The most important decision you will ever make for your dog or cats health is what to feed them. With so many animals suffering from food related health issues, what is going wrong? It really is not that complicated if we start with some basic rules.
Rules
Beneful Original |
Beneful Healthy Harvest |
Beneful Healthy Radiance |
Beneful Playful Life |
Pro Plan Performance |
Pro Plan Selects |
| (top 11 ingredients) | (top 11 ingredients) | (top 11 ingredients) | (top 11 ingredients) | (top 11 ingredients) | (top 11 ingredients) |
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| Ground Yellow Corn | Ground Yellow Corn | Ground Yellow Corn | Ground Yellow Corn | Chicken | Chicken |
| Chicken By Product Meal | Corn Gluten Meal | Chicken By Product Meal | Chicken By Product Meal | Corn Gluten Meal | Brown Rice |
| Corn Gluten Meal | Whole Wheat Flour | Corn Gluten Meal | Corn Gluten Meal | Brewers Rice | Corn Guten Meal |
| Whole Wheat Flour | Animal Fat | Whole Wheat Flour | Whole Wheat Flour | Animal Fat | Pearled Barley |
| Animal Fat | Soy Protein Concentrate | Animal Fat | Animal Fat | Poultry By Product Meal | Chicken Meal |
| Rice Flour | Soybean Meal | Salmon | Rice Flour | Animal Digest | Dried Egg Product |
| Beef | Pearled Barley | Brewers Rice | Beef | Fish Oil | Animal Fat |
| Soy Flour | Brewers Rice | Soybean Meal | Soy Flour | Dried Egg Product | Oatmeal |
| Sugar | Sugar | Sugar | Egg Product | Potassium Chloride | Fish Meal |
| Sorbitol | Water | Sorbitol | Oatmeal | Salt | Dried Brewers Yeast |
| Tricalcium Phosphate | Animal Digest | Tricalcium Phosphate | Sugar | Calcium Phosphate | Dried Beet Pulp |
The top 11 ingredients are the most important. (If someone asks you what you had for dinner you would say salmon, rice and some veggies. You don’t elaborate on the lemon, dill and pepper that were the spices added to your meal. It is the same concept with pet food.)
If you look at the label or commercials for Beneful Original, they suggest you get meat, peas, carrots and corn. When in fact there are no peas or carrots in the top 11 and for meat you need to go to 7th ingredient on the list. The chicken by product meal is not really meat. So in fact you have a lot of corn. But back to rule 1. Corn is not what dogs and cats need. There are no carrots or peas in the top 11 but they do have sugar and sorbitol, fillers that are unnecessary and harmful!
No meat, and lots of what they don’t need. Healthy Radiance is similar to the Original but instead of beef they have salmon. Yes, fish is good for the coat, thus the “healthy radiance”. But you see the rest is still not appropriate. If you were feeding them a species appropriate diet the coat would look wonderful. (But oops, then they would have one less product to sell.)
I love this one. If you were feeding them right they would all have playful lives, but let’s check and see if this meets rule number one. Yet again the answer is no. Looking at this entire label, I cannot see anything that would contribute to its name. At least in Healthy Radiance, it had salmon for the coat. But Playful Life has nothing that is going to help promote health and vitality, and to be honest, with all the food colorings and sugar, “Slow Death” would be a better title. I attempt to be fair, but every now and then a person just gets mad at how the consumer is mislead. And our loved ones are suffering for it.
Now on to what I believe they suggest are their better formulas.
The good news is that meat is number one on the list. Awesome, but wait, it is followed by all the same NON species appropriate foods like corn. The original Pro Plan formula had corn as number 1 and corn gluten meal number 3. But in this product, now corn gluten meal is number 2 and there is no ground yellow corn. But wait - yes there is, it is now called whole grain corn and corn bran. By splitting the ingredient into two items you can drop it down on the list. So has it really changed that much?
