[MyRescueCrew]

This entire discussion has been very informative and it's also been very interestig to see what others feed their dogs, why they feed it, and their opinions on the different foods. I wanted to chime in here with a few opinions of my own as well. First, I have 6 rescue dogs, 3 of them get Purina Dog Chow, however my newest, and smallest, dog gets a mixture of the better canned foods (she has no teeth) such as Solid Gold, EVO, Nature's Variety, ect. I am very confused on if, and what to, I want to switch my dogs food. When I was younger, we always fed foods such as Pedigree, Dog Chow, and Iams. My little terrier mix breed died of cancer at only 9 years old. Our dachshund died of a heart attack at 14, and our 16 year old is still currently living but is riddled with tumors and no vet wants to touch them at her age.

However, here's a few others from another side of the coin. Where I work, a client has a 17 year old black lab that is in great health. The dog lives outside and has been on Purina Dog Chow its entire life. However, a black lab that we have living at my job is 8 yrs old, on Dog Chow, and is very arthritic, slow moving, and has a tumor on her neck. My co-worker has a 17 year old dachshund that has been on Science Diet its entire life, and has no tumors, cancer, ect., and she gets around great. Oddly enough, my aunt had a shih tzu that just passed away at 17, and it never ate dog food in his life. Nothing but table scraps. And lastly, my other aunt has a min. poodle that just passed away a few weeks shy of his 23 birthday(!!!) and he only ate whichever food was on sale at the grocery store.

So the thing is, my dog died at 9 of cancer on cheap food (and some table scraps) while my aunts dog lived till nearly 23. So I can't say cheap is better, or holisitic is better. The entire thing is confusing and like so many others, I wish there was a clear cut answer.

I do know that Purina has been around for about 75 years, however they are using preservatives now that weren't around 75 years ago. Processing plants are different, preservatives have changed, more chemicals are used now than ever not only in dog foods, but human foods as well. So that's not to say Purina is just as safe as it was even only 20 years ago. So I'm beyond confused on what to change to. The ones that are on it are active, happy, and healthy. However, when I had them on Wellness, they were active, happy, and healthy. I tried Solid Gold on Audubon, and her coat was HORRIBLE, while my friend's Great Dane looks beautiful on it. However, I tried Jake, for a short while, on Dog Chow, and he scratched like crazy.

I do not have children, so my dogs are my children. I pamper and baby them like crazy, from sleeping in the bed, to them going everywhere they can with me. So I obiviously want to feed them the best thing possible, whatever that may be. I've even considered raw, but I just can't afford it financially and really don't know if that's any better than Dog Chow as far as extending their lifespan goes.

Other factors, however, also include their overall health. My dogs are all rescues, all came from rescue orgs. or the pound. Two of them were bred several times before being rescued (Callie and Katie) and were spayed later in life, so that worries me. Bo is one of my newer rescues, and at 8 years old, just got neutered in Feb. However, Audubon is 7, spayed since 3 months old, and got a mass cell tumor on her leg at only 6 years old. Was food (mostly Nutro) a factor? I have no clue, but I can't help but wonder.

Anywho, that's just my two cents (sorry if it seems more like rambling!).