JUst wanted to know what everyone thought about Eukanuba..  I am feeding my 14 week old lab sam on it and in the past four weeks he has has colitus and was recently on a drip in the vets for a few days with gastroenteritis.  Didnt know if anyone had encountered probs feeding eukanuba and if I wanted to change to another food how would I go about it?
Also, have been reading about a link between  Rawhide chews and Gastro related problems - can anyone suggest a better alternative because Sam has just started teething and needs a good munch on something

Jenny

get him a plaque attacker or other nylabone product.long lasting and far better for him than rawhide (which i personally avoid).eukenuba is a decent feed .if the dog is ok now then i would not want to change his feed just yet so soon after a gastric problem.

Have you looked in "burns" dry food?It comes very,very reccomended,i would personally stay away from foods that contain by-products and wheat and grain as the first few ingredients,but if your boy is doing fine on euk. then it's up to you,if you do decide to change do it very slowly so as not to upset his tum anymore Some dogs do terrific on some foods that other dogs cant tolerate,so in the end it is up to the individual dog and if the food agrees with him or not.

good luck :)

Iwould put him on to Burns at least that is a better food if you read the post on the food you are useing you wouldent use it. and rawhide chews can kill/.give the dog a raw bone.

I had mine on Euk. and raised a couple litters on it also, they all did great...I just found it pricey and didn't care much for the ingredients. I switched mine to Nutro Natural Choice lamb and rice and they are all doing well on that and I like the ingredients better and its cheaper....But what works for one dog does not always work for another, do what works best for yours...If yours is doing fine on Euk. then I would leave it, no need to fix what isn't broken :)

Hope your little furbaby gets better :)

Recently, Iams has begun selling their food in grocery stores.  I would personally stay away from grocery store brands, as select pet stores are by far a better place to get your food.  For Eukanuba to claim it is a premium dog food, they certainly are lacking in their ingredient list.  When chosing the best food for my dogs, I used this website as a guide, as it has valuable information as to what should and should not be in a good dog food.  Here is the link:
http://members.aol.com/smplyschnz/nutrition/wdjtopten.html
My good friend had been feeding Iams for years, and once they started selling at grocery stores her black Aussie's coat turned rusty red.  Eukanuba is a step up from regular Iams, but it is all part of the same company, which seems to be lowering its standards.  I don't know anyone personally who feeds Eukanuba right now so I dont' have any testimonials, but going on ingredients and reputation alone, I don't feel it's a quality food.

Thanks for all your replys.  Sam is still on his medicated food from the vets at the moment, which is really helping his weight gain and had also brought back a lovely shine to his coat.  I am going to go back onto the euk and see what happens. If his diahorrea comes back then I am going to try something else - I have heard a lot of good things about burns and JWB. we shall see what happens
:-)  :-)  :-)

Jenny & Sam

LABS and EUKANUBA DONT MIX at all read some info on the NUTRO??????? post ,I wrote why AOLT of people have gas problems with Eukanuba, Nutro, ProPlan, Iams ext.. Stay away from anything with dried beetpulp in it,it WILL save your dogs life,I almoast lost both of mine from food with BP in them.

Hi Guys
After reading this post I'm a tad worried now. We're picking our Lab pup up tomorrow night. The breeder we're getting him from has told us to fed him euk, which I have been out and bought. Must agree it is expensive compared to other brands. How long should I leave him on this before I think about changing or should I start a slow change imm? (he's 8wks). And too what? What about the other brands of dried food?Thanks for any help and advise, but I'm really wondering now if this is the right food for him?
Marie

If you like dry food try Burns it is only meat, rice and vegetables, I personally would keep away from the variety with SBP in it.  Look at Burns web site. Or Naturediet wet food again only meat, rice and veggies.

