Pros and Cons of diffrent Dog/Cat food.

[MissMeg]

I am sorry if this thread has already been done. My lil laptop is so slow these days and It takes me literally 3+ mins to change the page.

I have finaly decided to feed Ruckus dog/cat food. I know there is diffrent opinions on High quality vs Normal. What brands do you feed your BTS and why? What is the reason you chose this food over all the others? Are there some with veggies aswel? If so what kind is best? What is your opinion on By-products, good? bad? Chicken, Liver, Turkey, Beef, ect? Do you like organic? or does it really matter? When you feed your BTS do you mix in veggies or put them off to the side? Yada Yada Yada...

Thank you in advance!

[MissMeg]

44 views but no comment

[Fatal_S]

Pedigree beef meatloaf-style dog food is my staple meat. I don't have any proof it's better or worse than others, but BTS people who I respect recommended it, so it's what I use.

However, I also believe in variety, so I like to change it up by offering various dog/cat foods, usually ones I pick up on sale.

Personally, I don't care much about the ingredients/quality. All cat/dog food in Canada has to meet certain standards, so I don't see any of it as being unhealthy.

If I'd read this a couple years ago I'd have said skip dog/cat food and use cooked chicken (it's a pure, lean meat). But because I used almost nothing but chicken, my animals never got all the other nutrients (calciums and minerals found in the bones and roughage), and got sick (MBD). Now I still use chicken, but I try to use a bit of everything.

I posted this on another thread regarding diet:

IMO the best thing you can offer for food is variety. Obviously to start with, pick a simple meal and stick with that until the skink is eating consistently. Once he's eating well and seems healthy, you can switch some of his meals up, and/or give treats after/between meals.

To be honest, I would start with something simple and healthy:
-Pedigree beef meatloaf-style dog food mixed with veggies/greens.

This is now my staple food. It's easy to make, the skinks love it, and it's been keeping them very healthy. Some breeders feed almost nothing else for the entire skink's life.

For the veggies/greens, pick something easy. I grab bags of frozen veggies at the grocery story (different varieties) and/or I buy fresh greens/veggies (different varieties). These are chopped up into pea-sized pieces, then mixed with the dogfood, and there's a meal.

When mixing your food, consider what shape your skink is in. If you want them to get fatter, there should be more dogfood than veggies. To slim down, start cutting back to a mostly-veggie diet.

For example, today's meal is dogfood with a frozen peas/carrots/beans/corn mix. That's it. My guys love it. Last week I bought some collard greens, chopped those up, added a bit of catfood, and that was a meal. When I'm feeling ambitious, or I'm bored, I'll make a big 'mash' of foods. An example mash would include cooked chicken, collard greens, kale, endive, a squash, carrots, cauliflower, and some apple. I also add supplements to almost all my meals.

To break up my foods:
Meat - Almost every meal I make has some type of meat, but in different amounts (see above for mixing rule). I usually use dogfood (mostly Pedigree). Sometimes I use catfood. Sometimes I'm feeling nice and use cooked chicken/liver/beef. Sometimes I use egg. I don't usually mix meats in a single meal now.
Greens/Veggies - I often use greens or veggies, sometimes both. Rarely does a meal not have some green/veggie, and sometimes that's all I give them for a meal, but those meals aren't as well-liked.
Greens - I like collard and dandelion best, but I've used almost any fresh greens the store has. Most meals only have 1 green, but sometimes I'll buy a mixed-bag (spring-mix or baby greens). I use a food-chopper to chop it into non-removable bits.
Veggies - I like frozen-mixed veggies because they're convenient and delicious. I also use a lot of squashes. If I'm bored I'll get other fresh veggies to chop up for the skinks.
Fruits - I almost never give fruits as food now. They're a treat mostly. Once in a while I'll mix fruit into a meal, but it's rare; I prefer keeping it separate. When I do give fruits, it's usually berries, sometimes bananas or apples. I almost never use anything with citrus, but I have on occasion.
Other Food - I usually do other foods as a completely separate meal, not mixed with normal food. This includes snails, F/T rats, roaches, and worms. I personally hate crickets, so they're not offered here, but you can use those sometimes if you want. The 4 I listed are ones I consider to be 'healthy treat-foods'. I'd offer them more often if they didn't cost me so much. Maybe 1-2 times a month would be nice.
Supplements - Since I've had health problems before, I now use supplements almost every meal. When I use supplements I usually add it to each individual meal (as opposed to adding it to the big bowl and mixing it, then separating into meals). I do a pinch of powder onto the food. I use 4 supplements, calcium w/ D3, crushed eggshell powder, miner-all/reptivite, and a tortoise powdered-greens supplement. If you're worried about what nutrients your skink may be missing, I'd say use the miner-all/reptivite and a calcium. If your skink has a UVB light, you probably don't need something with D3, but IMO it won't hurt to use. I just cycle through my supplements each meal.

