Big Paws Only Dog Forums
BPO Food Forum => Food Discussion & Information => : tonyc October 12, 2005, 12:55:03 AM
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They finished the 40# bag last week... This food is wonderfully cheap and nutritious @ < $20/bag. It's a bit low on the kcals, but relatively high on the protein. has glucosamine + chondroitin so important for large breeds. don't see omega fatty acids shown or mentioned but.. i have a huge bottle of fish oil pills from costco.
that said:
both dogs dislike this food. Nikki developed a free freeding habit near the end of the bag. and Cody soon followed!! >:( >:( >:(
after the initial soft poopy, nikki's firmed up better than cody did. i attribute this to the high(er) protein content. for doggies that may have hot spots and isn't allergic to chicken, kirklan'is just a KILLER bargain. there is also a lamb formula, but it's not wholly lamb so i went w/ the chicken instead... as of right now, they're both back on canidae and w/i 2 days of finishing the switch, they have firm stool... now to get 'em back on the feeding schedule.. ugh...
Ingredients (off www.mordanna.c om )
Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and Vitamin E), egg product, beet pulp, potatoes, fishmeal, flaxseed, natural flavor, brewers dried yeast, millet, carrots, peas, kelp, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, rosemary extract, parsley flake, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, chondroitin sulfate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite (source of vitamin K activity), riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid, etc.
Analysis:
Protein: 26%
Fat: 16%
Fiber: 4%
Moisture: 10%
Glucosamine Hydrochloride min 300 mg/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate min 100 mg/kg*
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Apache's breeder just switched to that, she has a lot of fur kids. She likes it. I don't go to Costco I belong to BJ'S & they don't carry it. I thought Walmart was part of Costco? Hopefully I'll find it around here somewere.
Carolyn
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Kirkland Super Premium Chicken and Rice is Tulsas brand. She has always been a free feeder whatever food was out, so that's never been an issue. 2 cups in the morning, 2 cups in the evening.
It does contain Omega 6 Fatty Acids 2.5% minimum, and Omega 3 Fatty Acids 0.4% minimum. I'm assuming from the fishmeal.
Her stool is firm and the quantity is suprisingly small considering the amount she eats. And the smell is minimal. So she's utilizing the food very well.
Her coat is bright, her teeth are clean, her breath is sweet. Very healthy.
I tried a bag of the Lamb and Rice but Tulsa didn't like it, so it was back to the Chicken.
I compared it to the high end brands at Petsmart and couldn't find any significant advantages.
And the price is right!
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Carolyn, don't know where you are, but Costco is 200% superior than BJs (for a period of time in NYC, i had both memberships). Costco is the antithesis of Walmart. Think Michael vs. Lucifer. Costco has excellent labor practices, carry good products and treats their employees/stock holders well. not to mention Costco has the best warranty/return policy in the entire retail business (ever try to return a computer after 30 days at bestbuy? good luck!)
After this bag of Canidae, i'm going to try the Costco Lamb & Rice and see if they like it.. if they don't.. back to Canidae they go...
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Im on eastern Long Island. My sister-in law is a manager at BJ's so I get the membership for free & actually I haven't had a problem. I like to buy in bulk & the meat there is usually good. I'll definatley try Costco if I can, it kills me to pay the membership fees (guess Im cheap!)
Carolyn
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We feed our cats the Kirkland food and they seem to love it. I thought before that it was cheap and bad for them, but our breeder fed her Newfs the Kirkland dog food (Nutri Nuggets?) and said it was good for them. Drake has such a sensitive stomach that I don't think he would like it too much. He has diarrhea all the time and when he doesn't, he drops big loose cowpies. So gross..... Poor buddy, wish he didn't have such food issues. :(
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I remember reading somewhere that the Kirkland is very similar to the Nutra Max at walmart. My mom feeds Kirkland to her dog. She tried it after trying everything else because her dog has pancreatitis. It seems to work for him. I tried to get her to try a raw diet, but she says the kirkland works for her. I think if something you try works for you, then by all means, go for it. :)
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Do you know if this food is available in Canada?
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henrysmomma: don't know if kirkland signature food is avail in Canadian Costco's, but there are definitely Costco's in Canada:
http://www.costco.com/Warehouse/Location.aspx?country=Canada
give 'em a call.
DaneInsaneLiz: no, kirkland is not a division of Diamond. Diamond mfg's a LOT of food for a lot of d'frent whole sellers at d'frent specs. Kirkland is Costco's own 'private/generic' brand and yes it is mfg's by Diamond. Diamond does mfg a lotta CRAP tho.. so watch out ;)
Carolyn: heh.. i knew you were in NY somewhere... Costco may be BJ's arch nemesis but... seriously.. shopping at Costco (and i've shopped in Costco in 5 d'frent states) makes me FEEL good. like.. a vegan/liberal democrat/hippie good ... and no, i don't own Costco stock. tho i really should.
