I don't know that particular brand but the 'cheap' foods are not good for our pets. Those companies don't have our pet's best interest in mind. And it actually is all garbage, according to my vet. Cutting quality in animal food sounds pretty scarey. Who knows what's in it. There are enough problems with the good stuff.

Just as with the chemical-laden canning process in the flip-top cans (linked to hyperthyroid disease in cats), health problems may occur down the road with whatever is, or is not, in those recipes. Those expenses would far outweigh any savings on the food! In no time flat.

I think Ol' Roy is just a way to say store brand or generic.

Old Roy is widely considered to be junk food. Hopefully some more knowledgeable folks will chime in...but it's hard to say with such a vague title to your post. Maybe you should start a new thread or even do a search as I think this has been discussed before.

Okay, I found you a link...below. Scroll down to read what Mari and Brutuses have to say. They know their stuff!

The general idea is that if you feed your dog food made of things you would never consider feeding to your family (waste products basically), you will pay for it with bad health and higher vet bills. I buy my dogger premium kibble and he rarely ever sick. The hope is that he will have fewer degenerative diseases as he ages.

When those dog food recalls went down a few years ago, the store I bought my kibble from did not have to remove one item from their shelves. Everything they sell is human food grade quality. No Chinese melamine or other goodies like that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bits of kibble

I just searched for info on pet food and now totally confused. They mentioned that even the high end food has gone the way of poor nutrition and additives. Most are now owned by other companies and being sourced out. One of the notes regarding this is that the price does not always mean best product.

I am getting close to using recipes and making my own food for these friends of ours. Paul Newman's was recommended though.

Here is a link to identifying the foods bought. This is getting as bad as trying to figure out what we are eating.

Here is a link that might be useful: What's in pet food

I posted this link on another thread, but I'll repost here. Lots of info on cat food - dry and canned. Dry is actually very bad for cats. Some food are SO high in carbs - they don't put carbs on the labels either.

Here is a link to a thread on the FDMB I started on dog food. It's in the Community forum, so you have to register to read. The website is wonderful. I learned a lot quickly. Everyone is very nice and if you have questions, read and/or post!

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/read.php?7,1666039

(That's the one you have to be registered to read)

Here is a link that might be useful: FD - Food Charts

My vet says Wellness is the best out there. He added that once the companies start getting large, they try to cut corners to save on cost. When that happens, he moves on to find a better food. He supports whoever has the best food and has no brand loyalty.

Did you miss the pet food recall? I think that woke up a lot of people to what goes in most dog food.
A huge misconception is that expensive dog foods are just that- expensive. However, good dog food means healthy pets which means less vet bills.

I certainly wouldn't feed children a diet exclusively of cheetos anymore than I would feed Ol' Roy to a dog- one of the worst.

Search the pet forum for Dogfood - you'll get plenty to read.
This is a good website to compare dogfoods.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dogfood Analysis

Thanks for the feedback and the links. I agree with what was stated...I have no intention of giving our dogs inferior food. I just wondered if there are good and viable options out there that would work for us.

amysrg - sorry about the vague title. I knew it was vague, but didn't give too much thought about how to word it. In retrospect, I should've at least added the words dog food to the title. I'll try to do better next time!

Now I'm off to read the information in the links you were all so kind to provide me!

If they're overweight at all, maybe you could just cut back on their (good quality) food a bit. If there's a decent dry food out there, maybe substitute some, or a bit more of, that for the canned stuff (usu. more expensive). Teeth will get some cleaning, too, in the process.

This is a subject I can get rabid about :) and I think there are others like me ....so take it with a grain of salt- it's not personal.
It makes me so mad to see carts full of Ol' Roy ...being loaded into honkin' new suv's.

amysrg - sorry about the vague title.

No apologies necessary. Just want to see you get the info you need! Looks like your cryptic title has drawn some curiosity and hence some good info....maybe more than if you had said "dog food question inside." :-)

I believe the dry food/teeth cleaning link is debatable, btw. The people in the "holistic" pet food store said that that is a myth. Think about eating crackers...do they clean your teeth or stick and turn gooey?

The cleanest doggie teeth I've ever seen were on a dog who eats strictly raw. And that's a whole 'nother debate!!

Looking up Ol' Roy, the example, which also sounded ficticious to me. Shows that it's Walmart's brand. I see a catchy May 2006 article saying it's 'as good as Pedigree but without the blue ribbon price tag.' A year later, Ol' Roy and that same flavor that was being raved about turns up on the recall list of 2007, where pets were dying from melamine poisoning.

I would not trust a brand that ended up on a list like that. My vet also says that those companies knew what was going on with the ingredients being used. Buyer beware. They are cutting corners on quality.

Oh yeah, it's getting harder and harder to find decent pet food. I still stick with the Costco brand and my pets seem to be well on it.

I ran out and didn't have time to go to Costco so I had to rely on other stores for food. I checked the lables, and even on the 'premium' food, corn is listed as the first or within the first 3 ingredients.

My DS's girlfriend is experimenting making cat treats out of natural foods, so I might look into that for our felines.

Ol' Roy- ugghhh. A vet I used to work for would recommend people feed their dogs some of the canned food for a day if they were constipated. It worked and he said that was the only good use for Ol' Roy.

