Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Introduce yourself here - Say hello

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old July 21st, 2008, 02:11 PM
solo-nicolas's Avatar
solo-nicolas solo-nicolas is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 39
Canadian Newbie!

Hello everyone, my wife and I are happy to join this community! Initially I started out by looking for dog food information, and then decided this site would prove to be a great resource for our family!

Does anyone have food recommendations for a 15 month old lab (Solo) and a 2 year old cat (Nicolas). Currently they're both eating the Medi-cal brand, but I've become frustrated and weary because this brand is only available through vets. Originally my wife worked at an animal hospital and it came highly recommended by her vet colleagues (No offense to vets out there but, Surprise, surprise!). Now we would like to learn more about other choices and possibly find a better food that's not exclusive to vets. Unfortunately dogfoodanalysys.com is offline too. Does anyone know much about the food called Urban Wolf?

Any opinions are very appreciated!

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old July 21st, 2008, 02:32 PM
katherine93 katherine93 is offline
banned user
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: NFLD
Posts: 436
First of all , YOur Fuzzbutts are ADORABLE! Second, Welcome to pets.ca you will Cyber meat alot of AMAZING people here. 3rd, sorry i cannot be of any help to you, but there alot of others on here that are experts on food. May i suggest posting in the dog and cat food forum.


Your Lab looks just like mine!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old July 21st, 2008, 02:50 PM
Chaser's Avatar
Chaser Chaser is offline
Now I'm Mrs. Chaser!
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Hamilton, ON
Posts: 2,407
Welcome to the board! What cute fuzzbutts

I would also recommend posting in the food forum...you'll get more notice in there. I think getting away from Medi-cal is a good idea...and also be weary of any food recommended by a vet. Their nutritional training is pretty much comprised of seminars run by dog food companies (not to say there aren't some who do their own research!) I think you will find much higher-quality food in small specialty pet stores (the large chains typically don't carry great food...Pet Valu has some good ones if you have one of those near you though).

Sorry, I'm not famailiar with Urban Wolf...some good brands I know of are Orijen, Wellness, Solid Gold, Nature's Variety, Go Natural & Horizon. As for cats, I don't have any, so can't really help you! There are tonnes of members with great kitty nutrition advice on here though....just post in the food forum with a title that shows you're looking for cat food help as well.

Until dogfoodanalysis comes back up another site you could check out is:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
__________________
Chase (Friendly Resident Wigglebum) - Border Collie/Lab/Shepherd X
Kailey (Misunderstood Gentle Beauty) - GSD & foster failure #1
Rupert (Gold-Medal Winner of the 3 a.m. Kitty Destruction Olympics )

Heidi - RIP my sweet baby girl
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old July 21st, 2008, 02:50 PM
14+kitties's Avatar
14+kitties 14+kitties is offline
150% PRO S/N
Starcastle Champion, V:force Champion, UFO Shoot Out Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, Mission To Mars Champion, Disc Dash Champion, Crazy Closet Champion, Railway Line Champion, Penguin Pass Champion
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: MYOB
Posts: 15,408
Welcome solo-nicolas. Love the pic! You will get lots of good info from dog/cat owners on this forum.
An important thing to remember is that dogs can not digest corn. Check the ingredients in his food. I bet you will find corn is one of the first which means there is a lot of corn in the food. Brewers rice is another thing to avoid. It is exactly what it sounds like - left over from brewing alcohol.
And fresh water - always.
For cats you need a good quality food with meat as the first ingredients. Not by products! That is just stuff left over from animals that can't be used for other things. Like beaks, hooves, crap....picked up off of floors so further contaminated. Wellness, Evo, Eagle Pack, just a few names of good food for kitties.

These are a few articles on dog food. Hope they help.

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/dogfoods.html

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

http://www.dogaware.com/
__________________
Assumptions do nothing but make an ass out of u and me.

We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old July 21st, 2008, 03:40 PM
solo-nicolas's Avatar
solo-nicolas solo-nicolas is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 39
Thank you!

Thank you very much for the warm welcome and helpful advice folks!

My wife and I will have plenty to talk about at dinner tonight. From what I've read so far on this subject my instincts were right not to completely trust the Medi-cal brand, nor the vets who highly recommend it!

One problem I foresee is with my cat, he's a very fussy eater and really like's the Medi-cal stuff.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old July 21st, 2008, 03:45 PM
aslan aslan is offline
-
Asteroids Champion, Starship Legend Champion, Rabbit Hunter Champion, Magic Ball Champion, Candy Tetris Champion, Bounce Back Champion, Breakout Champion
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: toronto, on
Posts: 15,600
Welcome solo-nicolas yup medi-cal isn't one of the best foods going. Wellness, innova, and evo are all good foods. i know innova and wellness make both cat and dog foods. And since no one else has said it, we need more fuzzbutt pictures.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old July 21st, 2008, 05:06 PM
solo-nicolas's Avatar
solo-nicolas solo-nicolas is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 39
More pics of "The kids" Thanks again!
Attached Images
   
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old July 21st, 2008, 05:11 PM
sugarcatmom's Avatar
sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 5,357
Quote:
Originally Posted by solo-nicolas View Post
One problem I foresee is with my cat, he's a very fussy eater and really like's the Medi-cal stuff.
Well hello, and welcome to pets.ca (love the photos - soooooo cute!).

What is the particular variety of Medi-cal that your cat is eating? Dry or wet? If it's dry, has he ever had canned before?

This is a really good, readable link on feline nutrition that you might want to check out before buying a new food: http://www.catinfo.org/
And this section has some good tips on transitioning cats to wet food (which, after you read the first link, you'll find is highly preferable to dry): http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitionin...o_Canned_Food_
__________________
"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb

“We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old July 21st, 2008, 05:17 PM
Chaser's Avatar
Chaser Chaser is offline
Now I'm Mrs. Chaser!
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Hamilton, ON
Posts: 2,407
Oh my...that pic of the sun shining in on Solo is just gorgeous!
__________________
Chase (Friendly Resident Wigglebum) - Border Collie/Lab/Shepherd X
Kailey (Misunderstood Gentle Beauty) - GSD & foster failure #1
Rupert (Gold-Medal Winner of the 3 a.m. Kitty Destruction Olympics )

Heidi - RIP my sweet baby girl
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:46 PM.