Starting new food...opinions?

[Tinaweena]

Ok so we are going off Science Diet ( I know )
Mainly because he always seems hungry, and he smells pretty bad, I mean he even leaves the room!
So we were at the vet for his booster shots and rabies vac last night and I asked about good food choices. She recommended this http://www.medi-cal.ca/consumers/Canine/development_en.asp
any thoughts on it?
I don't see any by-products listed in the ingredients, but I'm not sure what else to look for.
Lemme know what you think.

 

[tessa_s212]

I don't like the corn in it.

 

[Renee750il]

I'm incredibly suspicious of any food being pushed by a vet . . .

 

[Fran27]

What is highly suspicious is that we can't see the main ingredient

 

[mutt_lover]

I don't like the fact that there is no break down of the ingredients and I can't find any info about it anywhere else on-line.

 

[Boxer*Mom]

Which one do you plan on feeding?
http://www.medi-cal.ca/templates/Consumer/ConsumerLevel2Template.asp

I also don't like the fact that the ingredients list is not available in the order it's used in the actual feed.

 

[Tinaweena]

We are planning on feeding developement till he's 6 months, then adolencense. Medi-Cal is just another sub-company of Royal Canin apparently.
On the actual bag, the first ingredient is listed as Chicken

 

[Boxer*Mom]

VETERINARY MEDICAL DIETS
67 Watson Road S. Unit 3
Guelph, Ontario
N1H 6H8
1 (800) 567-8900
Marketed in Canada Under Medi-Cal (Registered Trade Mark)
United States as Select Care (Registered Trade Mark)

Development / Recuperative

Corn
Poultry by-Product Meal
Rice Flour

Brewers Rice, Poultry Fat preserved with Tocopherols, Herring Meal, Dried Whole Egg, Brewers yeast, Dicalcium Phosphate, Beet Pulp, Fish Oil preserved with Tocopherols, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Citric Acid, Fructo-Oligosaccharides, Bacillus Subtilis Dried Fermentation Extract, lecithin, Borage Oil Cake, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Vitamin E, Ascorbyl-Palmitate, Niacin, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Riboflavin Supplement, Manganese Oxide, Zinc Methionine, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ascorbic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, Biotin and Vitamin B12 Supplement

Bellow are as fed

Protein = 25.82%
Lipid = 16.62%
Fiber = 1.69%

This was what my search found as the ingredient list. However it could be wrong because it doesn't have some of the ing. they claim to have on their site. The formualtion also may have been changed since this information was put up on the net.

I wonder why there is no way to contact them by email?!

 

[Tinaweena]

http://www.royalcanin.ca/contact/index_en.php
If you click veterinary products, it has the medi-cal page there.
The mail address is [email protected]
Ugh...wish I could find more info!

 

[Boxer*Mom]

No that's the same page as above, the ing. are broke down into categories, not in the order they are put in the food. Like this for Techni-Cal large adult, of which 5 out of the 9 top ingredients are a grain, and the meat is from meal, fat, and cartilage only from chicken.

Ingredients: Chicken meal, brown rice, wheat, rice, chicken fat (naturally preserved), chicken cartilage (a natural source of glucosamine), barley, corn gluten meal, dried beet pulp, natural flavours, flaxseed, calcium carbonate, dried brewers yeast, tomato pomace, potassium chloride, salt, salmon oil, canola oil, gelatin, choline chloride, taurine, Vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin C, inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, betacarotene, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, vitamin K, biotin, vitamin B12), Minerals (zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, iron proteinate, zinc oxide, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), yucca shidigera extract, preserved with natural mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract, and citric acid.

 

[Tinaweena]

hmmm I see....I think I will email them for a full list of ingredients. I've heard only good things about Royal Canin, so I assume anything else they put their name on and develop would be good also.
I'll post the ingredients when they get back to me.

 

[showpug]

Just a word of advice...never ask your vet for nutrition advice! Yes, I know it sounds funny, but vets get all their training on nutrition from the food company reps. Trust me, I worked in a vet clinic for a long time and the reps were the ones that would come in and 'educate' us LOL! I would say the only vets that may have a clue on the subject are those that are holistic or natural medicine vets. I would recommend you do your own research to really learn about what makes a food a healthy food.

 

[Zoom]

Anything using corn, brewer's rice, dried beet pulp and corn gluten in the same bag I'd stay away from.

 

[AmberwayGSD]

Hey if you are in waterloo you can get Canidae.I am in Stratford Ont.Thats what I feed.The Medical is not good.It has meniadone in it.Check out Canidae.com and look for local retailers.You can pm me if you want.

 

[Tinaweena]

I found a place around the corner from us that sells Canidae and will start working it into his food next week as soon as I get paid.
(We had a bit of a mishap at the persmart around the corner and my wallet is yet to recover, but he's happy!) hahah

 

[AmberwayGSD]

Sounds good.It will be much better for your pup.They should have a frequent buyer program too so buy 12 get one free or the like.

 

[Tinaweena]

Great....glad he's gonna get on the right track. Silly me, I've had dogs my whole life, but have never been the one in charge of buying the food or anything, I should have researched more.
Thanks Shepard girl you've been very helpful!

 

[AmberwayGSD]

You are welcome.At least you are doing the research now.This has been a great place for me to learn too.Before Canidae I fed Proplan which I thought was top quality.We are never too old to learn.Your pup will thank you for it too.I am glad you found a close store to buy it from.Switch slowly though so you dont upset his tumtum too badly.

 

[Tinaweena]

I will do the switch slowly....however he has a stomach built like a tank! He's been solid since we got him, but I will go slow just in case.

 

[Tinaweena]

Just an update, we've been in the process of switching Boone to the Canidae.
What a difference! He's alot less stinky (thank god) he's more predictable, and solid when he goes now.
Also the bits of kibble are much smaller than Science Diet so I don't worry so much about him choking (he doesn't like to chew yet, and I'm paranoid)
I would totally recommend this!