Have to choose a Grocery store brand

[Shamas mom]

I have to choose a grocery store food brand. As we were pulling out of the dog park last night, we grazed a pole. The damage is significantly worse than it looked, and the van's a write-off.

We can bus to the grocery store and cab home..and get meat at the butcher. Also hubby works in a high-end grocery store, so can buy higher priced food there.

I need to choose from Iams, Beneful, or Purina to do a switch for Shamas. The cats will need to be switched to a grocery store brand too Same selection of brands(not counting store brands, which I don't feed because the animals nearly always get sick on them). I could get Hills Science Diet near hubby's work, but can't feed my older cat that brand due to digestive problems. And Lifetime near the one Freshco(mid-range, high protein but not always available)

I currently have all of the animals on Petsmart's Authority...but Petsmart is at the edges of the city, and to cab would cost as much as a month's food

Anyone have a suggestion for quality, available food?

 

[Beanwood]

Oh, what a bugger! So sorry you have damaged your van to the extent it is written off, poor you!

There are some very reasonably priced dog food you can get delivered for free if that helps?

Otherwise, I would look at Iams grain free

 

[Snowy]

We order sacks from zooplus. Prices are ok and free delivery to your door.

 

[Shamas mom]

I'll start with the Iams...I want to start doing a dog food rotation, so that he gets a nice balance of food. That way if I can't get his regular food, I can feed him another. And I can feed him table meals without upsetting his nutritional balance

what i considered, was to have my regular food, which I'd buy more of when I can get a ride...Iams, Lifetime(which we used when we got him and he did well physically on but it's too small to use if he's excited because he chokes on it) possibly Blue, and fresh meat/raw patties once a day.

I read about this in the comments after the recently posted article about grain-free triggering heart problems due to low taurine? The concept intrigued me, as I have transportation issues even Before the van was wrecked.

I've always done a bit of a rotation with the cat's foods, as my old boy physically rejects each food after about 3-4 months-his system was wreckedd after being on the streets, living outside a hockey arena

 

[Ashley]

I believe Walmart does delivery now, you may want to look into the brand "Zoe" which is carried there. We got a sample at a dog show, and the online reviews and ingredients look pretty good. I believe the President's Choice brand is also fairly well rated, but not sure what grocery stores you have nearby.

 

[JES72]

We get Homer's Burns food delivered. I order straight from Burns, Chudleys also deliver. (Edit - they are UK brands)
All our groceries are delivered too. I feel really bad about High street shops and department stores struggling but I do a lot of shopping on line.

 

[Shamas mom]

I believe Walmart does delivery now, you may want to look into the brand "Zoe" which is carried there. We got a sample at a dog show, and the online reviews and ingredients look pretty good. I believe the President's Choice brand is also fairly well rated, but not sure what grocery stores you have nearby.

President's choice looked good, so we tried it a few months back. Shamas rejected it no matter how slowly we tried to introduce it, he wouldn't firm up his stools. :/ Which is a shame, because we shop at Superstore, and it would have been nice to get everything in one place. I'm going to chat with hubby about ordering his food online....but we do our online shopping using those Mastercard gift card things, so we couldn't set up a supscription program like I know some people do.

 

[Ashley]

Take a look at "Crave" at Superstore...it's grain free, but if you plan to rotate foods it shouldn't be a worry.

 

[Shamas mom]

Thanks, I'll do that

 

[snowbunny]

I’ve never walked into a shop and bought food for the dogs! Even before I switched to home cooked, I had all the dogs’ food delivered so I could get the brands I wanted at the right price. In Andorra, this meant having it delivered to the closest post office over the Spanish border, roughly an hour’s drive each way. We just bought big bags so they lasted a while. If you can have deliveries to your house like regular people, it would be a no-brainer for me.
My mum used to feed supermarket food but we priced it out and it was actually cheaper to feed a more expensive food that she could have delivered, as the dog didn’t need anywhere near as much of it.

 

[Shamas mom]

If I had a credit card, I could do that. But I don't have a credit card. I could set it up through debit, if I want to feed Hills food from the vets-that might work for Shamas, but Matt can't eat anything by Hills it gives him the runs. And Helen cat goes on hunger strike if I try to feed it to her.


I Did manage to arrange a ride once a month with hubby's mom- so i have the pet food sorted now. I'll just buy the biggest bag they have of each.

I find it funny that you say "regular people" though- the only people that I know that have foods delivered are on forums, and they're either in UK or in the states lol. Everyone around here goes to either pet stores or Costco. That might just me my income bracket though--we're all paycheque to paycheque where I live

 

[Xena Dog Princess]

In NZ, at least, lots of websites offer PayPal or internet payments, so you don't need a credit card. You can also get Visa debit cards, for people who want to be able to shop online easily but without having a "credit card". It could be worth looking into. Shopping online for pet stuff is almost always massively cheaper, I think that's universal.

 

[Lab_adore]

Sorry to hear about your accident

 

[Shamas mom]

Sorry to hear about your accident

Its ok....logistics is a pain....and I have a monster stress headache. Its 2am and I'm here instead of sleeping. But no one was hurt. The biggest thing right now is determining if they will fix the van or write it off...and if they write it off, how much will they give us. If its anything over 2000, we'll be back on the road, albeit in a small car instead of a minivan....but Shamas is ok riding at my feet in the passenger side.

 

[snowbunny]

I find it funny that you say "regular people" though

By "regular people" I mean people who don't live in the arse-end of nowhere, so can actually have things (like their post) delivered to their door

 

[HAH]

Hope your headache's better today @Shamas mom, and sorry about your van - I hope it works out for you with some vehicle to use. A plus that Shamas is okay riding in the footwell, at least that doesn't rule out a car.

 

[chrisc831]

It’s one of the iniquities of life that people who can afford stuff also are more able to access a better price. It’s just not right. Fergus’s Arden Grange is £40 at PAH, I’ve never paid more than £32 online and sometimes £28. Hope it all works out @Shamas mom, and glad you are all physically ok.

 

[Jacqui-S]

Hope you managed to get your van fixed.
I guess we sometimes don't appreciate being tight for cash and having to budget so tightly. Haven't needed to since I was a student, but I came from a household that did, though it wasn't always an obvious thing as a child. I consider myself lucky.
Fingers crossed for you x

 

[Natalie]

I'm really sorry this has happened to you @Shamas mom and hope your headache abates.

I've not got a clue which of the supermarket foods will be best for your dog, I'd spend a few minutes looking at the ingredients list, buy a small bag and see if your animals like it and digest it well. If they do and you can afford it, that's the most important thing. Don't beat yourself up with guilt about not feeding them a 'better' brand. Especially as you are supplementing with meat from the butchers, they will lurve that?.

You are all safe and your pets are lovedxx

 

[edzbird]

Belle did just fine on supermarket brand - she used to have Tesco own-brand wet and their dry mixer. Until I boycotted Tesco. Then she moved to Winalot wet & Wilko's mixer. When Wilkos became unavailable in our supermarket she had some of Coco's Skinners as a mixer. Nothing special at all.