# Iams - good or bad?



## MissmyCaseygirl (Jul 21, 2009)

Just curious to hear opinions. Thanks!


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Bad...mostly grain and fillers.


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## Dogluvr (Feb 14, 2008)

IMO Iams is terrible quality...


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## MegaMuttMom (Sep 15, 2007)

It made my dog itch so much we thought he had fleas.


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## LadyD (May 10, 2009)

I vote "bad" for Iams too


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## amdeblaey (Jun 27, 2009)

I agree with everyone else. I thought Iams was good, and I had both my labs on it. But my older one kept getting Ear Infections-and my puppy's skin was always red, and he scratched a lot. I did a lot of research and found Iams wasn't as good as I thought it was. Some times Patton (my older lab) would eat, and throw it up a couple minutes later. I switched them to a natural food-chicken soup-and both of them have improved wonderfully.


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## luvntzus (Mar 16, 2007)

Bad. The ingredients list speaks for itself.


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## zhaor (Jul 2, 2009)

lol I doubt you'll get few if any one who'll say Iams is good here


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## bfoster (Feb 9, 2009)

bad---very bad


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

I wouldn't feed it. For the price, I would rather cook myself although that's a last resort. Or feed raw. I never feed corn or fillers and by-products to my dog.


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## spugs (May 4, 2009)

Bad and apparently they carry out animal testing of the chop them up variety!


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## megbot (Aug 3, 2009)

spugs said:


> Bad and apparently they carry out animal testing of the chop them up variety!


I've heard this too. Granted most of the reading I've done was on PETA's website, but even if half of it was true... I can spend my money on a healthier brand (that's nice to the doggies!)


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

Yeah, I vote bad.


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

+1 for bad


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## zderekv (Apr 6, 2009)

OK food (supermarket quality), terrible company. it's better than ol' roy's but far from a premium dog food. too much grain/filler to be considered a high quality food, but once again, an absolute terrible company with no morals and horrible ethics. steer clear, imho.

i had pretty good luck with blue buffalo but his poop was always soft and bb's recommended feeding amounts were running me broke! i recently switched him over to wellness core ocean and steve's real food (raw diet). much less food needed which means it goes further, reducing cost per meal and he poops 1/2 as much and it's much stiffer.


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## Alaskan Olli (Aug 3, 2009)

Ok so everyone votes bad, what would be a good food then?


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

I recommend Orijen if you want grain free and high protein.

If you just want a good food with grain, then I recommend Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. It's the most economical premium dog food.

Otherwise there are Wellness, Innova, EVO, Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo, Solid Gold, Canidae to try from.


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## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

Im guessing that price is an issue here. So I would say for a few more bucks, Natural balance is a WAY better food. Also, even better and ok on price is Taste of the Wild. Also, even though it isn't ideal, Nature's recipe is still better than Iams IMO. And, at least at my store, its a dollar a pound or less for the 40 pound bag. Still not great but better than Iams.


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## zderekv (Apr 6, 2009)

in my dog's case:

#1 raw diet (steve's real food)
#2 wellness core (ocean)
#3 blue buffalo (any)

i know folks have had great luck with others but for me and my dog these have worked. as i mentioned before, i'm currently feeding a combination of wellness core ocean and steve's real food and my dog has trimmed down without losing weight since moving him from blue buffalo (still ranks high on my list though). he appears much leaner with better muscle tone, not to mention a nice shiny coat.


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

If your dog does very well on it, then it could be good for your dog. I'd call Purina terrible, too, but there are dogs that aren't able to eat anything else but Purina. In that case, Purina's good for that dog. But overall, Iams = bad.

Good brands include
Orijen
Taste of the Wild
Innova
Solid Gold
Wellness
Canidae 
Blue Buffalo
Chicken Soup
Timberwolf Organics
Acana

And the best... Raw/Prey Model Diet


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

By the way, chicken soup for the dog lover's soul is about $1 a pound too. You could also try Kirkland (Costco) brand dog food. It's not bad, better than Iams and I think cheaper too. It's about $0.50 a pound.


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## CorgiKarma (Feb 10, 2009)

MissmyCaseygirl said:


> Just curious to hear opinions. Thanks!


Bad. Read the ingredients. It's awful!


Equinox said:


> Orijen
> Taste of the Wild
> Innova
> Solid Gold
> ...


I second this list but would add to it

Nature's Variety Prairie
Fromm
Natural Balance
California Natural
Merrick

If you want grain-free foods

Wellness CORE
Nature's Variety Instinct
Innova EVO
Taste of the Wild
Blue Buffalo Wilderness


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

If your not sure where to buy, check out local feed stores.. they often carry better brands than the grocery stores/walmart. Check Petco and Petsmart too if you have them..


