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Raw Meaty Bones Diet * Homeopathic Treatments * Chemical and Pesticide Free* Natural Rearing * Minimal Vaccines
STOP THE SHOTS!
We claim to love our dogs and want them to live forever, but we are ignorantly putting their medical care into the hands of others, who are often profiting at the expense of our pets. We are over-vaccinating our animals. I can tell you that the damages of vaccines are very broad, from immediate vaccinosis, to long-term ailments, and linked to everything from allergies to auto-immune disorders. Vaccine damage can also be carried down through generations. Please do not over-vaccinate you pets!
There are many breeders, all across the world, who practace Natural Rearing. They are producing dogs who are completely vaccine-free, and raw fed. It is a wonderful thing! However, it is not something to be taken lightly, much research must be done ahead of time.
Here is one breeder who has been doing natural rearing since 1998, she explains the potential dangers of vaccines very well on her website HERE
To do some further research... here's a link to start: http://vaccines.dogsadversereactions.com/
ALSO LOOK AT DR. JEAN DODDS WEBSITE!
Rabies innoculations should no longer be required on a yearly basis, visit The Rabies Challenge Fund http://www.rabieschallengefund.org/
A interesting Yahoo group, vaccine free discussion, holistic remedies, TruthAboutVaccines group
Ask your vet about titers to test immunity, and ask about the new recommended vaccination schedules, which have changed. Does your vet follow the new vaccine schedules, or does the vet tell you to vaccinate every year? You can look up a new schedule from AAHA, which talks about how yearly vaccines are not common anymore, or on Jean Dodds website. The only law-required vaccine is Rabies.
Remember: YOU are responsible for your pet's health and well being 1st, and YOU make all the decisions- not your friends, not your vet, just you. Do not count on anyone else to make decisions or protect your pet, especially when they have money and business at stake.
NATURAL WORMING AND FLEA CONTROL
I use Diatomaceous Earth, a chemical-free way to deworm dogs and puppies. The brand I use is Azmira Para*Clear
To read more about it, look HERE
TO NEUTER OR NOT TO NEUTER?
Q: Should I spay/neuter, and if so, at what age?
A: It depends! It is really a personal decision. But the answer is often yes, sometimes no...
Large breed dogs especially should not be spayed/neutered too early. Although pediatric neutering is sometimes done for pet population control reasons, it is not in the best interest of the dog's health, as they need their hormones for proper growth and development. Early spay/neuter has been linked to bone growth issues: READ HERE
Most dogs should not be bred, that is just a fact. If you think your dog is good for breeding, prove it! Do you have at least a 6-generation pedigree? How are all the ancestors? Have applicable health certs and clearances (such as OFA hip certs, elbow, eyes) every breed has it's own predispositions to certain health problems that need to be screened. Does your dog have any skin problems or allergies, if so, count him out. Do you have titles on the dog, such as obedience titles or conformation titles? If the dog is not a prime example of health, why would you want to pass that on to future generations?
If you can be responsible, truly responsible in your handling of an in-tact dog, (and that means common sense supervision to prevent any breeding!) consider wether or not you want to leave your dog in their natural state. The health benefits sometimes, but not always, outweigh the risks. There are two sides to every coin.
As far as behavioral reasons- please do not neuter your dog expecting to solve any behavioral problems or "calm them down". If you could not handle an in-tact dog because of their natural behaviors, maybe you should not own a dog at all. Behavioral problems are solved by patience, exercise, and training, not by removing body parts.
DOG NUTRITION
I am an expert on canine nutrition. I am often asked what I feed my dogs. I feed raw.
I do a prey-model raw diet. I sometimes feed Nature's Variety raw patties, it is a pre-made fully balanced diet, and is healthy and convenient at the same time! Rotating proteins like chicken, lamb, beef, venison, and rabbit.
I also feed beef and whole chickens and organs. My dog's diet also includes raw bones, and such things as eggs and cultured milk.
Supplements I use include salmon oil, glucosamine msm, Nupro, ShowStopper, specific herbal remedies for individual dogs, etc.
THE TRUTH ABOUT PET FOOD
By Jennifer N. Hack
There are only two ways that energy enters the body. The first is breathing, the second is through eating. Since we can't control the air we breathe, what we eat is our focus in attaining good long-term health. In all living beings, good health starts with a quality diet.
