# What to feed~SO confused.



## OrangeLexus (Jan 28, 2012)

I used to feed Pedigree and Friskies :behindsofa: ...until I found out how terrible it is then I went to a local dog/cat health food store and the gal there got me going on wet/raw/dry/bones/dehydrated etc... Here is what I am feeding now...

Dogs
6 year old 50 lbs Queensland heeler/Border collie 
5.5 year old 70 lbs Pit mix

Cat 
2.5 15 lbs cat 

Dogs eat:
AM half can of Evangers or ByNature can
PM half can of Evangers or ByNature can, and some raw (varies-chicken,beef, or pre-packaged raw formulas usually NorthWest Naturals) 

Cat eats: 
AM Can of any of the following ByNature,TikiCat,Weruva
PM Can of any of the following ByNature,TikiCat,Weruva and some raw (again-varies-chicken,beef, or pre-packaged RadCat) 

I just don't feel the dogs get enough-they don't seem hungry and they aren't loosing weight so I guess they don't but when I look at in the bowl it is only a couple of handfuls and just doesn't seem like enough for a big dog. The lady at the store tells me that dry for the cat isn't good and not unnecessary for the dogs either but then I hear that wet food really doesn't have a lot of nutritional value? Should be giving the dogs some dry?

I am spending A LOT on dog/cat food right now and still don't feel they are getting what they should so I am very open to other brands/etc...

Any help is appreciated, thanks! So frustrated lol....


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## Little Brown Jug (Dec 7, 2010)

If they are maintaining a good, healthy weight I don't see why they would need more. I've got two 40lbers and one 115lber. the two smaller guys get a cup of dry a day, when its a raw day they get two full turkey necks each the Lab gets 2 cups of dry a day and on raw days 3-4 turkey necks and he's on the go from 8:30 - 3:30 5 days a week sometimes 7 days a week and then goes hunting in the evenings. He's at a healthy weight and is maintaining. Doesn't seem like much but anymore and they'd all start to gain especially the Lab. With higher quality food you just don't need to feed as much.

Before I met the boyfriend, he had Ranger, our Lab on Beneful. He didn't know any better you can't blame the guy he thought he was doing good. Ranger was getting over 5 cups a day, now he's getting 2 cups a day on Instinct, which is what we're feeding for this round. Half a can doesn't seem like much for two larger dogs but you stated that you also gave them some raw in the evening so.

Canned is 100% better for cats. When I had cats that's all they got. My little girl was 6lbs and she got one 5.5oz can a day anymore she'd gain. The male was bigger, I forget how much he weighted maybe a little over 10lbs and he got two 5.5oz cans a day. With dogs its the same thing. Very healthy for them, more so than kibble but it can get pricey when you have bigger dogs. As long as they are complete they have all the nutritional value that is needed.

I don't know anything about ByNature or Evangers other then I believe I've heard that Evangers had some quality issues? Can anyone correct me on that? 
The dog's get a different brand/flavor every new bag, the cats were the same. Every new case was different. I'm a huge fan of Instinct, Champion (Orijen & Acana) and Petcurean (Go! & Now!). My guys did excellent on Go! Fit and Free, the best I've ever seen on any other food. My cats did the best on Before Grain and Petcurean. As for pre made raw I've dabbled with it but it was way to pricey with all the animals and bigger dogs. I tried Nature's Variety and Spring Meadows. They weren't really on it long enough for me to see how well they did on it.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

That sounds great to me! 

I wouldn't feed the Evanger's though as they had a problem with the named meat not even being in the formula so I wouldn't feed them personally. You might want to try feeding a cheaper raw. You could post a thread on the raw side for help with that.


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## OrangeLexus (Jan 28, 2012)

Thank you both! 

That is a bummer about the Evangers because I really like the variety they have-thinking about switching to a higher quality can and getting some Wellness Core dry so that I could feed a higher quality wet but not so much of it. Maybe a cup of dry in the AM with some extras added in and then wet at night with the raw. I was feeding Sojos for awhile but then when I would go to clean the yard I was finding exactly what I had fed them in their poop and figured they weren't getting much out of it. 

