Sorry in advance that this is so long.
I've been feeding my dogs Science Diet for the past 20 years or so. I thought I was doing a good thing until the people here convinced me otherwise. I post a couple of links. Jethrene has lost 4 pounds since I made the switch Chicken soup for the Dog Lovers Soul which is great for a 25# dog. However when I had decided to switch we had just purchased a 35# bag of SD so for the past couple of months we've been giving a little bit of CSftDLS and a little of SD. Now that we're finally almost done with the SD I've been giving more of the CS/less of SD and wouldn't you know Lucy has developed the diarrhea. So now she is on SD-I/D and we'll see what happens. We just got back from a trip so maybe that is what is causing her upset and not the dog food. I was so careful too, I even packed a gallon of our water so there would be no changes to what goes in.
http://www.thecathenation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260850&highlight=Jethrene
The following is from a link from this board that I found interesting:
http://www.thecathenation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=221977&highlight=Canidae
[ Quote:HI all,
I will apologize for this long post ahead of time. Below is a dog food rating system that I pulled off a discussion forum for Great Danes. The system basically teaches you how to read a bag of food. Then a couple of enterprising people went through and rated some of the more common brands.
I also want to say that I think the BARF diet is the best for any animal that is a carnivore, which includes dogs and cats. BARF stands for Bones and Raw Food and that's exactly what it is. Raw meat and bones. Dogs and cats are not omnivores (like people) and get no nutritional value from veggies or fruit. Since they do not have any flat teeth to grind the cell walls and get the nutrients out they serve no purpose in the diet, except if your dog(s) like them. I could go on and on about this diet and the crap-in-bag that is sold at the grocery stores....and some vets offices. But, I won't.
You will need your kibble's list of ingredients, as found on the bag (or often times their website). Please note, however, this is for ingredients ONLY.... so before feeding a pup be sure to look at the protein and fat and calcium and calories in the Guaranteed Analysis.
Start with a grade of 100:
For every listing of "by-product", subtract 15 points
For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
If there are no specific meats or meat meals, subtract 25 points
For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, or grain "middlings", subtract 10 points
If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 15 points
If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer’s rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points for each occurrence
If the protein sources are not (specific) meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 5 points
If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points (subtract 5 if corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients)
If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 3 points
If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 5 points
If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
If it contains salt, subtract 3 points
If it contains corn syrup, molasses, or other added sweetener, subtract 10 points
Extra Credit:
For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "turkey" as 2 different sources - do not count egg, cheese, or other similar ingredients), add 1 point
If the food contains 3 or less different mentions of grains (or other high-carb plant-based foods like potatoes), add 5 points
If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points (if the number 1 ingredient is organic meat, add 10 points)
If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 3 points
If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
If the food contains fruit or vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point
If the food contains barley or oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
If it contains sunflower, hemp, flaxseed, or other polyunsaturated vegetable oils, add 3 points (add 5 if it is the #1 fat)
If the vitamin and mineral sources are chelated, add 5 points
94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
<70 = F
Timberwolf Organics Lamb and Venison-136 points A+
Solid Gold Bison-123 points A+
Innova-117 points A+
Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken-114 points A+
Chicken soup-113 points A+
Pedigree Adult Complete-14 points F
Ol Roy-9 points F
Iams Lamb Meal and Rice-74 points D
Eukanuba Natural Lamb and Rice-87 points B
Nutro Natural choice Lamb and Rice-85 points c
Science Diet chicken adult maintainance-45 points F
Bil-Jac select-37 points F
Canidae-119 points A+
Natural Balance Duck and Potato-114 points A+
Jeanine Quote]
