Next Level dog food hit the market hard in 2023 and seemed to gain traction around the same time as the massive and unprecedented Victor recall. Amid concerns over Victor’s recall due to salmonella contamination, numerous pet owners have sought a trustworthy alternative to replace their former choice.
Next Level pet food is reportedly owned and manufactured by the people who originally started Victor Pet Food, which explains why those who have traditionally loved Victor’s brand are drawn to it.
All About Next Level Dog Food
I look beyond marketing terms, popularity, and influencer content when evaluating pet food companies. Pet owners must evaluate where their pet’s food is manufactured, who formulated it, and how it may or may not be the safest and most nutritious choice. Read on to learn more about this emerging brand.
Who Owns Next Level?
Scott Glover and Antoine Albin are the brains behind the Next Level dog food brand, which operates under U.S. Pet Food LLC. Interestingly, they were previously behind the successful venture of Victor Pet Food until they sold the brand to Mid-America.
With their non-compete agreement now expired, Glover and Albin wasted no time launching Next Level. This new brand has likely been in the works for years, leading to this moment.
Who Formulates Next Level Pet Food?
Many Next Level dog food formulas are similar to those Victor offers, right down to the ingredient lists. While there are minor differences, Next Level is seriously twinning with Victor.
Next Level claims their foods, including their proprietary VX Advantage™, were formulated by working “closely with an expert nutrition team.“
Allow me to translate this for you. Next Level does NOT have a qualified nutritionist on staff. They have an unclear relationship with consultants whose credentials, experience, and ongoing affiliation with Next Level are unknown.
Because so many of the formulas mirror what we see from Victor, their former brand, it’s possible that they tweaked existing recipes and had a consultant sign off on them.
Further, there is no sign that these new recipes have been tested or proven long-term or in basic AFFCO feeding trials.
What is VX Advantage™?
VX Advantage™ is a “proprietary vitamins, nutrients, and prebioticsblend.” The company leverages this for marketing purposes. However, the truth is that all companies use a propriety blend of vitamins, minerals, and supplements for joint and gut support.
There is nothing special or unusual about this, and no clinical data to support that their particular mix, which they’ve given a fancy name, is superior.
Where is Next Level Pet Food Made?
Next Level makes its food in an owned facility in Texas.
This sets them a step ahead of the thousands of other pet food brands whose foods are manufactured and distributed by large contract facilities.
When a pet food company owns its facilities, it puts it in full control of its quality and manufacturing practices. This is very positive for companies fully dedicated to creating safe, nutritious, and clean products.
For companies willing to cut corners, it’s not. (See: Victor Salmonella Recall 2023) . Because Next Level is still very new to the market, we don’t know what their company culture is and how clean their plants are. It will take time for them to prove themselves.
The factory has no certifications (as of this publication) for safety and food sanitation, and without a much-established history, we have no idea how good their testing protocols are. That doesn’t mean they have a dirty plant, but there is little proof yet that they have a clean one.
Has Next Level Ever Had a Recall?
As of the time of this writing in early 2024, Next Level pet food has never had a recall.
However, it is a very new company and hasn’t had time to make a mistake.
While they appear to be taking the correct steps, comparing them to brands feeding millions of dogs (for decades) is unfair.
For perspective, people have often applauded Victor for never having had a recall. That seemed positive until we all learned they had been selling bacteria-contaminated food for nearly a year (if not longer)—their history of “no-recalls” ended in one of the most unprecedented recalls in pet food history.
To put this more simply, pet owners would be smart to look at companies’ overall manufacturing and formulation practices before choosing them simply because they’d not yet had a recall.
Is Next Level Pet Food Like Victor Pet Food?
Many pet owners claim Next Level pet food is similar to the “old” Victor formulas before Victor was purchased and reformulated.
The brands are very similar, and while some dogs who do well on Victor may do okay on Next Level, there are slight differences in the formulas, ingredients, and mineral levels.
Next Level does appear to be a step and repeat of Victor, with eerily similar marketing, ingredients, and formulas.
It’s unclear why the people behind the Next Level brand feel that the market desperately needs a repeat of Victor dog food.
In some ways, their motivation to attempt a repeat of Victor before they sold it feels vindictive and frustrating. It is as if something failed the first time they tried, so they are going at it again with an eerily similar product.
As a pet owner, I’m not convinced I care to be in the middle of that.
Does Next Level Pet Food Cause DCM?
Researchers continue to prove that there is a link between unbalanced nutrition and N-DCM, a deadly form of heart disease that is often reversed with diet change.
The problem is that the exact mechanism behind this phenomenon concerning certain pet food formulations is unknown. It largely correlates with foods with peas or legumes in the first five ingredients and with companies that do not have a qualified nutritionist on staff.
Unfortunately, Next Level checks both of those questionable boxes.
If you are at all concerned about nutritional DCM (read more about that HERE), I recommend choosing a WSAVA-compliant food and joining these two groups on Facebook:
Next Level utilizes some traditional ingredients such as chicken meal and brown rice.
Peas are utilized heavily in many of their formulas, a potential risk factor for nDCM heart disease. If whole peas or several forms of peas are seen in the top 5-10 ingredients, that can be a red flag.
Brown rice is used in many Next Level formulas; it’s worth noting that brown rice is likely to contain higher arsenic levels than white rice or brewer rice. We have to trust that the company is handling this ingredient appropriately and regularly testing for the presence of arsenic in the food.
Like Victor, Next Level uses blood meal to boost protein content. Blood meal is a controversial and non-traditional ingredient in dog food; it’s most commonly used in pig food and fertilizer.
Next Level uses grain sorghum instead of corn. It’s a very similar product to corn, with a similar nutritional profile, but not nearly as much research behind it. Some companies will use sorghum to avoid the negative marketing associated with corn.
“Science is in the Bag” Next Level Tagline
Next Level uses “Science is in the Bag” as a common phrase in their marketing, including as a tagline on each bag itself.
I have many thoughts, but unfortunately, “science” is the new buzzword in pet food marketing.
Any company that uses even the tiniest bit of published clinical research to choose an ingredient can claim to be relying on “science” in their formulations.
This is exactly what Next Level is doing.
When a company tells me that its brand is backed by science, I want to see at least some of the following:
Qualified nutritionists on staff (Ph.D. and/or A.C.V.N. Veterinary Nutritionists
Verifiable, legitimate Feeding trials
Published clinical peer-reviewed research, both in-house and 3rd party, especially related to novel ingredients and formulations sold by the company
A dedication to the advancement of animal health and veterinary science
Next Level doesn’t do any of those things on the list I’ve seen yet.
Their claims of being “Science-Based” are a disingenuous and egregious use of “Science” for marketing purposes. That is misleading and unfair to consumers.
Is Next Level Good Dog Food?
I don’t think it’s bad dog food.
Like thousands of other brands, I think it will keep dogs alive. Many dogs will do fine, or even great, on it.
Next Level does cut corners in the nutritionist, research, and feeding trials department, which gives me pause, especially because they are a new company with no established history.
The pets eating Next Level food right now are the guinea pigs.
It will take time for a brand like this to gain my trust, especially in a market with thousands of others to choose from. More established companies have decades of research and science behind their food, which makes it hard to justify giving my hard-earned money to a startup.
Unfortunately, at the moment, we only have a handful of anecdotal reports from pet owners that they are happy with this food. That’s not enough for me to endorse it as a brand.
As a giant-breed dog owner, I am excited to see they’ve developed a product line for giant-breed dogs of all ages. Royal Canin is the only other company to have done this.
I would love to see a company dedicated to giant breed dogs, but they need legitimate science in their back pocket when doing this.
I hope Next Level steps up its game and brings some feeding trials, food-safety certifications, and on-staff, qualified nutritionists to the bar. Until then, I’ll keep them on my radar but won’t be adding them to any recommended brand lists.
As with all pet food content I write, I aim to provide transparency and useful information. This Honest Kitchen dog food review is going to cover everything from where the food is manufactured to whether or not it is nutritionally sound for your pet.
I’m tired of pet food reviews that simply regurgitate and endorse the company’s marketing. You won’t find that here.
Years ago, I fed Honest Kitchen food to my little dog.
I distinctly remember preparing a bowl of it for my dog while my family was visiting, and they all kept saying that it looked like dog puke.
They weren’t kidding. It’s true.
Honest Kitchen invests heavily in marketing its brand, but whether its claims are supported by evidence justifying the extra expense remains to be seen.
The Honest Kitchen sells dehydrated pet food (that must be prepared before serving), wet food, and “clusters” (their take on kibble). This is not a typical pet food brand, and that’s part of the appeal.
Let’s dig in!
Honest Kitchen Marketing Claims
The Honest Kitchen pet food company makes the following claims in its marketing:
Human-Grade Ingredients
Wholesome and Natural
Balanced Nutrition
Convenient Preparation
Transparency
Limited Ingredient Options
Palatability
High-Quality Standards
These things are of course, very appealing to pet parents looking for a high-quality diet! Many companies make these same claims, so is Honest Kitchen different?
What is Human Grade Dog Food?
The Honest Kitchen claims to produce only “Human-grade” food and says that they are the only food brand authorized by the FDA to make that claim on their products. What they mean is that the FDA inspected their facilities and provided a letter of “no-objection” to Honest Kitchen using that term in their marketing.
It’s not that the FDA has a designated term that requires companies to adhere to it, it’s that they had no reason to object to the term when Honest Kitchen asked them to verify.
None of this is a bad thing! It shows a dedication to quality ingredient sourcing and manufacturing practices (which, can be possible in pet foods that aren’t labeled “human grade” as well).
The concept behind “human grade” dog food is that it will have been manufactured using the same strict attention to cleanliness, pathogen management, and quality as human food.
Boutique pet food companies, such as the Honest Kitchen, leverage this belief to their advantage by claiming that their food meets the supposedly higher “human-grade” standards.
However, food scientists know better than this.
The truth? In many ways pet foods have much stricter regulations on them than human foods, especially when it comes to raw meat!
Why is this? Because human food is meant to be cooked at home, which kills pathogens. Pet food must be safe straight out of the bag.
Additionally, humans handle pet food in their homes; it cannot contain pathogens and toxins that may be harmful to people.
I do not doubt that the Honest Kitchen has good quality control and sources high-quality ingredients. Where pet owners need to tread cautiously is in misleading marketing such as “human grade” that is meant to position food as superior.
