My dogs have been on Chicken Soup Adult for several months now, and even though it's a good food, I'm having to feed them A LOT! The fat and protein are lower than the previous food they were on, as well as the cal/cup. Total, I'm going through 12 cups/day(4 dogs, 30-75 pounds). I'm adding cannola oil, occasionnally raw, canned sometimes...a variety of extras, and I'm ending up buying a 35 lb bag of food every 2 weeks at best. The cal/cup are no higher than some of the crappy WalMart foods. So today I did some searching, and found some foods I like. I don't have access to much of anything here, but this is what I found...
*What I'm Feeding Now*
Chicken Soup Adult--DFA gave it 4 stars
336 cal/cup
24% protein, 14% fat
$36.99 for 35 lb bag
Barking At the Moon (by Solid Gold)--DogFoodAnalysis gave it 5 stars
465 cal/cup
41% protein, 20% fat
$61.99 for 35 lb bag
[I like this food, as far as calories and ingredients, but WOW, high protein. That concerns me. But, if I figured everything right, I would save roughly $20 a bag compared to what I'm feeding now. That's a rough estimate, but it should be close.]
Prairie Salmon Meal & Brown Rice Medley/Prairie New Zealand Venison & Millet--DFA gave it 5 stars
Salmon:
420 cal/cup
26% protein, 14% fat
$58.99 for 30 lb bag
Venison:
434 cal/cup
26% protein, 14% fat
$58.99 for 30 lb bag
Instinct Rabbit/Instinct Duck--DFA gave it 6 stars
Rabbit:
482 cal/cup
35% protein, 22% fat
(Can't remember the price on that one...)
Duck:
464 cal/cup
35% protein, 22% fat
$60.99 for 25 lb bag (OUCH!)
[These two are expensive, but I do like them....but expensive...]
Any other suggestions? I haven't found a EVO dealer, Canidae dealer, Orijen dealer or Wellness dealer. I did notice that Blue Buffalo Wilderness is listed as a 6 star food on Dogfoodanalysis.com. 42% protein, 16% fat, a whopping 586 cal/cup. I really have been very leery of feeding anything over 29% protein for my dogs, but it seems some of the better foods I have access to are much higher. I did work with a guy who had a Schnauzer mix who was just a housedog--didn't get walks or anything--who was on Wilderness and was in great health. The extra protein didn't seem to have an adverse effect on him, although I still wouldn't feed the average housedog such high protein.
-Chicken Soup puppy is listed as a 5 star food, but I discussed this with several vets and the growth hormones in puppy food can lead to a high heart rate in adult dogs.
-One of the byNature foods is listed as 5 star(28% protein, 18% fat). Think it's $50-60 for a ...33 lb bag??
I'm kind of at a loss as to which food to switch to. I didn't want to feed such a high protein food, but it seems most of the better ones are very high protein. Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
*What I'm Feeding Now*
Chicken Soup Adult--DFA gave it 4 stars
336 cal/cup
24% protein, 14% fat
$36.99 for 35 lb bag
Barking At the Moon (by Solid Gold)--DogFoodAnalysis gave it 5 stars
465 cal/cup
41% protein, 20% fat
$61.99 for 35 lb bag
[I like this food, as far as calories and ingredients, but WOW, high protein. That concerns me. But, if I figured everything right, I would save roughly $20 a bag compared to what I'm feeding now. That's a rough estimate, but it should be close.]
Prairie Salmon Meal & Brown Rice Medley/Prairie New Zealand Venison & Millet--DFA gave it 5 stars
Salmon:
420 cal/cup
26% protein, 14% fat
$58.99 for 30 lb bag
Venison:
434 cal/cup
26% protein, 14% fat
$58.99 for 30 lb bag
Instinct Rabbit/Instinct Duck--DFA gave it 6 stars
Rabbit:
482 cal/cup
35% protein, 22% fat
(Can't remember the price on that one...)
Duck:
464 cal/cup
35% protein, 22% fat
$60.99 for 25 lb bag (OUCH!)
[These two are expensive, but I do like them....but expensive...]
Any other suggestions? I haven't found a EVO dealer, Canidae dealer, Orijen dealer or Wellness dealer. I did notice that Blue Buffalo Wilderness is listed as a 6 star food on Dogfoodanalysis.com. 42% protein, 16% fat, a whopping 586 cal/cup. I really have been very leery of feeding anything over 29% protein for my dogs, but it seems some of the better foods I have access to are much higher. I did work with a guy who had a Schnauzer mix who was just a housedog--didn't get walks or anything--who was on Wilderness and was in great health. The extra protein didn't seem to have an adverse effect on him, although I still wouldn't feed the average housedog such high protein.
-Chicken Soup puppy is listed as a 5 star food, but I discussed this with several vets and the growth hormones in puppy food can lead to a high heart rate in adult dogs.
-One of the byNature foods is listed as 5 star(28% protein, 18% fat). Think it's $50-60 for a ...33 lb bag??
I'm kind of at a loss as to which food to switch to. I didn't want to feed such a high protein food, but it seems most of the better ones are very high protein. Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.