Cheap dog food?

puddy

We feed our dog (a collie) Beta Maintenance which is made by Purina.

A 15kg bag today cost about 28quid in pets at home, I think sometimes its on offers at other places and I could probably get it a bit cheaper if I shopped around

However, on the way out, I saw a big stand of some dry food called Wagg, which was 10 quid or so for the same size, nearly a third of the price!!

the food we get is not the most expensive, in fact it seems to be the cheapest of the 'more quality' foods ive seen, but is it very different to other stuff?

krlyr

Work out the cost of feeding per day, rather than per bag.
E.g. Beta Maintenance is suggested at 350g a day for 25kg dogs, Wagg say 400g for a 20kg dog. Cheap foods are false economy a lot of the time, cheaper ingredients are poorly digested and provide less nutritional value so the dog needs to eat more.
CSJ is a cheaper range of dog foods I'd recommend

puddy

yes, he has to be kept slightly underweight, he is about a 1lb or two underweight at the moment and thats where the vet wants him to stay, so i would worry that he would need to eat more of cheap food and wouldnt get as much quality out of it, i was just surprised at the difference

the cats only get hills science or maintenance (i dont know why i keep calling it hills maintenance where have i got that from), so i wouldnt give them cheap rubbish either

easy

When we inherited Posy (a 2 year old Cavalier Spaniel), she had been fed on Hills science diet, the most expensive food going at £40+ a sack!. We slowly changed her over to Bakers, which was what our other dog was eating, only to find that it gave her the most HORRENDOUS wind, it was impossible to sit in the living room with her in the evenings !!

So after a couple of weeks to see if it would settle, we slowly changed her back - you must switch foods bit by bit over the course of a week or so - and kept dipping in to our purse for the Hills, until mid last year, when we gave Beta a try. That seems to suit them both.

Take a look at the nutritional data on the back of both packs, along with the amount you need to feed. I imagine your collie is pretty active, so needs a decent protein content (unless elderly, in which case lower protein can be a good thing).

Best way is to see how the dog likes it. Buy a smaller pack and switch over bit by bit, then see how the dog is for another week or so before you make the permanent decision.

puddy

no, he's not active, he cant really do walks like he used to due to an injured back however given half a chance he will run like the wind with me mentally totting up the cost of a visit to the vet if he does his back in again!

so we have to be careful with the food so that he doesnt put on weight, he has to be a little on the light side so theres not too much pressure on his back and legs

he loves his food, i was just thinking about the cost, the cats are bad enough, let alone him with his fancy foods!

i also do scatter feeding in the garden for him so dont want wet food and dont want food thats too small, i like him to sniff it out and it be a mouthful each time, the beta has quite big chunks in it

rising_from_the_ashes

Also compare the ingredients list on the Beta and Wagg - I think you'll find the Wagg probably has more "fillers" ie be lower quality, which will help explain the difference in price.

notakid

I use Wagg, I read foreign correspondent say it was very good and she seems to know about about animals. I've had no problems, my dog is fit and healthy and much better than bakers!:p:p

bsg

My Staff has been with me for 2 years now and when I first got her, her parents had been feeding her all the cheap stuff (crap) like Wagg etc and although she was fit and healthy, she seemed to have energy 'crashes' - I slowly changed her diet over to BARF (bones and raw food), feeding her things like beef mince with mixe3d veggies cooked in the slow cooker, chicken, Beef and mixed veggies and every 3/4 days, a good serving of calf liver and within 4 weeks there was one hell of a change in her... working it out for what I was feeding her I realised I was actually paying less per day than if I fed her the cheapo 'food'...

quietheart

bsg wrote: »

My Staff has been with me for 2 years now and when I first got her, her parents had been feeding her all the cheap stuff (crap) like Wagg etc and although she was fit and healthy, she seemed to have energy 'crashes' - I slowly changed her diet over to BARF (bones and raw food), feeding her things like beef mince with mixe3d veggies cooked in the slow cooker, chicken, Beef and mixed veggies and every 3/4 days, a good serving of calf liver and within 4 weeks there was one hell of a change in her... working it out for what I was feeding her I realised I was actually paying less per day than if I fed her the cheapo 'food'...

i'm just starting raw food with my dog as she's got bald patches, itchy skin and stinks on complete food.
how are you managing to keep the price down? what veg do you use? any advice would be fab.

Frugalista

bsg wrote: »

- I slowly changed her diet over to BARF (bones and raw food), feeding her things like beef mince with mixe3d veggies cooked in the slow cooker...

Why on earth were you cooking the food on a BARF diet?

rising_from_the_ashes

quietheart wrote: »

i'm just starting raw food with my dog as she's got bald patches, itchy skin and stinks on complete food.

What was she fed on?

Reason for asking is that this sounds really like Ben when I first got him ...

I changed him over to Skinners Duck & Rice (wheat & all gluton & dairy free & hypoallergenic) and it cleared up totally:D - so it may be that she's intolerant to something in the food.

As to veg - Ben loved pretty much anything - cabbage, broccoli, peas, carrots, turnip etc.

Word of advice ..... introduce the veg gradually!:eek: