Kibbles 'n bits? Purina?

[Tippsy'smom]

Is it bad that Tippsy and Jasper eat kibbles 'n bits? Or that Dixie eats Purina puppy chow?

[Zhuyos mom]

It's not the best of dog foods and the ingredients listed are not what I would feed my boy. However, it is affordable and some dogs thrive on it or it would be off the market. The dog food analysis and ratings sites give the brands low scores because of the ingredients. But, if it is what you can afford for the time and they are not hot spotting and are doing fine, then you might be able to keep them on it until your budget can afford a higher quality of food. You might want to supplement with some plain yogurt or no salt added sardines. If you have a local butcher, maybe you can talk them into making dog food for you. My local butcher makes dog food from fresh beef, lamb, chicken, livers, sometimes vennison and some veggies that vets in the area say are good for dogs. They grind it up together and pack them by the pound, then freeze it. That way people can opt to feed it raw or cooked. They sell it for $1.99/lb. It's fairly cost effective and could be something you could try for your trio.

[Merlin]

Out of a 10, that food would be 1 sorry to say.
You don't want to be giving this to your dog.

[Tippsy'smom]

Thanks....

Out of a 10, that food would be 1 sorry to say.
You don't want to be giving this to your dog.

I don't have an option right now. It's what my parents buy.

[Merlin]

Can you not perhaps speak to your parents about nutrition?
Would they be inclined to listen to you?
Some people buy certain foods simply because they don't know any better. Could that simply be the case in their case?

Maybe if you offered them information they might take it into consideration, because in the long run, you'll end up spending money at the vet. With this food, you can count on rotten teeth, which costs a fortune to repair. They might be willing to listen to that, epescially if you let them know you want to keep the dog as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, contrary to what someone higher up said, no, they won't thrive on it, they might stay alive on it, but they certainly won't thrive. Not at all.

[Tippsy'smom]

It's all about money. :/ My dad thinks "a dog is a dog, and it doesn't matter what they eat". And I KNOW my mom would buy better quality food if it wouldn't end up with my dad chewin' her out over it.

[Merlin]

My dad thinks "a dog is a dog,

But this is your dog is it not?
How about offering to contribute to her food bill?
Are you a student? Maybe you could get a paper route, part time job, baby sit, wash cars, cut lawns, anything that could generate an income that you could put towards the cost of better food. If you could earn 40.00 in an entire month, ( and that's what? washing 4 cars -or 2 night's babisitting? in the neighbourhood maybe?), your Mom could add that to her 20.00 and purchase a 60.00 bag of dog food. That would show your Dad that you are seriously standing behind what you preach and show that you are concerned about bettering her health.

[Auddymay]

I understand that you cannot control your parents thinking, especially now that you have 3 good-sized dogs not to mention the littles. Merlin gave some good suggestions about raising money, and it would be great if you could, but not knowing the entire situation, there is no disgrace if you cannot. I used to have money from babysitting and working other jobs at your age, but as I made money, it also became my responsibility to clothe myself and pay for gas and away from home food. I did not have any extra money.

While it is not the best food, if your animals do not have any problems such as food allergies or chronic skin issues, your babies will be okay. We raised many an animal to ripe old ages feeding them grocery store crap long before there were premium brands. In fact my Boxer thrived on K&B and Pip ate it many years before switching to Nutro in 2004 ...supplement when you can with sardines as suggested. They are fairly cheap and the furbabies love them.

The best argument for going even one grade higher in food is that the dogs use more of the product and eliminate less, some say they eat less because of it being used more optimally, but I do not know that for a fact...I know the poops got smaller and PIP did eat a little less, but then I put her on a diet and it was 20% less, but she never acted too hungry. Eating less of premium was about the same as eating more of the grocery brands, price wise.

[Merlin]

I used to have money from babysitting and working other jobs at your age, but as I made money, it also became my responsibility to clothe myself and pay for gas and away from home food. I did not have any extra money.

Are you actually telling this person not to have financial goals because she might have to work towards other financial goals?? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what I'm reading here?

You can marginalize food all you want, and yes dogs did survive on the stuff, but they certainly didn't thrive, and the long ago back country dog is a far cry different from today's dog that lives in today's toxic environment. I think any doctor will tell you that you are what you eat. Dogs are no different. This is like telling someone to go eat at McDonald's everyday, but take some vitamins, and everything will be ok, they are going to thrive. ... there isn't anything farther from the truth.

The reason that better quality dog foods exist is because we've learned a lot more, poor and frowned upon, " undermarkets" were pubically exposed, and many dogs did die, many did have poor overall health, not to mention that the biggest, single source of income for vets now is teeth cleaning from eating poor foods.

Tippy, in my own experience, it was ok to negotiate financial objectives with my parents. It was certainly worth the try, and my experience was very different.
My parents encouraged me, and in fact chipped in to meet my own contributions. (If I made 50$, my parents would chip in 50$) They never turned around and made me use the money for something else that wasn't on the bargaining table at any particular time. Maybe your parents are like that as well. Who knows! I hope they are but you won't know until you try.

