commercial or "holistic" dog food?

May 2021 5 69 Report

commercial or "holistic" dog food?

just wanted to know why everyone automatically thinks that holistic dog food is ALWAYS better than commercial dog food.

fact of the matter is, as long as both brands are of high quality, they're pretty much the same thing.

Most of the bigger companies manufacturing commercial dog food puts in millions of dollars in researching to make sure their food is absolutly safe, can't really say the same for the holistic brands.

but just really wondering why people keep on ripping on commercial dog food, and please dont say it has corn blah blah blah. BOTH types of food are fine to feed, really its just a matter of preferance to the owner.

And if you're STILL biased against commercial, let me just say a couple of things.

1. most of holistic dog food producers has little to no clinical research on the long term effects of their food.

2.sure it may be "natural" but A LOT of toxins,poisons,etc are "natural" too.

3.since there's no preservatives in them, most countries require some sort of radiation eradication to remove possible contanminates. so the next time you pick up a bag of holistic food from over seas, you may be potentally giving your pet radiation poisoning. Remember that issue with orijin cat food over in Australia a few months ago? couple dozen cats died of acute renal failure.

4.possible health risk to the general public with the feeding of "RAW" diets due to bacteria contamination.

now with saying all of this, it may make me look a little bit bias, but not really since I'm just stating facts here, unlike all the fanatical pro-natural who just likes to type in big letters, give out old misinformed info. to create a "scare" campagian,etc.

Just putting that out there :P

Update:

2.sure eating something natural may have less denaturaized vitamins,minerals,etc. BUT thats only if our body or our pet's digestive system can actually FULLY digest it. it's been "scientifically" proven *cough common sense* if your body can't FULLY digest something, its not FULLY getting everything.

Update 3:

4. there's a difference between RAW meat and RARE meant, one has been cooked at least a little the other hasn't.

pretty poor point you put out there.

and marci, you are absoluty right :P

Update 5:

Dispite what all the internet "real-school" ads say...

There is NO CERTIFIED animal nutrition course out there besides the courses that reside in the registered veterinary technician and becoming a veterinarian.

sorry buddy, but sounds like you got ripped.

but if you HAVE taken the courses to become a rvt or dvm, then i take it back.

Pets / Dogs

Answers & Comments

marci knows best

Verified answer

Not sure what your question is, but "holistic" is nothing more than a phony marketing term.

Anonymous

It is scientifically known that the more organic something is the more vitamins your body can get from it.

Also most of them chalk it full of vitamins and spray on flavor. Animals typically digest what their bodies are meant to hold more right?

And isn't it funny that...

every vet will tell you that cats are pure carnivores...

yet the top brands (Iams/Eukanuba, Purina) all use grains in their cat food....and not just a little.

1) Who told you that? Most developers have a vet on their side. All of the big ones do. Its what gets them AAFCO certified

2) natural is one thing while holistic is another. Holistic is a natural approach usually using organic. Natural just means they didn't add too much crap...in fact some things labeled natural aren't natural at all (such as Iams naturals). Holistic also focuses on what the animal digests better. Very few use corn in ANY food since most animals don't digest it well.

3) Actually some do contain Vit E preservatives instead. They also don't have a long shelf life.

4) Possible health risk with handling raw meat in general. So yes you could put yourself at risk while having a neighborhood BBQ or making a thanksgiving dinner.

You switch your dog to holistic you will see a difference...you are biased...and this is a biased post. Why? Because you state no cons to your claim and no pros to holistic.

You are right...you gave some right info...but it is tainted. Think about it =]

EDIT:

oh yes and if raw meat were so dangerous do you think people would be able to eat rare in restaurants? Really just keep your environment clean. Besides some kibbles were tested and had a ton of bacteria anyway.

Pt 3:

excuse me...better digest. Even a crappy hospital like Kiaser will tell you that

And no not even raw feeders give just muscle meat. Its called "organ meat" and trust me...a cat can eat an entire animal. how do you think ferals do it.

TritanBear

I want what is best for my dogs and I have spent several years researching dog foods, taking nutritionist courses for dogs/animals and there are several dogs foods that are commerical that I would not even feed to my worst enemy. Most of the commerical foods will NOT disclose their meat manufacturer source which to any educated person is a huge red flag. Any of the foods that I feed my dogs over the years I made sure I was able to obtain that information which is actually crucial. Many of the commerical foods use meats preserved with BHT,BHA, Ethoxyquin, and all 3 are known carcinogens BANNED from human consumption. The dog food manufacturers do not need to put it on the ingredients list if they did not add it, so they do not want to disclose to the consumer the meat source that did add the ingredients.

An independent study just released which was done on dog foods showed that 9 out of 10 commerical dog foods have excessive, unhealthy and TOXIC levels of fluoride.

Also companies like Eukanuba/Iams have been in trouble for inhumane and UNNECESSARY animal testing. They continue to do so. I will NOT support animal cruelty and those companies continue to perform horrible experiments on dog. puppies and cats/ And no the experiments have nothing to do with the safety of their foods.

I feed my dogs a RAW diet which is completely safe if handled in the correct manner. It has drastically helped my dogs and improved their health.

All in all after 2 years of studies, courses throughout the country, I would not feed my dogs a commerical diet and that is for many reasons. But everyone is entitled to their opinions and beliefs.