Royal Canin

[Peter Bomberg]

Ok, I know this is not a great food (value for the money) but I have a gift certificate for a bag, so can anyone tell me where in Ottawa I can find it?

Peter

[Chaser]

Pet Valu is a pretty large chain that carries this brand. Though I would recommend getting the bag and then donating it to your local shelter, where any dog food is a hughe help.

What are you planning to feed your new pup? It's best to stick with one food for a little one. If you switch around a lot then you will be dealing with a lot of gas and tummy problems!

Try to look for high protein foods free of by-products, preservatives and grain fillers.

I would personally recommend Orijen, Acana or Horizon Legacy. If you google them they all have store locators on their websites.

You will pay more for these premium foods, but need to feed MUCH less due to the quality ingredients and you will pay less in future vet bills for your happy and healthy dog! Grocery store dog foods are like bags of cancer and allergic reactions just waiting to happen.

Check out our food forum for more info!

[JJO]

I was under the impression Royal Canin
was a premium dog food recommendable
for most dog breeds. Retail price seems to
suggest as much

I've had our vet & some breeders/trainers try to sell us on it
Hmmm...

[Chaser]

Google the ingredients of Royal Canin...you'll find you're paying A LOT of money for corn, rice, wheat gluten and chicken bits of unknown and questionable origin....

Then google Orijen....the cost makes sense when you're paying for human grade chicken, turkey and ocean fish.

Check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com - it changed my life (and my dogs')!!!!

[JJO]

^ ^ ^
Wow...2 star dry food vs. 6 star premium
I wonder how much a bag of Orijen would
cost in Toronto ?

We just make do w/ IAMS (lamb & rice) & augment w/
people food (g.beef, chicken breast, tuna/salmon, eggs, etc.)
Our GSD loves it all !

[MyBirdIsEvil]

You can't really go by price to determine food quality. A lot of the time you're being charged more just for the name. Science Diet is extremely expensive and it's consistently rated low as far as quality goes.

[Masha]

Originally Posted by JJO

Our GSD loves it all !

Dogs love the poor quality brands because they add chemicals and 'flavouring' so thats dogs/cats smell and taste something yummy... even though what they are eating is very poor quality with very few nutrients...

like candy for people...tastes good... but very bad for us... you cannot judge the quality of food based only on whether your pet likes it.. like with kids... we wont feed them what they like but what is good for them... so the same should be with dogs.... please check out the dogfoodanalysis site provided above, it has SOO much great info...

[Jeff Ovington]

Wow this is good to know.
I was told by a couple of vets to give my 2 month old kittens
Royal Canin BabyCat 34 for the first year of their existence before
switching them to Origen.Just because it is easy for kittens to digest
during this growth stage and helps with the weaning.
I just got these kittens last week.
I gonna definately look into this further.
At least there is a full 100% replacement or refund guarantee if Royal Canin
doesn't meet my satisfaction.
You can bet I will take that offer up if this is the case
Thanks for the insite.

[Kalou]

I was thinking of switching to Origen or Acana. Do people here like this food??

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by Jeff Ovington

I was told by a couple of vets to give my 2 month old kittens

Vets really aren't the best source of nutritional info for cats. Not only is the training they receive on the subject very minimal and biased (classes are taught by pet food company reps from Hill's/Royal Canin/Purina), but because they're selling the same products they recommend, there is also a conflict of interest.

Originally Posted by Jeff Ovington

Royal Canin BabyCat 34 for the first year of their existence before
switching them to Origen.Just because it is easy for kittens to digest
during this growth stage and helps with the weaning.

The poor ingredients (like powdered cellulose and dried beet pulp, not to mention all the rice and corn) in Royal Canin are not "easier to digest". A much better idea would be to feed a quality wet food like Wellness, Nature's Variety, Innova, or By Nature. Cats, and especially kittens should not be eating kibble, which does not contain enough meat or water, but does contain a considerable excess of plant matter. Cats are carnivores, after all. For some excellent info on what they should and shouldn't be eating, check out this site: www.catinfo.org

[cassiek]

Orijen may appear expensive compared to a brand like Iams, but you have to look past the inital price point. While Iams may be "cheaper", you will likely feed comparably less with a higher quality food such as Orijen (because more is digested by the dog), thus you won't spend any more on food since you are feeding less. Not to mention, how much healtheir your pup will be (to me that's priceless).

Kalou, alot of members on here use Orijen and/or Acana and really like it check it out on dogfoodanalysis.com to see why. I have fed both, currently my dogs are on Orijen 6 Fish, but will rotate with the Regional Red. Acana is slightly lower in protein, but it a little bit cheaper. If you are going to feed Acana I would recommend going with their no-grain kibbles.

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by cassiek

Kalou, alot of members on here use Orijen and/or Acana and really like it check it out on dogfoodanalysis.com to see why. I have fed both, currently my dogs are on Orijen 6 Fish, but will rotate with the Regional Red. Acana is slightly lower in protein, but it a little bit cheaper. If you are going to feed Acana I would recommend going with their no-grain kibbles.

Cassiek, I think Kalou is talking about feeding cats, not dogs (based on his/her other posts). Although Champion Pet Foods is a good company, I wouldn't feed a cat only kibble and they don't make a canned food.

[cassiek]

That's too bad they don't make canned. I wonder if its a possibility in the future? I would also like to see them make some canned dog food... I like to give my dogs a can of dog food once a week, and all premium canned dog food is very expensive around here.

Is Orijen kibble for cats good? The person could feed their kibble and supplement with a top brand of canned, no?

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by cassiek

Is Orijen kibble for cats good? The person could feed their kibble and supplement with a top brand of canned, no?

Personally (and there are an increasing number of vets that share this view), I don't think ANY kibble is good for cats. I totally understand that there are situations where it's not possible to feed only wet food (although a homemade raw diet is often cheaper than kibble), in which case I hope that at least 50% is canned, even if it has to be something like Friskies. If I had to choose a dry food, to be honest, it wouldn't be Orijen. Especially not their fish formula - cats should not be eating fish as a mainstay of their diet. But even their regular formula is too complex (way too many protein sources), and too high in carbohydrates.

[cassiek]

Very interesting. Is the move towards canned simply because it is digested better than the kibble? Are the nutrients more readily available in canned food?

I can see how a raw diet would really benefit our feline friends. I know in my 3 dogs, it has done absolute wonders and I am kicking myself for not switching to raw sooner It makes sense that a cat, who is a strict carnivore, would really benefit from a raw diet over kibble and/or canned.

See... it's best that you stick to the cats, SCM, and not me... if I had cats I would be clueless LOL. Guess my degree should have been in both cat and dog nutrition!