[Tippsy'smom]

My dad thinks "a dog is a dog,

But this is your dog is it not?
How about offering to contribute to her food bill?
Are you a student? Maybe you could get a paper route, part time job, baby sit, wash cars, cut lawns, anything that could generate an income that you could put towards the cost of better food. If you could earn 40.00 in an entire month, ( and that's what? washing 4 cars -or 2 night's babisitting? in the neighbourhood maybe?), your Mom could add that to her 20.00 and purchase a 60.00 bag of dog food. That would show your Dad that you are seriously standing behind what you preach and show that you are concerned about bettering her health.

These are my dogs. But I was saying that my dad doesn't think it matters, and he's "the one paying the bills and keeping a roof over our heads and feeding us." I'm not currently a student, looking at starting college in the fall(not sure yet). There's no paper routes here, I've been turned down numerous times by part-time and full-time jobs, sadly, out here no one really washes their cars.... The rain does it, and there's a family that lives diagonal from us who own a lawn-care business and I think we're almost the only family in the neighborhood who don't have them cut our grass, and the ONLY person who trusts me to watch their child is my best friend who lives 45 minutes away...... Even though we're trying to work out a way I can start babysitting for her a couple hours a day, only problem is I don't have my driver's license(I just failed my driver's test last Friday), so no income at the moment.

I understand that you cannot control your parents thinking, especially now that you have 3 good-sized dogs not to mention the littles. Merlin gave some good suggestions about raising money, and it would be great if you could, but not knowing the entire situation, there is no disgrace if you cannot. I used to have money from babysitting and working other jobs at your age, but as I made money, it also became my responsibility to clothe myself and pay for gas and away from home food. I did not have any extra money.

While it is not the best food, if your animals do not have any problems such as food allergies or chronic skin issues, your babies will be okay. We raised many an animal to ripe old ages feeding them grocery store crap long before there were premium brands. In fact my Boxer thrived on K&B and Pip ate it many years before switching to Nutro in 2004 ...supplement when you can with sardines as suggested. They are fairly cheap and the furbabies love them.

The best argument for going even one grade higher in food is that the dogs use more of the product and eliminate less, some say they eat less because of it being used more optimally, but I do not know that for a fact...I know the poops got smaller and PIP did eat a little less, but then I put her on a diet and it was 20% less, but she never acted too hungry. Eating less of premium was about the same as eating more of the grocery brands, price wise.

Thanks Audrey! I HOPE I can better their food at least in the next couple of years. They're doing well on their food. No hot spotting or upset stomachs or anything. Also when I start college, I'll be renting an apartment near whatever school I choose so I can have my crew with me, so I'll be a student full time, be looking for or working a part-time job, and trying to pay rent, to feed myself and the dogs, and to put gas in the explorer.... :/ I'm in for it. And I have a feeling I'll be living off of dollar menus for a while....

I used to have money from babysitting and working other jobs at your age, but as I made money, it also became my responsibility to clothe myself and pay for gas and away from home food. I did not have any extra money.

Are you actually telling this person not to have financial goals because she might have to work towards other financial goals?? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what I'm reading here?

You can marginalize food all you want, and yes dogs did survive on the stuff, but they certainly didn't thrive, and the long ago back country dog is a far cry different from today's dog that lives in today's toxic environment. I think any doctor will tell you that you are what you eat. Dogs are no different. This is like telling someone to go eat at McDonald's everyday, but take some vitamins, and everything will be ok, they are going to thrive. ... there isn't anything farther from the truth.

The reason that better quality dog foods exist is because we've learned a lot more, poor and frowned upon, " undermarkets" were pubically exposed, and many dogs did die, many did have poor overall health, not to mention that the biggest, single source of income for vets now is teeth cleaning from eating poor foods.

Tippy, in my own experience, it was ok to negotiate financial objectives with my parents. It was certainly worth the try, and my experience was very different.
My parents encouraged me, and in fact chipped in to meet my own contributions. (If I made 50$, my parents would chip in 50$) They never turned around and made me use the money for something else that wasn't on the bargaining table at any particular time. Maybe your parents are like that as well. Who knows! I hope they are but you won't know until you try.

Money's not really a subject my parents want to discuss with me... They argue over finances EVERYDAY. Like I said previously, my mom would buy the better quality food if it wouldn't cause a fight. But our vets(Yes, we have 2) have told us our dogs are some of the healthiest they've seen.

[Merlin]

Money's not really a subject my parents want to discuss with me... They argue over finances EVERYDAY.

I'm sorry to hear that and I truly wish you the best of luck!

[Tippsy'smom]

Thank you.

[Zhuyos mom]

Jess, Kibbles 'n Bits has a page on FB if you didn't already know. It might be a good page to join and ask any questions you might have regarding the food and your trio on the food. Since they have first hand knowledge on feeding their dog K'nB, the community manager or the page's friends could be more valuable to you rather than answers certain forum members here might provide you.

