Dog food and insurace question.

Rev

Having read a few of the dog food posts on here, I've realised I'm feeding my new puppy crap, ie pedegree chum. I obviously bought into the marketing and thought it was good stuff.

We did try long and hard for a rescue dog but having two cats and having a two year old every afternoon it wasn't easy, most that caught our eye weren't cat friendly or needed to be homes with over 5's. So when a family friends dog had pups (she's not a breeder, litter was accidental and the dog has now been spayed) we decided one one of those.

He's a staffy cross, vaccinated, micro chipped and has just started puppy class (how fun is puppy class lol).

Anyway onto my questions.

Insurance, which is best, Axa or petplan? And why. Vet recommends both.

Pet food. I can't decide between Arden grange, James wellbeloved and Burns.

All opinions are appreciated.

Thanks.

beautiful-dreamer

Hi there

I feed my puppy, who is now 16 weeks, James Wellbeloved. He loves it!! I mix the complete with the wet pouches and his coat is very shiny and he's full of bounce.

Hope this helps

lowis

they are both good policies - pretty similar to each other. axa mudges ahead for me by the fact that the excess does not jump once the pet reaches 'old age'. petplan policies make you liable for the first 20% of any claim plus £120, whereas axa just have a flat excess of £50 or £75

(figures based on cat policies)

welshmoneylover

I wouldn't buy pedigree chum on principle, they experiment on live healthy dogs. They feed them whatever they need to test, kill em, then examine their kidneys.

Just as bad as the rspca if you ask me

mrcol1000

welshmoneylover wrote: »

I wouldn't buy pedigree chum on principle, they experiment on live healthy dogs. They feed them whatever they need to test, kill em, then examine their kidneys.

Just as bad as the rspca if you ask me

You know its very dangerous making these bizarre claims without providing proof.

mrcol1000

Rev wrote: »

Having read a few of the dog food posts on here, I've realised I'm feeding my new puppy crap, ie pedegree chum. I obviously bought into the marketing and thought it was good stuff.

We did try long and hard for a rescue dog but having two cats and having a two year old every afternoon it wasn't easy, most that caught our eye weren't cat friendly or needed to be homes with over 5's. So when a family friends dog had pups (she's not a breeder, litter was accidental and the dog has now been spayed) we decided one one of those.

He's a staffy cross, vaccinated, micro chipped and has just started puppy class (how fun is puppy class lol).

Anyway onto my questions.

Insurance, which is best, Axa or petplan? And why. Vet recommends both.

Pet food. I can't decide between Arden grange, James wellbeloved and Burns.

All opinions are appreciated.

Thanks.

I have a cross staff and feed her burns. Her waste comes out virtually smell free and easy to pick up. Her coat is nice and shiny and she seems well balanced. I buy direct from them and it arrives the next day in most cases.

Hintza

I'm a Skinners fan (at the moment).

But I was looking into getting a collective together to buy in bulk 50 bags at a time and the only thing I learned is just about everyone feeds something different and has very set ideas.

My one tip would be is try and find a brand that does not spend vast amounts on advertising. I have heard positive things about all the brands you have mentioned.

elsien

James Wellbeloved was recommended by my vet to try to solve mutt's itchy feet problems, and it did help. (Staffs and BT's do have a tendency towards skin complaints.) Not cheap though - not sure how it compares pricewise to the others you mentioned.

Rev

Thanks for the replies.

They're all roughly the same price so price isn't an issue. The trainers at his puppy school recommend burns, the vet says JWB and having googled I've heard good things about arden grange too. Hence me being undecided. I'm leaning towards burns simply because our local pet shop stocks it.

I'll give axa a ring later and see what they quote me. Petplans excess seems a bit steep.

catlou

If I was you I would ring NFU (you can't do it on their website) too I found them the cheapest and best policy / cover for my pup and excellent customer service too.

If you look there is a separate thread on here about pet insurance although it is very long - this is my post as I found it all really confusing so someone explained it really well and then I knew what I was comparing etc.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=21958335&highlight=#post21958335

The general consensus seems to be AXA, NFU and Petplan are the best although petplan do seem to be really expensive for some.

Enjoy your pup!

Rev

catlou wrote: »

If I was you I would ring NFU (you can't do it on their website) too I found them the cheapest and best policy / cover for my pup and excellent customer service too.

If you look there is a separate thread on here about pet insurance although it is very long - this is my post as I found it all really confusing so someone explained it really well and then I knew what I was comparing etc.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=21958335&highlight=#post21958335

The general consensus seems to be AXA, NFU and Petplan are the best although petplan do seem to be really expensive for some.

Enjoy your pup!

Thanks for that. Gave NFU a call this afternoon and they were £20 cheaper than axa and over £50 cheaper then the petplan quote, all similar policies. So I signed up with them today.

Insurance sorted. Still not 100% sure about food, but I am leaning towards burns.