13 Recommendations of Best to Worst Dog Food Diets

Vikinggirl

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A subject readers here at HealthyPets and clients at my animal clinic are very interested in is the kind of food they should be feeding their dog or cat for good health.




There are 13 categories on my list, and what you're feeding will fall into one of them.


Now, if the diet you're serving your dog or cat happens to fall into one of the lower quality categories, I don't want you to beat yourself up about it.


As a general rule, people who are feeding their pets a lesser quality diet are doing so either because they can't afford a better food – or they simply don't know what constitutes good nutrition for their pet.


If you discover your furry buddy is eating from the lower half of the list, set a goal to feed a better quality food now that you know the difference, or when you can afford a more nutritious brand.


Again, everyone's pet food of choice can be found in one of these categories. I encourage you to figure out where the diet you're serving right now falls in the list, and then strive for improvement by feeding more nourishing, species-appropriate food.


Food Can Either Heal or Harm


As a proactive veterinarian interested in sustaining the natural good health of my pet patients, I always encourage pet owners to evaluate their animal's diet, because food is the foundation upon which good or ill health is built.


It's important to understand that food has the ability to heal or harm your pet, depending on the type and quality of nutrition you provide.


The first factor you should evaluate is the species-appropriateness of what your dog or cat is eating.


A species-appropriate diet contains lots of good quality protein as well as moisture. The protein is necessary because both dogs and cats are carnivores.


High moisture content is required in order to prevent organ dysfunction, including kidney failure. Dogs and cats are designed to eat food that is about 70 percent moisture, which is what a diet of mice and rabbits would provide if your pet hunted his own food.


If you feed your pet dry food only, he's getting only about 12 percent moisture instead of the 70 percent his body demands. This is especially unhealthy for cats, because they don't supplement their moisture intake by drinking large amounts of water like dogs do.


Pets on dry food diets (kibble or pelleted) live in a state of chronic, mild dehydration that over time can cause significant stress to their organs.


Species-appropriate nutrition does not contain much starch, also known as grains or carbohydrates. Corn, wheat, rice and soy are found in most commercial processed pet foods, but your dog or cat has no biological need for them.


I recommend you follow the laws of nature when it comes to your pet's diet, which is to feed everything his body needs and eliminate ingredients that provide no nourishment.


In addition to the species-appropriateness of your pet's diet, it also needs to be balanced. By balanced I mean food that contains all the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients your dog or cat needs.


This isn't something you can guess at – it should be guaranteed through testing.


Nutritional balance is vitally important because deficiencies will develop much faster in your dog or cat than they will in you. A poorly nourished puppy or kitten can end up with obvious signs of skeletal problems and organ degeneration before she's six months old.


An older animal can develop life-threatening organ degeneration, among many other not-so-obvious symptoms, over a one to three year period of eating an unbalanced, nutrient-deficient diet.


The List of Best-to-Worst Foods


A balanced, raw, homemade diet is the best food you can feed your dog or cat. It will be nutritionally balanced because you're following recipes like those found in the cookbook I co-authored, Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats.
Raw means the food is unadulterated and still contains all the enzymes and nutrients that are typically destroyed during cooking or other types of processing.


Homemade is the best option because you are in complete control of the quality of ingredients in your pet's diet.


I recommend pets get plenty of nutritional variety, and another great thing about serving homemade is you can buy seasonal fruits and veggies on sale, as well as protein sources (meats), and use them in rotation.


The next best thing you can feed your pet is a commercially available raw diet. This is a raw food diet that someone else has done the heavy lifting to prepare.


It's important that the diet is balanced, and you should be aware that there are raw food pet diets entering the market that are not yet proven to be nutritionally complete. These foods often say "For supplementation or intermittent feeding" on the label.


You'll know if the raw food you've selected is balanced because it will say it right on the packaging: "This food has been proven to be nutritionally complete or adequate for all life stages."


At the present time, these diets are found only in the freezer section of small/privately owned or upscale pet boutiques – not in the big box pet stores. You can also find a selection online.


Cooked, balanced homemade diet. It's the same diet found in number 1, above, except that it's cooked. This means some of the nutrient composition has been diminished through processing.