My family's first two chows THRIVED, prospered, lived a very long active life on Pedigree, both crossing over too young at 14 years of age. Pedigree and Kibbles 'n Bits both rate low on those dog food analysis sites. Several forum members on this site feed their amazingly beautiful and healthy chows Pedigree. So don't feel bad if your parents can only buy K'nB/Purina for your three. Like I mentioned before, if they are not hot spotting and are doing fine, its okay.

[Auddymay]

I used to have money from babysitting and working other jobs at your age, but as I made money, it also became my responsibility to clothe myself and pay for gas and away from home food. I did not have any extra money.

Are you actually telling this person not to have financial goals because she might have to work towards other financial goals?? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what I'm reading here?

Yes, you are mis-understanding. I am saying that it is great if you can, and it is obvious Jess has goals, in life and concerning her animals. As an adult, we know only too well the cost of living, and knowing a glimmer of Jesse's situation, I didn't want her to feel she fails because she cannot simply fix things.

[Tippsy'smom]

Thanks Lou and Audrey!

[crickle_22]

Hello!!!

I'm not sure if you have had any problems with Purina dog foods but growing up my parents bought our pets purina and sometimes the hair on their lower back would become irritable and they would lose some of their fur. It happend with our dogs and cats that ate purina. Also.. friends of my parents started complaining about their animals having the same issue and they fed their pets purina. I'm not out to bash the brand but it's been my experience that it can cause issues. After they switched food the hair grew back and they stopped scratching. I refuse to buy it for Koda because it isn't known to be heathly but I'm sure you can find a better food for a pretty decent price... you just have to look around. Try and find sales. Good luck!

[Tippsy'smom]

I've never had that problem with ANY of our dogs, or cats, on purina.

[Merlin]

I've never had that problem with ANY of our dogs, or cats, on purina.

Whether you';ve had problems or not, doesn't negate the very well known fact that the food is extremely low quality food by any stretch of the word - and your argument is a very typical response from people who try to justify the fact that they feed that type of food to their dogs. No reply needed and I'm not picking on you, but the world knows that this type of food is at the very bottom rung of the food ladder.

[Tippsy'smom]

Well I can't afford a better quality food! As I have said before! And my dogs are doing FINE on this food! Jasper was on purina puppy chow as a puppy and switched to KnB when when he turned 1! And Dixie's on purina puppy chow now and has NO problems on it! Excuse me for being stuck by what my parents want to feed them! I can't change the way my dad is about money! That's what it ALL comes down to! I don't need people criticizing me because I can't afford the top quality food for them! If I could, they'd be on it!

[Merlin]

I don't need people criticizing me because I can't afford the top quality food for them! If I could, they'd be on it!

I have to tell you I find that very comical. Saying that the food you are feeding is a simple. proven fact and not any criticizm. But.... weren't YOU just in another part of this forum criticizing someone from Kuala Lampour about the way HE keeps his dogs?

How odd that you should think your position is better than his - or that your concept of a dog's lifestyle should be better than what he offers his own dog. If you ever left your back yard you'd know that people in Malaysia who own dogs in the city have far more disposable income than most small town USAers , so chances are good that his dogs are fed far better than yours are, and people who have travelled know that people in other countries don't necessarily live the way we do here... and that it's perfectly normal, and acceptable for dogs in some countries to live outside, ( just like they do in the Southern USA by the way), yet it seems ok for YOU to criticize this person about how he should raise his dogs? That's entirely funny.

Well I can't afford a better quality food!

And you're seriously considering another dog? Indeed!

[Tippsy'smom]

You're not even worth my time. THOUSANDS of dogs eat Kibbles 'n Bits everyday! At least MY dogs are being fed and taken care of as they should be! Many dogs don't get that!

And FYI, I said I WANT another chow, not that I'm getting one NOW. It may not happen for years!

[Merlin]

THOUSANDS of dogs eat Kibbles 'n Bits everyday!

Yep and THOUSANDS of humans eat at MacDonald's everyday and think they are healthy too. The food is crap. What you feed your dog is your business. I just found it funny that you have the audacity to criticize someone else about how THEY are looking after their dogs.

[Tippsy'smom]

1) I don't agree with the way he HOUSES his chow!
2) My dogs are with me almost 24/7, they aren't left alone outside for more than 15-30 minutes! They're INSIDE WITH ME MOST of the time!
3) I WILL speak my mind.
4) I MAY live in the South, but I am NOT a back woods HICK like my father and the fools like him! It makes me SICK to see dogs chained up outside 24/7! MY DOGS ARE FAMILY!

[Merlin]

My dogs are with me almost 24/7, they aren't left alone outside for more than 15-30 minutes

That's your prerogative. Go live in other countries before you cast stones. You'll find that life is very different in different countries, what is socially acceptable here, doesn't mean socially acceptable there, and it doesn't make them bad owners just because they don't do what you do or live the way you live.

[Tippsy'smom]

And I really don't care!