Is there any difference between premium and generic pet food (besides cost)?

[pstokely]

I don't think there is if they get stuff from the same manufacturer

[stirlingsliver]

1. Cost

Premium costs more than generic.

[Nikia]

2. If it is like other foods made by the same manufacturer

Sometimes.
A company that has another company make their brand has approved the product they make for them. This could mean that they approved the generic formula as is. It means that they they could have requested specifications that mean that the premium product must meet stricter standards than the generic product or be slightly different in some other way. It could mean that the other company had to match a product that was much different than their own. It might mean that the brand actually gave them a formula.

[Guava Jelly]

3. Many companys add a shitload of fillers to pet food

And the money you save buying the cheap food you will end up paying back to the vet.
Buy the good stuff your pet is worth it

[LostInAnomie]

4. Cheap food makes my dogs' shit burn up the grass.

That's all I've noticed.

[SOteric]

5. Yes, often there is. But it may be minimal.

Many pet food companies purchase a kind of nutrition base. (Think of it like the frozen juice concentrates you can purchase at the supermarket). That is the common element being reported in the current feed recall. How they opt to develop the nutrition base can vary greatly, or it can vary quite little. Cheaper varieties often develop their bases with inexpensive filler material. It's not out of the question for an expensive variety to do this as well.

[Critters2]

6. I've been wondering the same

I've also been feeling kind of wise, because none of my pets' foods are included in the recall. I buy small, mostly organic companies' products. I msut be doing something right.

[LeftyMom]

7. You really have to read the ingredients.

Some well regarded brands (Iams, for example) people pay more for are barely a step up from the utter crap. Others don't have anything in them you couldn't or wouldn't eat, they're just in proportions appropriate for dogs or cats. You'll never find the really good brands at a supermarket or many of them at the big pet chains, just like a lot of the really good healthy human foods are nowhere to be found at the big grocery chains.

[mzteris]

8. *IF* it's made by the same manufacturer . . .

(which btw is the same rule I use for generic people food. lol)

That said, I had a friend who "toured" a number of different dog food factories and said that quite a few of them used 'stuff' you'd be appalled to know your dog was eating. Road kill, dead animals from 'unknown causes', etc. She recommended one particular brand that didn't do those things - and that's what we use now. Even though (sigh) it does cost way more.

[flvegan]

9. Define "premium"

If you think Iams, Purina One, Science Diet, etc is premium, then no, not until you get into vet diet grade.

The ingredients are the key. True premium pet food is costly. That much is true.