HTH

tohme
Thanks for the reply. I'm not crash hot on all the different kinds of dry dog food, I'm only going by what my breeder suggested for me to do. I wouldn't mind trying a different food and might try the one you mention. Sounds a bit more yummy too. Once again, should I introduce it from when I bring him home tomorrow, or should I wait until his a bit older. Thanks for anymore advice. :)

If he is coming home with some of the breeders food, just start adding the new food and taking away the old food gradually until it is 100% new food :D

Don't forget to bring a bottle or two of his breeders water home with you too.  This can often help prevent digestive upsets :D

Just to put another side to the story- we changed our lab puppy to Eukanuba large breed puppy at 10 weeks as we were very strongly advised to do so by the vet because of its lower calcium content. He was adamant that it would reduce the chances of osteochondritis, and said he recommended it after discussion with his orthopaedic colleagues. We were reluctant to change, as our pup was doing well on his existing food, but he has continued to thrive beautifully on Eukanuba, and we plan to leave him on it until about 6 months and then change over to Burns adult.
Cathy.

I think Burns uses SBP.... might be wrong though... definitely is in the active food in the range...

Geoff :)

Yes as I said, SBP does appear in ONE formula, the Active one.  As I have never found it necessary to give any of my extremely energetic/working dogs anything other then "regular" food I doubt a pet dog would need it.

Daina - "it will save your dogs life" - that's a bit of a harsh statement you're making !

No I dont think so,just in this message board another Lab owner almoast lost his pup due to gas problems whyle on Eukanuba I believe it was,this is a very REAL danger and shouldnt be taken lightley if you love you dogs,my dogs are my familly and if I lost one I would have lost my best friend and familly.Say one day you go get your son or daughter from school and the teacher says I think Billy my have an alergy to nuts cause we all had some today and he broke out in a terrible rash that lasted about an hour and then went away,now you are not concerned with this?The people who say yes and take thier kid to the doctor for testing and make sure Billy dosnt come into contact with nuts untill he has been trre the ones who wont take any chances with thier childs life, the ones who say no and are not really concerned with it cause oh well the rash is gone now and I never have to think about it again are the ones who are on a picknic 2 weeks later and Billy eats a cookie with nuts in it , his airway swell up this time and he cant breath,they rush him to the hospital but the doctors cant help him cause the stupid parent has no idea what could possibly be wrong and Billy dies.
That may be harsh but I would rather take no chances, my dogs and kids are both members of my familly and the sad thing is that our pets dont get really good help like we can,due  to not enought research on things like this,moast of the time when something serious hapnes to our dogs the answer is normally he will need to be put down,now thats harsh!

To take your 'child-and-nut' simile to its next logical stage, it sounds as if you're suggesting that nobody should eat nuts in case they have an allergy to it ...

Daina,
Now I'm worried. My Lab is 17 weeks now and he has been on Eukanuba since we have had him. Trouble is he suffers from terrible wind that really smells awful, we are thinking of changing his food,  but I have read so many different opinions on what to feed your dog. Any advice would be appreciated.
Sarah

Why not try either Burns or Naturediet; both are just meat, rice and veggies and should not produce the amount of gas you may get with foods that are multi cereal based.

Hi Jenny - another important thing to remember is that Eukanuba/Iams are HUGE in animal testing :(

Not anymore

Moonmaiden-
Please explain :)
Ali

http://www.uncaged.co.uk/iams.htm

*WARNING* - not for the soft of spirit. :(

Iams :)

I had my dogs on Iam/Eukanuba and they did great on it, coat, stool ect..I switched to Nutro natural choice because I found the ingredients to be better no by-products ect and it was also much cheaper..I too this day still have my dogs on Nutro..Beet pulp is a source of fibre...

Put your puppy on what works for your puppy, every animal is different so what works for one may not work for another...

Yes I know its used for fiber but so are alot of other things  in dog food thier just not in Nutro.
Its also a filler so your dog isnt hungry all day and it also helps to pack on the pounds.

Why do dogs need fibre?

A good idea if you're set on dry food is to try Burns. Theyre said to be excellent and dont contain any of the nasties that other brands use, like ethoxyquin (known to cause cancer) and BHT/BHA.

