dog food similar to moist and meaty
Purina Moist and Meaty Dog Food Review (Semi-Moist)
The Purina Moist and Meaty product line includes the 6 semi-moist dog foods listed below.
Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.
Recipe and Label Analysis
Purina Moist and Meaty Burger with Cheddar Cheese Flavor was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.
Ingredients Analysis
The first ingredient in this dog food includes beef by-products, slaughterhouse waste. This is whats left of slaughtered cattle after all the prime cuts have been removed.
With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this stuff can include heads, ovaries or developing fetuses.1
And raw meat contains up to 73% water. So, after cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.
After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.
The quality of this ingredient can vary, depending on the caliber of the raw materials obtained by the manufacturer.
The second ingredient is soy flour, a high-protein by-product of soybean processing.
Although soy flour contains about 51% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.
And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.
The next ingredient lists soy grits, soybeans which have been toasted and broken into small pieces. Although high in protein, compared to meat, soy grits are an inferior source of amino acids.
The fourth ingredient is high fructose corn syrup (or HFCS). HFCS is a corn-based sugar mixture commonly used to make soft drinks, cookies and candy. Sugar is an empty nutrient just as unhealthy for dogs as it is for humans.
The fifth item is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.
The sixth ingredient is wheat flour, a highly-refined product of wheat milling. Like corn, wheat is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain of only modest nutritional value to a dog.
For this reason, we do not consider wheat a preferred component in any dog food.
The seventh ingredient is corn syrup. Corn syrup is a glucose-rich, high-calorie item of questionable nutritional value to a dog.
Next, this recipe includes beef. Although its a quality item, raw beef contains up to 73% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.
After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.
From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.
But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.
With 7 notable exceptions
First, soybean oil is red flagged here only due to its rumored (yet unlikely) link to canine food allergies.
However, since soybean oil is high in omega-6 fatty acids and contains no omega-3s, its considered less nutritious than flaxseed oil or a named animal fat.
In addition, were always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any pet food. Thats because coloring is used to make the product more appealing to humans not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his food is?
Next, we find no mention of probiotics, friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the food after processing to help with digestion.
In addition, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually associated with higher quality dog foods.
We also note that this food includes menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
Since vitamin K isnt required by AAFCO in either of its dog food nutrient profiles, we question the use of this substance in any canine formulation.
This product also uses sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.
And lastly, this food contains ethoxyquin, a controversial preservative linked to the accumulation of hemoglobin pigment in the liver and elevated hepatic enzymes in the blood.
Nutrient Analysis
Based on its ingredients alone, Purina Moist and Meaty looks like a below-average product.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 27%, a fat level of 10% and estimated carbohydrates of about 55%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 27% and a mean fat level of 11%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 54% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 39%.
Which means this Purina product line contains
Near-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical dog food.
When you consider the protein-boosting effect of all the soy products, this looks like the profile of a semi-moist dog food containing a moderate amount of meat.
Orlando Moist and Meaty Review
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Suitable for all breeds of dogs
Private label(or
white label) pet foods are pre-formulated recipes that companies can order from certain factories, add their own label or packaging and retail to the public as their own brand. They are therefore available from numerous suppliers.
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Mixing bowl composition
This is the ingredients list as printed on the packaging or manufacturer's website.
Think of the 'mixing bowl' composition like a recipe - all the ingredients you would need to put in a 'mixing bowl' in order to make the food.
Ingredients have to be listed in descending order of their weight so the higher it appears, the more there is.
Highlighted ingredients
Ingredients that we believe to be controversial or inferior are highlighted in yellow with particularly low grade, highly contentious or excessively vague ingredients in red.
As fed composition
While the 'mixing bowl' composition is useful for knowing what went into the food, it doesn't always reflect what your dog is actually eating. This is because the processes that turn the ingredients into the finished pet food can significantly alter the relative weights of the ingredients.
For this reason we've calculated the approximate 'as fed' percentages for the main ingredient categories in the finished product.
Please note that these figures are very approximate. They are estimates based on the information provided by the manufacturer in the ingredients list so the clearer the terminology and the more percentages they provide, the more accurate our estimates will be. Wherever information is lacking, we always assume the worst.
Ingredient categories
Meat ingredients: includes all meat and fish ingredients except isolated fats/oils.
Added oils and fats: includes all isolated oil and fat ingredients.
Carb-rich ingredients: includes all ingredients derived from grains, pseudo-grains, potatoes and other starchy root vegetables, sweet potato and legumes (except whole peas which are categorised under fruit and veg) except for isolated protein and extracted oils. Also includes fibre supplements.
Fruit and veg: includes all whole vegetables and fruits.
Other: all other ingredients. Mostly made up by nutritional supplements and additives.
For more information on any ingredient, please take a look at our Dog Food Ingredient Glossary
The dry matter level of a nutrient is the percentage there would be in the food if all of the water was removed.
With water taken out of the equation, these figures allow the nutrient levels of foods of different types (like wet and dry) to be compared on an even playing field.
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The
price per dayof feeding this food based on feeding the manufacturer's recommended daily amount from 3kg bags bought at their rrp to a dog of:
Note:All suggested feeding amounts and costs are only approximate and may vary considerably from dog to dog. Be sure to contact the manufacturer if in any doubt.
22 out of 100-Poor
Our unique product ratings are calculated based on a number of characteristics including the quality and quantity of the stated ingredients, certain nutritional and technological additives and the processing methods used to create the food. They are designed to indicate how beneficial we think a food is likely to be for the majority of dogs when fed on a daily basis for an extended period. Click here for more information
Country of origin: not declared
A technological additive is any substance added to a pet food "for a technological purpose and which favourably affects the characteristics of feed".
The most common categories of technological additives include preservatives and antioxidants, gelling agents and thickeners and probiotics.
While the primary effects of technoloical additives are certainly 'favourable' (increased shelf life in the case of preservatives & antioxidants, better food texture and consistency in the case of gelling agents and thickeners etc.) some have been linked to health problems in pets and should be treated with caution.
Unfortunately, many technological additives do not have to be declared by the manufacturer so just because they do not appear on the label does not necessarily mean they are not in the food. If in doubt, ask the manufacturer directly exactly what technological additives their foods contain.