Food comparison

Postby pitbullmamaliz » March 5th, 2010, 5:53 pm

Could somebody who is knowledgeable about nutrition labels on dog food please tell me which one of these foods is better, and if it is worth the $10 extra that it costs?

Deboned Turkey, Deboned Chicken, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Dried Ground Potato, Tomato Pomace, Natural Chicken Flavor, Canola Oil, Chicken Liver, Salmon Oil, Flaxseed, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Kale, Broccoli, Spinach, Parsley, Apples, Blueberries, Vitamins & Minerals, Chicory Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Products, Rosemary Extract.


Buffalo Deboned, Chicken Meal, Potato Dehydrated, Turkey Meal, Canola Oil, Sweet Potato Dehydrated, (preserved with mixed tocopherols – a source of Natural Vitamin E and Ascorbic Acid, a source of Vitamin C), Yeast Culture, Natural Dried Chicken Liver, Dicalcium Phosphate, Lysine, Guar Gum, Sea Salt, Alfalfa, Salmon Oil, Choline Chloride, Acai Berry Freeze-Dried, Blueberry Dried, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Venison Broth, Zinc Amino Acid Complex,Chondroitin Sulfate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Natural Venison Flavor, Chicory Root, Marigold Extract, Rosemary Extract, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Natural Celery Flavor, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Natural Color (tumeric), Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Complex, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3, Niacin, Lecithin, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Amino Acid Complex, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite.


The 2nd brand also has salmon and chicken flavors as well. Thoughts?
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Postby call2arms » March 5th, 2010, 10:51 pm

I guess as a start, buffalo is probably more expensive to buy than chicken, and that food also has a load of added vitamins, and celery flavor? That's a funny one.

For which one is "better"... It's more about metabolizable energy (how many kcal per cup, if it's kibble), and I guess the one that says it has vitamins/minerals added may be more balanced? The top one may not name it in the ingredients, but still have some listed in the nutritional value % box thingy. I think it may be easier to tell with the % of everything, rather than just the ingredient list. The second food does have added probiotics, so that's nice.
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Postby BullyLady » March 5th, 2010, 11:01 pm

call2arms wrote:The second food does have added probiotics, so that's nice.


The first one does as well:

Dried Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Products


Honestly, they look pretty equal to me. :| The first one doesn't have all the added vitamins and minerals but it has many more fruits and vegetables which I'm sure give the same vitamins and minerals. I'd stick with the cheaper one.
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Postby mnp13 » March 5th, 2010, 11:06 pm

In my opinion, they are about equal, I'd get the cheaper of the two.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » March 5th, 2010, 11:19 pm

Thanks guys. The top food is the Wellness Core I'm currently feeding, which costs about $58 for 26 lbs.
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_well ... ginal.html

The 2nd one is Merrick's Before Grain Buffalo, which runs about $48 for 25.3 lbs.
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/bg_ ... ood_25.php

On the Dog Food Analysis website, they give the BG 5 stars and the Core 6. But $10 per bag is a substantial difference if they are similarly healthy, ingredient-wise.

The BG also comes in a salmon flavor - would that be better than Buffalo due to the Omega 3's or 6's or whatever comes in fish?
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Postby mnp13 » March 5th, 2010, 11:44 pm

Have you looked at Orijin or EVO?
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » March 5th, 2010, 11:47 pm

They're more expensive than even Core.
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Postby mnp13 » March 5th, 2010, 11:54 pm

We were very happy with Merreck
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Postby call2arms » March 6th, 2010, 12:07 am

woops, didn't see the probiotics in the other one... Duh.

I think the fruits & vegs lose some vitamins and minerals when cooked, and normally the vitamins and minerals are added afterwards on the food, but I'm sure the food that doesn't have them listed as ingredients still add them. After all, dog food producers can write ppretty much whatever the hell they want on their labels (in Canada at least) without or with very little regulation to the truth of their allegations. Not saying that companies are trying to screw us, but in theory they can, all of them.
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Postby Malli » March 6th, 2010, 5:26 am

The omega 3's won't be substantial enough to really have much of an impact from the food, I'd just get the food you like and then do a fish oil supplement, it would be better to find a supplement with a guaranteed analysis though...
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Postby Miss_Pits » March 6th, 2010, 8:09 am

I feed a rotation diet and we use the BG Buffalo formula and my dogs LOVE it!! We've also gotten the Acana, which has some flavors comparable in price to BG.
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Postby BullyLady » March 6th, 2010, 2:42 pm

Malli wrote:The omega 3's won't be substantial enough to really have much of an impact from the food, I'd just get the food you like and then do a fish oil supplement, it would be better to find a supplement with a guaranteed analysis though...


Just use people supplements! Most of the "mega" fish oil pills are equivalent to the analysis in the good quality dog ones, and usually much cheaper.
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Postby Malli » March 6th, 2010, 3:44 pm

:? I didn't say to get a dog supplement :| I said to find with one with a guaranteed analysis.
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Postby BullyLady » March 6th, 2010, 3:56 pm

Malli wrote::? I didn't say to get a dog supplement :| I said to find with one with a guaranteed analysis.


But aren't human supplements required to have a guaranteed analysis? So the only other option of something that that wouldn't have a guaranteed analysis would be a dog supplement..... That's all I meant by that.
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Postby Malli » March 6th, 2010, 4:03 pm

um, they're not here...

My vet (who I have a special relationship with since I used to work with him) has actually had me get certain dog supplements because he said so many others (including for people) are not regulated and vary in what they contain, even within 1 pkg.
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