Purina Beta Puppy food

We have been advised by the breeder we are getting our puppy from to us Purina Beta Puppy Food, and is giving us a bag of it, have you guys ever had any troubles with this food

I used it but suki had a dodgy stomach so couldn't use it she had it as an adult thou with no problems. If ur pup is already on it with no problems I would stick to it
ATD x

Hi

I started my dog on Beta Puppy years ago because that was what the breeder was feeding the pups. If I remember correctly, my dog suffered from smelly wind and a lot of poos on this product and I quickly changed to a combination of Burns/home cooked and then to raw.

Personally, I wouldn't be keen to feed the cereals and EC preservatives in Beta Puppy.

I have never used the Beta. It may not be available here. Our puppies come on Purina Pro Plan now, but the first 5-6 came on the regular Purina Puppy Chow. We have always continued it with good luck to 4 months when we switch to the adult.

Many people report quickly switching to a ''better'' food and having trouble. As for ''better foods'', you might read http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2009/07/pet...trition-myths/

I would stick to the Beta to 4 months. Then if it is a large breed, switch to an all life stages food to slow growth and give its joints more time to develop under less stress.

The early switch is commonly recommended by the highly trained, experienced professionals at most service dog schools. Nobody has more resources to determine best practices in large breeeds.

Labman your 'sceptic vet' belongs to a company called Regulatory Discretion, Inc., a consulting firm for the pet food, animal feed, supplement, and related industries . He is not not what I would call an independent advisor.

Hi Jessica Purina would not be my first choice of a petfood. If you intend feeding a complete food I would use the food the breeder recommends for the first couple of weeks then gradually switch to one produced in this country containing the minimum of additives and preservatives. They have had a lot of problems with petfoods produced in the USA with hundreds of pets dying or ill (do a Google search for pet food poisoning for more information).

This is what some of our members feed..
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=119584

Here is some information on pet food ingredients..
http://www.consumersearch.com/dog-fo...od-ingredients

http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/truthaboutpetfood.htm


http://www.dogsey.com/goto.php?url=h...ingpetfood.htm

http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/784/Patrick06.html

Heaven forbid listening to somebody that knows enough that the dog food companies are willing to pay for his advice.

Labman - be fair, Minihaha has made an important point. If a person is allied to the pet food industry, their view is biased. The industry is hardly likely to pay someone who then advocates something they don't produce or who disagrees with what they do produce.

It's a similar issue as, for example, a vaccination group which is set up to advise on vaccination schedules, but whose members have links to the pharmaceutical companies which make the vaccines.

Another point that should be noted is that there are other vets who argue for raw diets, other vets who prefer cereal and additive free diets and other vets who have turned to alternative medicine, etc. Just because this particular guy's view agrees with your personal view doesn't make it the right one, you know?

Jessica I looked up the content of Purina Beta puppy here they are....
http://www.purina-beta.co.uk/products/puppylr_info.aspx
... it is difficult to see just what the main ingredient may be, the percentages don't really add up and they seem to be mostly 'derivitives '.

Now compare this to say Fish4dogs puppy food..
notice the percentages and no mention of 'derivatives', I know which I would rather eat or give to a growing puppy
http://www.fish4dogs.com/Products/Fi...4-Puppies.aspx

Thanks for that, definetly puts things in perspective! Might have to consider slowly changing her over once she arrives.