The biggest marketing lie the pet food industry has sold us is that our dog's nutrition is a hugely complicated thing. "Oh dear, however could I come up with food for a dog!" I will let this huge corporation and their vast knowledge come up with my dog's food? Well guess what, it's not very hard or complicated to feed a dog (or make homemade food for him, if that's your thing). The key to balanced nutrition lies not in a dog food bag from the grocery store, but in variety and true quality! Let's say you need a certain amount of every vitamin. One day you might not get it, but the next day, you are eating different and new foods, and getting new vitamins and nutrition, balancing out your diet for the week.
Here’s another lie- “Feed your dog dry food because it’s good for his teeth.” If this were true, and we know the majority of dogs eat a dry food diet, why do most dogs need a full dental cleaning at some point in their life? Many vets actually suggest yearly dental cleanings now. It also depends what breed of dog you have, but I know of many people who get dentals yearly, and the pet has to be sedated for it. Hooray for vets, who make all the money off it. Hey, it’s a business like anything else. They are certainly not exempt from making a buck at your pet’s expense! The truth is dog food and treats can turn to a sludge when chewed, and do not clean along the gumline. If biscuits clean your dog’s teeth, why is dental disease so commonplace? Dogs still need their teeth brushed, and need raw bones to chew. Does your mouth feel cleaner after eating crunchy crackers?
My dog is like my child, in a way, I am not only his owner, but his guardian. What would you say if you brought your child to the pediatrician and he said "Here, feed your child this box of cooked feed and it will be their complete 100% diet. It‘s ‘child feed‘ and it‘s only $12.99 for 30 pounds." You would probably say "Are you crazy? I am going to give my child something that is real, whole, natural foods with variety." It is not scary to feed a child. You just need a basic understanding of nutritional needs, what foods are good, what foods the child prefers, and you feed the kid.
How did it become that a dog has to eat dry, bland tasteless kibble, while his human family feasts upon juicy, fragrant REAL meat for dinner. "Table scraps and people food is bad" that is a horrible MYTH propagated by the “pet food” industry. Dogs have been surviving for thousands of years as scavengers and eating human's scraps. Remember the phrase "Throw a dog a bone?" Even the cavemen might have had dogs that came around to eat their left over bones and scraps. That is possibly what created the first bonds between humans and dogs, before they were domesticated. "Table scraps" are real foods, and its ok for a dog to have a tidbit here and there. As long as it's not just fatty trimmings or processed, sugary, or seasoned foods, a little bit is fine. Although they can have bits of our food, ideally, dogs should have meat that is raw, or cooked under 165 degrees. That is not how we would prepare it for ourselves. A piece of meat, piece of bread, veggie, cheese, or fruit is fine. My dog loves a little cottage cheese. I am not saying your dog needs a fancy gourmet meal. You have to realize that a dog's idea of good food is VERY different than ours. They like stuff that smells good, even rotten. They should not have salty or starchy foods, chocolate, or caffeine. A bit of healthy table scraps throughout life might even help a dog develop a “stomach of iron” so that he will not have problems in the future when he has a small variation in his diet.
DOGS PREFERENCE
We have to be the advocate for our dog’s health. A dog does not know what is good for them, they just eat. I hate when I hear people say “Oh, but Buddy LIKES ___(insert junk food dog treat)__, it’s all he will eat!” Who cares what Buddy likes, I know kids who like McDonalds, does that mean their parents should let them have it every day???
However, once you find a good brand of food, or make your own raw diet, a dog’s preferences does come into play. Some dogs will eat anything you put in front of them, where as some are pickier. It may take trying a few brands and protein varieties before you find one that your dog likes, and one that works well with his system. You will see the results in healthy skin/coat, energy level, and a firm stool. Some dogs have allergies to certain proteins or grains, you can determine this through trial and error, allergy elimination trials, or through consulting with your vet.
INGREDIENTS
Ever heard someone say "You wouldn't want to know what's in a hot dog." Well you don't want to know what is in low-quality dog food. Anything you would imagine would be in dog food, probably is… and more.
They (most pet food manufacturers) don't care if your dog eats corn, which in dog food is the whole corn ear, cob and all. Corn is what is used to fatten up livestock. They don't care if he eats left over by-products like bits of feathers, hides, hooves, chicken heads, diseased flesh, pulp, preservatives, artificial flavors, soybean and nut hulls (PEANUT HULLS? see ingredients in Science Diet Lite) or other things that have no nutrition left. All that fiber and stool hardeners might be convenient for clean-up, but they are hard on the dog's system- you are treating your dog's stomach like a cement mixer. Tomato pomace, vegetable fiber, all can be bad if in larger amounts. Many dog foods contain beet pulp. Sounds harmless, but sugar beets are the only beets that contain pulp, therefore, sugar, which is bad for dogs, is in substantial quantities in these foods. I found out that many low quality dog foods contain high amounts of UDDERS- as we know, udders of milk cows can often be infected, not to mention all the hormones and antibiotics in those cows. In meat processing plants, any meat that touches the floor is no longer human-grade. So this saw-dust covered meat goes right into your dog's food.