Many pet food companies selling “pet grade” foods adhere to insanely high standards, and they have to (because the regulations, believe it or not, demand it).
A lot of the meat, grains, and supplements seen in more traditional pet foods are coming from suppliers who produce those same ingredients for human consumption.
In theory and according to some standards, the moment it’s shipped for use in pet food, it’s no longer “human grade”, even if it’s identical to the product shipped to a facility making food for humans. Based on that logic, Honest Kitchen is not actually “human grade”, unless you plan to pour yourself a bowl and eat it for dinner.
There are also major environmental and ethical considerations when it comes to using super high-quality anything for pets. Pets don’t need “top quality” anything in their diet. In nature, they will eat entrails, bones, bugs, and organs. In our homes, they will eat trash and poop.
When the human meat industry processes chickens, there are nutritious bones, organs, and tissues left behind. Many pet food companies use these ingredients instead of allowing them to go to waste, however, the Honest Kitchen would not because it goes against their beliefs about quality.
Food for thought!
Does Honest Kitchen Meet WSAVA Recommendations?
WSAVA’s recommendations for pet food focus on factors such as nutritional research, quality control, and manufacturing standards, which are essential considerations for any pet food brand claiming to offer balanced and high-quality nutrition.
I’ve dug into some very common WSAVA guidelines below to determine if Honest Kitchen adheres to them.
Who Formulates Honest Kitchen Dog Food?
The first place I look is the Pet Nutrition Alliance Manufacturer’s Report, which asks pet food companies to answer a few simple questions regarding their nutritionist and where the food is manufactured.
As of 2023, The Honest Kitchen had not responded to those inquiries. Based on my experience, when a company chooses not to publish such answers for the Pet Nutrition Alliance, it suggests that they may not adhere to the highest standards.
So of course, I had to go digging.
The Honest Kitchen states that they “work with a team of renowned veterinarians, including an ACVN-accredited veterinary nutritionist, to create each and every recipe“.
This means that they use unnamed consultants with variable credentials in their formulations, and none of them are on staff or employed by the company. Having an ACVN veterinary nutritionist involved in the formulation process is incredibly valuable, but without a direct relationship, it’s difficult to ascertain the extent of their contribution.
Where is Honest Kitchen Dog Food Made?
Most Honest Kitchen food is made in an unnamed “human-grade” facility that also manufactures soup, cereal, and milkshake powders.
In 2021 they opened a manufacturing plant for their “clusters” pet food (which is similar to kibble). I was unable to verify how much of their manufacturing is done at this plant.
I do believe that in general, the Honest Kitchen does meet high standards for ingredient sourcing, manufacturing practices, and overall management of pathogens and toxins.
Does Honest Kitchen Do Feeding Trials?
The Honest Kitchen brand has not completed traditional AAFCO feeding trials, instead indicating that they have “exceeded them” with a series of at-home trials.
At-home trials can be complicated, as pets in the home environment cannot be adequately monitored for accidental or intentional ingestion of other foods, treats, and supplements. Additionally, because each dog lives in a very different environment, it’s hard to objectively compare them.
In-home trials are helpful and can provide useful information, and it’s a far cry ahead of companies that do nothing at all. However, I’m not convinced that at-home feeding trials are all that superior.
The Honest Kitchen claims that their 6-month feeding trial of 24 dogs indicated positive results for each dog. However, they only tested three recipes among several in their product line.
The Honest Kitchen claims to be ethically and morally opposed to traditional feeding trials done in a laboratory environment. This take implies that dogs that participate in “traditional” tests are abused and live horrible lives locked in cages.
This is simply not true. It’s a complete myth and I have serious complaints about pet food companies that spread such misinformation.
Many people who work in pet food testing facilities will tell you that the dogs there receive tons of playtime, attention, enrichment, and care. They are groomed, loved, and trained. Those dogs receive regular veterinary care and are not subjected to torture or abuse as many would imply.
Is Honest Kitchen Endorsed by Veterinarians?
Kind of.
What I mean by this is that the only endorsements or collaborations I can find are with “holistic” veterinarians, and a review is hardly considered an endorsement.
Holistic and integrative veterinarians can be helpful in some situations, however, they are unfortunately known for denying published research and utilizing “natural” treatments and solutions with questionable efficacy and safety.
I’d like to see evidence-based veterinarians endorse or recommend Honest Kitchen as well, however, they don’t (at least not publicly or online). I’m always cautious when the only veterinarians that will recommend or endorse a food are “holistic”.
So while we cannot determine if this food is nutritionally sound, we can take a look at what’s in it. Their grain-free formulas ARE heavy in peas and potatoes, which may increase the risk of nutritional DCM (more on this below).
There is nothing wrong with any of these ingredients, and I do not doubt that they have all been purchased from quality suppliers. Beef, oats, and barley are traditional and well-researched pet food ingredients.
As a pet parent, I would not hesitate to purchase and use this food as a nutritious topper or to stuff puzzles such as the West Paw TOPPL!
Like the dehydrated beef recipe, this appears to be another food with several traditional, highly researched ingredients such as chicken, barley, and oats.
However, there’s a concern regarding the chicken content in this food. Although it is listed as the first ingredient, it doesn’t specify whether it was dehydrated or processed into a meal beforehand. This can suggest that its position as the primary ingredient may be due to water weight, not nutrient density in the finished food.
Honest Kitchen clusters are “cold pressed”. This means that individual ingredients are cooked before being pressed into shapes at low temperatures (around 100 degrees Fahrenheit). It’s not actually ‘cold’ nor is it raw.
What is the Carb Level in Honest Kitchen Pet Food?
I must admit, I was thoroughly impressed by the level of detail and comprehensiveness provided by Honest Kitchen. In contrast to many companies that make you hunt for such details or even refuse to provide them altogether, Honest Kitchen’s transparency is refreshing.
I used their tool to pull random samples of food and here is what I found.
Every sample was 42-50% carbs, which is in line with most dry kibble foods.
The Honest Kitchen contains average carb levels.
There is nothing wrong with carbs in pet foods and I appreciate that they embrace healthy grains such as barley and oats which provide amino acids and energy.
What is the Copper Level in Honest Kitchen Pet Food?
All of them fell right in range with the averages we see from science-backed companies such as Purina, Royal Canin, and Eukanuba.
In recent years, researchers have raised concerns about excess copper content in pet foods contributing to a rise in copper storage and liver diseases. The FEDAIF (European) recommends capping copper at 28 mg/kg. Many foods in the U.S. well exceed that level, especially from “holistic” and boutique-type pet food companies.
However, this value appears to be well controlled in Honest Kitchen, running in the neighborhood of 10 – 22 mg/kg of copper on average.
If you are concerned about copper levels in your pet’s food, verify that information with the company before feeding it.
Does Honest Kitchen Cause DCM?
This is where things get a little dicey.
Unfortunately, The Honest Kitchen has been seen in veterinary-confirmed cases of nutritional DCM (which can often be reversed with diet change).
The challenge with nutritional heart disease lies in its multifaceted nature, and fortunately, it’s relatively rare. It DOES happen, however, and it is 100% preventable.
Researchers know that N-DCM is seen as a problem with boutique pet food brands that do not have a qualified nutritionist on staff, in particular, if they use a lot of peas and legumes in their formulations.
Whether we want to admit it or not, Honest Kitchen shares those risk factors.
While the Honest Kitchen has exceptional feel-good marketing and wholesome ingredients, those things may not outweigh the risks of nutritional deficiencies.
These deficiencies can be a problem no matter how ‘healthy’ and ‘high quality’ a food appears to be.
Talk to your veterinarian about diet, especially if you have a breed prone to heart disease in the first place.
Can Honest Kitchen Dog Food Be Fed to Puppies?
As with all pet foods, it’s important to verify the AAFCO statement on the bag.
The statement should say something along the lines of this: “this formula meets the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for growth and development.”
Large and giant breed puppies require food where the AAFCO statement further indicates that the formula meets the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for growth and development, including the growth of large breed puppies, 70+ lbs as adults.
This is because large-breed puppy foods have well-controlled calcium and energy levels.
No matter what Honest Kitchen food you choose, look for that statement.
The Honest Kitchen is a premium food that comes at a premium price point.
As with most similar foods, the added expense is more than what would truly make our pets healthy and thriving. Good marketing tells us that “high-quality human-grade food” is what we should buy when the truth is that many very affordable foods produce the same (or better) results.
I’m not convinced that pet parents should be shamed into spending big money on food like this under the guise that it would always result in a healthier, more robust pet.
However, if you have a pet that does well on expensive “human-grade” pet food, and you can afford it, there is nothing wrong with that.
I would use the clusters as training treats and the dehydrated food for stuffing enrichment toys. Honest Kitchen dehydrated food would make a great topper that is pretty close to fresh foods, while still being balanced and safe to feed.
Would I buy it? YES! Absolutely.
Would I feed it as my pet’s exclusive diet? No. I’d like to see the Honest Kitchen better adhere to WSAVA guidelines, and put to rest some of their more egregious marketing tactics.
Welcome to the third installment of my series uncovering the controversial and misleading aspects of the documentary “Pet Fooled.”
In this chapter, I’m going explore the intricacies of pet food recalls, veterinary diets, and the rise of holistic pet food elitism.
Join me as I dissect the narrative presented in “Pet Fooled,” aiming to separate fact from fiction and shed light on the complexities of pet nutrition.
In case you missed it, I’ve linked Part One and Part TWO below!
Note: This is a multi-part series! Additional articles in this series will be posted below.
Part One: “Biologically appropriate” feeding, bacteria & pathogens in raw food, and the influence of “big kibble” on veterinary schools (See Part One HERE)
Part Two: Pet food marketing, ingredients in pet food (including corn and by-products), manufacturing, AAFCO, and FDA regulations (See Part Two HERE)
Part Three: Pet food recalls, veterinary diets, and holistic pet food elitism (See Part Three HERE)
Pet Fooled Recalls
In Pet Fooled, the narrator digs into pet food recalls, in particular notable ones such as Pentobarbital (euthanasia drug) and Melamine, which I will cover in depth below.
The narrator recounts the poignant narratives of several pet owners deeply entangled in legal proceedings linked to these specific incidents.
