Low Cost Decent Quality Food?

Chloe'sMom · 05-15-2008, 01:24 PM

Hi There!

I'm sure this question has been asked about a million times, but I am looking for a dry food to feed my two dogs, Chloe - a 7month old hound/pointer mix and Clancey a 10month old lab/corgi mix.

We are currently feeding them, Natural Balance and although they seem to do alright on it, we are looking for a lower cost food that will produce similiar if not better results. (Clancey tends to have softer poops on this food) I know all about the junk that is in foods such as Purina, Iams etc..and would love to be able to feed them super quality food such as Innova etc. however, at this time in our lives it is just not cost effective. We are saving for a house and making cuts wherever we can.

Does anyone have any suggestions besides telling me I am a bad doggie parent, by not buying top shelf premium food? I have heard about a brand of kibble that is sold at Walmart called Maxximum Nutrition that has received a 3 star rating on the Dog Food Analysis website, is this a decent food to feed them for the time being, at least until we are more settled?

Thanks for any input you may have!

Chloe and Clancey's Mom!

Purplex15 · 05-15-2008, 02:53 PM

dont judge dogfoodanalysis on ratings of the food alone. read the details on the pros and cons. its not a bad food, but i personally wouldnt feed it to my dog even if i was on a very strict budget. actually, i am on a strict budget (im 23, live in southern california, trust me, i have no extra money), and i dont feed it to my dog.

the best option, imo, is canidae. you can get a 40 lb bag for 35 bucks. i believe the small bags are under 10 bucks. it is also an all life stages food so both dogs can eat it.

if i were you, i would try and see where you can save a few extra bucks each month and get a good food, as oppossed to just giving them something average for awhile. its really not as expensive as you think, b/c the worse the food, the more the dog needs to eat, and the faster you go through it.

Chloe'sMom · 05-15-2008, 03:57 PM

We have tried Canidae and they did not do very well on it, I think it was too rich for their systems, runny stools, gas etc.

Any other suggestions, I really wish price weren't and issue, but in reality it is, I just need to find a decent food that we can feed them both that won't break the bank.

Currently for Natural Balance we're paying like 37$ for 15 pound bag!

borzoimom · 05-15-2008, 04:01 PM

I would check out chicken soup here is the link- for the price and the quality, you woudl be hard pressed to beat it..
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/

Max'sHuman · 05-15-2008, 04:11 PM

Though I have not tried this brand myself, I have heard a lot of members here say a great food for those on a tight budget is Kirkland's, it's sold at Costco. I don't know the price per pound, but I think it's a really good food for the cost.

Sunshyne · 05-15-2008, 04:14 PM

My Chloe was on Solid Gold for a few months and wasn't too into it. I used to pay $13.00 for a 6 pound bag at Petco. I now feed her Merrick Turducken (she loves it). I buy it at a local dog "bakery" kind of shop and I pay only $10 for a 6 pound bag. They just had a special on it and it was $6.99.

I was always kind of afraid to go into those specialty dog stores because I was unsure of the costs, but I was very surprised and happy to see that the food was less than Petco's cost and rated higher on the dogfoodanalysis.com website.

Wimble Woof · 05-15-2008, 04:51 PM

Costco's Kirkland brand is a little over $20 (CDN) for a 40 lb bag.
I have recommended it to several people (friends and relatives) who were feeding Alpo pedigree and Purina and their dogs look 100 times better now.
One of my friends switched to it from Orijen (due to finances and what not) and her dogs still look good.
Its grainy, but really not a bad food, especially if on a budget.

Franny Glass · 05-15-2008, 05:42 PM

Have you looked into BARF (raw meat and bones)? If you shop around and learn how to handle and freeze it properly, it can be fairly inexpensive.

briteday · 05-15-2008, 05:45 PM

In my frugal days our dogs ate the Kirkland food and did fine with it.