So that's a breakdown of my BTS-diet. I'm not saying it's the right way to go, I'm just giving an example of one way to feed BTS. I am always looking for more information about BTS diets, and I change my BTS-diet as I learn more.

[Katrina]

I typically use either Wellness or Merrick foods, for no reason other than they are healthy and available at the closest pet store. I am not too picky on type / flavor - I'll feed most any flavor as long as it isn't predominantly fish / seafood.

I agree completely with Mel on variety and there being no real 'best' cat or dog food to feed. Sorry, I know that is pretty vague!

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

I tried pedigree. It had some kind of gelatinus substance in it. Is thay supposed to be there?

[Alioop]

I tried pedigree. It had some kind of gelatinus substance in it. Is thay supposed to be there?

yup thats normal.

[Alioop]

I've fed the high quality organic stuff, I've fed the cheap stuff (I've never used Pedigree or Alpo... they just gross me out, just a personal thing). Favorites of mine are Purina ProPlan, Authority, and Nature's recipe. Like the others I vary between brands, ingredients, all meat vs. meat and veggies etc. Cat food is recommended only for young blueys and adults should be given dog food.

[MissMeg]

Thanks guys! Im still not 100% sure I want to feed him dog food, but I am going to because Everyone says its okay. Its like going to the dentist. You really dont want to but you know its best for you. Does anyone have opion on the dog food that comes in a tube (I think somone mentioned this in a previous thread, but honestly changing pages on my internet takes sooooo long) I dont know the name of it. By-Products are okay for the BTS?

[Pesky Fly]

I typically use either Wellness or Merrick foods, for no reason other than they are healthy and available at the closest pet store. I am not too picky on type / flavor - I'll feed most any flavor as long as it isn't predominantly fish / seafood.

I agree completely with Mel on variety and there being no real 'best' cat or dog food to feed. Sorry, I know that is pretty vague!

I feed the same brands but I actually feed a bit of the fish/seafood flavors. Due to the nature of BTS and the location of the Merauke's range I believe it could be possible that they could encounter fish, so I feed it as well. I am however, not saying that it should be done. Simply that I do feed it on a blue moon.

I feed 20% dog food and 80% fresh meats. Even more now since a local farmer began to offer veal at discount prices to boost his sales. My guys eat high class at the moment.

[Luke]

wow veal. . . . . i have never tried that and i am human. your skinks got it made.

[Akwendi]

I'd like to find a tinned pet food that doesn't make their droppings reek! My lads poop smells so bad it makes my eyes water.
Mine are on the Pal beef loaf with a mix of greens and veges.

[MissMeg]

Okay so this is what i Purchased;
Wellness
Senior Formula (for dogs)
Chicken broth, Chicken, Whitefish, Chicken liver, Ground barley, Rice bran, Sweet potato, carrots, ground flax seed, carrafeenan, Guar gum, potassium chloride, salt, canolaoil, iron proteinate, Zinc proteinate, choline choride, vitamin e supplemnt, colbalt protienate, copper proteinate, manganese protienate, riboflavin supplment sodioum selenite, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin a supplement vitamin b12 supplement, potassium iodide, biotin vitamin d3 supplemnt.
Garanteed Analysis
Crude protien (min) 7% Crude fat (min) 3% Crude Fiber (Max) 3% Moisture (Max)78%
Calorie content
1,070 kcal/kg or 379 kcal/ can ME(metabolizable energy)

Does this sound good.
The lady at the store said this one is best for less salt

[Katrina]

That one sounds fine.

[MissMeg]

YaY! I mixed it with his greens (which he tries to avoid at all costs) and he ate EVERYTHING!!! Im so proud of my bts Now I have a question.. It has Vitamin d3 supplement added in, but its the last ingreadient so should I add calcium with d3 or just calcium on its own. Ive been giving him Calcium on his own proir to this because I have a MVB and I belive that works fine.. If im wrong, please tell me so I can fix this.

[Akwendi]

I tried to give my guys a roasted chicken breast that I finely diced and they didn't touch it.....*sigh*..they like tinned dog food which they gobble down with obvious relish.

All I can do is shake my head at my failed attempts at spoiling them.

[MissMeg]

Lol I hear yea. I always try to spoil mine with fruit and my Bts just kinda licks it and looks at it in discust. Unless its watermelon, then he gobbles it right up