While these issues in pet food are inexcusable, there have been many dangerous problems associated with raw pet food, too, including bacterial contamination, nutrient deficiencies, and high copper levels.1
Pet Fooled advocates for raw feeding as a solution to what it perceives as shortcomings and safety problems related to commercial pet food. The documentary suggests that raw diets, which typically consist of uncooked meat, bones, and organs, mimic the natural diet of wild animals and offer superior nutrition for pets.
Consider Darwin’s raw food2 . This brand is promoted in the film as a safe food “free of pathogens”. Their use of a chemical called “PAA – Peroxyacetic Acid)”3 is not approved for use in pet food, and the company is well-known for its blatant and public refusal to recall contaminated food.
I believe the overriding theme here is that pet parents should be concerned about recalls and food manufacturing processes. However, Pet Fooled significantly neglects to address the substantial contributions of raw and boutique pet food brands to this issue.
Here is a great video that covers the issues with Darwin’s Raw Pet Food in more detail:
Replying to @Renn an absolutely interesting read! I’ve pointed out in previous videos that many raw food companies want salmonella to be allowed in pet food…to the point of suing the organizations to allow it. Their argument is not all salmonella is pathogenic. But what happens when a prominent raw company tests positive for pathogenic salmonella? Turns out…nothing good. There may one day be studies about PAA in raw pet food that make this discussion a moot point. Unfortunately, until then this raw food company uses an unapproved product on their pet food, ignores calls to recall their food and misleads their consumers about pets falling ill.
The melamine pet food recall of 2007 stands as one of the most significant incidents in the history of pet food safety.
It originated when an ingredient manufacturer deliberately adulterated their products with melamine, a toxic chemical compound used in plastics and fertilizers. Melamine had been added to wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate to artificially inflate the protein content, making the products appear more nutritious.
This ingredient was sold by the supplier for use in both human and pet foods. In other words, it was “human grade”.
Tragically, this adulteration led to widespread contamination of pet food, affecting over 150 brands and resulting in the illness and death of many pets across the United States.
The melamine pet food recall served as a wake-up call for the pet food industry, highlighting the importance of robust quality control measures, transparency in the supply chain, and regulatory oversight to ensure the safety and integrity of pet food products.
Adulterants like melamine and pentobarbital should never be present in pet food. Because of this, pet food companies, unfortunately, may not have been previously aware of the need to test for these particular substances. There are thousands of potential contaminants that might affect any kind of food on the market, including fresh and raw.
Pet Fooled portrays the melamine recall as evidence that commercial kibble pet food is inherently unsafe, while blatantly overlooking the crucial role that the recall ultimately played in enhancing the safety of pet food products.
The melamine pet food recall happened 18 years ago at this point, and many changes have been made since that time. Many (though not all) pet food companies have overhauled their sourcing and ingredient testing protocols, and that’s a positive move in the right direction.
Pentobarbital Euthanasia Drug in Pet Food Recall
The pentobarbital recall5 refers to a series of incidents where, before the melamine recall, traces of pentobarbital, a euthanasia drug, were found in certain pet food products.
Pentobarbital is sometimes used to euthanize animals, and its presence in pet food products raised questions about how it could have entered the supply chain. I covered this topic in depth, in an article titled “Are There Euthanized Animals in Pet Food”.6
The FDA maintains a zero-tolerance policy for pentobarbital in pet food and contrary to what is implied in Pet Fooled, this is not an ongoing or concerning problem.
Milo’s Chicken Jerky and Pet Fooled
Pet Fooled also talks about the social frenzy surrounding Milo’s Chicken Jerky treats, which lasted nearly 6 years.
The convergence of social media proliferation and heightened concerns about manufacturing processes and ingredient sourcing have created an ideal environment for pet owners to attribute illnesses to pet food and treats.
We saw this play out again in 2023-2024 with the “Purina Panic”7, a now-debunked social media phenomenon that led to thousands of people blaming Purina and other kibble brands for their pets veterinary problems and deaths.
A family highlighted in Pet Fooled attributed the death of their pet to Milo’s Chicken Jerky.
However, their pet’s demise was actually due to a common condition known as “bloat” or “GDV” (gastric dilatation-volvulus), which affects large and giant breed dogs. This condition, often genetic, involves the dog’s stomach flipping, and the consumption of chicken jerky would have been unrelated to its occurrence in their pet.
The FDA looked into the reports and complaints and found nothing wrong with Milo’s treats until 2013 when trace amounts of antibiotics were found. They were recalled again in 2018 for elevated levels of beef thyroid hormone.
Neither of these contaminants would be associated with deaths or severe illness, and while both of those are inexcusable from a manufacturing standpoint, stories of widespread harm remain unproven.
Social Media & Its Role in Creating Panic
In the aftermath of the Melamine recall, single instances of pet illness have repeatedly triggered widespread social media frenzies or specific brands and ingredients.
These social media frenzies often lead to rapid dissemination of information, with pet owners sharing anecdotes and experiences, often without full context or verification.
While it’s essential for pet owners to stay informed and advocate for their pets’ health, the proliferation of unverified information can also fuel unnecessary panic and misinformation.
In many cases, a single story of illness can quickly snowball into widespread fear and distrust of specific pet food brands or ingredients.
However, it’s important to approach such incidents critically and seek out reliable sources and evidence-based information before drawing conclusions or making decisions about pet nutrition.
Pet Food Manufacturers Sourcing & Quality Control
For pet owners rightfully concerned about the sourcing practices of pet food companies, the most effective approach is to inquire directly. Regrettably, misinformation often circulates implying that certain brands source all of their ingredients from low-quality suppliers or China.
However, without thoroughly investigating each company’s actual practices, it’s challenging to ascertain the validity of such claims.
As part of my ongoing commitment to finding the truth about pet food, I found this incredible document from Nestle Purina8, which outlines their responsible sourcing standard in depth. This document is a great example of what you want to see from a pet food company.
As mentioned in part two, a demand for transparency is important. This demand must hold small boutique and raw pet food companies to the same standard.
Here are some things pet parents can do:
Ask the brand how many quality checks are performed each day, across all stages of production.
Verify that the brand is keeping batch samples and lab testing the food often for nutrient levels and contamination.
Look into the company recall history, and determine if the recalls were a sign of due diligence and a commitment to pet safety, or if they signal a bigger problem with quality control.
Verify that the brand has multiple highly qualified food safety, nutrition research, veterinarians, and board-certified nutritionists on staff who stand behind the food because they put their hard-earned education, sweat, and tears into it.
Dr. Em is a practicing veterinarian who posts science-backed information about pet health, including nutrition. This video on choosing pet food should provide valuable insight, and balance the often controversial and misleading content promoted by “Pet Fooled”.
Veterinary Prescription Diets
In “Pet Fooled,” veterinary prescription diets are subjected to scrutiny, with the documentary casting doubt on their formulation, marketing, and suitability for pets’ health needs.
However, it’s essential to recognize that veterinary prescription diets are meticulously formulated to address specific health conditions in pets, such as kidney disease, urinary tract issues, and food allergies.
These diets undergo rigorous testing and adhere to strict nutritional standards to ensure their efficacy and safety under veterinary supervision.
While “Pet Fooled” may question the ingredients used in these diets, it’s important to understand that ingredients such as hydrolyzed proteins, novel proteins, and therapeutic additives serve specific therapeutic purposes and are recommended by veterinary professionals based on scientific evidence.
Therefore, while the documentary may raise concerns about veterinary therapeutic diets, these concerns are only based on emotional reactions to the perceived “issues” with certain ingredients.
Pet owners must consult with their veterinarians to determine the most appropriate diet for their pets’ individual health needs.
Dr. Em hits it out of the park once again, with this phenomenal video debunking many common myths about veterinary prescription foods.
Holistic Pet Food Elitism & Final Thoughts
Holistic pet food elitism, as portrayed in various discussions and documentaries like “Pet Fooled,” revolves around the belief that select “premium” and minimally processed pet foods labeled as “holistic” or “natural” surpass conventional commercial pet diets.
The implication is that opting for anything other than raw, homemade diets, or certain premium kibbles may be seen as providing lesser care for your pet.
Echoing this sentiment, Dr. Becker asserts that feeding anything else amounts to “nutritional abuse.”
However, “holistic” and “higher quality” foods often come with a hefty price tag, placing them beyond the means of many devoted pet parents. Worse, many of these “better” or more “holistic natural” diets are unbalanced, may cause nutritional heart disease, can be subjected to recalls, and may contain pathogens and bacteria.
Science, and history, prove this.
“Higher quality” foods are not immune to any of the problems implicated by the film. They aren’t a magic solution, nor is there any proof that they are inherently and always better.
My point is to say that shaming pet parents for choosing the food they can afford to feed their pets is never ok.
Unfortunately, Pet Fooled staked a claim on that belief and used their platform to shame millions of pet parents into feeding their pets potentially unbalanced and often unaffordable diets.
There are many affordable, high-quality options out there and at Hello Danes, we will never, ever shame somebody for choosing a science-backed, well-studied food like Dog Chow.
While “Pet Fooled” raised valid concerns about pet food safety and manufacturing practices, it opted to sensationalize information, fostering an elitist mindset surrounding pet food selection.
Instead of promoting an informed and balanced discussion, “Pet Fooled” contributed to the polarization of perspectives on pet nutrition, hindering productive and science-backed dialogue on this important topic.
It is for that reason that Pet Fooled gets a resounding thumbs down from me.
As we step into 2024, a viral news story has circulated suggesting that Purina dog food poses a threat to your pet’s health. Despite widespread concerns regarding Purina dog food making dogs sick, please note that there is currently no substantiated evidence supporting the claims propagated across various social media platforms.
If you’ve come across our blog post, it’s essential to clarify that the information you’ve encountered is unfounded and likely falls under the category of fake news.
We understand that a lot of anxiety and panic surrounds the issue of pet food and what is safe to feed our dogs, so we’re addressing this today with the most up-to-date information we can find.
I’ll dive into this more below, but here is what we do know:
There is NO Purina Recall in 2024, as of this writing (January 5th)
There are no “soft recalls”. Purina foods are well stocked at all major retailers
Despite the implication that hundreds or even thousands of dogs are sick from Purina Foods, no one has provided proof
Many of the “sick pets” have illnesses such as Parvo that can easily be attributed to a root cause that has nothing to do with the food they were fed
No toxicology reports or post-mortem autopsy reports (necropsy) have been produced, not one
The Pet Vet Corner Group is actively in contact with Purina and has indicated that Purina foods are (and have been) safe to feed
In the U.S., the solid majority of practicing veterinarians who see 100’s of dogs each month are not concerned, and no, it’s not because of “kickbacks” (that is a myth)
The FDA is looking into the reports (note, this doesn’t mean there is a problem, only that they must investigate things if enough people complain)
Influencers such as Dr. Judy Morgan are capitalizing on the panic to gain likes and followers, which they leverage to sell educational materials, holistic food, and supplements
Updates
This section will be ongoing to include important and relevant information.
