What is a better dog food… Purina One or Iams?
Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at
9:28 am
I know that Science Diet is one of the best dog foods, but I am currently in a financial slump and must buy grocery store dog food. My dog has bad skin allergies and I normally buy her Lamb and Rice . I was just wondering if either one of these brands was better than the other.
Tagged with: Better • Food • Iams • Purina
Filed under: Flea Allergies In Dogs
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Purina is better than Iams although neither is great but they will do the trick of getting the dog fed. I hope you get out of your slump soon
It is a matter of personal preference. Whatever your dog likes.
You probably won’t see much difference either way. Read the ingredients.
If it lists corn, by products, animal digest, BHA, BHT, dyes, sweeteners, and such, then they are basically the same.
Many dogs have food sensitivities to wheat, chicken, and corn. My suggestion is Fish and Chips or Lamb Millet and Rice from http://www.frrco.com/121668 It seems more expensive, but with free shipping, feeding 25% less, and it being a non-allergic formula, you wind up paying around $1.00 a day to feed your dog… that is NOT expensive considering.
Switch foods gradually to help avoid stomach upset. A high quality, non-allergic formula will help with itchiness, dull coat, allergy induced ear infections, and other sypmtoms.
Good luck!
Neither, both are made with poor protein sources. As we can see from the recent huge recall of pet foods containing a toxin, the best dog food is one you make yourself!
Skin allergies are most often caused by feeding grains to your carnivore! There are very few grain free pet foods and those that are can be expensive.
A savvy shopper can feed their dog home made meals for much less than the worst commercial food.
Try Rawpaws group on Yahoo for help on DIY pet foods.
To be brutally honest, neither of these foods are really the “best,” including Science Diet. All of these makers fill their foods with empty junk fillers, like corn meal, various animal bi-products, etc. However, I can definitely sympathize with your financial consideration. Food can DEFINITELY be a factor in skin and coat health, though, so splurging a bit on higher grade foods will definitely be worth it in the long run.
I’d recommend getting out of the grocery store and hitting up a pet store. Look for Innova, Nutro, Canidae, and Blue Buffalo. These higher-end food have less fillers and more “meat,” thus you won’t need to feed as much (they’ll be full on less), and it will help with coat and skin condition.
Science Diet is not a good food, I know I used it for mine for years thinking that, if my vet sells it, it must be good. It’s not – vets get paid to stock it by the company and it is mostly corn.
Meat should be the first product listed, with no corn fillers and no artificial ingredients. Grocery store dog food is trash too.
My dachsies had skin problems, a trainer told me to try Canidae Chicken and Rice and it is like a miracle – good food makes for good skin and good health.
Try Canidae, Chicken and Rice is specifically for sensitive skin. It costs more, you get it at feed stores or pet stores, but it is worth it.
If you can’t afford that, at least try one of the Diamond dry foods, not more than Science Diet and far better quality.
It makes a difference, believe me.
Personally, I’ve always fed my pets (1 large dog & 2 cats) the Iams brand foods. I checked it over with my vet first and they said it’s just fine. My pets however have never had any allergies or skin issues, you may want to doubled check with your vet to see if they have any suggestions for you. Best of luck and I hope it all works out for your four legged pal.
Science diet did the same thing Iams did and switched their ingredients without notifying consumers. It has become a very poor quality food. Iams is even worse and Purina, while it is the best out of the three is still not a good quality. If you are on a budget I would recommend Maxximum Nutrition from Walmart. It is better than all three of these foods and it’s the best commercial brand dog food I have found. I personally feed mine Innova Evo because I don’t want him having any fillers But Maxximum Nutrition is what I recommend to everyone. Basically what you want to look for is a meat product as the first ingredient. If the first ingredient is cornmeal, brewers rice, or wheat it’s just full of fillers and will not provide adequate nutrition and will only cause the dog to defecate more. If you go for a much higher quality like canidae, you will actually save money because you don’t have to feed your dog as much because it’s such a better quality.
None of those foods are good. They are all what I like to refer to as “crap in a bag”. Here are the ratings, all receive the lowest rating; 1 out of 6 stars.
Purina One: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=262&cat=all
Iams: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=143&cat=all
Science Diet: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=131&cat=all
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Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food. A grain should not be in the first couple ingredients ingredient (corn and such are mainly fillers, dogs don’t digest it well). Avoid foods that have a lot of “by products” listed.
Here is an article about byproducts:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd
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Some GOOD foods are :
* Merrick – http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Solid Gold – http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Canidae – http://www.canidae.com/
* Timberwolf – http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Orijen – http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/
* Wellness – http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/
* Chicken Soup brand – http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* Innova – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Innova EVO – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp
Or check this website for good foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)
*** NOTE: It may seem like quality foods cost more, but in the end, it evens out. With a high-quality food, you don’t have as many fillers. Also, with a high-quality food, your dog will eat less and poop less. So while that bag of higher-quality dog food looks expensive, your monthly feeding bills won’t increase much, if at all. ***
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Beware “premium” foods. “Premium” does not mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. It has the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)
Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that’s why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don’t focus a lot on nutrition. It’s not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told “this is good food”, so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it’s good as well.