MARKETING GIMMICKS
The pet food industry has many tricks up their sleeves.
First of all, marketing is huge. I am not going to go into it much in this particular article, but just picture this- a beautiful field full of dandelions, Golden Retriever with hair flowing in the breeze… “Don’t you wish he could be around forever? For a long life, feed Fido’s Dog Cuisine. A 10-year study shows that Fido’s Dog Cuisine can add healthy years to your pet’s life!” They neglect to mention who did the study (them), and “can add healthy years” as opposed to feeding what? Gravel? Bread and Bologna? Another brand of dog food? I would also like to know the conditions of their study, knowing the awful cruel experiments that IAMS carried out, we should be very wary of this.
THE INGREDIENT GAME
Then there’s the ingredient game. Dog food companies know their market. They know that consumers are taught to look for meat as the first ingredient, as if this were some sign of a quality food, which it is not. Only the very cheapest feeds, such as grocery store brands, have a grain as a first ingredient. So here’s what they do, they list: Chicken meal, brown rice, brewers rice, rice flour, rice gluten, barley... They simply break down their “rice” ingredients into parts. Whether this is valid or not, the point is your dog food does not contain “mostly meat,” in fact, it is half grains! Now for the first ingredient, chicken meal. We know that real, fresh chicken would ALWAYS be the first ingredient if it was on a list, simply because it weighs more than anything else, due to all the moisture in fresh meat. Chicken meal is bones and meat that are ground and cooked, rendered, and dried. They are added to dog food, and then cooked again. The temperature that is extruded at can range up to 350 degrees. High temperatures can damage proteins, and it is sometimes these broken proteins that have been linked to allergies in pets.
NATURAL NUTRITON
What do dogs eat?
To find the natural nutrition for a dog, we look to the wolf. Of course dogs are not wolves, however, dogs are a sub-species of wolves, and almost genetically identical. The scientific names are Canis Lupis (wolf), and Canis Familiaris (dog). They eat a variety of meat, bones, and organs. I want to know where would a wild dog/wolf would get rice, corn, wheat gluten, propylene glycol, and soybeans? I've never seen a wolf cooking up some white rice to go with his whole deer or rabbit. There is plenty of research showing the potential long-term dangers of high-grain diets in animals who are carnivores. It is hard to replicate a real, prey-based diet, but we try our best, and we see the great results!
Dogs and cats do not need carbs, this has been known for a long time. Dogs or cats needing carbohydrates t is a lie propagated by pet food makers because adding grains is cheaper for them.
"There is no known minimum dietary carbohydrate requirement for either the dog or the cat. Based on investigations in the dog and with other species it is likely that dogs and cats can be maintained without carbohydrates if the diet supplies enough fat or protein from which the metabolic requirement for glucose is derived." -The Waltham Book of Dog & Cat Nutrition, 2nd Edition (1988). Yes, that is from 20 years ago, and it is still true today.
Dogs are opportunistic carnivores, although they can digest them, they do not need any grains in their diet. What they do need is high-quality, digestible proteins.
SO WHAT DIET TO CHOOSE?
Raw Diets
Raw diets contain meat, bone, organs, and sometimes vegetables and fruits. can be either prepared by you, or purchased as a pre-made commercial diet.
If you prepare yourself, you have either BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) or RMB (Raw Meaty Bones) aka prey-model diet. BARF contains more fruit and vegetables. Raw diets can be fed whole, such as a whole chicken or hunk of beef including a large bone, or ground-up. The diet has to be balanced and contain both muscle meat, calcium from bones or bone meal, and various proportions of organ meats. The goal is not to make a 100% complete diet in every single meal, but to balance it out in a span of time, such as making a weekly meal plan. If you are interested in learning more about raw diets, there is research to be done first. You can do a lot of reading through books or internet searches. I suggest a short book called “Work Wonders: Feed Raw Meaty Bones Diet,” by Dr. Tom Lonsdale, DVM. As the title of the book implies, raw diets can TRULY work wonders for the health and longevity of your pet.