Research dog foods, it may be more expensive but you are using a more wholesome and quality food and require less amount to feed because the dog is getting more from the food instead of fillers and junk.

I use Solid Gold for our dog because of some health problems she has and it is the only food she can use other than Science Diet and that stuff is garbage, too. I have used Blue Buffalo in the past when we had another dog and was very happy with that brand.

I feed our cats Innova dry food and a bit of high-quality canned food (I buy a variety of brands so they don't get hooked on one -- but brands like Wellness, Innova, etc.). They love the dry food and certainly don't overeat it (I give them each about a half a cup per day). When I give them the wet food, I mix some water into it to make sure they are getting enough water. They seem to be thriving on this diet. I spend less than $30 per month for both of them; that seems pretty inexpensive to me.

Main rule: I don't buy any cat food that's sold at a grocery store. I buy only from a couple of small pet stores that feature high-quality food, and I read the labels and avoid any that's mostly grains.

The shelter gave me a bag of Science Diet to bring home with one of the cats, btw, and I gave them some when we were out of the other food once. It gave them diarrhea. I just threw the stuff out after that.

Ol Roy dog food is specific to Walmart IIRC. It's their store brand

Squirrel, Wellness (canned for the cats) and Wellness Core (dry for the dogs) is what I'm buying now. I switched the dogs straight to the WCore. The cats tried a few other brands until I decided to go with W for them as well. They do not like the canned Core. Can't say I blame them - it does not look good. Too brown.

fwiw, I have found the dogs eat a bit less dry Wellness. Since it is healthy food, it takes less to fill them up.

Signed up at their website and you'll get a newsletter each month with coupons. The last 2 months have been $4 off dry, $3 off treats and $1 off canned.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Wellness Pet Club

Here is why Ol Roy is considered crap (a cut and paste from Dog Food Review) dated 10/3/08:

Ol Roy dog food
October 3, 2008 by admin

Thinking about feeding your dog Ol' Roy dog food? If so please think again. Ol' Roy dog food is probably the worst dog food on the market right now. I wouldn't feed Ol' Roy dog food to my worst enemies dog. Ol' Roy dog food and treats have been involved in numerous dog food recalls.
First five Ol' Roy dog food Ingredients:
Ground yellow corn
soybean meal
ground whole wheat
corn syrup
poultry fat

I have looked at the first five ingredients of a lot of dog food brands and I have come to the conclusion that this is the worst first five ingredients I have ever seen. First of the first ingredients of Ol' Roy dog food in CORN. Corn is pretty much useless as far as a nutrition stand point. Corn does your dog absolutely no good. If that wasn't bad enough lets go head and through some grains in the first five AND THEN lets through sugar in the first five. Who puts sugar in the first five ingredients of dog food? Are you kidding me?
A lot of people decide to buy Ol Roy dog food based on the fact that it is cheap. Thinking like this will catch up to you in vet bills. Your going to take your dog to the vet twice as much as you would if you fed your dog a healthier brand of food.
When looking for dog food, look for a brand that has at least two sources of meat in the first five ingredients, and contains no corn or grains.

Squirrel - Wellness is a good dog food, not the best, but probably the best that is commonly available.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dog Food Review

As many have said most grocery/walmart type store pet food is filled with chemicals and preservatives that are very unhealthy for your pets. For example, a very common bad ingredient is Menadione Sodium Bisulfite (a synthetic vitamin K product) which can cause all kinds of scary health issues in dogs.

It's not just the ingredients you need to be aware of but also the manufacturing process and company. Many name brand pet foods are made by only a handful of manufacturing companies, making it easier for quality control issues and ending up with mass recalls like menu foods.

There are good brands out there you just have to do a little research.

Note on Wellness -- my vet is a feline specialist. Don't know how their dog foods rate. Just passing along his educated and clinical opinion : )

For those who need to really save money, there are some dogfoods that pet owners seem to like that are relatively inexpensive. However, I would drop the satellite dish and bottled water (and nearly everything else) long before I gave my dogs bad dogfood.

Does anyone use Orijen? Any thoughts? I picked up some samples of the fresh fish formula today, and am considering switching my dogs over. I love that it's made in Canada & packaged ONLY at their facility, and is made from fresh mostly-local ingredients. The dogs had a bit for supper and seemed to be crazy for it. The only potential negative I've read it that it may be too high in protein for some dogs, but I need to read more to get a better understanding of that.

Dog Food Analysis gives it a yes. Look at the review.

I use various good quality kibbles but a lot of time I feed raw. You can get some good deals on raw food even at Walmart, so if you walk in to get Ol Roy, walk over to where you get your own food and sometimes you will find various sale meats for not too much more.
I've been looking for but haven't found a packing plant near Houston where I could fill up my freezer for me and the doggies.

Here is a little food for thought (no pun intended)
My mother and I had dogs from the same litter of puppies. My mom always fed her dogs a "no frills" brand of dog food, while I have always bought more expensive food recommended by my vet. My mom is always tight on money, that was the only reason. To make a long story short, my dog is still going strong at the age of 14 1/2, while my mom had to put one of her dogs down 4 years ago because of cancer, and the other last year. I've always speculated it was the food, but never said anything to my mom. I never wanted to make her feel bad.