ANOTHER food question...

[phoebesmom]

For the kibble part of Phoebe's diet, I would like some help on various available brands. I FINALLY managed to track down a place that sells Innova, and they only have a couple of bags left and don't think they will be able to get any more because of some import restriction, so there goes that idea out of the window.

It is a toss up between Royal Canin, Iso Dog (formulated and manufactured in Switzerland), or Uniq, from Denmark. Do any of you know anything about these brands. :confused:

Sorry for all the questions. :o

[gmacleod]

I know Royal Canin, but not necessarily the formulation you're asking about - and besides, the ingredients in the food varies country to country. No idea about Uniq. If you can post the ingredients lists though, then it's easy enough to give you an opinion :)

You could also take a look at this page www.boxerworld.com/feeding which tells you how to assess whether a dry dog food is any good or not. A food can only ever be as good as the ingredients that go into it, and that page has good information on what to look for, what to avoid, and why ;)

[StellaBabe]

Royal Canin is great. That's what stella loves...

[WhitneysMom]

Be carful with the innova, it is very rich and my frenchie had consistant runny stools until I switched. If your frenchie seems to be a bit sensitive in the stomach area I wouldn't go there. I feed Canine Caviar and raw with my 2.

[phoebesmom]

Thanks all of you for your much appreciated input. :D

gmacleod, thanks for taking time out to sift through all these ingredients, as well as the link to Boxerworld. VERY interesting and after having read many posts, I would imagine that you would choose Iso Dog over Uniq. Am I right or totally off track. :confused:

Iso Dog ~ rice, lamb meal, potato protein, stabilized wheat germ, carob, brewers yeast, linseed, beet pulp, poultry fat, dried egg product, fruit fibre, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, salt, poultry-based aroma, yucca extract, lecithin, choline, FOS, Vitamins A, D3, E, B1, B2, B6, B12, K, PP, biotin, trace elements such as zinc, manganese, copper, iodine, iron, selenium. Preservative... potassium sorbate.

UniQ ~ (I had to translate this with the help of a dictionary, so some of it might not be 100 percent accurate). Meat portions 30% (16% chicken meat), fish (14%), rice, wheat (bread wheat human grade), barley, fish oil, wheat bran, plant oil, maize, roughage (diced veg), milk powder, dried egg, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, iodine, selenium, vitamins A, D, E, B1, B2, B6, B12, D, niacin, biotin, folic acid and choline.

I am thinking that due to the addition of maize and wheat in the Uniq that it would be 2nd choice?? I was assured that it was a very high quality product, but I just dont know. If neither of them is any good I am in a pickle, because other than that it is just the usual Iams, Science Diet, etc. etc. Phoebe only has the kibble once per day and I cook for her in the evening, so fortunately the kibble isnt her only souce of food.

Thanks SO much for taking time out to advise me. :D

[gmacleod]

Actually, I wouldn't be that thrilled with either of them. Since you're feeding homecooked meals in the evenings, then the Royal Canin would probably be the better choice, since it doesn't contain wheat and corn (maize).

What is wrong with the Royal Canin is that it just doesn't have an adequate amount of meat in it to be a decent food for a canine. That's not quite such an issue for you since you're feeding homecooked meals (presumably mostly meat) in the evenings. But it would be a big issue if you were considering this as a complete food.

The first thing I'd look for in any dry dog food (certain allergy formulas excepted) is a minimum of two named meat ingredients in the top five. I'd certainly want the first ingredient to be a meat meal (in the RC it is only the second ingredient, and that's the only one in the entire food). For comparitive purposes - some foods have the first four ingredients as meat sources... But the RC is mostly rice.

The UniQ isn't fantastic either, and it's not that easy to discern how much meat is in the food. It lists a total meat content of 30% (what I'd really like to know is whether that 30% is dry matter or meat inclusive of water content - if it's the former, then this is probably a better food overall than the RC, providing your dog doesn't suffer from allergies to corn and wheat. If it's the latter, then I change my mind and would rather have the royal canin!!). But assuming that to be dry matter, then it's reasonable for meat content. The wheat and maize are a pity - those aren't good foods for a dog. But I prefer the addition of things like barley, fish oil, roughage (diced veg), and dried egg in the UniQ to the stabilized wheat germ, beet pulp, dried egg product, and fruit fibre in the Royal Canin (most of which are waste products). ROFL - I also find myself wondering what on earth RC's "poultry-based aroma" is...

[gmacleod]

Just as a matter of interest - had you considered Royal Canin's sensible choice? I think that's a better food than either of the two listed above, and according to their website is available in Switzerland.

I don't find the ingredient list on the Swiss website, but I do on the US sensible choice website. Could be worth checking if the ingredients are the same, and if they are, then the sensible formula might be a good choice. It's still a bit light in meat for my liking, but that's not such an issue since you're half-homecooking...

Here's the sensible choice ingredients, per the US formula:
Chicken meal, brown rice, chicken, oatmeal, brewers rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural chicken flavor, dried tomato pomace, flax, fish meal, brewers dried yeast, dried egg product, canola oil, potassium chloride, salt, extract of chicory, apples, blueberries, spinach, sweet potatoes, dried kelp, dehydrated alfalfa meal, yucca schidigera extract, cloves, parsley, calendula, dandelion, basil, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, ascorbic acid, zinc oxide, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, extract of rosemary, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, vitamin A acetate, fish oil, sage, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, sodium selenite, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, calcium iodate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus lactis fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium bifidum fermentation product, dried Enterococcus diacetylactis fermentation product, folic acid.

[phoebesmom]

Thanks SO much gmacleod, you are a *star* for all your advice and input. I am going to go onto the Qualipet (pet shop) website to check out if they have the RC sensible choice, as that will probably be the best that I can find over here. I just wish we had more of the brands discussed on other threads, as some of them sound really good, especially the Natura range. I really appreciate your help, as I have been groping around in the dark a bit, even with all the information available, it seems to be too much for my brain to soak up. :o

Thanks again. :D