I really try to stay away from the pre-packaged raws because they don't like it as much and it is so expensive, the only time I get it is when I actually go to the store to pick up enough cans to last me until my online order comes and it's a treat for them to have something different. 

Is Wellness Core and Orijen about the same or is one significantly better? If I would be feeding alot of raw (chicken,beef) "extras" would it be better for me to go with one of the fish formulas?


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Off topic I know, but I can't help it. Can you post a picture of your Heeler/BC? Thats my dream dog you see, one day, in the far distant future I will have one.
Now I'll think about your food question!


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## OrangeLexus (Jan 28, 2012)

MollyWoppy said:


> Off topic I know, but I can't help it. Can you post a picture of your Heeler/BC? Thats my dream dog you see, one day, in the far distant future I will have one.
> Now I'll think about your food question!


Haha, sure! here is Sydney...


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

I would say Orijen is way better. There's a event thread on here about Wellness and nobodys dogs seemed to do fantastic on Core. Whatever you wanted with the the fish or my formula is fine. Variety is great so I'd go with a fish formula.


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## Little Brown Jug (Dec 7, 2010)

I haven't had the best results on any wellness dry products. Not to say that your dogs won't do well on it. I'd choose Orijen/Acana over Core/Wellness dry any day. If you can find Go! I'd reccommend them too. If you could could go all raw that would be amazing for the dogs. But I understand if you can't/won't. I do half raw half kibble. I used to mix some canned in with their kibble but haven't for months now. When I did I used TOTW, Instinct, Wellness 95%, Canidae and Go!. I'd mix it up, variety is the spice of life.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Your getting some great advice.....HERE. (You know what I mean!)
But PLEASE, for your cat's sake do NOT listen to anyone saying to change them to dry food!! Rotting teeth is from over all malnutrition/genetic issues...it has very, VERY little to do with food....and kibble doesn't do anything more for teeth then canned does. Throwing them a raw bone/meat chunk is the best way to fight tooth issues!:thumb:


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

It sounds like you,re doing great! Ditto about the Evangers. Google it, what they say was in their canned was not what was actually in the canned.


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## OrangeLexus (Jan 28, 2012)

Thanks everyone 

I am going to start getting a better canned food and I think I actually will end up going with Orijen since I keep seeing so many good things about it here (and read that Wellness reviews thread after posting)-Which would I feed though? *I see they have Adult 80/20, Fish 80/20, or Regional Red 75/25? I see Regional Red is the most expensive-is that the best one? 

Now the lady at this pet health store had told me not to feed raw in the same feeding as dry-Is this true? *

I would be fine with feeding all raw but I just don't know enough yet as to how much/what types/where to buy-I am going to start feeding a lot more though. 

Not going to put the cat on dry, I think I will just keep him on what he's been on but add in some more raw.


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## newlndnfire (Aug 19, 2011)

Your doing a wonderful job feeding your dogs this great new stuff! I don't know much about Orijen, just that it's a great food. The ingredients are wonderful but I wanted to let you know that they are going to be changing the formula in the near future. They have already changed Acana's formula and dogs are starting to get itchy on it, ect. I don't know if Orijen will do the same but I wanted to reccomend Fromm brand foods. They are an amazing company and their foods are wonderful (plus, cheaper then Orijen ). I just wanted to give you another alternative. I think it's my number one food in terms of quality control/customer services, ect.


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## DDBsR4Me (Jan 23, 2012)

I just switched my boy over to Orijen 6 Fish (after a bad smelling bag of NV Instinct) and he really likes it, but it is too early to tell for a total assessment of how he is doing on it.


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## OrangeLexus (Jan 28, 2012)

newlndnfire said:


> I wanted to reccomend Fromm brand foods.


Thanks, I had been giving the cat Fromm canned and he really liked it and the store was having great sales on it, so I will look into it for the dogs.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

All the Orijen formulas are great. As far as feeding raw and dry together it causes problems with some dogs and others are fine. Raw digests faster than kibble so it causes problems sometimes. I would personally feed kibble in the morning and raw in the evening.


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