I often get asked if a raw diet is expensive. If you were to feed a raw prey-model diet, and only shop at Dominicks and Jewel, raw diet can be expensive. But you can go to local grocery stores, butchers, and meat suppliers and get cheap prices. You may find bags of chicken thighs for $.60/lb or less, good ground beef for 99/lb, whole chicken for $3. You can get drumsticks, gizzards, marrow bones for chewing, pigs feet, kidneys, livers, hearts, etc. Chicken backs and frames, which is what most of the meat in dog food comes from, is a cheap food, but not suitable as a meal because it's too high in bone. Marrow Bones are very important, too, and great for chewing and teeth.
For convenience purposes, frequently feed a pre-made frozen raw diet, which is a complete diet. There are many reputable brands to choose from! Some come in a patty form, you simply de-frost and feed. Remember to rotate your protein sources. I feed lamb patties, rabbit, venison, beef, and chicken. Every protein has a different nutritional profile, and it’s very important to rotate them, no matter what form of diet you’re feeding.
When reading the ingredient label, you will notice that the pre-made raw diets do not have added vitamins and minerals, like kibble dog food does. This is because all the necessary nutrients are already in their natural, whole food forms!
Kibble Dog Food
If you feed commercial dog food, first of all, do research and choose a good company. Especially after all the numerous pet food recalls that have happened, people are more careful than ever, with good reason. Choose something high-grade and super-premium! NOT ol’Roy, Iams, Pedigree, Alpo, Purina, Gravy Train, or store brand- they are all junk foods. They are full of garbage like artificial colors and preservatives. Such foods can cause a variety of intestinal and skin disorders, not to mention allergies. As aggregating allergies and dull coats can be, it is the degenerative diseases we should worry about- arthritis, cancer, joints, auto-immune disorders, dental health, etc. Choose a food that has high-quality protein, grain-free, or low-grain, that is the most important thing. If you feed dog food, you can also add dietary supplements such as probiotics, enzymes, and also real foods. If you would like to add whole foods, I suggest eggs, chicken, plain yogurt, raw ground beef, or any type of meat. Raw meat diet in conjunction with kibble should ideally be fed at different times of day, as raw meat digests at a faster rate than kibble. They should not be combined.
Remember that dog food has added vitamins/minerals, because the processing of food destroys some of that, so they add it back in. Giving vitamin pills indiscriminately can be harmful if not done correctly, especially with growing puppies, so you may want to check with your vet. Do not pick and choose supplements blindly, choose them with a purpose, and in the correct doses! Check with your vet before starting new supplements or herbal treatments “natural” does not mean “safe”. Glucosamine/msm/condroiton is often beneficial to a dogs joints. Dog food labeled “Large Breed” with glucosamine added can be useless, because a 50 pound dog needs 1000 mg a day, so you have to calculate how much is in x cups of dog food you are feeding per-day, and it's almost never enough. Chicken feet are a natural source for joint health. You can also buy a product made for dogs, or buy it at a drugstore in the joint-care section.
Home-made Diets
In the instance that a raw diet does not suit your dog, homemade cooked foods are another option. I have heard of success with crock pots for meats, veggies, sweet potatoes, or extra things like a bit of cheese. Remember, cook the food at low temperature, below 165. Do not prepare it as you would for yourself. Variety is key, and you will find many ideas out there if you look. You need to balance the diet, including human-grade bone meal for calcium. Consult with your vet to determine if your diet plan is complete and balanced.
Cooked bones is what can choke a dog, they can splinter. While certain raw bones are fine, never feed cooked bones!
Vegetarian Diet for Dogs?
Yes, I am a vegetarian, and my dog is not!
Sometimes we have to choose the lesser of evils. I did not choose dogs to be carnivorous, nature did. I have no business going against thousands of years of evolution. I would not attempt to feed a dog a vegetarian diet. Plant proteins are often low quality and less bio-available to the animal.
I also feel the need to mention cats, on this subject. Cats are strict carnivores, needing adequate levels of protein and the amino acid taurine, and should never be fed a vegetarian diet.
BACTERIA AND DANGERS IN RAW FOOD?
It's all about weighing risks.