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Thanks, I'll give em a call ;D
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I had a neighbor who fed diamond to her dogs because she insists that the higher the protein level the better the food. (It has something like 31%) She said she was tired of cleaning up poop and they only went once a day on Diamond. Let me tell you, she's has two dogs with horrible stomach problems and they are both severely overweight. Then again, she also believes that heartworms is not a problem in dogs. Both of her dogs have it and she never treated them. She said her Vet in Louisiana told her that there was no need to treat them, just give them heartguard and the adults would die off in about 7 years. That's a whole other story though. :)
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Newf Lover, I am having the same issue with Sugar Bear. We had the first semi-firm poop today, ;D which was great since he has been having diarrhea and cow pies for months. What have you found that works? Sugar Bear has been to the vet 4 times with tummy issues since January. The vet can not find anything wrong. He is on Natures Recipe, 2 caps of slippery elm, 2 lactobacillus-acidophilus, solid gold dzymes, 1t of flaxseed meal. I am at a lost for what to try next. Sometimes it will get a little better for a day and then it is back to the soft poop.
Lisa
We feed our cats the Kirkland food and they seem to love it. I thought before that it was cheap and bad for them, but our breeder fed her Newfs the Kirkland dog food (Nutri Nuggets?) and said it was good for them. Drake has such a sensitive stomach that I don't think he would like it too much. He has diarrhea all the time and when he doesn't, he drops big loose cowpies. So gross.....  Poor buddy, wish he didn't have such food issues. :(
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Newf Lover, I am having the same issue with Sugar Bear. We had the first semi-firm poop today, ;D which was great since he has been having diarrhea and cow pies for months. What have you found that works? Sugar Bear has been to the vet 4 times with tummy issues since January. The vet can not find anything wrong. He is on Natures Recipe, 2 caps of slippery elm, 2 lactobacillus-acidophilus, solid gold dzymes, 1t of flaxseed meal. I am at a lost for what to try next. Sometimes it will get a little better for a day and then it is back to the soft poop.Â
Lisa
Dixie, have you tried adding either sweet potatoes or natural pumpkin to their diet. This works wonders with my dogs.
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I have one more question, has anyone every heard of Ultra Nutro Dog food. I did a holistic dog food search and it came up. Anyone ever try it? And if so, what did you think?
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... I thought Walmart was part of Costco? ...
Carolyn
You just made Sam Walton spin in his grave!! ;D
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Sugar Bear will not eat pumpkin. I have even frozen it into cubes. I will give the sweet potatoes a try.
Lisa
Newf Lover, I am having the same issue with Sugar Bear. We had the first semi-firm poop today, ;D which was great since he has been having diarrhea and cow pies for months. What have you found that works? Sugar Bear has been to the vet 4 times with tummy issues since January. The vet can not find anything wrong. He is on Natures Recipe, 2 caps of slippery elm, 2 lactobacillus-acidophilus, solid gold dzymes, 1t of flaxseed meal. I am at a lost for what to try next. Sometimes it will get a little better for a day and then it is back to the soft poop.Â
Lisa
Dixie, have you tried adding either sweet potatoes or natural pumpkin to their diet. This works wonders with my dogs.
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The Ultra Nutro Max is more expensive than the other Nutro brands. I tried a small bag once cant say I noticed a big rush of enthusiasm at diner time. So till I can find this Kirkland brand, I'll stick with Nutro at least its $10 cheaper than Proplan, every penny counts these days.
P.S. sorry Mr.Walton!
Carolyn
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Newf Lover, I am having the same issue with Sugar Bear. We had the first semi-firm poop today, ;D which was great since he has been having diarrhea and cow pies for months. What have you found that works?Â
Nothing works 100% for Drake, no matter what he eats he gets diarrhea. Poor buddy! I'm hearing all this good support of the Kirkland Dog Food, so maybe we'll try that.
Speaking of Costco, WE LOVE THAT PLACE!!! It has absolutlely everything and it's not cheap crappy stuff. We have bought so much stuff there, our BBQ, Christmas gifts, camping tents, vacuum cleaner, books, DVDs and on and on and on. The wine selection at our Costco here in Novato is one of the best in the whole Bay Area! I've gotten passport photos there, all of our prescription meds and tons and tons of food. The best is Saturdays when they have tons of free samples. Don't need lunch after that, or I can buy a fat slice of pizza on my way out. Oh yeah, the monster bags of gummi bears are pretty sweet too. The only thing that is missing from ours is the gas station, but that's coming soon. I have heard that Costco is planning to offer Health Insurance sometime soon as well! What a great company, so convenient and they treat their employees really well too. Novato would not be the same without that store.