Willowy · 05-15-2008, 06:36 PM

When I'm a little short on $$$, I go to Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice. It's about $25 for a 40-pound bag. It's not the absolutely best quality, but my dogs do well on it, and it's not a bad food. Chicken Soup is one of the foods I feed them normally, and it doesn't cost too much, either. About $30 for a 35-pound bag.

Chloe'sMom · 05-15-2008, 08:06 PM

I have heard about the Kirklands brand, however we do not have a Costco near us, only BJ's.

That's why I wanted to know if anyone had tried the Walmart brand Maxximum, since Walmart is very convenient for us. I will look into Diamond and Chicken Soup to see if anywhere near us sell those.

Just went to each of the websites for Diamond and Chicken Soup and neither are sold anywhere near me! I am basically limited to Petco, Walmart, BJ's and Petsmart for food.

kenRC51 · 05-15-2008, 08:49 PM

the cheapest premium food in my area would be Canidae ALS 30.99 for #40, and if you get the chicken its 27.99 for #33. I would think Canidae has one of the lowest price in the premium food list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chloe'sMom

I have heard about the Kirklands brand, however we do not have a Costco near us, only BJ's.

That's why I wanted to know if anyone had tried the Walmart brand Maxximum, since Walmart is very convenient for us. I will look into Diamond and Chicken Soup to see if anywhere near us sell those.

Just went to each of the websites for Diamond and Chicken Soup and neither are sold anywhere near me! I am basically limited to Petco, Walmart, BJ's and Petsmart for food.

Kirkland brand are very cheap, a bag of #40 cost 19.99 but foodanalysist(how ever you spell it, im a bad speller) rate it a 3 star.

I used to feed kirkland dry dog food to Stitch long time ago.

Willowy · 05-15-2008, 11:11 PM

Maxximum Nutrition is not terrible, you can certainly try it and see how your dogs do. The ingredients look OK to me---not great, but OK. The only reason I haven't tried it is because Chicken Soup is cheaper and I can't bring myself to pay more for lower quality

. If I couldn't get out of town, I would have to try it.....and considering gas prices, that might happen

.

kenRC51 · 05-16-2008, 03:04 AM

ok i wouldnt see why someone would save as little as 10 bucks per bag of #40 and feed the lower quality food to their family (your dog). For example, kirkland (rated 3 star, nat bad) cost 19.99 and Canidae ALS (rated 5 star, great quality) 30 at most 40 per #40 bad. Do you think you dog is worth more then 10-20 extra bucks? Plus a #40 bag last Stitch(she weight 60lbs) 3 months if i were to get the cheaper bag i would on be saving 3 bucks per month. To me my dogs health is worth way more then that.

lovemygreys · 05-16-2008, 06:52 AM

We used to feed Natural Balance. That's a great dog food. We switched from NB to Diamond Naturals chicken formula (similar formula as the Chicken Soup brand). Now we feed Costco's Kirkland brand food. I think, overall, the dogs did a tad better on the Diamond Naturals, but at this point we're getting ready to switch back to raw so I'm not going to switch everyone back to Diamond.

Quote:

ok i wouldnt see why someone would save as little as 10 bucks per bag of #40 and feed the lower quality food to their family (your dog). For example, kirkland (rated 3 star, nat bad) cost 19.99 and Canidae ALS (rated 5 star, great quality) 30 at most 40 per #40 bad. Do you think you dog is worth more then 10-20 extra bucks? Plus a #40 bag last Stitch(she weight 60lbs) 3 months if i were to get the cheaper bag i would on be saving 3 bucks per month. To me my dogs health is worth way more then that.

That is an AWFUL thing to say. Dog food is a complicated subject and not every dog does well on Canidae. We can't feed it because it gives diarrhea to 1/2 of our dogs. People who measure the amount of "love" an owner has or infer how "important" a dog's health is to it's owner based on the kibble they feed are pathetic. One has nothing to do with the other in most cases.

I know many dogs that have lived to be 15 years old on Ol Roy. I know dogs that have been fed Canidae that died at 7. What's your point exactly? Health and longevity in dogs is based on so many other things than dog food brand.

