[Delta]

I went grocery shopping today at a Fred Meyer (I'm in western Washington State) and found that they were now carrying a new refrigerated dog food and had installed a special refrigerator in the dog food section. I read the ingredients and was pleasantly surprised. It's not the best, but pretty darn good so it's not something I'd probably feed as a main food, but I did buy a few tubes on sale and my girls went batty for it. On sale it was 1.66 per pound. Thought it would be a nice treat and good as an add-on occasionally. I feed Innova regular with extras such as scrambled eggs, meat and yogurt.

Our Fred's has a wonderful organics and naturals section where I buy many of our groceries, and I noticed that they are also carrying two new dog food kibbles in that section. I don't remember what they were but I wasn't happy with the ingredients so I didn't bother to note them. But I was quite pleased with the Freshpet ingredients. And very happy to see such progress in pet foods available in a small town grocery. (They also carried Brandon Farms Naturals canned which had decent ingredients too.) Anyway, I couldn't find this food mentioned here when I did a search so thought I'd add it for info's sake.

Here's the ingredients of the beef tubes I bought:

Ingredients:
Beef, chicken, beef liver, eggs, beef broth, carrots, brown rice, peas, rice bran, soy flour, carrageenan, salt, natural flavors.

Vitamins:
Choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, niacin, biotin, riboflavin supplement, manganous oxide, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid.

Minerals:
Calcium carbonate, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, niacin, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, thiamine mononitrate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite.

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein (min) 10.0%

Crude Fat (min) 6.0%

Crude Fiber (max) 2.0%

Moisture (max) 73.0%


Here's their website:
http://www.homestyleselect.com/products/slice-serve.htm

 

[balakai]

They've been carrying this food in Kroger for almost a year. It's not bad, although I'm not sure about the rice bran and soy flour. My old guy, who turns 14 this month, is quite picky and has recently been quite difficult about eating dinner so I've started mixing in a little canned food or this stuff. He's much better about eating now.

~Kristin

 

[BowWowMeow]

Is that all your dog is eating? The protein levels are REALLY low. A dog should get at least 25% protein in their food.

 

[Delta]

Learning to read protein levels in dry vs wet.

Originally Posted By: BowWowMeowIs that all your dog is eating? The protein levels are REALLY low. A dog should get at least 25% protein in their food.

Who is this too? What protein levels? If you mean the Freshpet, all canned / wet type foods are going to show a lower percentage of protein and fat due to their moisture content. Here's Innova Evo 95% Beef canned food: http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?panel=ga&id=1493

It has 9% protein but it's virtually all meat (minus the water of course).

Here's a WIKI description on how to convert:

Notice that moisture levels in pet foods can range from approx. 6% to as much as 80%. Canned food obviously contains more moisture than dry kibble. But it may not necessarily contain as much protein, for example. You can't tell which food contains the most protein, fat or fiber until you have converted both labels to a dry matter basis.
Determine the amount of dry matter first, by subtracting the percentage given for moisture from 100%. Using the example below, the moisture accounts for 10% of the pet food. Therefore, the dry matter content is (100% - 10% = ) 90% of the pet food.
Convert the protein, fat and fiber percentages to a dry matter basis by dividing the percentages given on the label by the amount of dry matter (from the previous step). In our example, the 26% protein on the label converts to 28% on a dry matter basis by dividing 26% by 90%. (Notice that in our example the dry matter calculation is only slightly different than the labeled percentage. This is because the moisture level was only 10% per the label. If the moisture level had been, say, 40%, then the dry matter content would have only been 60% and protein on a dry matter basis would have been calculated as (26% divided by 60% =) 43%.)

Note; I also stated that I won't feed this as a main food source, but that it's wonderful as an add on and for variety. I feed Innova with scrambled eggs, meat and yogurt, to name just a few extras my dogs get.

Overall, in our small town there are almost no sources for decent dog foods. Finding a good food in our local grocery was wonderful. Even if it just gives people an opportunity to read ingredients and compare to the stuff they usually buy, like Ol' Roy or Mighty Dog.

 

[BowWowMeow]

Re: Learning to read protein levels in dry vs wet.

Sorry, I did not thoroughly read your post. Mea culpa.

 

[Delta]

Re: Learning to read protein levels in dry vs wet.

Kristin, I agree about the soy and rice bran. I don't use soy for anyone in my house, including my cockatoos. My vet gives me a hard time because I'm not feeding them a pelleted food any longer, but all parrot pellets, even the best, are mostly soy based and after a lot of research have found that soy just may not be safe as a food, for pets or humans. That's one of a few reasons I wouldn't use this as a staple food for my young dogs. But I might for an older dog if they liked it.

 

[Delta]

Re: Learning to read protein levels in dry vs wet.

Ruth,