New users seeking opinions on feeding!

[animaladvocate]

Hi all! This is going to a bit of a lengthy post

I just signed up yesterday as I'm doing lots of research on dog food and being an exotic animal owner I understand researching the web is tricky-some info is good and some is junk and its often best to talk to real life people!! LOL

Anyways we are adopting our very first dog on Saturday-we being my boyfriend and I. We just purchased a house with a great yard and can finally open our home up to a dog!!!

This will be my boyfriends first dog ever. My family has always had a dog, and I've also done volunteering in shelters and trained dogs. I would consider myself very experienced with most animals.

My family's current dog is ten and two years ago she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. It's inoperable and in the part of the brain that controls balance (cerebellum)-she had radiation treatment and has been doing wonderful since. However this is our second dog who had cancer-Our dog before her one day started drooling and falling over-we took her in to find she had a four pound tumour wrapped around her heart and an eleven pound tumour in the intestines (the vet was actually surprised she'd lived as long with them as she had)-she had surgery that was unsuccessful and she had to be PTS and leave us for Rainbow Bridge.

Having had two dogs with cancer-I can't help make the leap that dog food being chock full of preservatives (which are carcinogens) has to have something to do with this-neither dog was a breed prone to cancers, (Collie cross and Husky cross) and neither was that old at the time of developing them.

I also am a little upset at what I found out about what goes into dog food-specifically rendered animals who've been euthanized. I know I've read that, but I also volunteer in a horse shelter and when we had an old mare euthanized, she went to the rendering plant and that goes you know where....I don't see how that could possibly be OK to feed to dogs!!

Soooo....ANYWAYS after my long explanation of why I'm questioning dog food-I'm looking at feeding our new dog a mixture of Horizon kibble (Which is supposed to be completely preservative free with human grade ingredients) and a whole food diet (Cooked meat, rice, vegetables).

Am I crazy? Opinions?


{If you stuck it out and read my whole post-you get pictures! }

This is my parents/family dog-Mandy-the one who has the brain tumour




And this is Petey -the dog we are adopting on Saturday

[BenMax]

Welcome to the forum.

Your Petey is absolutely gorgeous. I wish you the best.

Infact I researched the following and was getting information from The Minister of Agriculture until my questions got to close to the truth.

Fact: Animals that are picked up off the road, animals euthanized with euthanol (spelling sorry_i think), animals gassed in chambers are all sent to a plant that grinds the bodies (nothing excluded) into a powder form. This powder is then served with grain (or is a grain suppliment) then feed to livestock. Livestock consumes this and then is slaughtered and goes into either A - dog/cat food or B - human consumption.

So the question was: A. What are the reprocussions for animals and/or people to consume animals that have been euthanized with euthanol?

B. What are the reprocussions to animals that were hit on the road and not tested for rabies and then put on our plates?

Answer - SILENCE.

Mind you - this was 4 years ago. Has anything changed? Not so sure.

[Hound Dog]

Originally Posted by animaladvocate

I'm looking at feeding our new dog a mixture of Horizon kibble (Which is supposed to be completely preservative free with human grade ingredients) and a whole food diet (Cooked meat, rice, vegetables).

Am I crazy? Opinions?

No, you're not crazy, animaladvocate. In fact, you appear to have done your research very well. I have been feeding my dog Horizon Complete with added vegetables, cooked meat and fish, eggs, and dairy products, with very good results.

Petey looks like a real treasure. I hope he's settled in well!

Keep us posted.

[rainbow]

The Horizon Legacy formula (grain free) would be my choice and I would not add any rice to it at all.

[Etown_Chick]

Curious as to why you'd cook the meat. I feed it raw, so do lots of others. It's what they'd eat in the wild (if the country was rife with wild terriers..lord help us..lol). I'm not saying cooked is better or worse, just wondering.

[flipgirl4]

IMO, feeding raw and kibble at the same time is not a good thing. Kibble takes a long time to digest meaning that the raw will remain in the stomach longer and ferment and well, you can guess the results. I've nothing against raw, I feed it myself, just against feeding kibble and raw together at the same time. If you were to feed kibble at one meal and raw or cooked at another meal, that would be fine. Again, my own personal opinion derived from stuff I've read.

[TeriM]

Mandy looks like a real sweetheart and Petey looks adorable .

I think your plan is fairly good. I agree with going with a grain free kibble (Horizon Legacy, Orijen, Summit Grain-free are all excellent choices). Supplementing with things like eggs, meats, veggies etc is a great compliment to that kibble but remember to keep the total calories under control. Consider adding things like salmon oil and raw meaty recreational type bones (for teeth health) as well.

Raw feeding is wonderful for dogs and is something I do and is worth considering when you are ready. I agree with not mixing the raw and kibble unless the two meals are given at least eight hours apart.

Good luck with the new dog .