What do i look for??

[Lucy-licious]

I've just been looking at the nutrition pages and star rated foods and scarily her food "purina" is way down there.
I hadnt realised her food could be the cause of her red chin, tear stains and occasional tummy spots....so am now gonna look into picking a good food and slowly switching her diet over.
Problem for me is that a lot of the food highly reccomended on here are not readily available in the UK and I dont want to switch her to something i might struggle to get hold of.
So what i need is advise on what i should be lookin for in the nutrition guide on the pack? And any advise on feeding and food u can give me would be great, would feeding her home cooked food be a better option? Or will that lack in needed vits and nutriants...oh my this is a minefield

 

[bullmama]

Check out this topic, it has some interesting things to look for in dog food. Animal Digest being one of them, and Corn, Corn gluten meal, Soybean meal....

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/f...utrition/2931-why-i-hate-purina-dog-food.html

 

[Lucy-licious]

hmm all very confusing even more so because lookin at the ingredients on Lucys food there is none of that listed or am i just bein plai numb

Lucys food info labelled on the bag

Purina BETA puppy

Ingredient(s):

Cereals (min. 4% Wholegrain, min. 4% Rice), Meat and Animal Derivatives (min. 14% Meats, min. 4% Chicken), Vegetable Protein Extracts, Oils and Fats, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin (min. 0.5% Beet Pulp), Vegetables (min. 0.5% Chicory), Minerals.

Typical Analysis:

Moisture 9.5%, Protein 29%, Oils and Fats 15%, Fibre 2.5%, Ash 7.5%, Calcium 1.2%, Phosphorus 1%, Vitamin A 15000iu/kg, Vitamin D3 1000iu/kg, Vitamin E (a-tocopherol) 110mg/kg, Vitamin C 70mg/kg. Vitamin levels are guaranteed up to the best before date.

sorry but i'm more confused and this is so important for a healthy future
and the only uk based english bully forum i've found still havnt accepted my membership request
theyre such snobs over here tbh prob cos i dont show her :/

one site does reccomend feeding 2 meals for bullys
morning meal home cooked i.e chicken, beef of fish (white) with rice or pasta and veg (lol she'll eat better than me)
then the evening meal dry food

my head hurts now :/

 

[cali~jenn]

[MENTION=959]kazzy220[/MENTION] is from the uk also I think if I havent lost my mind completely. haha Lets see what she has to say. Also, the labels are VERY confusing, they do that on purpose so we dont know what is good and bad etc. I am learning slowly, very slowly but the fact that your first ingredient is cereal is a big no no in the purina. The first listing is the highest percentage of what is in there and cereal is nothing but a crappy filler. You want the first ingredients to be protein. The fact that it says meat and animal derivatives tells you the quality of what meat is in there. It should be specific like chicken, lamb, beef, salmon etc. Anything on the list of foods that is 3 star or higher would not be a bad choice for the most part anyhow. I would just start looking thru the list and compare what IS available in the uk for you to easily get. There has to be something on there. It doesnt necessarily have to be the best of the best for your pup to do well on it so long as it is at least 3 stars or 4 even would be great.

 

[bullmama]

hmm all very confusing even more so because lookin at the ingredients on Lucys food there is none of that listed or am i just bein plai numb

Lucys food info labelled on the bag

Purina BETA puppy

Ingredient(s):

Cereals (min. 4% Wholegrain, min. 4% Rice), Meat and Animal Derivatives (min. 14% Meats, min. 4% Chicken), Vegetable Protein Extracts, Oils and Fats, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin (min. 0.5% Beet Pulp), Vegetables (min. 0.5% Chicory), Minerals.

Typical Analysis:

Moisture 9.5%, Protein 29%, Oils and Fats 15%, Fibre 2.5%, Ash 7.5%, Calcium 1.2%, Phosphorus 1%, Vitamin A 15000iu/kg, Vitamin D3 1000iu/kg, Vitamin E (a-tocopherol) 110mg/kg, Vitamin C 70mg/kg. Vitamin levels are guaranteed up to the best before date.

sorry but i'm more confused and this is so important for a healthy future
and the only uk based english bully forum i've found still havnt accepted my membership request
theyre such snobs over here tbh prob cos i dont show her :/

one site does reccomend feeding 2 meals for bullys
morning meal home cooked i.e chicken, beef of fish (white) with rice or pasta and veg (lol she'll eat better than me)
then the evening meal dry food

my head hurts now :/

Oh my it looks like the food regulations in the UK are worse than the USA!

That label is soooo very vague.... I am very sorry. [MENTION=4]Lindathedogsmaid[/MENTION] can tell you how to find good food.

 

[Lucy-licious]

I've printed the star rating lists 6,5+4 and am going armed with that to pets@home to see wot is available here in the uk
If i stil have no joy i'll try my vet and see if she can give me some advice
But thanks [MENTION=2]desertskybulldogs[/MENTION] for the link to that post about purina at least i know what i dont want

 

[Lindathedogsmaid]

email me directly @ bullysmum@gmail.com and give me your city,country and ,mail zip code. from the letter her it sounds as if you are in Manchester England. is that correct. that is not bad at all. Vietnam was the hard one to find, how old is your dog? one thing , use only stainless steal or ceramic dishes, (it will cause a rash, on the chin ,and other stuff, no dog should use, or drink from plastic) and Purina is absolutely garbage food. (if it is advertised on television, run away from it !!! the cost of this ad is extreme. so you know they need to push the food or they wouldn't spend all the money on ads! home cooked food must have the vitamins, in accordance with the dogs weight, and also bone meal for calcium. if you are only going to feed the odd home cooked meal its OK without vitamins. and these need to be worked out with a GOOD BULLDOG VET ! one of those who has clients (bulldogs)
is worth gold! not many vets want to work on Bulldogs because everything about a bulldog is opposite to other breeds, and a strict anesthetic protocol must be used also ,to guarantee successful surgeries. I work 1/2 days so I will get back to you tomorrow, after you email me your zip code. Linda

ATTN:::: here is the address of the UK distributor

United Kingdom Authorized Distributor
Postal Pet Products
www.postalpetsproducts.co.uk
fromm@postal-pets.freeserve.co.uk
+44 (0) 1531 633985
-------------------------------------
the food is Fromm 4 star food that you will want, any type of meat is great to start and you can switch around after the first bag or two. let me know how it goes. if you cannot get the distributor to let you know a close retailer, let me know, with your zip code and I will contact the manufacturer for you . bye bye