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## Dogluvr (Feb 14, 2008)

Alaskan Olli said:


> Ok so everyone votes bad, what would be a good food then?


There are many choices, but some of the top brands are Orijen, EVO and Instinct. If you only have a big retailer such as Petco/PetSmart, then maybe Solid Gold, Wellness, or Blue Wilderness.


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## Hurk (Feb 6, 2009)

Michiyo-Fir said:


> By the way, chicken soup for the dog lover's soul is about $1 a pound too. You could also try Kirkland (Costco) brand dog food. It's not bad, better than Iams and I think cheaper too. It's about $0.50 a pound.


I've switched from Innova to the Kirkland brand for price reasons, and $30CDN for a 40lb bag of quality dog food is pretty decent in my opinion. Sure it's not as good as some of the more expensive brands, but I'd say it is by far the best bang for your buck.


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## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

www.dogfoodanalysis.com

This site should help you.


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## MissmyCaseygirl (Jul 21, 2009)

Thanks for all the input.

I'm having such a tough time with food. When we first got Lucy, she was eating 'Nutro Max Natural Choice Small Bites for Puppies'. She did great on it at first but slowly ate less & less until she basically lost interest almost completely. She weighs less than 11-lbs so I'm nervous about her not eating enough.

My friend had just recently adopted a puppy from a shelter, they gave her Iams so I figured we'd try that as well. Lucy is eating better (We're still working on the change, it's been less that a week) and so far no issues with her poop. She seems to be accepting it fine. 

I'm just worred because dogfoodanalysis rates Iams a 1-star and the Nutro a 2-star. I feel like I've downgraded!

I'd like to try something else of better quality but is it ok to do that now? She's in the change over phase right now, how bad would it be to stop the Iams and go to something new?


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## CorgiKarma (Feb 10, 2009)

I'd change to a better quality food without transitioning to Iams at all. Nutro is not a good food, either.


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## MissmyCaseygirl (Jul 21, 2009)

Thank you.

I am leaning towards Blue Buffalo. I'm waiting on a coupon from them.

Would it be bad to switch her again so soon? We've already started the change to Iams, we're actually almost done. 

How soon is too soon to switch her again?


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

It all depends on how sensitive a stomach your dog has.. Both of my dogs seem to have steel stomachs, and I can switch their food around whenever I want with no transition time, and it makes no difference. Other dogs will need very very slow transitions.. When trying out a new food, you should feed it for at least one month, two is better, to get a feel for how your dog is doing on it.. Since your not planning on staying with Iams though, I would start your switch to Blue right away, unless you think it will upset her stomach.


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## MissmyCaseygirl (Jul 21, 2009)

Thanks! I appreciate it!


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## zderekv (Apr 6, 2009)

my dog loved blue buffalo (lg breed puppy food) but his poop was a little on the loose side. maybe because it was a "puppy" food. i've heard this from others as well. but if zeus ever stopped eating his wellness core i'd switch back to blue buffalo in a heart beat.

you have to do what's right for your dog and although i bashed iams earlier in this thread if it were all i could get my dog to eat it's what i'd feed. we all want to do right by our 4 legged friends but some times it's 6 in one half a dozen in the other when it comes to what we all consider the proper food.


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## MissmyCaseygirl (Jul 21, 2009)

I'm not sure what to do. I have some samples coming in the mail (Wellness, Chicken Soup and one other I can't remember), I also have a coupon coming for BB. 

She seems fine on Iams but it's only been a few days. I have noticed however that her poops are bigger and stinkier.

I appreciate all the help.


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## CorgiKarma (Feb 10, 2009)

MissmyCaseygirl said:


> She seems fine on Iams but it's only been a few days. I have noticed however that her poops are bigger and stinkier.


That is because it is a low quality food with a lot of filler. I would definetly make the switch to a high quality kibble sooner rather than later. If it doesn't work out, you can always switch back to Iams later.


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## Alaskan Olli (Aug 3, 2009)

Welp, we made the slow switch from Iams to Chicken Soup and the dog is loving it. His stool is much firm and he seems healthier. Thanks for the info guys


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## Dogluvr (Feb 14, 2008)

Alaskan Olli said:


> Welp, we made the slow switch from Iams to Chicken Soup and the dog is loving it. His stool is much firm and he seems healthier. Thanks for the info guys


That is wonderful!


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## MissmyCaseygirl (Jul 21, 2009)

I'm waiting for samples of Chicken Soup in the mail.

I did receive some samples of Taste of the Wild, does anyone know if they make a puppy formula. They were very generous and sent me 6 sample bags but they only have feeding instructions for adult dogs.


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## HersheyPup (May 22, 2008)

I would never feed Iams or Eukanuba because they do cruel animal testing. 
http://www.uncaged.co.uk/iamsexpress.htm

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=611

Feeding trials are one thing, but what they did is torture!


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