changing dog food brands from Science diet

I've noticed that Casey has not been very interested in his food lately, he'll wait until he's REALLY hungry at the end of the day to eat it, which isn't normal. So then I was reading some of the posts here and noticed that many of you don't think Science diet is a good brand anyway! I always thought it was a fairly reputable brand, our vet's office carries it and so I just assumed that it was fine. It certainly costs enough for a garbage dog food! I read that Innova was a good brand, but I've never heard of it (I live in a small town), and I was wondering if there was any other brand that is similar. I have also read in a couple places (I can't remember if it was on here or not) that Chicken soup for the Pet Lovers Soul (or is it Dog Lover's?) is good, but I would like to hear from you guys and see what you think. Thanks for your help!

ingredient wise, foods made by natura pet products are absolutely top notch. natura is the one single manufacturer that has managed to eliminate more of the negative aspects of commercial food than any other company.

chicken soup isn't a bad food, but it doesn't quite measure up to the standards of a good number of truly high-end products. but it's certainly a step up from science fiction.

Thanks, I wish I had known how bad Science diet was before. We've been feeding it to him for about 3 years now. I'm going to look around and see if I can find that Innova, after looking at the ingredients of a lot of different foods it certainly seems like the best! I hope I can, do you know if it's available in Canada?

Casey, if you'll go to www.naturapet.com you'll find a locator that will help you find where you can buy their products. I don't know if they will ship to individuals or not, but they're good about answering e-mails.

If you can't get those products, check Mordy's site. I think she's got some alternatives posted that do ship or might be available in your area.

I was on the natura pet website, and they do sell their products in Canada, but not in the city I live in (small town downfall I guess). So then I went to the pet store (Pet Valu) and they carry other brands of holistic natural foods, the one that I remember was Nutro, but I don't think that's the best kind. So I'll have a look on Mordy's site and see if I can find something around here. There were lots of different kinds there, maybe I'll go in one day without my daughter so I can read the labels a bit better without chasing her through the aisles. Thanks for your help!

No, you don't want Nutro! Lots of nice packaging, premium price, very little content.

Mordy's a great help! Another site, www.greatdanelady.com, has quite a bit of good advice about nutrition as well. There is an article that lists Linda Arndt's "top choices" for dog kibble as well. Linda and Mordy have some differing opinions on some things, primarily supplementation, I believe, but both are excellent sources of information and have come to a great deal of common ground on the subject by different routes.

Well I've decided to make the change over to Eagle Brand, that seems to be the best one I can find here. I've started with adding some canned to his food this morning and he ate it as fast as he could! He's never had canned before. There was a new brand there, called Merricks (not sure of the spelling), which sounded good also but I haven't really heard anything about that kind yet. It was supposed to be holistic/natural as well. I feel good about this decision, after reading the ingredients compared to what he was getting before. I kind of feel guilty for having fed him such crap for so long. Oh well the rest of his life will be better and healthier.

something about science diet that dogs like. My dog and my bf's dog also enjoys science diet. If we feed them something else, like innova or canidine they won't really eat it. I wonder what they put in there that attracts dog to eat.

I am just gonna jump in here because I have a question and don't want to start a whole new thread. Just out of curiosity is chicken soup for the pet lovers soul really all that bad? I looked at the ingredients and the first four are meats...chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal...this seems like a good start on a good food and the remaining ingredients are very similar to Innova's just in different volumns. I also notice there is no beet pulp added which has to be a good sign since it is useless anyways.
There is a huge difference in the price between Innova (only one groomer in my city carries it so they get to set the price) and the chicken soup which I can find five different carries for. I don't want to necessarily "settle" on a food but the price of Innova would kill me even if I had to feed less of it.

yeah Innova is pretty expensive. I think Ultra Nutro is better than Chicken soup for pet lovers. I think it is almost the same price. The only food that I think that is some how healthy and affordable would be Canidae, natural balance, and ultra nutro. But i have to say Innova is really good. I tried alot of brands and Innova I can actual tell. Toki's hair used to be very cottony and after he got some Innova his hair got thicker and shinner. Ultra Nutro makes his hair dull and dry. Natural Balance also makes the hair dry but much more healthier than ultra nutro.

I don't know, here are the comparisons and to me it looks like chicken soup is the best one for the price range. I used Nutro before and we did well off of it but we could do better!

This is the ingredient list for the Nutro Ultra~
1. Chicken Meal

2. Whole Brown Rice

3. Ground Rice

4. Lamb Meal

5. Rice Bran

6, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols; a source of Vitamin E),

7. Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols; a source of Vitamin E),

8. Salmon Meal

9. Flaxseed

10. Natural Flavors

11. Oatmeal

12. Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal

13. Dried Beet Pulp

14. Tomato Pomace

15. Cranberry Powder

16. Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols; a source of Vitamin E),

17. Potassium Chloride

18. Dried Egg Product

19. L-Lysine

20. Dried Kelp Meal

21. Vitamin E Supplement

22. Zinc Sulfate

23. Choline Chloride

24. Taurine

25. Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Extract

26. Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Extract

27. Zinc Proteinate

28. Ferrous Sulfate

29. Biotin

30. L-Carnitine, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C)

31. Manganese Proteinate

32. Manganous Oxide

33. Niacin

34. Garlic

35. Calcium Iodate

36. Calcium Pantothenate

37. Vitamin B12 Supplement

38. Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2)

39. Vitamin A Supplement

40. Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Beta-Carotene, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid.

Now here is Canidae® All Life Stages Formula™

Ingredient Name

1. Chicken Meal


2. Turkey Meal


3. Ground Brown Rice


4. Ground White Rice


5. Lamb Meal


6. Chicken Fat


7. Herring Meal


8. Flaxseed


9. Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal


10. Sunflower Oil


11. Chicken


12. Lecithin


13. Rosemary Extract


14. Sage Extract


15. Yeast Culture


16. Viable Naturally Occurring Microorganisms


17. Chicory Root Extract


18. Yucca Schidigera
I have heard with this last ingredient that it can interfer with absorption of fat soluable vitamins.

Last here is the chicken soup

1. Chicken


2. Turkey


3. Chicken Meal


4. Turkey Meal


5. Ground Brown Rice


6. Ground White Rice


7. Oatmeal/Rolled Oats


8. Potatoes


9. Pearled Barley


10. Ground Millet


11. Chicken Fat


12. Duck


13. Salmon


14. Dried Egg Product


15. Flaxseed


16. Natural Chicken Flavor


17. Carrots


18. Peas


19. Apples


20. Dried Skim Milk


21. Cranberry Powder


22. Rosemary Extract


23. Salt


24. Chicory Root Extract


25. Vitamins/Minerals

Innova is a really good food. Around Christmas time we got little packages, and I've been using them as training treats. Chicken Soup is a pretty good food, I personally don't consider it bad, but Innova is better than it.

It looks like Chicken soup is better than Nutro, at least the first 2 ingredients are whole meat and then the chicken and turkey meal, whereas the Nutro and Canindae both have chicken/turkey meal as the first ingredients, and then grains, no mention of whole meats until waaayy later on the list. And Chicken Soup isn't as expensive. I just chose Eagle Pack because I couldn't find Chicken soup in can form, and I wanted to try that since he's never had it before.