dog food -sorry!

[minx and misty]

I know u will all sigh when u see another question about dog food, but i have been researching the site and past posts but not had much look.

Anyway! I feed reggie rat mix with veggies but think i should include a dog food for better nutritional value.

I live in the UK so need one that is readily available here. I assume it should be the mix/cereal type and not the tinned wet meat type? Or would a bit of both be ok? I think the girls would prefer the wet meat for a change of texture.

I need to keep the protein content low don't i?
Could anyone give me some makes/brands and things to check for on the ingredients/ nutrients list please?

Thank you very much!  

[Suebee]

I use Nutro Natural Choice Lite... and Nutro IS available in the UK.

http://www.nutro.co.uk/dog/index.htm

(it's just called Nutro Choice on your side of the pond)

[minx and misty]

thank you!
So Nutro is a dry mix isn't it?
What about the tinned wet meat type of dog food?
Would this be ok?  

[Suebee]

I personally prefer to feed rats dry dog foods so they have crunchy foods. Though they do grind their teeth together to wear them down, crunchy, dry foods also help.

Personally, I don't recommend wet dog food. Others may have a different opinion.

[minx and misty]

well ill get some nutro at the weekend.

So what can i feed my girls that has a different texture to hard dry mixes?

they get veggies and occaisional fruit and table scraps, but i was thinking of something that i could add as part of their daily bowl ration of mix.

Any ideas anyone?

thanks  

[Tizzrah]

Cereals are always good for your rats, provided they are low in fat and sugar.  I'm not sure what you guys have over there in the UK, so I'll just suggest shredded wheat or something like it.  

[minx and misty]

Well i went to get some Nutro but it seems too expensive for my budget here in UK  

Whats the next best thing?

Thanks for the help
 

[PA_ratman]

I'm planning on using some nutro lite along with my rat mix, lab blocks, fruit and veggies and total cerial (plus treats)

[CrazySenji]

I would not feed nutro to any animal!!   When it was tested against other dog foods it was found to have a seditave(spelling?) in it.  I am very active in the dog world (I show dogs) and I am pretty sure that the study was correct.  I personally feed my dogs and cats Iams and i feed my ratties purina one biscuits as treats.

Hope that helps!
Becku

[CrazySenji]

Again, I might be wrong about that but that is what I have heard about it.  I work at a pet store and we swiched from Nutra to another food.  If I am wrong please correct me!

Thanks!
Becky

[minx and misty]

ooo thats interesting CrazySenji, about the Nutro.

So what do you feed your ratties?

 

[CrazySenji]

I feed my ratties a mix of hamster food(they like sunflower seeds) Kaytee rat food blocks(lab rat food) and veggies.  My girls LOVE carrots.  They actully turn down yogurt drops for carrots.  

[BabyBlue]

If you could show us the link to this study, that would be great. Otherwise, I've also heard of not so great things about  Iam and Purina, so I'm reluctant to believe everything I hear. Hopefully Kim or others who are more knowledgeable about  nutrition and dog food can chime in. I personally like Wellness, and I've also heard great things about Innova (but not sure if these are available in UK)

[kim]

first, this is not true.
 
what DID happen. the full report can be read here - from the FDA!
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/efoi/DFreport.doc
 

people spread the rumor that dog foods had dead dogs in them. completely false. an article that broke the story: http://wkyc.com/news/national/020513dogfood.asp

dog foods were tested and a select list of foods had tested positive for pentobarbitol, which is an anesthetic, also used to OD dogs for euthanasia. was it from dead dogs? NO. no dog or cat DNA was ever found. the most likely culprit? rendered meat from the slaughterhouse.
brands that tested positive: http://wkyc.com/news/national/dogfoodchart.rtf
(note it was ONLY one formula of nutro that tested positive!)

no other formulas of nutro tested positive, AFAIK. i prefer many other foods over nutro, granted. if you look on the list, purina is listed as testing positive NUMEROUS times!!!!!!

iams/purina is a MUCH lower quality food than nutro, etc though if you want to split hairs all in all there are many other foods that are better than both of them in my opinion.

[kim]

in addition, crazysenji (in random chatter, care to post pics of your basenjis? -- what kennels are your dogs from? where are you showing?) -- please dont feed your rats hamster mixes!!!! its VERY unhealthy for them! do a quick search either on the board or online, or int he reference section about rat diets and check out the other options...

[CrazySenji]

I only give my girls the sunflowewr seeds out of the hamster food.  The won't touch the rest anyways :-p My one and only basenji is from Meisterhaus kennels. I'll post the link in random chatter.