January 30th 2024
On January 30th, 2024, at approximately 1 pm MST, Dr. Judy Morgan shared a video on her Facebook account. In the video, she disclosed that despite investing $4000 in testing, none of the samples she submitted were found to be toxic or hazardous. Further details on this update are provided below.
February 2nd, 2024 – Snopes released a well-cited article with information about the claims against Purina. Of course, their journalism on this aligns with what I’ve written in this blog post below.
“Snopes posted in the Facebook group to solicit comments from members willing to provide a verified, confirmed report (i.e., necropsy from a veterinarian) that linked Purina dog food directly to their dog’s illness or death. As of this publication, we have not received a response.” – Snopes
March 6th, 2024—Dr. Judy Morgan released another video on her social media channels, this time with information about the results she received from a second round of laboratory testing on Purina food. This time, the food had been sourced from pet parents who believed their pets were made ill by the food and sent it to Dr. Morgan to be tested. Once again, the laboratory found nothing concerning about the food.
Dr. Morgan deflected from this result by generating a narrative that the toxin must be some rodent poison the lab was not testing for. She presented a handful of theories to propagate continued conspiracy about this topic.
We encourage you to note that Hello Danes is a research-backed informational source for dog owners. Leveraging fear and panic in exchange for clicks is against our code of ethics, so while many blog posts on this topic may attempt to induce anxiety and panic about Purina dog food, you won’t find that here.
Read on!
Is Purina Dog Food Making Dogs Sick?
The current viral claims suggest that Purina is indifferent to the health of pets, refusing to recall the supposedly harmful dog food.
Purina is a big player in the pet food market with an average yearly sales volume of 20 billion U.S.D. (Compare this to a small brand like Diamond, averaging just 1.5 billion U.S.D.). That makes Purina pet food a prime target for fake news about recalls and toxins.
A group on Facebook (that I refuse to name, but if you’ve been there you know which group I’m talking about) has become the central hub for reports and activity related to Purina dog food making dogs sick. This group is engaging in cult-like activity, an observation that I will touch on below.
The claims being made indicate that Purina food has made dogs “sick”. Others blame their dogs’ seizures on the food. The symptoms vary considerably.
It’s important to understand that while the group has produced many claims of dogs being made ill after eating Purina, they’ve produced absolutely no proof of a link. In most cases, they don’t even have a veterinary diagnosis.
The truth is that pet owners are terrible at understanding their own pets’ health and the root cause of behaviors and medical conditions. Just because somebody thinks Purina dog food made their pet throw up or have a seizure, doesn’t mean the food had any role in it happening.
Is Purina Harming Dogs, or Are People Harming Their Pets?
It’s very interesting to look at this from a social perspective. If a well-meaning pet owner is feeding Purina and is presented with information that Purina is harming dogs, they may begin to feel that their pet has been harmed by the food, too.
What may have been a tummy ache from counter surfing is quickly blamed on Purina. The owner panics and shares this information with others, compounding a building problem of viral social anxiety. It doesn’t matter if their pet has been doing phenomenally on the food, having eaten it for years.
Every digestive issue, bump, or behavior may now be assigned to the food by the pet owner, who is reacting with anxiety and fear.
Worse, this owner is now particularly susceptible to being taken advantage of as others beg them to immediately stop feeding Purina, purchase expensive supplements, pay $10 for a list of “approved” pet diets, and “detox” their dog immediately with a cocktail of herbs and vitamins.
They may even be led to completely disregard their veterinarian regarding nutrition, surgery, health care, vaccines, and parasite prevention. This leads to a form of medical neglect and abuse that is not talked about enough!
Guilt, fear, panic, and anxiety rule in this situation, and that’s not healthy.
Does Purina Contain Toxic Heavy Metals?
The event that set off the current Purina Panic was a post on Facebook from a “friend of a friend“. In the original post, she warned pet parents not to feed Purina because her friend’s dogs were very ill after eating Pro Plan.
In that post, an image of a toxicology report from Kansas State University indicated that heavy metals were present in the food, leading to allegations that Purina had become unsafe to feed. This report lacked important information about the test, including reference numbers and the exact formula that was tested; leading many to have questions about its validity.
Despite this, the holistic pet community hitched its wagon to that report and launched its latest smear campaign against Purina (and now, all kibble).
Within two weeks the post with the toxicology report disappeared. While concerned pet parents continue to reference that content as fact, the truth is that the food had been tested again and it was shown that there were no problems with it.
Purina and the FDA had looked into the report and the claims being made and found nothing wrong with the food. Not only that, no other adverse events were reported in association with that particular batch/lot number.
Chances are, the ‘friend’ referenced in the original post had three sick dogs who had gotten into something. Anti-freeze or rat poison are common toxins that cause health problems emergency veterinarians treat all too often.
Update: January 30th, 2024 NO Toxins Found in Purina Pet Food
Dr. Judy Morgan invested close to $4000 to dispatch samples of Purina food to a laboratory for testing. Neither the specific lab utilized nor the formula and lot numbers were disclosed.
Around 1 PM MST on January 30th, 2024, Dr. Morgan published a video on her Facebook Page, stating that the results were in and none of the tested samples contained harmful levels of the substances examined.
In other words, repeated tests from multiple independent labs show that Purina does NOT contain toxins or dangerous substances.
Many of us had demanded transparency, and hoped she would provide this information even if it didn’t support the arguments of “Saving Pets”. She embedded the details about the test results within the video, compelling people to interact with her content to discover the truth.
I think the pet community deserves to see it in writing.
In the video, she says that the samples were tested for:
Vitamin D
Salmonella, Listeria, and Clostridium
Aflatoxins
Heavy metals including cadmium, selenium, and arsenic (possibly others)
Pentobarbital (Euthanasia Drug and Anti-Seizure Medication)
Melamine
None of the food that was tested was high in any of those values.
I believe the logical progression for Dr. Morgan would be to now share the lab reports with pet owners, as well as the FDA and Purina, for review.
Transparency in this process is a reasonable thing for people to ask for.
In the video, she tried to downplay the significance of the test results by criticizing the AAFCO for what she perceived as its lax approach to regulations.
In the video, Dr. Morgan mentioned her intention to send samples from “known affected lots” for testing. She also outlined her intention to explore other potential toxins and to persist with testing until she uncovers the root cause.
As a writer and pet owner, I’m intrigued. With numerous pets supposedly falling ill at the hands of (from what they believe to be) one culprit, why aren’t people exploring alternative possibilities? If they genuinely seek to address the issue, and multiple independent tests consistently indicate that the food isn’t the problem, why not investigate other potential sources?
Purina Dog Food Health Claims
In 2023, Purina did remove the probiotics from their Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach line. This understandably did cause a few dogs some digestive issues as they adjusted to the new formula.
That doesn’t mean that Purina is full of toxins. It means that an already sensitive dog struggled with a diet change. It’s not fun for the pet owner or the dog, but it’s not inherently harmful, either (especially for those with a great relationship with their veterinarian).
Does Purina Cause Seizures
The implication that Purina causes seizures in dogs is blatantly false. That would require Purina foods to be laced with absolutely toxic levels of heavy metals. Why would Purina, who has no interest in losing profits or being part of a massive media frenzy, sell contaminated food?
Legacy pet food companies such as Purina, Hill’s, and Royal Canin stand out as the only brands that extensively employ and utilize substantial and expert teams consisting of veterinary nutritionists, food scientists, safety experts, researchers, and quality control specialists.
These companies not only own their manufacturing facilities but also rigorously test products at every stage, from raw ingredients to the final products available on store shelves.
The notion that a multitude of highly educated experts would be involved in producing toxic or dangerous pet food is entirely unfounded. From a logical standpoint, it simply doesn’t make sense. None of those people employed by these companies wants that on their resume.
On the flip side, caution is warranted with smaller pet food brands. Lacking the sales volume, highly qualified nutritionists, and research budgets of larger counterparts, many of these brands don’t even produce their own food.
A significant number of the pricey “holistic” pet foods and supplements are manufactured in large factories producing hundreds of other brands. The pretty bags are nothing more than good marketing.
Not to mention, it’s much easier for small pet food brands to get by by with selling contaminated pet food. Just take a look at the unprecedented 2023 Victor recall, proving that the brand had not been testing for or mitigating bacteria for at least a year.
What Percentage of Pets Have Become Sick on Purina?
Purina feeds over 100 million dogs and cats every year.
If the reported statistics were accurate (as of this writing, supposedly 664 dogs, and 219 cats for a total of 894 pets), it would mean that:
0.000894% of pets fed certain foods have supposedly been harmed.
The figure is extremely low, especially when taking into account that it includes dogs fed a variety of diets, not limited to Purina alone.
If we add in the daily meals of the other brands implicated in this panic about kibble (which include Hill’s, Royal Canin, Instinct, and others), the percentage of “affected pets” related to “pets fed” is even lower than the number listed above.
If the food were genuinely toxic or hazardous, we would witness a much higher number of ill pets (and veterinary records to go with them).
Any pet harmed by food is one pet too many. However, there is no supporting evidence from veterinary records or toxicology reports for any of the 894 pets included in this statistic, as far as we have seen.
Pets are added to this tally without considering their existing health conditions, and often in the absence of a veterinary diagnosis or test results. The criteria for adding a pet to this list is unclear and lacks both transparency and attention to detail.
Understandably, individuals are in pain and seeking something to hold responsible. The loss or illness of a pet is always a heartbreaking experience. Pets, however, become sick and often die regardless of the diet being fed.
It’s correlation, not necessarily causation.
As the community of concerned pet parents has grown, so too has the list of foods categorized as “toxic” or “dangerous” by those compiling these statistics.
The Number of Pets Harmed by Purina is Made Up
Upon reviewing the Facebook group, numerous accounts detail pets allegedly harmed by Purina (and other brands of foods).
However, these accounts lack essential evidence such as toxicology reports, blood panels, or necropsies, relying solely on speculations attributing the harm to Purina.
