Convincing arguments for switching to natural from Eukanuba

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna is nearing the end of her puppyhood (she's 8 months old), so it's a good time for us to think about an appropriate adult food for her. 

 

Right now she is on Eukanuba medium breed puppy and is doing very well on it.  The only minor concern is some biting of her feet (she doesn't take any fur off but seems "annoyed" at her feet sometimes) which we believe is seasonal allergies.  Aside from that, she is very high energy, smart, trainable and has a beautiful shiny coat that gets compliments all the time.

I know many of the ingredients are not very good, but she is thriving and her training treats are high in protein (dried chicken filets) so she gets some extra nutrition there.  We will keep her on Eukanuba until she's finished puppyhood, but I'm working on a campaign to feed her something of higher quality as an adult.

 

My fiance doesn't see a need for her to be one of the natural foods, since she's doing well on Eukanuba.   My old dog (a Bichon Frise) who is now 18 years old has also been fed Eukanuba+table scraps her entire life and has never had major health issues. 

 

I'm up against a few problems:

- Luna is very healthy on Eukanuba and Yoshi (the Bichon) is held up as a poster child of how it's not "all bad" since Yoshi has led a long, healthy life

- Many of the grain-free formulas are quite expensive (we can afford it, but my fiance is very frugal)

- The more easily accessible commercial brands (Blue Buffalo, Wellness etc.) only come in a small and large breed formula as far as I can tell.  Luna is in between at her projected weight of about 40 pounds.

 

Anyone have some advice on how I can convince my partner that we should think about a healthier choice for Luna once she reaches adulthood? 

 

I was thinking showing him some information on the health of the Eukanuba ingredients and taking a look at the servings (since I gather you don't have to feed as much with the healthier brands) might be enough.  I'm sure it wouldn't take much convincing, but I would like to work on him with as much ammunition as possible!

 

Thanks!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The best argument would be to get ahold of a copy of the book Pet Food Politics by Marion Nestle, and get him to read it. It's available in paperback, you can also probably get it at the library. It's a short, easy to read book, and Marion Nestle has a PhD in human nutrition, and is considered one of the foremost authorities on food safety as it relates to corporate policies. Because in the end, that's one of the biggest arguments against feeding Eukanuba...not the ingredients, and not the cost, but the fact that the corporation that owns them dictates policies that were responsible for the deaths of thousands of dogs and cats in 2007.  These issues did not exist when your Bichon started eating the food. That an 8-month-old  dog is doing well on a food is no argument at all for continuing to feed an inferior product. She woiuld be doing well if you fed her cat food or scraps from your garbage pail. The damage shows up later. And of course, you are supporting a company that cares nothing at all about your dogs' health, and in fact would knowingly compromise their health for the sake of the shareholders' profits.

Both Wellness and Blue Buffalo make formulas that are not size specific. You can go to their websites (linked on our recommended foods list) and see what's available.

The issue of your fiance's frugality is going to come up again throughout your life together. It's not a big deal when it's a question of buying a less expensive piece of furniture or a more expensive car. It is a big deal when you have children and you are responsible for feeding them. 100% juice costs a lot more than 10% fruit drinks. Candy costs a lot less than fresh fruit. There are plenty of people in their 20s who grew up eating junk food and are in good health right now, maybe your fiance is one of them, so how are you going to counter that argument when it comes up? Nutrition and health are not good places to cut corners or try to save money, and that's an issue that goes more to lifestyle and values than it does to budget or income. But keep in mind that if poor quality ingredients do affect your dog's health, or another batch of melamine ends up in those bags of Eukanuba, the vet bills are going to be a lot higher than the difference in price to feed a better quality food.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You're also correct that with a better quality food, especially the grain-frees, you do feed less, so you buy less. But you don't have to feed a grain-free food, there are a lot of formulas that contain healthy grains and aren't quite as expenisve as the grain-frees.

This really isn't about "natural" foods. It's about purchasing junk from a huge corporation that outsources their purchasing to food brokers who import the cheapest ingredients they can find from third world countries. It's about there being no control over the supply chain. You can make it political and say it's about contributing to the profits of a corporation that's sending jobs overseas, and whose only concern is its bottom line, not your dogs' health. Sometimes those arguments are more convinving, it depends on the individual's priorities.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Thank you for the quick response!

 

I have started working on him a little bit and he agreed we should ask the vet about it at Luna's next visit (in the next few weeks - she's due for a vaccine). 

 

I'm almost positive he wouldn't read the book; He has no issues buying from big corporations that have little morality, so that one won't work either. 

 

I will look up some of the material about Eukanuba's ingredient sources to show him an article or two.  I think the lack of quality control of the ingredients might be enough to convince him. That and the recall scare from a few years ago - so two articles, shouldn't be too much for him to read!  I'll send them to his work email so he can read when he's bored ;)

 

You're right that his frugal nature will come back to haunt me, and it already does (we've been together 10 years).  He is always willing to let me buy things if I'm adamant about it though, so in the end I could just put my foot down and buy her the better food but I would rather that he agree with me about it so it becomes a non-issue.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The vet is the wrong person to ask. We have a lot of discussions here about the fact that vets receive no nutritional education in veterinary school, and what little they do learn is provided by Big Dog Food, including the company that owns Eukanuba. The big one with vets is Science Diet. Vets aren't even familiar with the better food companies.  . I can provide you with resources attesting to that, but once again, he'd have to read them, lol.