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When switching foods, do it slowly. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A
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If you’re in a financial pinch, Chicken Soup brand is actually quite cheap, while still being a quality food.
Both are low quality (Science Diet is too). Are you sure it’s not the food causing the skin allergy? If this is the case maybe changing to a better food would remove the cost of allergy medications to enable you to spend more on the food? Just an idea.
Of these 2 there is very little difference, but I would say Iams is better. Purina is one of the worst. This link will help you check what is good and what isn’t http://pets.families.com/blog/grade-your-dog-food
I do totally respect the financial situation so if it has to be either of these Iams is better. You may find though that the slightly more expensive to buy does not actually work out more expensive to feed. A dog eats less of a better quality food hence bringing down the price. Many companies will send you samples of their foods if you wish to try them. Many will also send money off coupons too. They want you to buy their product so of course they are helpful. I know Wellness does an e-mail coupon for $3 off every 2 months. The coupon lasts for 2 months and you can print as many as you need. The link is here to sign up for their Well Pet Club where you get the coupons from: http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/dog_index.html
Thanks for trying to do all you can with limited resorces. Hope things get better soon.
Well.. Science Diet, ALL Purina products, Iams/Eukanuba, Ol Roy, Kibbles N Bits, Pedigree, Beneful, ALL GARBAGE foods.. ALL OF THEM!
For what you are going to feed of the Purina or the Iams, you should get something good like the Canidae.. They eat less they get their nutrition from the food easier, and there is no poison garbage in it like all the above foods..
If money is that bad, you are better off feeding what you are having for supper.. My vet admitted to me that the ingredients in these foods cause cancer and birth defects.. They are poison.. Do you know what Copper Sulfate is?? It’s a fungicide.. BHA/BHT and Ethoxyquin are preservatives that cause cancer. How about Menadione, their synthetic source of K.. Do you know what it does to dogs??
causes cytotoxicity in liver cells
causes formation of radicals from enzymes of leucocytes, with the consequence of cytotoxic reactions
considerably weakens the immune system
possible mutagenic effects
damages the natural vitamin K cycle
has no effect on coumarin derivatives, which are often present in commercial food due to mold contamination (toxic when ingested)
causes hemolytic anemia and hyperbilirubinemia, not just linked to large doses
disturbs the level of calcium ions (Ca2+) in the body, which is an important factor fibrinolysis
is directly toxic in high doses (vomiting, albuminuria), unlike natural vitamin K
builds up in tissue and has been detected in eggs, meat and milk of animals supplemented with menadione derivatives
causes irritation of skin and mucous membranes
causes allergic reactions and eczema
Am I a food nut.. Maybe I am, but you know what.. My dogs don’t have allergy problems, skin problems, health issues, they aren’t constipated, no diarrhea, they don’t throw up after they eat, they don’t have crap in their eyes and ears.. They are healthy, VERY healthy, dogs with great skin and coat, good energy, well behaved, strong dogs… I don’t have the issues that 95% of the people on this list have with their chronic ears and skin, I don’t have my dogs bored of their food, searching for something new.. I don’t have my dogs suddenly quiet and listless.. I worry about what they eat and I feed them well and make sure that they get what the need.. Health comes from with in.. Put in good and you get good health. Feed Garbage and well with your allergy issues, you know that you have troubles.. Feed Good, forget the garbage.. Unless you love helping your vet to have a nicer life than you.. Fill your dog with good and forget the crap…
My friend with her MS in comp. animal nutrition says IAMS all the way.
None of the above. Especially for a sensitive dog like you have. As far as price is concerned – the higher quality foods really aren’t that much more expensive in my areas the 40lb bags of Iams go for about $30 bucks. I get my guys a 30lb bag of Innova Evo for $37 a little less than 50 cents more per lb. (I prefer to feed a grain-free diet and Natura pets is a manufacturer that I totally trust so I’m willing to go out of my way for the Evo – my lab X has a chronic ear infection and it has done wonders for her skin conditions if you want to check it out. Though I bet w/ some shopping around you can find another high-quality kibble for less) Also take into consideration that my dogs need to eat a whooole lot less of the quality foods verses the stuff full of fill. Honestly – Check the feeding guidelines on the foods you look at. Before I was dog nutrition savvy I fed a not so nice brand of food. The dog I had was 60 lbs and he needed 3 cups of food a day according to those feeding guidelines. My current 65lb dog only needs 2 cups of food w/ the Evo – so actually that 30lb bag is probably going to last me just as long if not a tad longer than that 40 of iams for only $7 more. If you want to go home-cooked you have to be very committed to providing a balanced diet. With some of the products out on the market today that shouldn’t be too bad – A box of brown rice maybe a little ground turkey a can of green beans and a couple scoops of missing link – may not be the most ideal but it’s cheap and still a lot better than the brands mentioned.
Try and take another look at your budget and see what you can swing – remember a little preventive medicine (Good Nutrition!) can save thousands in vet bills.
Some good sites to check out are http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com & www. dogfoodproject.com
Best of Luck to you and your dog!
Not sure about these 2 particular brands. My vet always said that whatever the food, make sure the first ingredient in the list is MEAT.
Otherwise they are mostly made up of cereals and grains, which do not give your dog the proper nutrition that they need.