Human-grade canned food. If the label doesn't say the ingredients are human grade, they're not. Pet food made with human-grade ingredients is also a great deal more expensive, so that's another way to tell what you're getting.


This type of diet is the most expensive you can feed your pet. What I tell my clients is, "If you have more money than time, you can purchase human-grade canned food for your dog or cat. But if you have more time than money, I recommend you make a balanced, homemade diet right in your own kitchen for a fraction of the cost."


Human-grade dry food. As I discussed earlier, dry food is not as species-appropriate as a moisture-dense diet. Human grade is very important because the food is approved, in theory, for human consumption, which means it doesn't contain low quality rendered by-products.


Super premium canned food which can be found at big box pet supply stores like Petco and PetSmart.
Super premium dry food.


Veterinary-recommended canned food. Vet recommended canned foods are purchased at your vet's office or clinic. Typical brands are Science Diet, the Purina veterinary lines, Royal Canin and Waltham.


Veterinary-recommended dry food.


Grocery store brand canned food.


Grocery store brand dry food.


Semi-moist pouched food.


The reason this type of pet food is so far down the list is because in order for the food to remain "semi-moist," an ingredient called propylene glycol is added. This is a scary preservative that is a second cousin to ethylene glycol, which is antifreeze. And while propylene glycol is approved for use in pet foods, it is unhealthy for dogs and cats. I do not recommend feeding any food that contains this additive.


Dead last on the list and the worst thing you can feed your pet is an unbalanced, homemade diet – raw or cooked. I'm seeing an increasing number of misguided pet owners in my practice who think they're doing the right thing by serving their pet, say, a chicken breast and some veggies and calling it a day.
Yes, the food is homemade, but it's nutritionally unbalanced. Pets being fed this way are showing up at my clinic with endocrine abnormalities, skeletal issues and organ degeneration as a result of deficiencies in calcium, trace minerals and omega fatty acids.


From Worst to Best in a Heartbeat


For those of you who now know you're feeding your pet an unbalanced, homemade diet, there's an extremely quick and easy way to soar to the top of the list.


All you need to do is add ingredients to balance out the nutrition in the diet you're already serving your dog or cat. This is a fast, simple fix you can apply to turn an unbalanced homemade diet into a balanced one.


So there you have it – the entire list of my recommendations for best-to-worst pet diets.


If you've discovered your pet's food is on the lower half of the list, set a goal to work your way up the list.


If you're already at the top end of the list, congratulations! You're doing the best thing possible by providing species-appropriate nutrition for the animals in your care
 

angela

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Thank you for that list. I feed winny "bold and Raw" rabbit. She loves it and no more allergies or infections, so you are right about quality of food. If you have read this maybe you can help me. I just moved to toronto region, richmond hill to be exact, and im looking for a real good bully vet. , can you help with any recommendations? Thank you
 
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Vikinggirl

Vikinggirl

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Hi Angela, I'm not familiar with your area, or Toronto. I just moved to Burlington, but have lived most of my life in Mississauga. We go to the Heartland vet clinic in Streetsville, and are very happy with the clinic and the staff there. I do remember reading somewhere about a vet clinic in Highpark area that was food, but can't remember the name. I'll try to find it and get back to you.

Hi Angela it's actually in the Beaches, I don't know if this is close to you, here is the address

Beaches Animal Hospital
Home
Doctor(s) Name:
Dr. Mark Dillworth
Location


2304 Queen St east
Toronto, ON M4E 1G8
Canada
Phone: 416-690-4040
43° 40' 24.7404" N, 79° 17' 1.8492" W
See map: Google Maps
 

dolphin

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This is really really well done. Thank you Monica.
 

Sharon Mitchel

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Thanks for the informative article. Makes good sense. I still can't get excited about raw and don't have the time to cook for Charley. I guess I'm concerned that he'll get sick from food borne illness with raw. Have you experienced this at all? Also, what is the approximate monthly cost to feed a bully raw? A few neighbors feed their dogs raw, one cooks the other uses natural instinct (I think).


