Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
2. While this is of zero significance to this thread or this pet section for that matter, my horses have not eaten anything with grain or soy , since 2007. . . .
What, no oats? But you are right - horses are a COMPLETELY different matter. If you don't feed a horse grain, you're feeding them hay. If you don't feed a dog grain, you wouldn't feed them hay!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobspez
Feeding her grain free food worked to significantly reduce our chihuahua's scratching. Try it and see. If it works it should be evident in a couple of weeks.
If grain-free helps, it should be evident quickly - bobspez is right in my experience.
I have no problem feeding my dogs grains - for 10,000 years or more dogs have lived alongside man, and eaten the spaghetti from last night's dinner that we threw on the garbage heap this morning.
The amount of grain-free food on the market is mostly marketing to a fad. But that food is, however, of better quality than the cheap food. Take a look at the cheaper dog foods in the grocery. Read the ingredients list. What's the first item? Almost always corn, or corn by-products. Better foods will have use wheat, oats, or even better, rice. Rice is the easiest to digest, although some folks who make their own dog food, as I do, swear by oats. Corn is the hardest to digest. Pricier grain-free foods will add potatoes or legumes as fillers. I don't see any benefit from using sweet potatoes over grain.
Some dogs have food allergies and if the allergy happens to be to one of the grains commonly used in dog kibble, then that kibble will cause allergic reaction, often symptoms are itchy skin. Keep in mind that there are plenty of other allergies that are not food based.
The cheapest dog foods use some not very nice ingredients and those foods are easy to identify because they are very heavy in grain ingredients. That doesn't mean that grain is bad, it just means that the kibble isn't high quality.
Dogs are genetically garbage guts. They can eat and digest darn near anything. Even so, I don't want my dogs eating feather and blood meal or some of the other things that go into the cheap kibbles.
I home cook and I use all sorts of different grains and none of my dogs have had any issues. The only time one of my dogs had a "food" allergy is that the dog with a brain tumor had a bad reaction to the dyes used in dog food and dog treats.... and if you don't think that was a hard one to figure out.
Skin issues can be caused by fleas, staph infection, thyroid imbalance, allergies to grass or household cleaning products among thousands of other possibilities. If your dog has skin issues, you can try changing the food and see if that works. That might be an easy fix or that might not be the cause at all.
__________________ ____________________________________________
My posts as a Mod will always be in red.
Be sure to review Terms of Service: TOS
And check this out: FAQ
Moderator: Relationships Forum / Hawaii Forum / Dogs / Pets / Current Events
There is no such thing as carb free kibble as it takes starches to hold the kibble together then you have things like grain, potatoes, veggies and fruit which all have carbs so grain free can even have more carbs then food with grain as some fruits and veggies are high carb. You just will not see dog food companies list carbs as legally they do not have too at this time.
There is no such thing as carb free kibble as it takes starches to hold the kibble together then you have things like grain, potatoes, veggies and fruit which all have carbs so grain free can even have more carbs then food with grain as some fruits and veggies are high carb. You just will not see dog food companies list carbs as legally they do not have too at this time.
I thought that was her point! I ran across a fairly recent study in the past year or two - but haven't the faintest idea where it is or I'd link it. I surely have a bookmark - but even finding that these days -- well, either you take my word for it - or you do your own research. Anyway, the study re-affirmed that dog digestive systems have evolved to accommodate grains. I'm pretty sure there is other scientific validation of that as well. That tops off the fact that wolves and coyotes - dogs' close but wild cousins - are as close to omnivorous as a carnivore can get. Both will eat grains, fruit, greens - it just depends on what is available.
I thought that was her point! I ran across a fairly recent study in the past year or two - but haven't the faintest idea where it is or I'd link it. I surely have a bookmark - but even finding that these days -- well, either you take my word for it - or you do your own research. Anyway, the study re-affirmed that dog digestive systems have evolved to accommodate grains. I'm pretty sure there is other scientific validation of that as well. That tops off the fact that wolves and coyotes - dogs' close but wild cousins - are as close to omnivorous as a carnivore can get. Both will eat grains, fruit, greens - it just depends on what is available.
I've read the same thing. It came down to a strong preference for meat, biology that is all carnivore, but can eat an omnivore diet. To paraphrase poorly.
__________________ ____________________________________________
My posts as a Mod will always be in red.
Be sure to review Terms of Service: TOS
And check this out: FAQ
Moderator: Relationships Forum / Hawaii Forum / Dogs / Pets / Current Events
It came down to a strong preference for meat, biology that is all carnivore, but can eat an omnivore diet.
Cheech has a preference for whatever I'm making.
Today, he and I shared a nice lunch ...
salmon filets with brussels sprouts and blueberries sauteed in a walnut blackberry sauce and mashed potatos.
(sauce= bottled salad dressing and butter).
Today, he and I shared a nice lunch ...
salmon filets with brussels sprouts and blueberries sauteed in a walnut blackberry sauce and mashed potatos.
(sauce= bottled salad dressing and butter).
He gave it 4 paws up!
Dante is the same.
Manlet made the comment that only I would have a dog that eats raw veggies.
__________________ ____________________________________________
My posts as a Mod will always be in red.
Be sure to review Terms of Service: TOS
And check this out: FAQ
Moderator: Relationships Forum / Hawaii Forum / Dogs / Pets / Current Events
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
