"Real Meat" brand air and freeze dried foods
I'm looking to change Kouda's food since I learned the Nature's Variety he's on uses tapioca as it's starch component, and tapioca is a goitrogen. Kouda is borderline hypothyroid (by my judgement, but not of concern to Dr. Dodds, but that's a different topic!) In small amounts, this is probably ok, but as the main starch in his diet, it makes me uncomfortable.
So I've been looking at different foods that don't contain goitrogens, and I came to Real Meat's options. They are a small company in Southern California, and manufacture their products in the USA with meats sourced from USA, New Zealand and Australia. We currently get their jerky treats, which Kouda loves, so we figured their food was worth a try. I bought small bags of both the lamb air dried and lamb freeze dried food online, and the order is to arrive in the next few days.
I searched the forum, and also dogfoodadvisor, and didn't find anything on them. Here is their website - http://shop.realmeatpet.com/Real-Meat-Dog-Foods_c22.htm
1. So what do you guys think of the ingredients? The air and freeze dried formulas have different ingredients and nutrient breakdowns. Here they are:
Air Dried
3. High protein. The NV kibble he's on is 433 calories per cup, Crude Protein (min): 29.0%, Crude Fat (min): 18.0%, Crude Fiber (max): 3.5%. Kouda is 13 months old, so we don't have to worry about any more puppy growth, but I've read that NKs don't need a high protein diet, and may do better on less-than-30% protein. If I wanted to lower the daily protein intake, should I add a premix or other filler to level it out?
Thanks for any advice you can give!
So I've been looking at different foods that don't contain goitrogens, and I came to Real Meat's options. They are a small company in Southern California, and manufacture their products in the USA with meats sourced from USA, New Zealand and Australia. We currently get their jerky treats, which Kouda loves, so we figured their food was worth a try. I bought small bags of both the lamb air dried and lamb freeze dried food online, and the order is to arrive in the next few days.
I searched the forum, and also dogfoodadvisor, and didn't find anything on them. Here is their website - http://shop.realmeatpet.com/Real-Meat-Dog-Foods_c22.htm
1. So what do you guys think of the ingredients? The air and freeze dried formulas have different ingredients and nutrient breakdowns. Here they are:
Air Dried
Ingredients: Lamb, Lamb Liver, Lamb Heart, Lamb Kidney, Pumpkin, Inulin (from Chicory), Vegetable Glycerin, Ground Lamb Bone, Yucca Schidigera(BioAide), Pea Powder, Kelp, Parsley, Rosemary, Sea Salt, Betaine, Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E Supplement), Pomegranate, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Vitamin E, Flaxseed, Barley Grass, Yeast Extract(Agrimos), Iron Proteinate, Selenium Yeast, Copper Sulfate, Nicotinic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide (source of iodine), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid.Freeze Dried
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min) 34%
Crude Fat (min) 22%
Crude Fiber (max) 2%
Moisture (max) 15%
Kcals 4300/kg
Lamb, Lamb Liver, Lamb Kidney, Carrot, Pumpkin, Peas, Apple, Kelp, Lamb Bone, Green lip mussel, Manuka Honey, Choline Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Vitamin E, Iron Proteinate, Selenium Yeast, Copper Sulfate, Nicotinic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide (source of iodine), Riboflavin Supplement, (Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Cobalt, Biotin.2. Kelp! The ingredients look good to me, but of the research I've done, kelp is sometimes listed as bad for thyroid, and sometimes good.
Guaranteed
Analysis Crude Protein (min) 37%
Crude Fat (min) 38%
Crude Fiber (max) 4%
Moisture (max) 4%
Kcals 5750/kg
3. High protein. The NV kibble he's on is 433 calories per cup, Crude Protein (min): 29.0%, Crude Fat (min): 18.0%, Crude Fiber (max): 3.5%. Kouda is 13 months old, so we don't have to worry about any more puppy growth, but I've read that NKs don't need a high protein diet, and may do better on less-than-30% protein. If I wanted to lower the daily protein intake, should I add a premix or other filler to level it out?
Thanks for any advice you can give!
Comments
TK seems to do vest on relatively high protein content (current: 33%) - but maybe it's just the ingredients in the Acana.
London bloats up like it's his JOB when he's on a food with super-high protein levels. He's adjusted to earthborn (32%) well, but did not do well on other foods like TOTW and Acana or Orijen. I'd prefer a food with a lower content (Natural Balance), but his skin/coat didn't do so well on it.
I always thought of air-dried and freeze-dried food as supplement or treats, not as the main part of the diet. I would be worried about protein that high.
On this page is a short list of some very common protein sources in dog food and their digestibility: http://www.petmd.com/dog/nutrition/evr_dg_principles_of_dog_nutrition
@zandrame - the plant species are different, but I would check about the yucca. It is similar enough to cassava (also known as manioc, or yucca and from which tapioca is derived) in its early discovery to have been mixed up with that plant. I don't know if the similarity extends to nutrition content.
@zandrame I'm familiar with this product and had Koda on it for a bit when I would go out of town and he was on a raw diet. For obvious reasons, boarding people are not comfortable with raw diets and preparing food. It's a good product. I little pricey, but from a local company (I'm in CA). You may also want to check out Great Life which is another freeze dried kibble that I believe comes out of the same plant. Actually funny thing is they switched the packaging on these two products last year.
Here's a link to Great Life http://www.doctorsfinest.com/category_s/54.htm
Also, zandrame, it's timely that you're wondering about the tapioca. I'm talking an herbalism class and we were just covering endocrine issues,and the teacher had warned us about goitrogens.
I don't really know about the high protein, so can't comment much on that, but will throw this out: one reason I don't feed lamb is that my dogs--all of them--get terrible gas from lamb. It can't be that all dogs do, but most dogs I've had have gassed me out on lamb, so I gave up on it!
@shibamistress, lol at the lamb farts! Kouda's food is lamb now, so I wanted to stick with a familiar protein to start with. He does fart on occasion, usually while sleeping in my lap of course, but I figure that's the least of his problems! They do have a few other flavors we could try.
@tjbart17, I'm glad you've tried it! If it was good for big Koda, it's good for little Kouda!
Great Life was another brand I looked at, and it's rated well. But I wanted to try to avoid kibbles with grain, and their grain-free formula also unfortunately uses tapioca.
I found the following lists of good and bad foods helpful:
Bad - http://www.lowthyroiddiet.com/foods-to-avoid.htm
Good - http://www.lowthyroiddiet.com/foods-to-eat.htm
So I'm thinking if I need to add a filler to this food to lower the total protein, I can make a mash of things like carrots, beans, and quinoa. I wonder if he would even eat that!
Update - we got the food delivered yesterday. The air-dried is a good kibble substitute, the texture is pretty similar, and nicer than Ziwipeak in my opinion (which is too greasy feeling). The freeze-dried on the other hand is dry and powdery with no consistent shape. I think it's definitely meant to be rehydrated. Kouda got some tonight mixed with mashed carrots and green beans. He liked it.