If you're not set on dry food, try something like NatureDiet or Natures Menu. IMO theyre miles better than dry foods on the market, as they dont use preservatives etc, and aren't extruded and dried to the max. :)

Most dogs can "survive" on just about anything we toss them BUT i dont  want my dogs to just survive i want them to "thrive" :D

Just to keep you posted with Sam he has to stay on the Hills Medical food for another month and then I am going to have a chat with our vet about changing his food - have heard lot of good things about JWB, and it also seems very reasonable in price.  Sam loves the food that hes on at the moment but its only for the short term.  I just dont want to go through what happened last week again!
Jenny

*cringe* Really dont mean to put you off, but JWB's parent company do animal testing too :(

I'm researching dogfood again more closely this time after I found out what Nutro has in it :(

IMHO Burns is better than JWB, JWB has a lot more in it than JUST lamb/turkey/duck and rice/oats.  Check the web.

iams is eukanuba

Hiya,

I personally love eukanuba.
well, actually thats a lie, i have never tasted it, smacho's(sp) however i have and they arn't too bad! hahahha. i'm renown in my family for eating dog biscuits etc. (i do draw the line at pal though!)I like the charcoal ones the best!
ok, sorry, i'll be serious now.

All my dogs are fed on eukanuba, yes it is pricey but you don't need to feed them as much as other dry foods as there is less water content.
it has made a considerable difference to my dogs stools. (hmm bet you all wanted to know about that eh!) thus making them much easier for my darling husband to pick up in the garden and less smelly! Lucky chap!
Their coats always look fab, particularly my black lab, but then it's always more noticable on a black isn't it.
The lamb and rice variety is a particular favourite of mine as my black cocker had a skin problem and it really suited him.

Someone recently told me that JWB and Euk are produced under the same licence company, not sure how true that is but I've never had a problem with JWB either with Boarding dogs that we had at work who were on it.

Another poster said that labs and Eukanuba don't mix, I've had 2 of my labs on eukanuba and they have done brilliantly on it.
Maybe I have just been lucky, but it works for our dogs so I would have no hesitation in advising another owner to use it.

if you do want to change your pups food, introduce it gradually so as not to upset his wee tummy.

Let us know how you get on.

bye for now,

Shane x

it works out less than 5 pound a week in dry and over 5 pounds in tins ( for one dog that is ) i love eukanuba it tastes like health food lol my boy loves it too

I don't care for all the by-products and corn meal in it ect ect. But if it works great for your dog then thats all that counts...I just find them way over priced:(

Catsclaw I would really recommend looking at the link I posted earlier about Iams and Eukanuba and their horrific animal testing. I watched the videos and was at the time feeding one of my cats (then a kitten) Iams - I will NEVER buy their food again, its disgraceful. :(

Just some of the pet food companies that test:
IAMS/Eukanuba, Alpo, Arthur's, Bakers Complete, Bonio, Bonus, Bounce, Brekkies, Cesar, Chappie, Choice, Choosy, Chunky, Felix, Friskies/Winalot, Go-Cat, Go-Dog, Gourmet, Hills Science Diet, Katkins, Kitekat, Mighty Dog, Omega Complete, Pal, Pedigree, Ralston Purina, Sheba, Spillers, Whiskas

Pet food companies that dont test (quoted from Uncaged):
"For dogs:

Berties - tel: 01202 672300
Butchers - tel: 01788 825872
Hi-Life
Wagg - tel: 0800 174277
Webbox
Own brand pet foods from supermarkets may also be non-animal tested for example, Marks & Spencer. Ask your local supermarket what it's policies are regarding the testing of it's own brands.