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I just have to add that I LOVE costco. We get everything there. Hubby calls it the 1,2,3 HUNDRED dollar store!!! We haven't fed our dogs the kirkland food, but we do feed our cat it, and she loves it. I'll be looking forward to what others have to say about it.
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NO KIDDING! You cannot get out of that store under $100! It's just not possible....
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We were buying IAMS for Tank for about 9 months, and then about 3 months ago we switched to the Kirkland Lamb Formula. He realy likes it and he doesn't seem to have any runnies. And it saves us about $12.00 per bag, the only down side it that it is only a 40 lb. bag not a 48/50 lb. bag. We also buy his pork rawhide chews there $7.95 for a bag of 40 - then he tries to go outside and buary them in the strawberry plants!
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... I thought Walmart was part of Costco? ...
Carolyn
You just made Sam Walton spin in his grave!! ;D
and she just made EVERY Costco membership spin in their seats!!! :)
Newf Lover: whatever you said.. +1 here.
cept i've found a Costco here, that gives food samples during the WEEKDAYS. that's right BABEEE! when i was unemployed, i hit up costco everyday for lunch ;) i believe i've had a 'date' @ Costco as well. My costco membership card dates: 07/1991 becaues my parents been members since the place was called "Price Club". That said, Costco has spectacular meat prices, I'm using their auto insurance (AMEX) along with digital printing and you gotta love their 500 ct of generic vitamins. where else can you buy 2 bottles of Nutella for $7??? Paris maybe...
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tonyc, family day, I mean taste test day here is every Saturday!!
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Newf Lover: whatever you said.. +1 here.
cept i've found a Costco here, that gives food samples during the WEEKDAYS. that's right BABEEE! where else can you buy 2 bottles of Nutella for $7??? Paris maybe...
There's samples on weekdays at ours too but there's not as many. Saturday is the day to chow down and everyone knows it. Some people are a bit piggy and grab 4 things at a time. Nothing ever lasts long, especially soup. And your Nutella comment made me all nostalgic. One of my friends growing up was Danish and his Mom would make us Nutella and toast all the time. MM-MMMMmmm!
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... I thought Walmart was part of Costco? ...
Carolyn
I believe it is SAM'S Wholesale Warehouse that is part of Sam Walton's WalMart franchise. That is what we have here, very similar to a Costco.
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So, what is the general feeling regarding the Kirkland food? Especially for puppies? I know that too much protein = too fast growth = joint issues and such. We don't want that, of course.
Have folks generally had good luck with this food and/or Diamond?
Thanks!
Chris
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My fellas are on it, we just finished the switch over. They love it, and I like the smell of it way better.
Too soon to tell about the dry skin, but no signs of upset tummy or diaherra here. I have noticed that Apollo is slightly gassy, but I don't know if that's the food, or just him. (He's a huge counter surfer, and Hubby's not always careful about keeping the veggies back from the edge. He loves broccoli, but JEEZ!)
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we're on our 4th bag? switched to lamb formula for both dogs. they both enjoyed it more than the chicken formula.
Nikki is 10 months old now, still a puppy to me. there's not TOO much protein in this food (maybe a weebit higher than some others by 2-3%); definitely not like EVO (not knocking EVO, which i know many breeders are using as puppy food).
ambivalent about Diamond itself as they do make some really lousy dog foods, but this one is a-ok by me... so far.. tho Nikki's been doing the cowpie thing for weeks now, dunno why...
do you guys feed COOKD sweet potatoes? or raw sweet potatoes?
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definitely not like EVO (not knocking EVO, which i know many breeders are using as puppy food).
I hope they aren't giat breed puppies. Feeding Evo to a Giant pup can cripple them
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You can do it either way. But if you do raw, use a grater and shred them.
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^ eh.. no.. thank goodness...
Frenchies.. this one was raised on evo (and then switched out):
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/thchen/doggie/4-24-05Fr1.jpg)
holy cow! he's crossed eyed! i never noticed that!
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I hope they aren't giat breed puppies. Feeding Evo to a Giant pup can cripple them
I've heard that before too....but why? Is it too much protein? What's the earliest a giant can be on it? Twenty-four months?
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I hope they aren't giat breed puppies. Feeding Evo to a Giant pup can cripple them
I've heard that before too....but why? Is it too much protein? What's the earliest a giant can be on it? Twenty-four months?
Evo has 42% Protein. Which is like INSANE. When Moni told me about it and how well Tenchi was doing on it, I was excited, but then I looked at the protein and flipped out. No way could this be OK! But I got desperate and tried it when he was about a year old. He was never really a tall Dane, and I figured at the worst we'd have a little Pano. (Not to sound bad, but like I said if he was gonna grow at all it wasn't going to be much). 18 months to 2 years will probably be fine.
To give food like that to baby puppies though is dangerous. I've seen pics of pups who were on a high protein diet and their legs were non functional.