Pet food choice

[gyroid]

My cat is eating Canadian Acana foods, but I can't find any shops selling it by googling "acana" in Chilean web.

Have you seen this food in pet stores? Any good alternatives in Chile?

[pnv]

The choices here are not very good and they all seem to come from the same supplier just with different packaging. I have a couple of dogs and and cats and I just go to the local butcher and get the scraps, meaty bones and leftovers. sometimes i'll boil the bones with lots of bone marrow with some rice and they all love it.

[hlf2888]

My dogs have been on raw meat and bones and are thriving. I never cook the bones. My cat would not transition, so she is eating the medium priced kibble. When I return I will try again to get her to eat raw. I read somewhere that cats do not like to eat anything that has been dead for a while, so maybe that is why she turns her nose up to the raw meat and bones. Tried canned fish, she just walked away. But she loves the kibble. They must put something addictive in it. I think the brand name is Champion but as pnv said, it is probably all the same supplier.

[thisisreallycomplicated]

I always cooked my dogs' food, because I don't trust commercial pet foods. I didn't give them cooked bones, because of all the warnings about cooking making them brittle, and likely to splinter. But uncooked bones are supposed to be safe. I tried giving my last dog raw chicken wings, but he didn't like them. I don't know anything about cat food though.

[hlf2888]

Well, after researching what carnivores eat, I decided to give the dogs what they needed, raw meat and bones. They have been eating that for 3 years now and are healthier and their fur is shinier and they play more. Kibble is just a convenience for the humans, and totally bad for the animals. Cooking their food is not advised either, there are nutrients in raw meats that carnivores require. I guess I believe my animals have the right to the food that they need, not just the food that is convenient for me.

[thisisreallycomplicated]

Well, after researching what carnivores eat, I decided to give the dogs what they needed, raw meat and bones. They have been eating that for 3 years now and are healthier and their fur is shinier and they play more. Kibble is just a convenience for the humans, and totally bad for the animals. Cooking their food is not advised either, there are nutrients in raw meats that carnivores require. I guess I believe my animals have the right to the food that they need, not just the food that is convenient for me.

If you're responding to me, I think we're in agreement:) I was trying to get my dog used to raw, starting with the chicken wings. Although, I doubt that the factory farmed chicken I was buying, was nearly as good for him as the chicken his system was designed for.

[hlf2888]

Hi thisis, sorry for coming across judgmentally. When the dog is truly hungry, it will eat. I found that I had pampered my dogs a bit too much and they never got hungry. One of them, the little mutt who showed up at the gate one day as a puppy and asked if she could live with us, turned up her nose to the raw chicken. I discovered she was not truly hungry. Every day she hunts rabbits and catches enough a week to stay well fed. The food I offer is only her last resort food, nothing beats freshly caught rabbit. The two larger dogs never learned to hunt rabbits and they cannot roam the farm freely, only one fenced hectare, so they salivate at breakfast and supper. Breakfast is chicken backs (the cheapest parts at the butcher) and livers, and supper is raw meaty bones from the butcher (500 pesos per kg) and the occasional wild rabbit. So their food costs are comparable to the kibble and I sleep better. Sorry your dog does not like the chicken but maybe he just isn't hungry enough. and also, I try to get them to fast one day a week, more in line with their carnivore ways. They try to guilt me out of it. Your dog will probably like the chicken the day after the fast... oh yes, I add hot water to get it to room temperature and mix the chicken livers in... they seem to like that presentation best.

[thisisreallycomplicated]

Hi thisis, sorry for coming across judgmentally. When the dog is truly hungry, it will eat. I found that I had pampered my dogs a bit too much and they never got hungry. One of them, the little mutt who showed up at the gate one day as a puppy and asked if she could live with us, turned up her nose to the raw chicken. I discovered she was not truly hungry. Every day she hunts rabbits and catches enough a week to stay well fed. The food I offer is only her last resort food, nothing beats freshly caught rabbit. The two larger dogs never learned to hunt rabbits and they cannot roam the farm freely, only one fenced hectare, so they salivate at breakfast and supper. Breakfast is chicken backs (the cheapest parts at the butcher) and livers, and supper is raw meat bones from the butcher (500 pesos per kg) and the occasional wild rabbit. So their food costs are comparable to the kibble and I sleep better. Sorry your dog does not like the chicken but maybe he just isn't hungry enough. and also, I try to get them to fast one day a week, more in line with their carnivore ways. They try to guilt me out of it. Your dog will probably like the chicken the day after the fast... oh yes, I add hot water to get it to room temperature and mix the chicken livers in... they seem to like that presentation best.

I tried hot water with the chicken wings, and it helped a little. But we had bigger problems, and he died last year:( I'll probably try again, when I get another dog.

[gyroid]

The choices here are not very good and they all seem to come from the same supplier just with different packaging. I have a couple of dogs and and cats and I just go to the local butcher and get the scraps, meaty bones and leftovers. sometimes i'll boil the bones with lots of bone marrow with some rice and they all love it.

That's bad. Is pet food import allowed? I will order nice foods then.

Raw is not an answer for a cat because he needs many other components of his prey's body besides meat. And I can not give rats alive to him, it's too hardcore for me (also he caught one once and didn't know how to eat poor thing).

[hlf2888]

I am sorry about your dog thisis.

gyroid, why not live in the country. Your cat with have a variety of prey to eat and it is healthier for humans also. Who knows, maybe the one he caught did not look tasty. My cat was born in a barn so maybe the hunting instinct is more intact?

[gyroid]

I am sorry about your dog thisis.

gyroid, why not live in the country. Your cat with have a variety of prey to eat and it is healthier for humans also. Who knows, maybe the one he caught did not look tasty. My cat was born in a barn so maybe the hunting instinct is more intact?

Haha, he caught huge fat rat/mouse in tropical country. It was closer to a guinea pig than to a rat. Still he just killed the poor thing and lose interest.

My friend who had more then dozen cats said they need to learn from their mother how to eat their prey.

[hlf2888]

interesting