Other non-animal testing pet food companies include:

Arden Grange Pet Foods - tel: 01273 833390
Burns Pet Nutrition - tel: 01554 890482
Dodson & Horrell Ltd - Chudleys - tel: 01933 624221
NatureDiet Pet Foods Ltd - tel: 08700 132960
Vitalin - 01765 605156
Assisi "

Edited to add: Click here to read about the BUAV's campaign to end animal testing in the pet food industry - including link to a list of non testing manufacturuers :)

Please be very careful when quoting from "uncaged"Not everything they report is correct they are closely linked to "Peta"who are against people owning pets, show dogs, breeding etc & believe that all animals should be free & living wild

Peta have released show dogs from their crates at shows in america & put noxious substances in dogs drinking water at shows(from their own admissions)

They also want all pit bulls destroyed

You can't believe everything you read on the net ;) That is one reason why I e-mailed Nutro myself and am very pleased with the answer I recieved :)

i hate animal testing BUT if it wasnt for the nobility of the animals where would our medical research be? very behind thats where , i am very greatful to the rats monkeys rabbits etc that have help over the years to save our lives i do however think that makeup testing is out of order and vanity produts should be tested on the humans that choose to use them I THANK THE ANIMALS FOR THE  LIVES THEY HAVE HELP TO SAVE and humbly try to give the animals i can a perfect life of love and comfort

One word about animal testing for human drugs thalidomide nuff said

I'm sorry but I cant believe people still believe that animal testing is even accurate. Cats die from paracetamol, dogs from ibuprofen, etc etc etc. What works on a monkey aint gonna necessaily work on us, and what works on a dog or cat could be lethal. I dont see any of the animal testing supporters putting themselves forward for human trials.

Well for a start off, I can tell you that when it comes to Eukanuba/IAMS, Hills and Pedigree, its all true. If you continue to buy Eukanuba knowing that they torture animals and there are plenty of better foods that dont, that's your choice, but I'm not living with it on my shoulders as an animal lover :)
Secondly, I am not a member of PETA or any other organisation, and I dont see what they have to do with the BUAV's list of non testing companies, or with the list on uncaged which has been proven to be correct by the companies own admissions.
Turn a blind eye?

How do you know it is true ? Read it on literature provided by PETA ? or Uncaged ?

Uncaged have been waging war rightly or wrongly gainst Proctor & Gamble for years & as soon as IAMS was taken over by P&G when on the offensive against them with information supplied by PETA-an extreme animal rights group who are anti pets believing ALL animals should live wild fending for themselves & that man has no right to "own"them. Incidently I saw some of the uncaged people at Crufts wearing very nice shiny leather shoes (I'm a vegan & personally do not wear eat or use anything that is from animal sources or that is animal tested so do not presume I am a hypocrite)When I asked them about the leather shoes & what happened to the animals they came from they did not answer, they obviously were not aware that shoe leather comes from animals nor that shoe polish is animal tested. One was eating a bacon sandwich too & we all know all pigs are well treated don't we

& my dogs are not fed IAMS but organically so stop presuming things about me

Moonmaiden - IAMS and Eukanuba have admitted their stance on animal testing. I assume you didnt hear of the court case? Well, basically they agreed to change their animal testing policies, and didnt. They are still openly testing on animals. I've seen the videos.
I did not say you fed your pets IAMs or Eukanuba. I said those that do, knowing what they do, and that there are miles better foods on the market that arent manufactured by animal testing companies, cant really be animal lovers IMO.

& you know they haven't changed ? How do you know ? have you seen the food research done ? Have you witnessed it ?

& if you read the court transcripts it was a lab that did the reasearch for IAMS not IAMS themselves & the videos are from PETA who have stated are totally against animals as pets & are going out of their way to hurt show dogs & admit to doing so

I trust you do not eat any prepared meat or meat bought from supermarkets etc Only from organic farmers direct otherwise you will never know what the animals have been given to produce the meat nor how they are treated before being slaughtered

Well, it seems you cant post advice without getting it shoved back in your face. Are you saying its okay now to feed IAMs and Eukanuba? In which case why dont we all rush out and buy it seeing as Moonmaiden says that its safe :) Can someone not support the animals without being labelled as a PETA extremist? I find that particularly ignorant and offensive, considering I am not a member of any action group and make my own decisions based on fact and personal judgement. My personal judgement is that IAMS and Eukanuba do animal testing and until I hear otherwise I aint buying their food. Not that I would anyway :)

I did not say it was safe

Is anything we feed ourselves let alone our dogs totally safe ?