Many of the pets in these anecdotal reports had suffered for days without seeing a veterinarian, before passing away. The owners blamed the food when any number of things could have been wrong.
One instance involved a member sharing a photo of their deceased puppy at 9 weeks, where they blamed Purina as the cause of death. The owner casually mentioned that the veterinarian had diagnosed the puppy with Parvo (a deadly and common disease), but they felt that was incorrect and the puppy’s Purina food was to blame.
Another account comes from a pet parent who shared her experience of feeding a 50/50 mix of Victor foods and raw meals, only to observe her dogs developing bloody stools. In an attempt to address the issue, she switched to a similar combination with Purina, but unfortunately, the problem persisted.
Not surprisingly, the blame was placed solely on Purina, overlooking the fact that salmonella, a known cause of bloody stools, was the reason behind the 2023 Victor Recall. It’s crucial to recognize that raw food can also carry a risk of bacterial contamination.
In another story, a dog suffered for 5 days with symptoms that should warranted an emergency veterinary visit. The owner didn’t take him to the veterinarian for a diagnosis, and instead, bought aspirin to give him. She blamed Purina for his death while admitting that he’d not eaten Purina at all for the past 6 months.
These stories and many more just like them are added to the growing list of pets ‘harmed or killed by Purina’. This list is the same one that “holistic” veterinarians and moderators of this Facebook group are passing around as absolute facts.
I have no doubts that there are sick pets. The doubt comes in when assessing the root cause, and determining if the food itself is actually the problem.
As the group has grown, additional brands have also come under scrutiny. This has triggered a surge of frantic activity as anxious pet owners hastily switch foods in response to the heightened concern.
Suffice it to say that a significant number of the “reports” are likely nothing more than owners who have misdiagnosed their pets at home. When you consider that these are often the same people who don’t trust legitimate practicing veterinarians, this tracks.
Knowing the reach that the Pet Vet Corner group has in the pet owner community, Purina was eager to respond.
Purina clarified that:
46 million dogs and 68 million cats eat Purina food each year
The quality assurance team at Purina Pet Foods leads more than 100,000 quality checks every single day, across the entire manufacturing process
Purina states that false statements about the brand are resulting in unnecessary stress for pet parents (we agree)
They take safety and quality very seriously
Confidently, Purina also emphasized the importance of pet parents critically evaluating the sources behind the claims. They acknowledged that while some posts are from well-intentioned individuals genuinely concerned and aiming to assist, many other posts intentionally generate chaos and distrust, often as a means to promote and sell alternative products.
Is Purina Horse Feed and Chicken Feed Killing Animals?
As if the claims about Purina pet foods weren’t enough, new content has surfaced implying that Purina Horse Feed and Chicken Feed are also causing health problems in animals.
It’s important to note that Purina Mills (horse & chicken feed) is owned by Land O’ Lakes and is a completely different company than Nestle Purina (maker of dog and cat food).
They do not share funding, facilities, or staff. Nestle Purina and Purina Mills are distinct entities, despite their shared name. Anyone disseminating misinformation on this subject is, once again, spreading false news.
What Should I Do if Purina Made My Dog Sick?
If you believe that Purina made your dog sick, you need to first speak with your veterinarian. Take the following steps:
Seek emergency veterinary care, if necessary
Document the symptoms
Write down anything else unusual about the day the symptoms began. Did your pet get food off the counter, eat bunny droppings in the yard, get into the trash, jump off the deck too hard, or nose around in a place where they don’t belong?
Make a document with a list of all foods, supplements, treats, and medications that your pet may have ingested in the past 30 days
Keep the bag of food to submit for testing if necessary
Don’t panic. There are many reasons for a dog to have symptoms (including seizures) that are completely unrelated to the food you are feeding.
Until there is a legitimate FDA statement and published recall, there is no need to panic or be concerned about your pet’s Purina Dog Food or the advice given by your veterinarian when it comes to nutrition, vaccines, and flea/tick prevention.
The Rumor Mill & Purina Pet Food with Dr. Em
Dr. Em is a veterinarian with a scientifically grounded YouTube channel. Her videos present factual information supported by evidence and the professional consensus of her peers.
She prioritizes a rational approach over fear-based tactics and sensationalism, and it’s a breath of fresh air!
If, after reading this post, you find yourself still on the fence regarding the safety of Purina pet foods and other kibble brands, please watch her video on this topic.
I also highly recommend checking out this podcast, which highlights Dr. Ruthann Lobos in an in-depth and approachable discussion about myths and misconceptions in pet food marketing. Many evidence-based veterinarians are speaking out on this topic, and have some incredibly valuable information to share!
This section is for you if you want to dive with me into how a social phenomenon like this happens. Given how many pet parents have felt untold anxiety over this, it’s worth discussing.
Celebrity veterinarians and influencers such as Dr. Judy Morgan (and others) have capitalized on the “Purina Panic” to gain likes and followers, which they leverage publicly to sell holistic food and supplements.
The more people they can get to share content on the topic of “toxic Purina dog food”, the more people they can engage with their platform.
Topics like this are sensational and this particular one took off like a freight train.
The people who follow Dr. Morgan truly believe they’ve been provided with “the truth”, and “insider information” that the big companies and veterinarians won’t tell them.
Pet Parents are implored, by many of these influencers to disregard the information they hear from traditionally reputable sources (veterinarians, educated professionals, scientists, etc.).
Anybody who speaks up with an opposing viewpoint or legitimate data is canceled. Their posts and content are removed, and they aren’t allowed to comment.
Members of Dr. Judy Morgan’s and the “Saving Pets” group following will reply with hate, vitriol, and snark towards anybody who presents with information that challenges what they are being told by their “leader”.
Perhaps the most alarming thing of all is that provocative content is designed to incite panic and fear, and to what end?
Follow the money. If a pet owner is concerned about something they have fed or given their pet, Dr. Morgan (who set the stage for that anxiety to build in the first place) and similar influencers can swoop in with solutions.
Courses, memberships, recipes, and supplements can all be conveniently purchased, so pet parents can make sure their pet “lives forever”.
This doesn’t mean that these influencers aren’t well-meaning. Many things like this start with concern and a desire to help.
People need to ask more questions. However, these inquiries should not be directed solely at established pet food companies with extensive research histories and expert teams dedicated to nutrition science and food safety.
Instead, the focus should shift towards questioning the self-proclaimed leaders who undermine these seasoned experts, especially if they are using panic to drive affiliate clicks, social engagement, and sales of the products they recommend.
Predatory Influencers & Social Media Groups
While Dr. Judy Morgan has spearheaded much of the current panic about Purina dog food, she is not alone. Many influencers are leveraging the Purina-Panic to boost their engagement on TikTok, Instagram, Blogs, and Facebook.
A large group on Facebook has become a hub for this viral activity. They claim to be fighting a good fight against “big pet food” and have begun passing out questionable nutrition, medical, and veterinary advice to members. The group in question is gaining hundreds of new members each day.
I’m not going to lie – that group is one of many just like it, and it’s terrifying.
Here are just a few of the culty tactics being used in this group to promote the unfounded idea that Purina Pro Plan, Purina One, and Purina Dog Chow (and now all kibble) are killing pets:
Removing comments that contain verifiable facts and opposing viewpoints
Banning members who challenge what is being said or recommended
Allowing and even encouraging members to practice veterinary medicine without a license (diagnosing and providing holistic “treatments”)
Actively discouraging members from trusting their real veterinarian
Discrediting established experts including veterinarians, food and nutrition scientists, and published research
“Love bombing” those who have joined the group, and reminding them that only they are doing the right thing for their pet
Recommending unproven and potentially dangerous treatments such as “detoxing” as part of their health and wellness protocols
Creating an “insiders” vs. “outsiders” community, where those in the group are “in the know” and those outside of it are harming their pets
Shaming anybody who doesn’t follow the belief system (applying guilt, fear, and anxiety to those who don’t “do better” for their pets)
Posting deliberately false, fake, and incorrect information as fact
Allowing the platform to be a hub of blatant misinformation, instead of moderating content that may cause unnecessary stress, anxiety, and hardship for people
Encouraging members to ignore experts, including scientists and veterinarians, under the belief that those people don’t care about pets and all of them are “shills with a bad agenda“
Purposefully deflecting away from verifiable information that doesn’t support their claims
It’s appalling how much of this aligns with Dr. Hassan’s BITE model for cults and cult behavior!
What’s even more concerning is that some members and leaders of these groups have been actively discouraging people from seeking veterinary care and/or having their pet food tested for toxins and pathogens.
Testing the food is a crucial first step in identifying potential issues, but the group suggests that sending samples for testing is futile because “major laboratories are [allegedly] affiliated with prominent pet food brands”.
In essence, they propagate a conspiracy theory, insinuating a cover-up.
Author’s Note: We believe that they fear that if thousands of individuals test Purina Pro Plan and the results demonstrate that the food is clean, their misinformation campaign will unravel. If this group truly wanted to save pets, they would work with Purina to sort out the alleged problem.
The “Saving Pets” group is now telling members that if they go to the media to share their stories, they must first communicate with the group leaders.
They want to fully control the narrative. If that is not a red flag, I don’t know what is.
All Kibble is “Bad”
As of mid-January 2024, the “Saving Pets” group has raised and promoted concerns regarding all types of kibble. They are advising their members that no kibble, regardless of brand, can be considered safe for feeding pets.
Within hours of her posting that video revealing the test results, Saving Pets doubled down on their campaign advising members to switch as quickly as possible to a fresh or raw diet with no kibble.
This appears to be a deliberate effort to shift the discussion away from the test results that did not support their claim that “Purina is full of Toxins.“
The “acceptable” brands recommended in the group include AllProvide, a fresh food brand in which Dr. Morgan has a huge stake.
For those unable to afford commercially prepared fresh or raw diets, Saving Pets advises preparing homemade cooked meals for their pets.
Group members and administrators caution against seeking assistance from Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists for recipes, asserting that those professionals are unqualified “shills for big kibble” and may only provide recipes rich in carbohydrates and synthetic vitamins, according to the group’s perspective.
I am concerned that this panic will lead many into feeding unbalanced diets that ultimately, do harm their pets.
Pet Food Misinformation & Armchair Veterinarians
I mentioned above that the group is banning members and deleting comments that question the leaders and the advice being given. They are not, however, shutting down blatant misinformation.
