a long time but that is close.

By the way does anyone have a copy of the whole dog journal food level article?

Thanks,

Hans
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[StealthDog]

Corn is often used as a filler in dog food and is a leading allergen in dogs.

This is not true- studies of corn digestiblity vary from ~54% to as high as 97%. In a study of (forgive me if I get the number wrong, I'll double check when I get home) 200 dogs with food allergies, 3 were allergic to corn and 3 to rice. The most common food allergy in dogs and cats is beef.

[hanslynch]

Interesting about the corn. Is there a good resource I could go to to get smarter on this topic?

Thanks,

Hans
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[Brattina88]

When I saw CreatureTeacher I got excited... :o
Then I realized how old this thread is... :p LOL

[StealthDog]

Dog Food Project website has a bit about corn....

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=myths

Under "A dog's digestive system is not able to fully digest and utilize grains". The allergy information is in "Small Animal Clinical Nutrition", which you can find on Amazon. It's a monster of a book, but really informative.

[MafiaPrincess]

If Cider eats corn it comes out pretty much yellow and whole. Doesn't look like it's more than 50% digestible.

[Herschel]

I believe the corn digestibility depends on the part of the corn and the way that it is processed.

[Bobsk8]

Iams or Eukanuba.... is their really a difference between the two. My vet's office seems to really push Eukanuba on customers.. ... Just wondering what you all thought...thanks

They are both NG..

[StealthDog]

If Cider eats corn it comes out pretty much yellow and whole. Doesn't look like it's more than 50% digestible.

I imagine you'd see the same thing if you fed her raw rice. Raw, unprocessed grains are not very digestible, but the grains in dog food are processed and cooked.

[hanslynch]

Everything I have read in this post positive about corn is counter to what I have heard and seen up until now. I am not sure why that is. Once we switched both dogs to the Pinnacle their coats got quite a bit shinier and Kona's eyes stopped discharging the yellow gunk. She still has a little discharge but it is one tenth of what she used to have. We were feeding her Nutro which seemed pretty good but something was causing her to react.

Thanks,

Hans
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[Herschel]

Everything I have read in this post positive about corn is counter to what I have heard and seen up until now. I am not sure why that is. Once we switched both dogs to the Pinnacle their coats got quite a bit shinier and Kona's eyes stopped discharging the yellow gunk. She still has a little discharge but it is one tenth of what she used to have. We were feeding her Nutro which seemed pretty good but something was causing her to react.

Thanks,

Hans
www.lucysdoghouse.net

We're not advocating foods like Iams, Eukanuba, or Nutro. There is a fairly general consensus on this forum that they are poor foods.

However, companies like Eagle Pack make great canine formulas and they do include corn in some of their foods. This is based on years of research that they have conducted.

Yes, corn can be very allergenic.
Yes, corn can be used a filler.

But corn can also have nutritional value! http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/SP_Grains.html#Corn