For your own interest, Marion Nestle has another book called Feed Your Pet Right, and Food Group Members have an "assignment" to read chapter 24, which explains how little education vets receive on nutrition, and the influenece of the big corporate dog food companies on veterinary food recommendations.

Again, this is about more than ingredients. Some of the BDF Companies have recently wised up to the fact that we consumers are learning what to look for on the labels. Nutro, for example, has recently stopped using menadione in their formulas, and a look at the label would make you think the food contains pretty good ingredients...unless, of course, you know that the company was purchased by Mars Corp. in 2007, not coincidentally the same year that that melamine ended up in the food supply.
BTW, I fed Nutro for 19 years, and my last dog was very healthy until just before she died. But that's still not a good reason to buy it.

[Gail+Kathleen,(Sydney+Olivia:)]

Luna looks alot like our Sydney.  We had Sydney on Science Diet early on because we didn't know any better and that was what our Breeder recommended.  Shame on us!!!!  Sydney had major health issues for many years and we believe it is because of her diet as a puppy and the first few years.  We changed her diet several years ago and started feeding her better kibble and healthy treats.  We still have some issues we are dealing with due to her poor diet as a puppy and early years but it is obvious that she is feeling better with healthier kibble and treats.  Karen recommends Orijens and we have read great reviews about Orijens.  There are also several other dog kibbles (not very expensive) that get great reviews.  The Food Group really shares lots of great information.  We feel that doing what's best for our Doodles will be like preventative medicine for us.

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

Personally speaking, the only argument I need is "I can afford to feed my boys the best foods for them." My last dog, a Border Collie, lived an active life until he was 16 years old on Pedigree. I could feed the same to Lachlan, but knowing what I do now I know that it's not the greatest food on the planet and I have to ask myself, would old Scott have lived longer on a better food? Would his joints have started breaking down as early as they did if he'd been on a better food all his life? I don't know the answers to those questions and I don't beat myself up about it, but I'd feel terribly guilty now if I fed Lachlan the same way.

 

And Karen, I just ordered that book. Thanks for the recommendation!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Thank you all for your input :)

 

 

I think you're right about the vet and nutrition, but I will ask her anyway to see what she says and about allergy symptoms to see if they may be food related.

 

I sent my fiance some reading material that he can go through if he gets bored at work.  I'm hoping he'll read it and agree that it's what's best for Luna.   If he does read it I'm sure he'll agree to switch - he loves her to bits. :) 

 

I don't think Orijen is available in a store in our end of town, so I was thinking the Blue Buffalo Chicken & Brown rice alternating with the lamb & brown rice to start.  I didn't like what the dog food analysis site had to say about their fish and sweet potato recipe, so I'll stay away from that one.  Maybe if we like the results we can "graduate" to something a little better still.

 

We've just started a bag of Eukanuba puppy which I'm hoping is our last bag (lasts about 2 months) - then we can switch to a bag of Blue Buffalo puppy for her last puppy months as a "trial" of sorts, then if we like it we can stick with it, otherwise find another food for her adult food.

Thankfully it's Spring so we can monitor her digestion more closely when we switch  - it's a little tougher in the winter!

 

[Adina P]

You *might* set yourself back if you ask your vet about food.  Really, if you're trying to win the argument, it might be better to NOT ask your vet because chances are they will either recommend SD or say it really doesn't matter because pet foods are all pretty good now.  So that might win your partner over to the inferior food side. 

 

Plus very FEW allergies that demonstrate themselves as itchiness are actually related to food.  Most are inhalant or environmental allergies.  I think Karen has said that her research shows only 10% or some small amount of things that lead to 'itchy' type allergic responses are food-related.  Plus it wouldn't be 'brand' related it would be related to a certain protein source.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Also,  the Dog Food Analysis site has not been active for quite some time now, and the reviews are several years old. many of the formulas have changed since then.

Regarding asking the vet about food allergies, that's a surefire way to get a recommendation for Rx food, in which case you'll pay three times more for crappy food than you would for the best quality premium food.

Again, vets know very little about dog food, and sadly, they are not specialists in allergies, either.

A good discussion about Rx Foods from the Vet:

Why You Should Say No When Your Vet Recommends Rx Food

[Adina P]

What Karen means is that regular 'ol vets aren't specialists in allergies---it takes an allergy specialist vet or veterinary dermatologist to weed out allergy issues most of the time.  But it's no surprise.  A lot of regular family docs aren't very good at managing diabetes in patients either--it usually takes a diabetes specialist (endocrinologist) to do it well.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Solid Gold is also a good one that is found in the chain stores (usually).  I think the price is very reasonable.

You have enough ammunition, but to add some info to Karen's thoughts on Mars/2007 recalls:

Do you remember all of those recalls that happened in Summer 2007?  Many of the "giant" dog food companies (like Euk, Nutro, Science Diet) had a big menadione scare.  Since they import most of their ingredients from China, they are just not as well regulated as many of the foods we recommend.  Yes, a recall could occur with the foods on our "list", but it is much less likely to happen due to the high-quality ingredients they use, they do not buy from China, etc....

 

My chihuahua was on Solid Gold during that time.  I forgot about treats.  The treats were tainted.  He should have died.  Really.  Sick for 2 months and we could not figure out what was going on.  I spent thousands to keep him alive and he now has permanent kidney damage (did not find out until 2 years after).   So there is a big reason.  I am 100000% overboard on what I feed my dogs now because of this.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Allyson means Melamine, not menadione, although menadione is a bad thing to have in the food as well.