In just 10 minutes, I found the following statements (which, suspiciously, remain un-moderated). Some of the comments came directly from moderators:
“If the pet parent has received a Covid vaccine, they have shed Covid on their pet and that’s why their pet is dead”
“After a hurricane when the dead animals are floating around, they are picked up in trucks and taken to the Purina pet food factory”
“Pet food contains snake venom. It’s true.”
“Covid wasn’t a virus. We were all being poisoned with snake venom in our food and our pets food!”
“Veterinarians sell euthanized pets to the rendering plant and the pets are ground up and used in pet food. The collars aren’t even removed, they grind those up, too.”
“Veterinarians prescribe things to keep your pet sick so they can make more money off of you.”
“CBD is the only safe way to treat seizures, read this guide on it, and don’t take your veterinarian’s advice, they don’t know as much as you do.”
“Do not take your dog to a vet! They will only shame you for your choices. This herb is all you need.”
“All Purina food is manufactured in China.”
“If you don’t feed a whole raw or homemade diet, you shouldn’t even have pets.”
What does the group gain from allowing extreme misinformation to be spread? More panic, more anxiety, and more alarm. All of which drive engagement, clicks, and sales.
Author’s Note: All of the above statements in the list are easily debunked with actual science and proven facts. At Hello Danes, we do not endorse, subscribe to, promote, or believe in the statements shared in the above list titled “pet food misinformation”. The list was created using actual statements from members of a public Facebook group.
How to Spot Misinformation on Social Media
If you are struggling to understand how so many people screaming from the rooftops can be so wrong, this part of the blog post is for you! When you are digesting media about pet care, dog nutrition, and veterinary science, cross-check the information you receive against facts.
This checklist of how to spot social media misinformation can help guide you!
Verify Sources
Cross-check information from reputable sources, such as official statements from Purina, veterinary organizations, or trusted news outlets.
The only way to verify that a dog food product has been recalled is by visiting the FDA recalls page. If it’s not listed there as an active recall, then it doesn’t exist.
Reach out to the company being accused! A quick note to Purina itself can help clear up a lot of misinformation and misgivings you may have, for example.
While they do have an interest in maintaining a good public appearance, there is no reason to believe that they are trying to cover anything up. That’s a bad business practice that would be devastating to their financial success.
When consuming content from bloggers and social media influencers, it’s important to evaluate the sources of their information.
Are they drawing from reputable and credible sources, or are they employing excessive embellishments to provoke panic and fear, conveniently distorting the truth?
Guard Yourself Against Predatory Influencers
Be aware of influencers who attempt to deceive by presenting closed or outdated recalls as if they were present-day issues. Many of the so-called ‘recalls’ causing panic are resolved and belong to the past.
Stay vigilant and don’t be swayed by misinformation that inaccurately portrays outdated concerns as immediate threats.
Be wary of any controversial type of influencer who is primed to present you with a solution to the problem they claim is there, especially in the form of an affiliate link or product you can purchase. Don’t let them control your mind with panic and fear-based sales tactics.
An affiliate link presented in good faith, for a product that could be helpful to pet owners is one thing. A profitable link presented to pet parents as a solution to anxiety and fear is another. That’s the one you need to watch out for.
Fact-Check the Information You Hear
Use legitimate and unbiased fact-checking websites to verify the accuracy of claims. Misinformation often crumbles under scrutiny.
In reaction to misinformation being challenged, you might observe that members involved in cult-like behavior may dismiss the facts as part of an intricate plot, urging you to distrust experts, disregard your veterinarian, and be suspicious about individuals with legitimate credentials.
Instilling doubt in experts (in this case veterinarians, veterinary nutritionists, and legacy pet food brands such as Purina that are backed by decades of nutrition research) is a fundamental aspect of cult mind control.
Exercise extreme caution in navigating this situation and promptly disregard any commentary that intentionally undermines those with authority.
Evaluate the Expertise of the Person Giving the Information
Assess the credentials of those providing information. Celebrity status doesn’t necessarily equate to expertise, especially when promoting alternative products such as ‘detoxes’ and supplements.
This holds even when the individual is an expert with a veterinary degree!
If a particular expert, such as Dr. Judy Morgan for example, holds an opinion that diverges significantly from the consensus of their peers, it’s essential to treat them as an outlier and subject their views to thorough scrutiny.
Dr. Karen Becker is another veterinarian whose profit-driven platform and controversial perspectives warrant careful consideration and questioning.
While it’s acceptable and even encouraged for content creators, including bloggers like myself, to share information about various pet care choices, it’s important to verify that their opinions align with science, research, and evidence.
Pseudoscience, alarmist marketing, and woo-woo theories unfortunately sell very well on social media; learn how to spot it.
Holistic Veterinarians and Controversial Medicine
Be alert to signs that raise doubts about the authenticity of stories, particularly those from public-facing veterinarians who label themselves “holistic.”
The term “holistic” implies consideration for the entire body.
In theory, a truly holistic approach means addressing the pets well being with every tool available (including science, research, and medicine).
Holistic should not mean:
Discrediting and avoiding conventional veterinarians altogether
Dismissing legitimate science
Exclusively opting for “natural” treatments, forgoing anything related to evidence-based veterinary medicine (a practice that may result in medical neglect and abuse)
Because many “holistic” practitioners unfortunately promote and adopt the beliefs listed above, the term “holistic” may serve as a warning signal.
I’ve extensively researched the “holistic veterinarians” and “experts” propagating the current media frenzy surrounding Purina. It’s noteworthy that each one of them has a potential financial stake if allegations against “big pet food” prove to be true.
They have the financial motivation to drive people away from evidence-based veterinarians and science-backed pet foods. I find this ironic, given how often they promote the idea that their traditional veterinary peers are “shills for Big Pharma” and only recommend foods because they “receive kickbacks“.
There is, of course, a time and a place for “holistic” care and natural remedies. My veterinarian falls into the category of “integrative” and we do use some natural treatments for the animals in our home. At its core, “holistic” is not the problem (nor should it be).
As a community of pet lovers, we must draw the line on profit-driven misinformation. Many “Holistic” influencers have taken on the role of contemporary snake oil salespeople, offering unproven and often overstated solutions to exaggerated problems. It’s easy to sell things when what you promote is controversial.
They are often primed and ready to sell a course, book, membership, or supplement to solve our problems as pet owners, all the while utilizing provocative marketing tactics to make it happen.
Because Holistic medicine falls on a spectrum, it’s important that we recognize the role thoughtfully implemented holistic care may have in our pet’s health.
However, more importantly, we need to recognize when “holistic” has gone too far.
Author’s Note: Everybody deserves to earn a living when they share their skills and talents. At Hello Danes, we do use affiliate links to help us pay for the costs associated with running this site. We also put a lot of effort into aligning ourselves with experts and presenting research-based facts. To be fully ethical and transparent, I have chosen to turn off ad serving on this particular article.
Holistic Veterinarians & the Alt-Right
In one post on Facebook, a “holistic” veterinarian (Dr. Barb Fox) suggested that links in her Facebook posts weren’t working because “Big Pet Food wants to prevent her from sharing the truth“.
This resembles the conspiracy-style content often associated with members of the far-right group QAnon.
When someone with credentials, like a veterinary degree, demonstrates a lack of critical thinking like this, it’s wise to disengage. Guard your time and attention, as misinformation can hinder your decision-making about pet care.
It’s noteworthy that like all of the others, this “holistic” veterinarian who is spreading misinformation and predatory content operates a website selling online courses and books to solve your pet’s health problems the “natural” way.
The formula is simple: induce anxiety in pet parents, create a sense of community, and sell the solution.
On her Facebook page, Dr. Barb Fox shares content from an alt-right news source, signaling a concerning perspective. This is a discussion for another day, but it’s important to note that holistic wellness and elitism about pet food is a pipeline that feeds directly into anti-science conspiracies and alt-right belief systems.
Holistic integrative “wellness” is often a dog whistle and that’s unfortunate. Too many “holistic” influencers promote anti-science and anti-veterinarian content, and that’s both dangerous and worth talking about.
There is room for natural solutions and holistic care in science-backed veterinary medicine. But this is not it.
The current media panic about Purina conveniently serves her financial interests, as it does for most other “holistic” veterinarians with online platforms. They are riding this wave for every penny it’s worth.
Please leave thoughtful questions and comments below!
Disclaimer: As the author, I want to clarify that I am not affiliated with Purina. They have not sponsored or funded this article, and our site does not receive compensation from them. In adherence to ethical considerations, ad serving for this particular article has been disabled. This post does not generate any profits for the blog or myself and has been published at my own expense.
Comment Moderation: This blog does not tolerate misinformation or hate speech that is directed toward the author, readers of this blog, or veterinary professionals. Constructive and well-articulated arguments from both perspectives of this discussion are welcomed and will be approved as time allows, provided they contain verifiable information and contribute to thoughtful discussions on the topic.
WSAVA is the World Small Animal Veterinary Association. It’s comprised of researchers and veterinarians from around the World, all focused on a common goal of improving animal health. Being the best WSAVA Approved Dog Food should signal a gold standard, however, there is a lot of confusion on this topic.
WSAVA does not actually endorse, approve, or recommend any specific brand of dog food.
Anybody who tells you otherwise is full of beans.
However, WSAVA has published a helpful set of guidelines for pet owners to review when choosing foods. In following these guidelines, dog parents can be assured that they are choosing a quality diet that meets the highest standards of formulation, safety, and nutritional adequacy.
Understanding WSAVA Approved Dog Food
In understanding that the WSAVA doesn’t actually approve, endorse, or recommend any specific brand of pet food, it’s essential to grasp the organization’s role in helping pet parents choose foods.
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association sets forth common sense guidelines and standards for pet food manufacturers to follow. These things include:
Whether or not they employ a highly qualified nutritionist
Manufacturing practices, including whether the food is produced by a co-packer or made by the company selling it
Quality control, feeding trials and research, which indicate to pet owners that the brand is focused on nutritional health and consistency
These standards encompass nutritional balance, research, manufacturing, and safety protocols, ensuring that the food is suitable for pets and meets their specific dietary needs. Read the WSAVA guidelines for pet foods HERE.
Therefore, while the WSAVA itself does not pick favorites, its guidelines serve as a valuable reference point for pet owners to identify products that prioritize the health and well-being of their four-legged companions.
What are the WSAVA Approved Dog Foods?
