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Dog food question

We will arrive in Southampton on the Quueen Mary 2 from the Us with our 80 pound Chocolate lab.
This question is for

  1. people who have taken their dog on the cruise
  2. people with knowlege of dogfood in UK
  3. people who have taken their dogs via car on the eurotennel from UK to France

I seem to recall that dog food is not allowed to be taken off the boat when disimbarking. What was your experience?
Our dog does best with Blue Buffalo turkey, rice and pumpkin grain free kibble dog food.
Is Blue buffalo a brand sold in the Uk? Any recommended brands that have grain free dog food?
Are there large pet stores that offer a good selection in Southampton? We are staying in Southamton for four nights, then the eurotunnel to France.

Are we allowed to take dog food from the UK into France.

Barley eats about 8-9 pounds of dogfood a week. Changing dogfood cold turkey could be a mess.

Posted by
274 posts

On Tesco's web site (commonly-found store in UK, also has delivery option) I'm seeing at least 4 different dog foods that are turkey and grain free, but not finding Blue Buffalo on the list yet. I was not finding anything similar on Sainesbury's site. Does look possible that Tesco could deliver to your hotel if needed.
Have a great trip.
-Aly

Posted by
6733 posts

And here I though this was going to be another "How I afford to travel" thread...

Posted by
4138 posts

"Our dog does best with Blue Buffalo turkey, rice and pumpkin grain free kibble dog food." Isn't rice a grain? I have a Blue grain-free dog. I hate feeding a dog fancy food, but going grain-free really helped with his skin issues. However, he truly gets no grains of any kind and that includes rice.

Perpetually curious, I did a little search for grain free dog food uk and found this article with some suggested brands.

Posted by
1626 posts

Thanks for the replies and advice. Cunard confirmed today that dog food can NOT be taken off the boat.

Actually I mis-typed and his dog food is Turkey and Potato (hence the grain free).

While I can order Blue Buffalo from Amazon, it's more than double the cost of what's already expensive in the US. I did find a UK brand that is Turkey and Potato/grain free on Amazon. I've asked our hotel if we can order from Amazon and have delivered to the hotel, so it's there when we arrive. If not I'm sure we'll find something at Tesco.

Thanks again!

Posted by
2111 posts

Karen,
While my posting won't help you, I have some questions for you:

Does your dog get to stay in your cabin/suite on the ship? If so, how cool is that!!!

We have a puppy (a mini-Goldendoodle growing quickly) for the first time in decades (we used to have Great Danes in our younger years), , I am very interested in places where we can take him. And, of course, I realize I would need to research all sorts of information depending on which country into which we would disemBARK (cute emphasis on bark).

Seriously, I never knew any cruise line would allow a pet dog..........very interesting and fun.

Does the ship have doggy bathroom stations like in some airports? Are dogs allowed to walk thru certain common areas on the ship?

I hope you all have a wonderful trip.

Posted by
2111 posts

Karen,
Disregard my previous post. I just found the answers on the cruise line's Q&A section. How wonderful your dog can travel with you,
and while kenneled on the ship, you can still spend quality time with him in the exercise area.
Safe travels.

Posted by
11294 posts

Maggie, if you are seriously interested in taking your dog on the QM 2, note that the kennels book up a year in advance, so start your planning early!

Posted by
374 posts

We’ve not bought dog food in the UK but we have found similar dog food to my husband’s dog’s Natural Balance limited ingredients in other countries. We’ve also rotated the protein source which has made her very adaptable with no issues.