pedigree food

Thank you, Chazhound. I said I wouldn't post here again, but now that I know how the "ignore button" works, I will! Because I would like to come here to learn more (and not be lashed at). I'm interested in Flint River and what problems you had. My golden had suffered from allergies early in life, and I took him to a dermatologist who determined it was air born, not food born. But after a couple of years of daily shots and getting him on flea preventative, I weaned him off the shots and found it really due to the fleas. This was in the early '90's when flea preventative was just coming out. His skin has been great for the last 8-10 years. But he also has epilepsy -- very mild, but has been on phenobarbitol for most of his adult life. He hasn't had a seizure in about a year now. But he was just diagnosed with Lymphoma (2 days ago and my heart is broken). Taking him in for a biopsy and lung xray Tuesday to see what protocol we should follow. He still feels really good -- he's such a happy boy -- but he's a golden, you know. They mask their feelings, too. To top it off, I just had to take my yella fella (lab) to the emergency vet today because of a horrific cough. I thought he might have inhaled a part of a rawhide into his lungs or have something lodged in his throat. They xrayed him and found nothing and thinks he might have just "caught something". Gave me Etoldolac and Hydrocodone. Said it should start clearing up in a couple of days. Wonder if I should have a second opinion? Anyway, thanks for your kind words...

Hi EliNHunter,
Sorry to hear the bad news
I sure hope for a good outcome at the vet's office for your golden.

They said my Sheltie had alergies and was epilectic (sp). They had him drugged out all the time and he would go thru episodes about once a month at times. Really bad and scary stuff. Then I started asking some of the dog peeps we knew from Chazhound and they pointed us to the right places to research.

We were astonished at how he has no problems now since we stopped feeding him commerical mainline food. But this is really the first dog I have ever had this kind of experience with. Most of my 15 or so dogs in life had purina chow and then pedigree all their lives mixed with lots of treats and whatever they found in the neighborhood.

Let us know how it goes at the vet.
Chazhound

*sigh* talk about drama

I've got more than just two dogs... these just happen to be the ones that have an issue right now. So, oh hateful one, you are also officially on IGNORE...

Are you calling me hateful? Because I think you misunderstood my comment if you are.

You should stay and learn stuff. You don't have to agree with everything we say but you can read this forum for advice or opinions. We all love our dogs to death and we don't mean any harm for our dogs. As for food, feed what your dog is comfortable. You should switch food to see what gives your dog a better result. If you stick with the same food your dog may get sick of the same taste. Just like us, we can't eat the same thing everyday right? hehe
Let's all get along now and respect everyone opinion since we all think very differently.
Hey guys, I remember Pedigree used to be in alot of TV ads 4-5 years ago. I fed my miniature schnauzer Pediagree because it was always playing on TV and I thought it had to be good food. But eventually stopped because he got sick of the taste and wanted HUMAN food. That is a big NONO. I wonder if Pedigree is doing bad because I don't ever see them on TV no more.

I don't think that saje was talking about you

Sorry Saje... my bad. I hadn't put you on ignore, anyway. Just "another" person ;-)

I do have some research to do and would like to stay on the site. Once again, sorry for my misjudgement.

Serena...

What DO you feed your dogs ????

A "raw diet" of what ?? Surely you must add suppliments and some "crunch" to help their teeth. My dogs like some raw veggies but not all. Why not share.? Isn't this is what this forum is about: educated pet owners helping others ? (Or in your case, educating unfortunate dumb pet owners like most of us compared to you ) God bless those under your household >

Bubbatd, I don't do the BARF diet (completely impractical for me, my beasts, and the standard issue 24-hour day), but here are some good links:

http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/feeding_a_raw_diet_htm.htm
http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/i_want_to_feed_raw_and_do_it_right_htm.htm
http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/raw_diet_options.htm

Thanks Renee !

I have given my dogs the same brand of dog food for 40 years... I do add vegies and Omega oils depending on any problems. My vets have always said ..." if it ain't broke, don't fix it " I was just just questioning as it seems that unless we follow other's recommended diets we are feeding poison and are bad owners. My dogs always loved grapes and raisons ....glad I was clued into that no -no !!!

The problem, like I've finally got my Charley to acknowledge, is the production of food has changed significantly over the years - much of it just in the last two decades. We now inject our food supply with all sorts of hormones, chemicals and other toxins to make it grow bigger quicker cheaper. We stuff our feed animals full of unnecessary - and harmful - antibiotics. You wouldn't believe what the feed lots WANT us to do with our cattle! (We don't). What the animal food manufacturers are using is the waste from many different industries as well, not just food production. And how about the traces of the drugs used to euthanize pet species found in many commonly fed dog foods? Our animals are developing all sorts of skin problems, cancers and other chronic conditions that are not all the result of poor breeding - many more are now the result of poor feeding. And the conditions some of these "pet companies" keep their lab animals in and the treatment they receive are unconscionable.

As for things like grapes and raisins, well, it's going to depend on the quantity and the size of the dog. My Shiva ate an entire (stolen) bag of expensive, gourmet raisins I was planning on using in a dish for Charley (he still doesn't know about that little transgression and we're not telling him either! ). She's none the worse for wear. She also ate an entire bag of Oreos. Of course, I never find the remains until it's much too late to worry about it.

By the way, if you're interested, there's a thread here - it may even be sticky - with an article about what it is that's toxic in raisins and grapes.

That's so true Renee, I've seen you point it out a lot, about the way our food has changed. It's also true if you think about how OUR food has changed. I guess in a sense it's there food too. With genetically-modified ingredients, pesticides, herbicides... And the WAY we eat! Dont' get me started. There are some people that NEVER eat food that isn't processed. No wonder we're a bunch of sickies.

Thank you, Serena.

You obviously didn't see that ElinHunter was not responding to you. ???

aren't you all digressing a bit here?

Frenchfries, this thread probably doesn't make a lot of sense to you. It got out of control and quite a few posts have been deleted. If you want to bring the topic up again you could start a new thread.

We do tend to difress a lot though. A chatty bunch we can be.

Thats why i make my dogs own food then I have no question about the quality my dogs are getting.

Do you feed your dogs organic meat? Just curious - not trying to start anything. I always worry about the amount of growth hormones, pesticides... in meat. Either way I still think it's better than feeding junk dog food.