In my opinion, the bacteria in a properly made raw diet is a very small danger, possibly less danger than pet food, if you consider all the recalls. Wild dogs will eat decaying carcasses and be fine, and our dogs lick their butts, eat other dogs poop, get into rotten garbage, and will put anything in their mouths, and are fine. Their body and stomach acids kill off the germs. Dogs will bury excess food and then dig it up later and eat it, which is actually a fermented meal rich in enzymes and beneficial bacteria. I'm not saying try this with your dog, but give him fresh meat from good sources and don't worry about it. If feeding a prey-model diet of raw meat and bone, be careful of occasional vomiting at first if your dog doesn't chew well- it is often harmless but a pain to clean up. His stomach is rejecting what his body perceives as possibly harmful or too big to digest. My dog once ate a big chunk of chicken without chewing, and sure enough, it came back up 5 minutes later in once piece. She ate it again, chewing the next time.
You should always follow food safely guidelines when preparing raw meat for your dog. Same as when you cook raw chicken for yourself. Wash all surfaces, hands, and don't let the dog lick you right after eating. You are more susceptible to salmonella than your dog is, but even people get over it. It’s an obvious choice when you weigh the small risks involved. Believe me, it's less risky than commercial pet food! Just due to recalls alone, pet food has killed and poisoned so many pets, not even counting latent effects of eating a poor quality diet. And yes, there has been cases of pets choking on kibble.
LARGE CORPORATIONS OWN PET FOOD COMPANIES
Large corporations have the benefit of marketing. Most of them also produce various human foods, also they have access to cheap ingredients that are not fit for humans.
Nestle- Alpo, Mighty Dog, Fancy Feast, Beggin Strips, Purina products such as Dog Chow, Purina One, Beneful, and Pro Plan.
Colgate-Palmolive- Hill’s Science Diet
Del Monte- Kibbles N’ Bits, 9 Lives, Meow Mix, Gravy Train, Nature’s Recipe
Procter & Gamble- Eukanuba, Iams
Mars- Pedigree, Whiskas, Sheba, Cesar, GoodLife Recipe, Royal Canin. In 2007, Mars acquired Nutro Products. Industry insiders commented this would likely result in a decline of quality in Nutro products.
WHAT IF FOOD IS “VET RECOMMENDED?”
Many foods may say “Vet Recommended.” This means about as much to me as a toothpaste commercial saying “dentist recommended.” Maybe the question is “Which do you recommend, A. Feeding your dog potato chips and bologna or B. Feeding IAMS Dog Food?” In that case, I too would recommend Iams wholeheartedly. Some popularly endorsed foods are Science Diet and Pro Plan. So why do veterinarians recommend one particular pet food, when it is clearly inferior in many ways?
“Most veterinarians acquire their only knowledge on pet nutrition in elective classes in veterinary school. These classes may only last a few weeks and are often taught by representatives from pet food companies. Hill's, lams, and Purina are the largest contributors for these courses. In addition, pet food companies even donate food to the vet students for their own companion animals. This practice has become so widespread among pet food companies that the veterinary school at Colorado State University made this an agenda item for an Executive Committee meeting in 2000. "Discussion was held on how to handle dealing with pet food companies and their donations of pet food to the university," according to the Executive.”
*Source: “Food Pets Die For” by Ann N Martin, page 21
The schooling a veterinarian goes through imparts them with a good base of knowledge, and their hands-on experience does as well. However, they do not know everything. Allowing a doctor, or any other professional to make all your decisions, just because he/she is a professional, is foolish. So called “experts” are not always right. I believe that modern medicine has a long way to go in realizing the importance of building up natural health and prevention rather than cure.
I have met veterinarians who did not recommend, or were against, raw diets. I have also met other vets, including holistic vets, who DO recommend raw diets. So what if your vet is one who is against it? I say make your own decision. I would not take the nutritional advice of someone who peddles Science Diet, touting it as the best pet food when it is clearly not.
ANIMAL TESTING BY DOG FOOD COMPANIES
Who would have thought that a food company that is supposed to care about dogs, would intentionally abuse and kill them?
IAMS has been exposed for doing cruel kennel studies of their dog and cat food. For nearly 10 months in 2002 and early 2003, an undercover animal rights investigator went to an Iams contract testing laboratory, exposing the cruelty. The videos are heartbreaking. The dogs, who were each assigned numbers, were cruelly confined to barren cages and surgically debarked. While under feeding evaluations, muscle biopsies were performed on 60 dogs, 27 of which were intentionally euthanized for study, even though IAMS said they were not doing this. A female dog who was owned by the lab gave birth to her puppies on a cold cement floor. Iams' officials were well aware of the conditions at the lab, but they continuously looked the other way while dogs and cats suffered and died with no medical care, and were forced to live in temperatures of sweltering heat and extreme cold.