They are getting warmer now. There is more meat but they still have a lot of other items that are not appropriate for dogs, such as corn gluten meal, an undigestable, non-nutrittious ingredient.
More About Rule #2
C. ’Complete’ and ’balanced’ are words that you will see on many foods. But ask yourself - if it’s complete and balanced why would there ever be a need for ’new, improved’ formulas? Would that not suggest the first one wasn’t so complete and balanced? There is no living thing on this planet that has a complete, balanced diet in every meal. These words mean nothing, but they do sound good. The only thing that matters on a label is the ingredient panel. Not even the guaranteed analysis means much. Remember even beaks, shoe leather, finger nails, hair, feathers, are considered protein sources. The only thing you should look at on a bag is ingredients. And make sure it is species appropriate.
D. But my vet recommended it.
Medi-Cal Adolescent Formula |
Medi-Cal Gastro Formula |
| (first 11 ingredients) | (first 11 ingredients) |
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| Chicken Meal | Corn |
| Brewers Rice | Brewers Rice |
| Oat Flour | Lamb Meal |
| Corn | Potato Protein |
| Dried Whole Egg | Dried Whole Egg |
| Chicken Fat | Chicken Fat |
| Fish Meal | Lamb Digest |
| Yeast Culture | Flax Meal |
| Chicken Digest | Minerals |
| Tomato Pomace | Salmon Oil |
| Flax Meal | Pea Fiber |
| Beet Pulp | Vitamins |
The Adolescent Formula has chicken meal (good) as the 1st ingredient but then it is back to the same old stuff as other brands. What makes this one better than Purina is the vitamins and minerals and no colorings. That is great, but it is little more than saying to someone who eats fast food all the time, that I can fix your health issues. All you need to do is eat this fast food and take this multi-vitamin. What happened to just feeding good food?
Now the Gastro Formula. Again very little species appropriate food. But why? This is a vet food. They must know what dogs and cats are supposed to eat. Here is the kicker. Most companies want to offer you the lowest priced product they can get away with. There is no other reason than that.
So what do you need to remember of all of this? Two things.
Remember rule number 1 and Tail Blazers. We make sure our products follow rule 1. And we also have a list so you can check your foods out for what is really in them.
See for yourself (below) just a small sample of some foods Tail Blazers carries that are SPECIES APPROPRIATE!
Barking At The Moon - Solid Gold |
Evo - Chicken |
Orijen - Adult Chicken |
Wellness Core |
| (first 11 ingredients) | (first 11 ingredients) | (first 11 ingredients) | (first 11 ingredients) |
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| Ocean Fish Meal | Turkey | Deboned Chicken | Deboned Turkey |
| Beef | Chicken | Chicken Meal | Deboned Chicken |
| Potatoes | Turkey Meal | Turkey Meal | Turkey Meal |
| Potato Protein | Chicken Meal | Russet Potato | Chicken Meal |
| Canola Oil | Potatoes | Lake Whitefish | Potatoes |
| Tomato Pomace | Herring Meal | Chicken Fat | Dried Ground Potato |
| Natural Flavouring | Chicken Fat | Sweet Potato | Tomato Pomace |
| Salmon Oil | Natural Flavours | Whole Eggs | Natural Chicken Flavour |
| Choline Chloride | Egg | Turkey | Canola Oil |
| Taurine | Apples | Salmon Meal | Chicken Liver |
Please note, that for this example we used mostly chicken products. Tail Blazers has many other types of foods available as well.
May all our furry friends live long healthy lives,
Brent Hauberg (President, Tail Blazers)
Disclaimer – The views expressed in this article are solely the opinions of Tail Blazers. These opinions and views are not in any way affiliated with or endorsed by any food or product sold or not sold by Tail Blazers. This article is provided by Tail Blazers for informational purposes only and is not meant as a substitute for the advice of a qualified animal health professional. If you suspect your pet has a health problem, please consult with your qualified animal health professional. Formulas accurate as of fall 2009.
