Milo – Thai Dog – 3 months old has been our personal assistant for this food reviews take a look at the following specially tested and approved or not by Mister Milo! From the best (5paws to the worst 1paw)
Nature’s Variety Instinct (Duck& Turkey Meal)
Nature’s Variety has 2 main lines of food, with Instinct being its grain-free formula, which I’ll focus on here. As expected, the protein pourcentage is pretty high (35%) and it’s loaded with quality meat meals (4 of them). Notice they are meat “meals” and not just labelled as “chicken” or “duck”. Because they’re weighing them post-dehydration, it’s an accurate statement as to just how much meat is in the product. Tapioca is an interesting ingredient, but it serves the purpose of what potatoes typically do, which is to provide a starch and help bind the food together so it doesn’t fall apart. It’s a fine ingredient. Also, pumpkinseeds may seem off to some, but they are actually quite a good fiber source and help provide lineolic acid for skin & coat. What’s more, the line-up of fruits and veggies is present to help suppliment the vitamin count. All in all, this is a very solid food and I’m glad to now be aware of it.
Science Diet (Lamb & Rice)
They use lamb meal as the top ingredient and that’s great. A “meal” at the top is the best thing to see. Brewers rice, however, is not a good 2nd fiddle, and neither is rice flour at 3rd. Rice is a good grain, if the company uses it as such. The inclusion of corn gluten meal and wheat is also shameful, because Science Diet knows very well that the benefits of these ingredients are slim to none, while the drawbacks can be great. To their credit, they do use barley and soybean oil, which are pretty good ingredients. Flaxseed is also very welcome as a source for Omega fatty acids. This will not even come close to trumping the fact that they only have one meat source alongside tons of grains, however. For the money, you can do so much better it’s really not even funny.
Royal Canin (Medium Adult)
This is the only food I’ve seen that most people have heard of that actually seems to have a solid lineup of ingredients, and it honestly surprises me. This is as good as Science Diet. Chicken meal is first, leading off with a meat “meal” product is the best way to start. It means it’s from the good part of the animal and is rich in protein. The next three grains are all good choices, a Chicken fat is way better than beef tallow, so that’s a welcome addition to add fat to the food. There is corn gluten meal. They have used no by-products, very few fillers, and a quality meat source. They’ve also used a fish (anchovy) oil for the Omega fatty acids, which is awesome. It misses out on 4 paws, but still earns a respectable 3 paws.
Purina One (Lamb & Rice)
Purina One for dogs avoids a 1 paw rating because they did manage to put lamb as their first ingredient. The inclusion of oatmeal as a high-quality grain is appreciated, but it’s way too far down the line from where it should be. Now, let’s get into where it goes wrong. They insist on going the cheap and nonnutritional way. Then, there are two corn products in a row. Besides the lamb, the other ways animals are used here are not so great. This includes “Poultry by-product meal”, which tells us they don’t want to let us know exactly what bird’s feathers they put into this food. They also use the infamous “animal digest”, which I pray you never have to watch being made. Oh, and caramel color, let’s not forget about that.
Pedigree (with Lamb & Rice)
No matter what, nobody can take away from Pedigree that they have an awesome marketing campaign. First, the name just sounds distinguished, and it should, with what being a “pedigree” means in the dog world. Plus, they have that cute slogan of “Dogs rule”. I’m sure dog owners eat that one up. Due to loose regulations by the pet food industry as to what percentage of an ingredient a product needs to contain to be advertised, they can actually put it that low and still tell us it’s a lamb and rice food. We have chicken by-products, ensuring your dog gets the proper number in his or her diet. Some wheat, since they apparently couldn’t spring for a a good grain like rice. And, of course, we have corn gluten meal….which I’ve covered extensively in other reviews.