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nycbullymama

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If you're going to feed raw, it's probably cheaper buying the ingredients and having your butcher grind them up. If I had the room (large freezer), that's what I would try.

Since I don't have the room in a 1 bedroom apartment, I started feeding Stella and Chewy's Raw patties a week ago today. I'm paying 27.46 per bag and initially I thought I needed 11 bags per month, but turns out I need 14 bags for a 60lb bullie.
It comes out to about 385 a month -20% discount so $310.
 

aprilemari

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Thank you for that list. I feed winny "bold and Raw" rabbit. She loves it and no more allergies or infections, so you are right about quality of food. If you have read this maybe you can help me. I just moved to toronto region, richmond hill to be exact, and im looking for a real good bully vet. , can you help with any recommendations? Thank you
Hi Angela, I'm in Toronto as well, more downtown though. Also moved here from the states, PA, we've been here for about 6 years. The two VECs in the area are fantastic. One up north is at Yonge and Sheppard, the other one is in my neighborhood at Yonge and Davenport. The vet clinic we use is The Animal Clinic on Mutual street. Our vet is Matthew Richardson. He's great. great diagnoses, great communication, great availability. We were referred to several vets/surgeons at the VEC. So the VEC, while expensive, has the highest quality care available in the city. He knows when to refer and when the Animal Clinic can handle the issue.

If you have a car, and would like to join us for a bully meetup, there is one next Sunday Mar 9 in Mississauga. It's indoor and free :)
April
ah, i see we've already discussed these vets in another thread sorry!
 

tekstrand24

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I use Darwin's Natural Selections food. It is a human grade and organic raw diet. Each month a month's supply is shipped to my front door. I would definitely recommend them. For Winston is comes out to about $250 a month but I feel it is totally worth it for the nutrition he is getting. Here is the link if you want to check them out: http://www.darwinspet.com/ would love to hear your opinion.
 

brutus77

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Well I was feeding Brutus and Frankie Merrick grain free line, but Brutus has developed severe allergies and now I have to feed him Royal Canin Hypoallergenic and hydrolyzed prescription dry food. I know it is not the best food and low on your list BUT it is the only thing at this point that Brutus is thriving on. He vomits profusely on anything else so I really can't be and do not feel guilty feeding him a food that is lower on your list. Sometimes we don't have a choice what we can feed our babies. Frankie is still on the Merrick.
 

tekstrand24

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Thanks for the informative article. Makes good sense. I still can't get excited about raw and don't have the time to cook for Charley. I guess I'm concerned that he'll get sick from food borne illness with raw. Have you experienced this at all? Also, what is the approximate monthly cost to feed a bully raw? A few neighbors feed their dogs raw, one cooks the other uses natural instinct (I think).


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If you get high quality raw food there is such a low chance of getting a food borne illness and I truly believe that the benefits outweigh the risks.
 

brutus77

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This is a good discussion. I'm not really sure why I feel offended. Probably because I have to give Brutus a crappy food, but I really don't have any choice.
 

Sharon Mitchel

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[MENTION=9370]brutus77[/MENTION] , the royal Canin hydrolyzed protein food fills a very special medical need. It's a solution which I'm sure isn't cheap. And, Brutus is thriving! Sounds to me like you care for your pets and are doing what is necessary for them to thrive. Hat's off to you!

For us, raw just isn't viable option due to recession and retirement. We're doing the best we can to provide Charley a great life. We may end up with Royal Canin too based on what the vet told us last month. It is what it is.


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Vikinggirl

Vikinggirl

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Hi, Rosalie, I totally agree with you and Sharon, although we all strive to feed the best foods and treats, and give our babies a great life, we sometimes don't have a choice due to things beyond our control. Sometimes what works for the majority of our pets, doesn't always work for others, due to allergies, sensitivities, likes, dislikes, and sometimes it's our budgets, not everyone can buy the most expensive, and that's okay. We find the best quality that we can provide, and also what works best for our Individual bully needs. Rosalie you shouldn't feel offended, and I hope you don't. You give Brutus a loving home and you provide him the best food that he tolerates, and that works for you and his needs, which is all any of us can do. You're a great bully Mommy.
 

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