As mentioned previously, no foods are actually approved or endorsed by WSAVA.
However, if we look at the guidelines objectively, it is pretty well established in the scientific community that 5 dog food brands undeniably meet or even exceed every WSAVA recommendation.
This means that these brands have highly qualified nutritionists on staff to formulate the diets, extensive quality control protocols, dedicated and thorough product testing in all stages of production, a database of feeding trails and published research, nutritional adaquecy statements, transparency, and owned facilities where the foods are manufactured.
Many other brands may come close to this standard. Some meet most of them at the basic level, and only a few brands exceed them.
Out of 1000’s of brands on the market, most actually fall short.
These five WSAVA compliant pet food brands that both meet and then exceed every recommendation outlined by the WSAVA include:
Purina
Royal Canin
Hill’s Science Diet
Eukanuba
Iam’s
Brands who claim to be WSAVA approved or WSAVA compliant
Some brands will post pages on their website or social media indicating that they too “meet” or “comply with” WSAVA guidelines. This is quite problematic for two reasons:
a. WSAVA recommendations for pet food are interpretive; it is up to the pet owner to interpret and verify a companies adherance, and determine how important they consider each recommendation.
b. The companies creating pages like this are often doing so with the intent of being misleading.
For example, many of them do not actually employ a single nutritionist. However, because at one time they hired a consultant firm to look over a recipe, they may claim that they “work with a team of nutrition specialists and veterinarians“.
To most pet owners, that sounds great..and that’s exactly what dog food manufacturers want them to think.
Here is what WSAVA says about qualified nutritionists:
Is the recipe developed by an experienced pet food formulator (MS or PhD in Animal Nutrition), a veterinarian, or a pet owner/breeder/trainer?
Recipe development is a complex process requiring knowledge of nutrition, raw materials, and processing not taught in veterinary school programs.
Trained and experienced formulators may have a degree (MS/PhD) in food science and technology to help guide ingredient selection and nutrient levels for health or disease management.
An individual with Board Certification by ACVN or ECVCN may also be cross-trained in pet food formulation or work in collaboration with experienced pet food formulators to help guide ingredient selection and nutrient levels.
While WSAVA doesn’t come out and blatantly say it, this recommendation speaks to the importance of choosing a food brand that has at least one qualified nutritionist on staff, who is in charge of formulating the diets.
A qualified nutritionist would be:
M.S. or PhD in Animal Nutrition
Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist
Does WSAVA Approve Pet Foods?
WSAVA does not approve pet foods.
There is no list of ‘WSAVA Certified’ brands, because that’s not the role WSAVA plays in this.
It is up to you as the consumer to read the WSAVA recommendations and contact the company to see how they answer your questions.
A great resource for this is the Pet Nutrition Alliance! They’ve put together a pet food manufacturers report with legitimate facts about almost every company possible.
Dog food companies that are committed to the welfare and health of pets often contribute to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA). These contributions come in the form of financial support, sponsorships, and partnerships to assist WSAVA in its mission to establish and maintain high standards for pet nutrition.
It’s important to note that WSAVA does not endorse specific brands or products, and its guidelines are created independently of the pet food manufacturers who contribute. However, the involvement of dog food companies in supporting WSAVA reflects a shared dedication to advancing the overall well-being of pets by promoting responsible pet nutrition practices.
The financial support provided by dog food companies to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) is not inherently a conflict of interest, provided that the relationship is transparent and ethical.
It’s very important to note that ANY pet food manufacturer can contribute to science, research, and organizations like the WSAVA. Only a few do.
The benefits of WSAVA Compliant Dog Food
WSAVA compliant pet food offers a multitude of benefits for both pets and their owners. When you choose pet food that meets or exceeds WSAVA recommendations, you can be confident that you’re providing your pet with meal that meets the highest standards.
This is super important, given how much intentionally misleading and dangerous, unchecked marketing goes into pet foods! It’s hard to sort out what’s actually good, from what’s being sold to us.
The benefits of asking your pet food manufacturer to adhere to and exceed WSAVA guidelines include:
Nutritional Excellence: this ensures that good pet food is formulated to meet the specific dietary needs of pets, providing balanced and complete nutrition. This means your pet is more likely to receive the essential nutrients necessary for their overall health, and that it’s been proven with comprehensive testing, research, and feeding trials.
Safety Assurance: WSAVA compliant brands adhere to rigorous safety protocols, from ingredient sourcing to manufacturing processes. This can give pet owners peace of mind that the food they provide is safe for consumption.
Health and Well-Being: Choosing WSAVA compliant food can contribute to your pet’s long-term health and well-being, helping to prevent diet-related health issues (such as nutritional DCM) and ensuring that your pet is thriving.
Veterinarian Input: WSAVA’s guidelines are developed with the input of unbiased veterinary experts, so you can trust that the food is designed with your pet’s best interests in mind.
Basically put, we know that WSAVA compliant pet food brands are the absolute best you can choose. Why settle for anything less?
Labeling: Start by examining the product’s label. WSAVA compliant pet food should clearly state that it meets AFFCO or FEDIEF nutritional guidelines, providing a complete and balanced diet suitable for your pet’s life stage and needs, and have nutritional information that is easy to find.
Formulation: Does the company employ and utilize at least one highly qualified nutritionist? That’s a good sign that they are on the right track.
Manufacturing Standards: Research the manufacturer and their practices. Is the food manufactured by a “partner facility” or “co-packer”, or does the company own and operate their own facilities? Do they have comprehensive testing and quality control protocols?
Transparency: Reputable pet food companies often provide detailed information about their products, including the sources of ingredients and quality control measures. Transparency is a positive sign of compliance. If they make it difficult for you to obtain honest information about nutritional levels, manufacturing practices, or who formulates the food, run.
Research: the best pet food companies will have ongoing dedication to science, research, and feeding trials.
Consult with a Veterinarian: If in doubt, consult with a veterinarian. Veterinary professionals are well-versed in understanding WSAVA guidelines and can provide guidance on selecting compliant pet food.
Remember that while WSAVA sets the standards, it doesn’t specifically endorse or approve brands or products. However, evaluating pet food based on these criteria can help you make informed choices that align with WSAVA’s commitment to pet health and nutrition.
Want more information about how to choose the best food for your dog? Check out some of our popular articles below:
I would love to share with you some amazing insights about how pumpkin can positively impact your dog’s health. Did you know that pumpkin has countless benefits when included in your dog’s diet?
Here are five simple facts to make you a believer:
Promoting Digestive Health: How Pumpkin Aids in Canine Digestion
Weight Management Wonder: Pumpkin as a Low-Calorie Doggy Delight
Canine Bowel Regularity: Pumpkin’s Role in Promoting Healthy Stools
Boosting Immunity and Vitality: The Immune-Boosting Properties of Pumpkin for Dogs
Soothing Skin and Coat Health: Pumpkin’s Role in Nurturing Canine Skin and Fur
Let’s jump in to more specifics of why you should be giving your dog pumpkin, how to choose the right pumpkin supplement, what to avoid, and more.
Health Benefits of Pumpkin for Dogs: Exploring the Nutritional Powerhouse of Pumpkin for Canines
Benefits of Pumpkin for Dogs
Pumpkin, a powerful and nutrient-rich fruit, is not just limited to human consumption. In fact, it is a natural remedy that is highly beneficial for dogs too. Packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber, it is an excellent additive to your dog’s diet.
Feeding pumpkin to your furry friend can help regulate their digestive system and aid in weight management. Due to its high fiber content, it can bulk up their stool and prevent diarrhea. Being low in calories and high in nutrients, it is an ideal supplement for overweight dogs. It can also improve their skin and coat health, as well as boost their immune system.
Pumpkin seeds are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, and antioxidants, making them an excellent addition to your dog’s diet. To reap the benefits of pumpkin for your canine companion, simply add it to their meals or give them a few pumpkin treats.
1. Promoting Digestive Health: How Pumpkin Aids in Canine Digestion
Pumpkin is not only a tasty treat for dogs but a nutritious and flavorful supplement for them as well.
Did you know that pumpkin can also aid in your dog’s digestive health? With its rich fiber and moisture content, pumpkin has the potential to relieve both constipation and diarrhea.
Additionally, pumpkin is beneficial for weight management as its fiber can provide a sense of fullness and slow down digestion.
Vitamins and Minerals to Support Healthy Poops
Pumpkin is also packed with vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A and potassium, which can help support your pup’s overall health.
You do, however, want to make sure that you choose the correct form of pumpkin which includes the correct balance of vitamins and nutrients! We will discuss more about that later!
2. Weight Management Wonder: Pumpkin as a Low-Calorie Doggy Delight
If your dog needs to lose weight, you can look no further than pumpkin to provide them with a nutrient-filled snack that also may help promote weight loss!
Pumpkin can be a wonder when it comes to weight management. Not only is it low in calories, but it also contains fiber which can help to promote feelings of fullness.
Also, some people like to make special snacks like frozen popsicles for their dogs, made with pumpkin! Check out this article by Rover, which shows how to make these amazing Pup-sicles out of pumpkin!
3. Canine Bowel Regularity: Pumpkin’s Role in Promoting Healthy Stools
Our dog’s bowel movements can be a big problem if they aren’t in a healthy place. Ensuring that our dogs have healthy stools is important for their overall health and happiness (as well as ours!).
Did you know that pumpkins can play a vital role in promoting and maintaining healthy bowel regularity in dogs? Pumpkin is rich in fiber and helps to aid in digestion.
Additionally, its high water content can lower the risk of constipation. Furthermore, pumpkin seeds contain essential fatty acids and antioxidants, which can help to promote consistent stools. No more diarrhea from your dog!
4. Boosting Immunity and Vitality: The Immune-Boosting Properties of Pumpkin for Dogs
Pumpkin is a superfood that is loaded with essential nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are crucial for maintaining your dog’s health and wellness. But what makes pumpkin stand out is its immune-boosting properties, which can help keep your dog healthy and active.
Antioxidants and Phytonutrients
The antioxidants and phytonutrients found in pumpkin can play a vital role in strengthening your dog’s immune system, helping to prevent infections, diseases, and allergies.
Carotenoids
Pumpkin also contains carotenoids, which are powerful antioxidants that help protect cells from free radical damage that can lead to serious illnesses.
Zinc and Vitamin E
Furthermore, pumpkin is a great natural source of zinc and vitamin E, two nutrients that are vital for maintaining healthy skin, coat, and eyes.
