dog food ratings

[Looking at dog food ratings as passed on by Mary Nellum]

I've been feeding Kimo Pedigree (because my neighbor Kimo gave me a bag that somebody gave to them and Kimo seemed to eat it OK) and Beneful (it looked good on the label when I was in the mindset that non-meat would be good for Kimo since I though he was allergic) lately. He doesn't seem to greatly enjoy it, but he'll eat it eventually.

It turns out the dog community is also opinionated about dog food too.

How good is Pedigree?

Pros: [none]
Cons: Insufficient meat content, by-products, low quality grains, fat and meat products of unidentifiable origin, carcinogenic preservative, artificial colourant.

This food receives a 1 star rating simply because there is nothing lower.

The primary ingredients in the food are grains (it should be meat!). Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food.


How good is Beneful?

Beneful falls in to the category of unhealthiest pet foods on the market. I have listed the ingredients of the Adult Formual below and I want to highlight a couple of things for you.

Beneful Adult:

-Ground yellow corn (should NEVER be in pet foods, cheap filler that dogs cannot digest)
-chicken-by-product meal (should NEVER be in pet foods, these are the feet, feathers, beaks, organs of dead, diseased or other chickens unfit for human consumption)
-corn gluten meal(shoule NEVEr be in pet foods, this is simply the residue left after corn has been processed for other things)
-whole wheat flour (should not be used as wheat is one of the most common allergens for dogs and provides no nutrition)
-beef tallow (this is beef fat, which offers not nutritional value as most dogs do not digest beef and the fat is not the proper type to make their coats shiny)
-rice flour (should be the whole grain, not just the flour)
-beef (dogs do not digest this very well)
-soy flour(another common allergen for dogs)

This food does not have any meat in it except a tiny portion of beef which the dog can probably not even taste. This food is both disgusting and a great example of Purina prodcing cheap foods just to try and make a profit.


The reviewer likes Innova instead.

BUT

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010, Procter and Gamble (Manufacturers of Iams and Eukanuba) announced that they have reached an agreement to purchase Natura Pet Products, manufacturer of Innova, EVO, California Natural, Karma, and Healthwise. Because P&G cares about profit and not about pet health, and because P&G has a proven track record of high marketing values of low quality foods, I can no longer give Natura brands, including Innova EVO, a good rating. Previous rating was five stars, and previous review remains below.

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What are the worst dog foods? (according to Yahoo Answers)

Any brand sold in a department store.. Even the name brand stuff is utter crappola.. It's all just corn, fillers, chicken heads and feet and any other miscellaneous junk they can get for cheap.. Then they just throw in a couple vitamins and call it 100% complete and balanced.. [answered by Unknown]

Worst dog foods:

-Beneful
-Pedigree
-Iams
-Eukanuba
-Royal Canin
-Science Diet
-Kibbles 'n Bits
-Dog Chow

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What are the best dog foods?

Innova and Wellness make this top ten

Dog Food Analysis rates Innova and Wellness six stars.


Here's some ratings:

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Blue Buffalo Chicken & Brown Rice/ Score 106 A+
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
Eagle Pack Holistic / Score 119 A+
Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken / Score 114 A+
Eagle Pack Large and Giant Breed Puppy / Score 94 A
Eagle Pack Natural / Score 94 A
Eukanuba Large Breed Adult / Score 83 C
Eukanuba Natural Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Flint River Ranch / Score 92 B (non-specific fat source)
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 A
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Iams Large Breed / Score 83 C
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Kirkland Signature Puppy Chicken, Rice and Vegetable / Score 108 A+
Natural Balance Duck and Potato / Score 114 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Chicken, Rice, & Oatmeal / Score 85 C (non-specific fat source)
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural choice Lamb and Rice / Score 85 C
Ol Roy / Score 9 F
Pedigree Complete Nutrition / Score 42 F
Pedigree Adult Complete / Score 14 F
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
Pro Plan All Breed / Score 68 F
Pro Plan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+
Purina Benful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet chicken adult maintenance / Score 45 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Solid Gold Bison / Score 123 A+
Timberwolf Organics Lamb and Venison / Score 136 A+
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (Bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A


I was a bit surprised to see Kirkland rated so high and disappointed to see Ol Roy so low (that's the kind of dog biscuits I give Kimo).

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[11/1/10] Is pricey dog food worth it? [via zacks]