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Spartness

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I have been feeding my dogs for two or three years prescription Science Diet. Regular Science Diet before that. Apparently I have been trusting the Vet way too much! Seems like I am slowly killing them with Science Diet ... everything I'm hearing about it is not less than bad. Both dogs have their share of chronic problems -- liver, skin, ears, thyroid, eyes, etc. I see where the dog food is part of the problem. Unfortunately, at age 13, it may be too late for both? They are toy-size dogs -- Shih Tzu and Bichon Frise mix.

Has anyone else heard the same thing about Science Diet? It appears that Vets don't know much about nutrition like M.D.s. They seem to be good at only looking for trouble and treating or curing it ... not much for prevention.

 
I gave SD to my dogs up to 1 year. Now it's Pedigree; they seem no worse for wear and no problems. Plus they eat 2 bags a month 2 Shepherds + Rat Terrier, Dachshund and Queensland . Save about 45-50 bucks a month in food bills. $.02

GBR

 
I'm not fan of most dog foods. Read the ingredient label, its more than a bit gross. And you should definitely stay away from any where a grain is the #1 ingredient. I've gone to a small brand food that is more like real food than the garbage that most dog food is made from.

 
I'm not a not a vet, but as I understand it you want to look at the first few ingredients on the bag and specifically choose one that lists proteins at the beginning. Ingredients such as corn are just fillers. Hills claims their corn is of a higher grade and a higher nutritional value. I was once also told that vets are usually paid by Hills to push Science Diet to their clients. So don't go on your vet's suggestion alone.

That being said, Hill's is one of my company's client's clients. I've worked on some video shoots where I've seen the benefit of diet change first hand. Three families specifically we followed had older dogs (retrievers) who had issues with arthritis. After being on Hill Prescription Science Diet (AD I believe), all three dogs benefited greatly. When we went back to film the family after three months, the dogs were now able to walk up stairs, jump up on beds, take walks etc. It actually was quite amazing. Their owners were quite happy with their choice.

The sad truth may just be the life span of your dogs is nearing their end :(

 
I've always thought that kick-dogs..er..I mean "toy breeds" were more disease prone and rarely live past 12.

My sister was talking to me on the phone tonight and her Lincoln area Vet just (lost) our nephew's 3 year old cat from a "weak heart"? after minor surgery...Which got me to thinking...My 8-year old Siberian Husky hasn't been to the Vet since she was ~8 months old.

My previous Husky only ate Iams on a regular basis, but my current one only likes the cheap stuff I get from a discount food store (They mix all "open Bag"/returns and sell it about half price...She eats and poops alot more which leads me to believe it contains a lot of filler, but she's happy and a little scrawny for a Siberian.

 
Science Diet is expensive and of course the only food recommended by my Vet. After a year and a half of my Boston eating her own poop I switched to Pedigree and problem is gone if that answers your question? ;)

 
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My shepherds did the same thing. I thought that maybe the SD was so damn good they ate it twice. Kaka breath is bad :)

 
rawhide said:
My shepherds did the same thing. I thought that maybe the SD was so damn good they ate it twice. Kaka breath is bad :)
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:lol: Oh man, it was the worst thing ever cuz she would always yak it back up :ahhhhhhhh Tried everything my vet told me to do to stop that habit which was told was common to Boston's (would have been nice to know beforehand) Finally after being at wits end I just happened to need dog food and grabbed Pedigree and it has worked ever since.

 
Our vet wanted us to use some special powder on their food to make them not eat their poop. One of the vet tech's told us to just use Adolph's meat tenderizer which kinda worked. But I use Pedigree now too.

no more poop eatin' and bad breath :D

GBR

 
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