Royal Canin

*zippy*

Hello

I'm posting this on behalf of my father if anyone could offer advice please...he feeds his two small dogs on Burns dry dog food, he has been told today though the place he buys its isn't stocking it anymore as they are changing to supplying Royal Canin as it is a better food.

Do you think thats correct or is it as good as Burns? Price wise will it work out at a similar cost?

Many thanks

MrsE_2

I feed ny cats Royal Canin, as I believe its the best.

lisawood78

Hmm.
We used to use Canin Great Dane specific food but it made our danes very windy and gave them loose stools, it seemed too rich for them.
We moved them onto Skinners Rough and Ready which was much better.
I beleive he will notice a rise in prices as Burns is a cheaper food than Royal Canin (not commenting on its quality here as have not used it, just understand that Burns is cheaper, at least in my pet shop)
Hope your Dad finds a food his dogs are happy with, he should try to introduce any new food slowly, gradually mixing in the new with the old if at all possible.

UKTigerlily

You can look online at their feeding guides, without knowing how much they get it's hard to say about cost, they may eat less on one than another too. RC isn't good or bad I don't think, it's not the best, it has unneccessary stuff in & so on like alot (Almost all) foods, but it's a good brand & IMO unless you feed something like Orijen one of the better ones. Agree to mix it in slowly though!

*zippy*

Thanks both... yes just looking and 2kg of High oats Burns is £6.84 compared to £9.90 for Royal canin light, looks like the feeding recommendations are the same.

This is a comparison of ingredients..

Burns high oats ..

Oats (min 56%), Chicken, Brown Rice, Peas, Chicken Oil, Seaweed, Vitamins and Minerals.

Royal Canin mini light..

Ingredients: Dehydrated poultry meat, maize, maize gluten, barley, vegetable fibres, rice, hydrolysed animal proteins, animal fats, beet pulp, fructo-oligo-saccharides, yeast, fish oil, vegetable oils, (soya, borage), minerals, sodium polyphosphate, green tea and grape extracts (rich in polyphenols), egg powder, DL-methionine, L-carnitine

UKTigerlily

*zippy* wrote: »

Thanks both... yes just looking and 2kg of High oats Burns is £6.84 compared to £9.90 for Royal canin light, looks like the feeding recommendations are the same.

This is a comparison of ingredients..

Burns high oats ..

Oats (min 56%), Chicken, Brown Rice, Peas, Chicken Oil, Seaweed, Vitamins and Minerals.

Royal Canin mini light..

Ingredients: Dehydrated poultry meat, maize, maize gluten, barley, vegetable fibres, rice, hydrolysed animal proteins, animal fats, beet pulp, fructo-oligo-saccharides, yeast, fish oil, vegetable oils, (soya, borage), minerals, sodium polyphosphate, green tea and grape extracts (rich in polyphenols), egg powder, DL-methionine, L-carnitine

From that the Burns looks better, maize, maize gluten, barley, rice are all grains & not needed in their diets, they use them as fillers. Both look pretty good compared to most foods though, I feed Orijen because it's grain free & 70% meat/30% fruit & Veg with no rubbish but if I didn't i'd feed Burn's & have considered it.

However, you can feed the worlds best food but it may not suit your Dog & RC & Burns are both good! If getting RC is easier & the Dog likes it & has 2 firm poo's a day, nice eyes/teeth/breath/coat etc & isn't over active then go for it!

*zippy*

Thanks Tigerlily...sorry I didn't see your post just now, I was just thinking the same, i'm going to be gradually changing our dogs over to Orijen so I may ask him if he wants me to order him some when I order online. I have mentioned it in the past though and he didn't look too keen, he's not on the internet and I think he likes the conveniece of picking it up locally plus they are pensioners so it may be the extra cost.

Editing to add.. on checking Orijen doesn't look to be any more expensive than Royal canin, which is a surprise.

hazeyj

Royal canin do use fillers which arent good for your dog as cause wind and runny poos etc. I use origen for my small chihuahua and she loves it. She now has a lovely glossy coat, nice teeth and it has made her full of life and playful. Itis a five star food too.

I get mine from zooplus.

*zippy*

Thanks hazeyj, yes afterwards I found an American website that reviews dog food and they rated Royal Canin quite low because of fillers, lower than Burns so don't think its worth paying extra for RC. Orijen was one of their top rated foods.

Rev

If his local shop is not stocking it any more, why not order it for him online? Save changing the dogs for to a more expensive one.

foreign_correspondent

This is an interesting question - I wonder what the evidence is for some dog foods being 'better' than others...? and what measure is used? I can fully appreciate that an all-meat food is more expensive to produce than one based on oats, rice etc... but I am not sure it is 'better' in any real terms, unless the dog in question has a sensitivity to certain ingredients.

I would avoid junk, colours, sugar etc, but my last dog made it to 15 or 16 on Wagg which is cheap as chips, topped up with healthy leftovers, and my gran had a Jack Russell that made it to 17 or 18 on no commercial dog foods, but a mix of leftovers, digestive biscuits, bread and butter and boiled liver!

Obviously I am not suggesting this is an ideal diet for a dog but they have lived and evolved on what we throw away for 100,000 years - commercial dog food was not commonly available until well into the 20th century...

It may be worth your dad thinking about other foods too, especially if cost is an issue. £9.90 for a 2kg bag is a lot of money! Are your dads dogs on a light diet for a reason? if so it may be worth looking aroud for other foods which provide similar amounts of oils and protein.

My current dog gets wagg (about £12 for 15kg) and leftovers, including bits of meat, fruit and veg, the odd tin of sardines, raw bones, natural yogurt, etc... she is in good condition and she is very cheap to feed!

I do wonder whether there is any evidence to suggest that the expensive diets actually produce any results in terms of lifespan, illness etc, or not - does anyone know?

- Interestingly enough, a dog who was thought to be the oldest in britain, at age 27, was fed on a vegetarian diet... but, clearly, you cannot base much on one example!

I do wonder though, how much of our concept of 'better' dog foods is based on hype, and how much on facts, and it concerns me that many people are strugling to keep pets in the current financial climate, perhaps partially because they think a dog needs prohibitively expensive food. People with working dogs tend not to feed these expensive foods, but have dogs who are in very good physical condition...