Dog food recommendation

[ChinaMan]

Hi again all,

I know there are a few threads on the types of Dog food you feed your Frenchies... well, I'm in China and we don't get that big of a choice.

Brands available here are:

Hill Science Diet
Royal Canin
Pedigree
Eukanuba
Purina

I've been reading some review on the brands above and most say Pedigree is the worst, Hill causes cancer and Eukanuba is expensive supermarket quality dog food.

What do you guys think? My Lil girl is on Rayal Canin at the moment.... goes for about USD12 for 1 2.5KG bag here. She seems to like it but then she eats anything she can... appicon

[franp]

Hi Chinaman,

Recently, I did some research because my cat is diabetic and found out about Royal Canin.It is an excellent food.That would be the one I would use..

They make both canine and feline foods.Both are high quality .

As for the others; not what I would recommend.

fran

[ChinaMan]

Hi Fran,

THat's what I found out as well. Seems like Royal Canin was the most "user-friendly" one with the best ingredients out of the list...

What do you think of Hill's Science Diet? It's the most expensive one on the market. :confused:

[adora's mom]

I would have to agree with Fran. Royal Canin is the best out of those choices.

I wouldn't do just because Adora was on Science Diet when I got her and she had soft stools (EWWWW sorry to bring that up - it was gross!). I think it has a very high percentage of corn ingredients.

[ChinaMan]

That's 2 for 2 for Royal Canin... thanks for the input and would be great to hear from the rest of you. Just want to make sure I'm giving my Malibu the best ;)

[franp]

Science diet IMO = junk

fran

[frenchiesmom]

While I am new to owning frenchies, I have done really well with Eukanuba purchased from a vet on my pugs and boxers. I have used it for many years with excellent results. So there is you a different opinion

frenchiesmom

[quinnybear]

i feed rocky iams. they also make a gravy sauce (he likes the bacon flavored)that you mix with the food. he loves it ! i had a hard time breaking him off "people food" . he still begs though :lol:

[Minky]

Hi Chinaman,

I fed Vuitton and Fitch Royal Canin Puppy up until recently. I have to say they really like the food and it was the only kibble they ate. They did not care for Euk, SD or Pedigree. They did great on it. I switched them to Eagle Pack because I managed to find it online and it was one of the brands that people liked.

Just take a look at the list of ingredients. I think RC have different formulas for different countries. Royal Canin make the Natural Choice formula which everyone raves about.

I have to agree - RC is probably the best out of the list.

[gmacleod]

I've been reading some review on the brands above and most say Pedigree is the worst, Hill causes cancer and Eukanuba is expensive supermarket quality dog food.


I'd completely agree. Pedigree is a very low quality food made mostly with grains and by-products of Mars' human food and cosmetics industries. Purina (Nestle) is also at the lowest end of dog food quality. Hill's is another, and also use unidentified meat sources and by-products, and many of their formulas (especially the prescription diets) are made using the carcinogenic preservatives BHA, BHT and Ethoxyquin (it didn't get the nickname of 'cancer in a bag' for nothing LOL). Eukanuba is probably better than either of those, but still at best a mid-range food priced as a premium one ;)

I'd go with the Royal Canin :) But it's worth remembering that that company, like most other pet food manufacturers, makes different formulas of differing quality. The best one they make is their natural blend formula - that is a very good quality dog food, and substantially better than any of the other Royal Canin formulas. If it's available in China, I'd choose that one :)

[ChinaMan]

The best one they make is their natural blend formula - that is a very good quality dog food, and substantially better than any of the other Royal Canin formulas. If it's available in China, I'd choose that one :)

Thanks for the info - does it say "Natural Blend Formula" on the bag? or does it go by some other heading?

[ChinaMan]

Hi Chinaman,

I switched them to Eagle Pack because I managed to find it online and it was one of the brands that people liked.


I don't think I can get Eagle Pack here... Never seen it in the stores.. even the pet stores that cater to foreigners... is it really that good?

[gmacleod]

Thanks for the info - does it say "Natural Blend Formula" on the bag? or does it go by some other heading?

LOL - I had to look for that one. Seems it is now being marketed as "Sensible Choice". Here's the US website - no idea though whether or not that one would be available in China. Quite possible though, through the Royal Canin importer. http://www.naturalblend.com/SCHPRD.HTM

[ChinaMan]

LOL - I had to look for that one. Seems it is now being marketed as "Sensible Choice". Here's the US website - no idea though whether or not that one would be available in China. Quite possible though, through the Royal Canin importer. http://www.naturalblend.com/SCHPRD.HTM

LOL.... thanks for the research... I'll look out for it...

[quinnybear]

i switched rocky from iams to the royal canin puppy and annie's breeder fed her hills science diet (junk) so i switched her too. well rocky only ate his food when he got so hungry that he had to.and then he would wolf it down and get sick . since i changed to the royal canin, he eats it without problems and hasnt been sick since.

[Minky]

Hi ChinaMan,

Since switching from RC to Eagle Pack the only real difference is that the stools are firmer however, the boys do not seem to like EP as much as they like RC. I hope in time they will enjoy their EP because it is more expensive and I have comfort in knowing that they are eating good food as opposed to by-products and corn.

Yes, I also had problems locating "human grade" kibble - here is Australia, the brands you listed are readily available and most vets recommend those brands. After reading the posts on boxerworld I realised that those brands are not the best foods and so I tried to find the brands people on the forums recommended and only managed to find EP and Innova. Have you tried looking for distributors online? How about Hong Kong?

The other option is BARF...

[quinnybear]

i read through all the ingredients on the bag of royal canin, but there are no meat by products or corn in the bag that i have. are there different formulas? i also dont know what it cost for ep. but the royal canin here is one of the most expensive that i have seen around here. my sister about passed out when she found out what i paid for a 15 pound bag. she feeds her boxers science diet and thinks thats a real high quality dog food. i dont agree

[gmacleod]

Yes, there are many different Royal Canin formulas. Quite a few of the contain corn gluten meal, unfortunately.

Corn itself is a poor source of nutrition for dogs, and a common allergen, but corn gluten meal is worse in that it is a by-product of processing corn for other uses (ie; if there were any good bits, they're now gone). The actual definition is: the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm.