Holistic foods??

Tine2105

When I adopted Boris he was fed "holistic" kibbles, so obviously I bought a bag, hoping to transition him to food I trust better as quickly as possible. Once I made sure his stool was normal and he didn't vomit, I started transitioning him to food I buy at my vet's (Medi-Cal development.) It only took one day before he started separating both foods and leaving behind the holistic kibbles...

I've been seeing a lot of those lately and am very wary of them. Seem like a novelty item to tender to us pet-owners who by bio foods and the likes. I'm not sure I trust the labels. What does holistic mean anyway? I've asked in various pet stores and the answers were vague and my vet said no one really know what it meant.

What is your opinion on the matter?

ScentHound

I use no-grain dog food for my pack. Never tried the holistic stuff, but I know that a no-grain diet is much better for them then the standard diets most dogs are on. Even the stuff my Vet recommends isn't all that good.

Tine2105

No grain food would of course be better, but unless I cook it myself (which, honestly, I am not willing to do) good quality is hard to find. When I was training as a vet nurse, we analyzed a lot of food and also by working at vet clinics, I came to trust some brands better than others (by their contents as well as the results I witnessed in dogs themselves) and that's what I feed my pets (Science diet TD for the cat, Medi-Cal dev for the dog, who will also eventually eat TD when he's big enough.)

Still wondering about this holistic thing though. A friend of mine feeds it to her cats. Their coats look great and they are very active, but vomit a lot more than mine (our cats are brothers.)

ScentHound

Not sure what you can get in Canada but I use taste of wild for my Beagle because she is fighting cancer (as you probably know cancer feeds off of the sugars in grains). My other dogs are on Diamond Lamb no-grain food. I researched both of them and they are both high quality. I use fresh for my parrots, but try to stay away from fresh stuff with my hounds. Would be best for them, but with their noses and Betty's size they may raid the counters and beg. One of my pet peaves is a begging dog. (sorry folks, i am just like that).

A friend of mine is into the holistic food for himself. Personally, I think he is less healthy now then he was when he was eating like the rest of us.

Tine2105

I agree with you, I don't want my dog begging for food at the table. I never give dogs any sort of food scraps for that very reason...

GreatDaneMom

holistic dog food should contribute to the animal's health in a different way and the recipe should work together.

of course your vet cant tell you that, most vets cant tell you squat about nutrition. thats why they carry foods like science diet- the foods are crap, but they get paid to sell it.

nothing wrong with holistic foods. but i dont feed grains. i feed taste of the wild, grain free. excellent food IMO. there are better grain free foods out there too, but i just cant afford those right now.

Criosphynx

my understanding is the term is not regulated thus is generally hype

Is Holistic Pet Food Just Marketing Hype?


I feed grainfree. If you are in Canada you should have access to Orijen

GreatDaneMom

whether its hype or not thats for someone feeding it to decide. it makes some people feel better. and like say in the case of eagle pack, the holistic line had much better ingredients thatn the regular line of food.

the meaning of holistic is what it is, and that cant be changed. its looking at something as a whole. whether a food is holistic or not... well you cant always go by what it says on the bag, anything could be called holistic. its like when they call foods "PREMIUM" on the bag. it makes people feel better even though a lot of those foods are literally barely passable. but in general, a holistic food is going to have better ingredients than your lower class foods like pedigree, alpo, etc.

Criosphynx

exactly. Which is why I provided the link



just like "cage free" chickens make people feel better. Same idea.

GreatDaneMom

i was just trying to get to the OP what "holistic" is "supposed" to be...... because i think that was the original question...???... or was it? now i dont remember!!!