Good or bad food?

[cefe13]

Royal Canin is among the brands that are often described as not very good here on EBN, but since two weeks, Castor eats their hypoallergenic kibble. The background is an ear infection which our new vet thinks is allergy-related. It's a staph infection that probably is more general than just the ear.

Anyway, Castor got antibiotic eardrops and the vet wanted a change of food. OK, we said - the kibble he has been on (James Wellbeloved lamb and veg) will soon be discontinued here so we needed to make a change anyway. If Castor is allergic or not, and whether the problems are food-related or environmental (or something else) we don't know at this stage, but this food switch and everything I've read about Royal Canin has made me look for facts regarding the quality of Royal Canin hypoallergenic.

Now, my question is what, exactly, is bad about royal canin? Is it the ingredients? Are there any scientific studies on the quality, or is the 'verdict' based on the experience of individual dog-owners? I have not yet made proper searches for studies on this, I must admit, but wanted to start here on EBN as this is where I have got the impression that Royal Canin isn't good.

Of course I wonder whether the hypoallergenic type Castor eats also counts as 'bad' When I tell people here (several dog owners as well as the vet) that I've read Royal Canin is not considered to be a good kibble, they are surprised and ask why, and I realise I don't really know...so I turn to EBN, looking for an answer/explanation!

 

[2BullyMama]

[MENTION=2]bullmama[/MENTION]


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[bullmama]

This is a very loaded question but I feel I have some answers for you.

Since veterinarians are brainwashed into this food by keen sales representatives, this is the food that they believe in. The answers are simply right on the back of the bag though, however. On the hypoallergenic food specifically, dogs with severe allergies to specific proteins may do amazing on this food for a short term, but you can simply make a bowl of rice and soy and some chicken broth and you may as well have the same ingredients with a bunch of synthetic vitamins on top of it. Anytime you use a bland diet per se, you may notice that your bulldog or dog in general may react well to this diet. But for long term overall health this is not obviously a good thing to feed every day for years and years. I've taken a screenshot of the hypoallergenic ingredients, and everything is listed by weight and then the food is mostly consists of everything up to the fat source.



As you can see, this is not something you would want to feed your dog for a long-term health benefits.

Now as far as the bulldog formula is concerned the ingredients are a little bit different but the price tag is still over $50!! Still not the best ingredients may be a two or three on a star rating, but when you can get a food like Fromm or Acana for 10 to 15 bucks more it seems a little crazy to choose this food. Royal Canine and spends a lot of money on advertising, sales reps and sponsorships, and so does a brand like Purina, and their food is basically garbage compared to what's available on the market. Here's the ingredients of Royal Canin bulldog:



The first ingredient is rice then you have chicken byproduct which isn't even actual chicken meat, just tge throwaway parts of the chicken, then more rice than wheat gluten, this is all not great stuff. Having a little rice and a dog food is OK but having it twice within the first five ingredients means at this food is mainly made up of rice wheat gluten and chicken by products yuck!!

Sorry I'm a food snob but I preferred to have my dogs have a animal protein or meal as the first one or two ingredients always, and I also know that their sources are not coming from China.

I hope this helps! And I'm glad you asked






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[cefe13]

[MENTION=2]bullmama[/MENTION]
Thanks for taking time to reply! Not sure how much a difference it makes, but I see that ingredients differ between countries; the Swedish version of the hypoallergenic kibble looks like the British one

I do see what you mean re the likeness to bland diet (although, as I understand it, in the hypoallergenic kibble the protein has been hydrolised which is supposedly good for dogs prone to allergies). Well, we'll see how Castor does on this new food and whether his staph infection will clear up or if some other measures need to be taken.

 

[bullmama]

[MENTION=2]bullmama[/MENTION]
Thanks for taking time to reply! Not sure how much a difference it makes, but I see that ingredients differ between countries; the Swedish version of the hypoallergenic kibble looks like the British one

I do see what you mean re the likeness to bland diet (although, as I understand it, in the hypoallergenic kibble the protein has been hydrolised which is supposedly good for dogs prone to allergies). Well, we'll see how Castor does on this new food and whether his staph infection will clear up or if some other measures need to be taken.

Very similar but probably different label requirements. I sure hope it helps as I'm sure it will, too bad you can't get Nuvet over there bc then you'd at least balance out the nutritional long term health. There must be something similar to Nuvet overseas. But I haven't heard of anything.


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