This is another reason to be very careful which companies and brands you support. Feeding trials are normal, but not when they are performed like the IAMS lab did. The ethical way to do a food study is laboratory analysis of formulas for nutritional composition, palatability studies, and collaborative studies with veterinary clinics. Choose a company that states they do not do invasive research.
CONCLUSION
Different foods work for different animals and their owners. Do your research and choose a diet that is the best quality you can obtain, and one that suits your situation.
Finally, I would like to remind you to always question everything. In a perfect world, everyone would care about animals. Unfortunately, this world is not ran by caring, it is ran by the almighty dollar, and the pet care industry is not exempt from that. In America, where consumerism is an insatiable hunger, there is one driving force stronger than all others: fear. Sometimes the choices we make out of fear end up hurting us worse than the possibility we were afraid of. This is the case with both pet foods and vaccines- two things that are killing our pets.
Our companion animals rely on us 100% for care, so why not give them the best?
DOG WEIGHT GAIN DIET
Derived from the famous “Satin Balls” diet. All ingredients are raw and estimated measurements.
Mix together:
10 lbs. of 20/80 ground beef That means its 20% fat, 80% lean meat
10 eggs, with shells crunched up I prefer the Omega 3 eggs or Phil’s
4 tablespoons of PLAIN yogurt with live active cultures Greek yogurt is great
1/2 cup sunflower oil or similar (omega 6's)
1 cup Blackstrap Molasses
1000 mg softgel of Fish Oil (omega 3's)
Tiny pinch of salt
Other things you can add: package of cream cheese, box of oatmeal, wheat germ, garlic, or peanut butter.
Mix together and put in individual servings, freeze and defrost when needed. This is similar to the Satin Balls diet that has been used for a long time by breeders, trainers, etc.
Don’t forget beef marrow bones for chewing and dental health.
A FEW DOG FOOD REVIEWS
Dog food reviews:
Rated on a scale of 1-5, 1 being horrible (ex. Alpo), 5 being excellent (super-premium foods)
Bil Jac
This stuff is crap. First, the good points to this food is the low cooking temperature, nothing cooked above 160 degrees, and the fresh chicken ingredients. Bil Jac’s representatives told me the food contains 60%, but nowhere on he packaging do they state that. That makes me wonder if it’s more of a marketing gimmick than a fact. The food contains chicken as the only protein source, and liver high in the ingredient list. Liver is a part of the animal’s body where toxins are concentrated and is not a good thing. Salt is high on the ingredient list.The food contains molasses, which they have informed me is cane molasses. Sugar is one of the worst things for dogs. This added sugar might be one thing that helps them business wise, because animals can become addicted to the sugar and refuse to eat anything else. My biggest problem with the food, other than the added sugar, is that it’s preserved with BHT. Specifically, BHA, short for Butylated Hydroxyanisole, is banned from human use in many countries but still permitted in the US. Possible human carcinogen, apparently carcinogenic in animal experiments. The oxidative characteristics and/or metabolites of BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity. I asked a vet, and he did not recommend the food, saying it was “too full of corn and low-quality.“ I give it a 2 out of 5 for these reasons.
Cesar (wet food)
Cesar is a wet food that comes in a variety of flavors. Cesar seems to be marketed to owners of small dogs. The dog on the package looks to be a Westie. People like the convenient packaging, which is a small plastic tray with a peel-off aluminum top. The food itself is not very good, full of meat-byproducts. If it is not even named by species, it is not a good sign. There are much better wet foods out there, and for the price of about .73 cents for such a small portion, I give it .05 out of 5 points.
Blue Buffalo (available at PetSmart)
Blue is a holistic food. It has "human grade ingredients" whatever that means. I do not believe that dogs NEED "human grade" that food should be for humans! There is nothing wrong with good quality by-products and organs. That said, Blue is a good food. It contains no wheat, soy, or corn. It has chelated minerals and added probiotics. The only negative thing about it is that it is a little heavy on the grains. I prefer to feed low-grain foods. However, they have a newer food called Wilderness, it is excellent food 5 stars. This regular food- 3.5 out of 5 points.
Pro Plan
Purina's top of the line food, it is too heavy in grains, including brewers rice, which is white rice that is a often a by-product of beer making. While it's better than the other Purina foods, it is certainly not the best. 2 out of 5 points.
Fromm
A great company, their grain-free is called Surf-N-Turf and it's a very good quality food. 4.5 out of 5 points.
Orijen
Fabulous, the best kibble out there. Grain-free, and animal based, all ingredients sourced out of local Alberta Canada. 5 out of 5!
MORE TO COME…
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