It's like me telling you that unless you feed your dogs a raw diet, you must not love them very much. After all, that's the most natural and healthiest diet for them to eat. Meanwhile you feed them prepared food made by someone you don't know in a place you've never been with ingredients you've never seen and have no idea where they come from. Isn't your dog's health important to you?

But of course I would never say that to anyone...b/c it's just bunk to judge anyone based on the food they feed. I tell people to feed the best food they can afford, that's reasonably readily available, that their dog does WELL on and that's really all you need to do. I know so many people who've fed their dog Canidae for months to over a year and finally gave up b/c they couldn't deal with the diarrhea and shedding and lethargy anymore. I'm always like HELLLOOOOOOOO?!?!? WHY would you do this to your dog for SO long? Their answers are generally in the realm of: Well, everyone told me this was the best food I could feed them and that feeding anything else might cause them to get sick or die younger. (I call it the "if you love your dog you'll feed them Canidae" syndrome).

Chloe'sMom · 05-16-2008, 08:37 AM

Thank You, LoveMyGreys!

I was very hurt by the comment too. I love my dogs with all my heart, I would forgo eating myself, if it meant they could have food. Fortunately we are not that bad off, just trying to stick to a budget and save money wherever we can, so we can buy a house for us and them!

We have tried Canidae, they did not do well on it at all. We have fed Nutro, they did not eat it! We finally stuck with Natural Balance, as they did well on it and are eating it well. And based on my reasearch even though it costs more, in good conscious I cannot feed a lower quality food. So we will make cuts elsewhere and stick with the Natural Balance.

Please, KenRC51 think before you post! If I had not cared about my dogs, I would not have posted this question, I would have just gone out and bought Alpo or whatever was cheapest, that was not the case!!

Thank you to everyone else who left helpful comments!

borzoimom · 05-16-2008, 08:48 AM

I am sorry all but some of these comments were IMO rather out of line. Alot of people are feeling a financial crunch now- gas prices beyond believe, groceries more money from rising transportation costs, even energy bills going up... People that never had the problem before do now.. The OP asked a good food the best " bang for her buck" so to speak- and making personal judgements against the OP is beyond my understanding..

K8IE · 05-16-2008, 09:19 AM

I have found that sometimes store locators on websites are not always accurate, so you might want to actually run around and check some of the feed stores and co-ops to see what they have. Chicken soup is a great option and inexpensive, and a lot of times feed stores or others will order it for you if they carry Diamond brand foods! Never hurts to ask!

Also, ask around for places that offer "buy so many bags, get one free" type deals. Our local place has deals where they do buy ten bags, get one free, or deals where you buy a 15 pound bag and get a 5 pounder free. Nutro's Ultra formulas (not sure if someone already mentioned it) are pretty decent quality as well, and Nutro usually offers incentives with a punch card. Hope this helps and good luck!

SpudNZasha · 05-16-2008, 09:36 AM

I'm 23 also, and a student without a whole lot of extra cash.. I feed my dogs Whole Foods brand (365) Maintenance dog food. They love it. It's like $14 for a 20 pound bag that lasts my husky and shepherd a little over a week and a half. So - if you have a Whole Foods market near you, check it out.

lovemygreys · 05-16-2008, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purplex15

if i were you, i would try and see where you can save a few extra bucks each month and get a good food, as oppossed to just giving them something average for awhile. its really not as expensive as you think, b/c the worse the food, the more the dog needs to eat, and the faster you go through it.

That's not always the case. While it is usually more true with the ultra low-end foods that require you to feed a lot more than higher end foods, Once you get in the middle-to-upper range (quality-wise, not price-wise), you really don't need to feed any more or significantly more that would negate the price difference. We feed the same amount of Kirkland (and Diamond Naturals) that we did with Natural Balance. (The ingredient list between Natural Balance, Diamond Naturals, Kirkland and Chicken Soup are all nearly identical last I checked).

To the OP - I'm not sure if they still do it, but Natural Balance used to have a buy 10 bags, get one free deal (Petco also had/may still have a buy 10/get one free program)