what do you think of these dog food ingredients? Pros and Cons please..?

Question

Ingredients:
Chicken Meal, Whole Brown Rice, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Rice Flour, Lamb Meal, Rice Bran, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Salmon Meal, Flaxseed, Natural Flavors, Oatmeal, Suncured Alfalfa Meal, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Tomato Pomace, Cranberry Powder, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Dried Egg Product, L-Lysine, Dried Kelp Meal, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Extract, Zinc Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Biotin, L-Camitine, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, Garlic, Calcium Iodate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Tiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Beta-Carotene, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein minimum 32.0%
Crude Fat minimum 15.0%
Crude Fiber maximum 4.00%
Moisture maximum 10.0%
Linoleic Acid minimum 4.00%
Calcium minimum 1.00%
Phosphorus minimum 0.80%
Zinc minimum 250 mg/kg
Iodine minimum 5 mg/kg
Selenium minimum 0.30 mg/kg
Vitamin E minimum 200 IU/kg
Thiamine minimum 10 mg/kg
Ascorbic Acid* minimum 35 mg/kg
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)* minimum 0.10%
Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA)* minimum 0.65%
L-Carnitine* minimum 75 mg/kg
Beta Carotene* minimum 0.50 mg/kg
Total Bacillus Species* minimum 283 Million CFU/lb

Answer 1

I could be wrong, but it looks like Nutro Ultra. (I work in a pet supply store and Ultra is one of my preferred foods to recommend). I wouldn't feed it to my girls because they split rice (4 rice ingredients in the first 7 ingredients). Which leads to think they put more rice in the food than anything else. I'm also not a big fan of beet pulp (mostly cause the only thing I've ever used it for was to keep weight on VERY active horses, it doesn't have much nutritional value of its own).

If it is Nutro, their meat sources don't worry me much, I do know Nutro actually uses Tyson (or at least that's what someone told me). There is nothing wrong with meals. Meals are just dehydrated meat. I would rather see a meal there than a fresh meat without a meal (fresh meat is 60 or more % water). There is a lot of variance though in the quality of meal (the bone, fat, meat ratios). I'm not a big fan of Corn Gluten Meal as that is a cheap source of protein.

The rest of the ingredients are pretty good. Everyone is familiar with flaxseed and oil. Cranberry is good to help with the urinary track, alfalfa is good for the skin and coat as well as the teeth (the chlorophyll I heard help keeps teeth clean, hince greenies), and it appears the minerals are chelated (which means the body absorbs them easier as they are attached to proteins).

If they didn't split the rice, I would consider it for my girls. I prefer Blue Buffalo to Nutro Ultra (it's about the same in price) or Natural Balance Premium. I actually feed my girls Timberwolf Organics.

Hope that helps

Answer 2

Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory root), Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

that is a list of what is in my dog food. Canidae. In the one listed above I do not like that it has corn meal and 4 grains in the first 5 ingredients. Mine has 2 grains, both rice. Also filled with vitamins and lots of meat sources which are human grade.

Answer 3

It looks to me like Blue Buffalo, but I don't remember tomato pomace and potato flour being ingredients. I love that this company debones the chicken. That helps cut down on ash and calcium, especially if you don't know how much bone may have been in the meal. It also increases the weight of that fresh chicken. Downside to that, is you have to be sure there is enough calcium in it. Calcium is a tricky mineral cause if you have too much, it can cause problems, but you have to have enough. Fish meal in general are good sources of DHA and RHA to help develop and maintain the brain. I love the whole grains that are used. Oatmeal is helpful in controlling blood sugar levels. Carrots and Sweet Potatoes are also helpful in preventing cancer and are full of antioxidants. If it is Blue, it's a food a swore by a while back after I started learning about nutrition. Even when I worked at a major competitor, I still when to PetsMart to get it (the company for a long time had an exclusivity agreement with PetsMart - the food is starting to appear at PetCos too). I'm not going to say it's better than Solid Gold or some others, but my girls did very well on it. I had substantially less shedding compared to the food they ate before and Gwyn's coat was always soft and shiny. It is the best food at PetsMart in my opinion.

Answer 4

Way too much grain not enough meat. Only good thing I can see is chicken as the first ingredient, however it is over shadowed by the fact that there is grains for the next 4 ingredients...grain makes up 5 of the first 7 ingredients.

Answer 5

to be honest I work for a food processing company and the more ingredients the worse the stuff is. I would not go with this food fo your animal. seems like there are many fillers and this is what you dont want. I know that corn isnt too friendly to humans so can imagine that it couldnt be any better for animals.

Answer 6

No. I wouldn't feed this. Meat source isn't good enough. Too many carbs and corn. I see low quality food full of fillers.

Answer 7

Um.... Try sticking to brands like advance and royal canin for biscuits, and for meat, go for Kangaroo mince. You can pick it up in your supermarket.

Answer 8

far too many grain sources.. I dont like that it has corn gluten in it either.

Answer 9

My Shih Tzu says ..

"Ewwww, I can't live eating that! Give me something good for me!"

Answer 10

Too many fillers, and not enough meat sources.

The best brands are Pedigree and Kirkland's Lamb and Rice. They have a perfect balance of everything.

Pedigree can be found at your local supermarket and Kirkland can be found at Costco, if you know what that is.