It’s a versatile ingredient that can be added to their meals in a variety of ways, from powder to canned pumpkin.
5. Nurturing Skin and Coat Health: Pumpkin’s Essential Nutrients for a Glossy Coat and Happy Skin
Pumpkin, being an immensely nutrient-dense fruit, is a great choice for people looking to maintain their pets’ skin and coat health.
Rich in Healing Vitamins
It is rich in vitamins A, C, and E, which are all known for their antioxidant properties that help in protecting the skin from harmful free radicals. This colorful gourd also has a good amount of zinc and iron, which play a vital role in giving your pet’s coat and skin that healthy-looking glow.
Fatty Acids
Moreover, pumpkin is a great source of essential fatty acids, which are essential for maintaining proper skin health. These fatty acids play a crucial role in the proper functioning of the skin membrane, which helps in retaining moisture, improving elasticity, and fighting off inflammation.
By adding a bit of pumpkin to your pet’s diet, you can ensure that they receive all the essential nutrients that they need to maintain healthy skin and coat.
What to Look for in Your Dog’s Pumpkin Supplement
When searching for a suitable pumpkin supplement, it’s essential to keep a few key factors in mind.
Firstly, opt for a high-quality supplement that uses 100% pure pumpkin without any additives, fillers, or artificial ingredients.
Look for products that specifically state “pumpkin” as the primary ingredient to ensure your dog receives the maximum nutritional benefits.
Additionally, consider the form of the supplement – whether it’s canned, powdered, puree, or freeze-dried. Each form has its advantages, such as convenience, texture preference, or longer shelf life.
Furthermore, check for a reputable brand that follows strict quality control measures and has positive customer reviews.
Lastly, consult with your veterinarian to ensure the pumpkin supplement is appropriate for your dog’s specific health needs and to determine the appropriate dosage based on their size and condition.
Fera Pet Powdered Pumpkin Supplement
Fera Pet Supplements are high quality, and when we saw they were coming out with a powdered Pumpkin, we were thrilled.
Let’s face it—dealing with our pets’ digestive issues can be a real challenge. Loose stools, constipation, and irregularity not only make our furry friends uncomfortable but also give us pet parents a hard time. That’s why I was so happy to discover Pumpkin Plus, a fiber supplement that promises to keep our pets’ digestive systems in tip-top shape. After trying it out with my own dogs, I’m excited to share my review of this incredible product.
Unique Ingredients
One of the standout features of Pumpkin Plus is its unique blend of eight organic ingredients derived from natural high-fiber sources. With a powerful combination of pumpkin seed, coconut fiber, apple fiber, and ginger, this supplement is designed to tackle a range of digestive issues and promote regularity. It’s like a superhero for your pet’s tummy!
Ample Fiber
The ample fiber content in Pumpkin Plus ensures smooth and consistent bowel movements, putting an end to loose stools and constipation woes. No more worrying about accidents or messy clean-ups—it’s a relief for both pet and parent. But the benefits don’t stop there! This fantastic supplement also aids in soothing upset stomachs, providing much-needed comfort to our furry friends during times of digestive distress. Plus, it even helps address those pesky anal gland issues that can cause discomfort for our pets.
Organic Ingredients
I appreciate that Pumpkin Plus is made with organic ingredients, giving me peace of mind knowing I’m giving my pet a natural and safe solution. It’s evident that the makers of Pumpkin Plus have put careful thought into crafting a supplement that addresses the specific needs of our pets’ digestive health.
High-Quality Ingredients in Pumpkin Powder
In the supplement above, called Fera Pet Pumpkin Fiber Supplement, you can see that pumpkin is the primary ingredient! Not only that, it is organic and includes pumpkin seeds, which will provide additional fiber and vitamins.
The next ingredient is organic coconut! “Coconut is packed with antioxidants to support the immune system. It also helps the body form a healthy response to foreign microbes. This means coconut provides the body with an extra defense against bad bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi.” (The AKC)
Organic Flax Seed
Flaxseed, a superfood for both humans and animals, is an excellent addition to your furry friend’s diet! This tiny seed is packed with essential nutrients that aid in maintaining your dog’s overall health and well-being. In addition to providing much-needed nourishment, flaxseed has been known to help promote luscious, shiny hair coats in dogs, leaving their skin healthy and supple.
One of the primary reasons for adding flaxseed to your dog’s diet is because it contains a plethora of vital nutrients, including high amounts of omega fatty acids. These fatty acids, particularly omega-6 fatty acid (also known as Linoleic Acid), are essential for supporting various functions in your dog’s body, including cognitive health, immune function, and healthy skin and coat. By incorporating flaxseed into your dog’s diet, you’re providing them with a range of crucial nutrients that will keep them feeling and looking their very best!
Organic Apple Fiber
Including apple fiber as an additional ingredient in your dog’s pumpkin supplement can offer several notable benefits to their overall health and well-being. Apple fiber is rich in soluble and insoluble fibers, which can help support your dog’s digestive system. The soluble fibers aid in maintaining healthy bowel movements and can alleviate constipation or diarrhea by regulating the absorption of water in the digestive tract. On the other hand, insoluble fibers add bulk to the stool, promoting regularity and preventing digestive issues like constipation.
Ginger has been known as a digestive aid for many years and has been proven to help with stomach upset and nausea.
The potential benefits of ginger do not end there, however, as it has been discovered to have various health benefits that extend beyond digestive health.
Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties and is rich in antioxidants that can help eliminate free radicals in the body, improve heart health, and even prevent cancer for your dog.
How to Use Pumpkin Plus
Using Pumpkin Plus is simple and straightforward, making it a convenient addition to your pet’s routine. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use Pumpkin Plus effectively:
Determine the appropriate dosage
Consult the product packaging or your veterinarian to determine the recommended dosage based on your pet’s weight and specific needs. It’s essential to follow the instructions carefully to ensure optimal results.
Introduce gradually
If your pet is new to Pumpkin Plus or any dietary supplement, it’s advisable to introduce it gradually to avoid any sudden changes in their digestive system. Start with a small amount and gradually increase it over a few days until you reach the recommended dosage.
Mixing options
Pumpkin Plus can be mixed with your pet’s regular food or served as a standalone treat, depending on their preference. You can either mix the recommended amount of Pumpkin Plus directly into their meals or offer it separately as a tasty reward.
Monitor your pet’s response
Pay attention to how your pet responds to Pumpkin Plus. Observe any changes in their bowel movements, overall digestion, and general well-being. If you notice any unusual reactions or concerns, it’s best to consult your veterinarian for guidance.
Stay consistent
For the best results, maintain a consistent schedule of using Pumpkin Plus. Incorporate it into your pet’s daily routine, ensuring they receive the benefits of the supplement consistently over time.
Store properly
Store Pumpkin Plus according to the instructions provided on the packaging. Most supplements should be stored in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.
Should You Use Pumpkin for Your Dog?
In conclusion, Pumpkin Plus is a game-changer when it comes to promoting a happy and regular digestive system for our furry friends. With its unique blend of organic ingredients derived from natural high-fiber sources, including pumpkin seed, coconut fiber, apple fiber, and ginger, this supplement provides a powerful solution for a range of digestive issues. By incorporating Pumpkin Plus into your pet’s routine, you can say goodbye to loose stools, constipation, and irregularity, and welcome a healthier and more comfortable digestive system.
What sets Pumpkin Plus apart is its ease of use. Simply follow the recommended dosage based on your pet’s weight and needs, gradually introduce it into their diet, and monitor their response. Whether you choose to mix it with their regular food or offer it as a standalone treat, Pumpkin Plus is a convenient addition to your pet’s daily routine.
With the consistent use of Pumpkin Plus, you can enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’re providing your pet with a natural and safe solution. No more worrying about accidents or messy clean-ups. Instead, you’ll witness the joy and relief of a pet with a happy tummy, free from digestive discomfort.
If you’re ready to make a positive change in your pet’s digestive health, give Pumpkin Plus a try. Experience the transformative benefits it offers and enjoy a happier, healthier pet. Your furry friend will thank you for the relief and well-being that Pumpkin Plus brings into their life.
It’s no secret that I’ve become a passionate advocate for good nutrition when it comes to my dogs. At one time I fell for some very common dog food marketing gimmicks and my dogs suffered as a result.
As a matter of fact, my experience seeing my heart dog harmed by a popular ‘high quality’ dog food sent me down a huge rabbit hole that I will not soon dig out of.
There are 300-400 new dog food brands every year in the U.S. All of them are trying to get the money out of your wallet, and will tell you what they have to in order to make it happen.
Are you wanting to avoid being confused or even scammed by pet food industry marketing tricks and misinformation? This post is for you!
5 Dog Food Marketing Gimmicks
#1 Dog Food Marketing Gimmick: “Family Owned”
A common phrase seen from dog food companies is the word “Family Owned and Operated”.
This statement makes dog owners feel like they are supporting a small business, helping a neighbor, or purchasing from a company that is run by people, not corporations. It feels good to purchase from “family owned” companies that appear to have been passed down from generation to generation.
I hate to burst your bubble here, but this is a big gimmick.
Of course, many pet food brands and manufacturing facilities have been passed from one family member to the next generation. This happens in a lot of businesses and it’s great, sure.
Small ‘family owned’ operations are just as susceptible to cutting corners as the big guys.
Unfortunately, small business playing in the big world of pet food are more likely to cut corners, because they just don’t have the clout or affordable access to resources, funding, research, and the supply chain that bigger companies do.
We see this at play with Fromm Family Foods. This family organization employs a lot of people and sells millions of dollars worth of food each year, yet, they don’t have a single qualified nutritionist on staff and never have. They do no feeding trials and their research efforts dried up circa 1990.
We can reasonably assume that isn’t the only place they are keeping their operation lean!
Midwest Pet foods (the makers of Sportmix, Earthborn, Ultimates, Venture, CanineX and Unrefined) actively market that they are a “family owned” business. They have been under fire from the FDA for sanitation practices at their plants that have resulted in harm or death to over 300 dogs to date. Midwest does not employ a single qualified nutritionist, either.
A lot of dog food companies rely on smaller ‘family owned’ manufacturing plants (that as above, employ 100’s of people and qualify as medium to large businesses) and a lot of those plants absolutely do have problems.
Family owned sounds nice on paper, but as above, just because Bob Junior now owns the plant instead of Bob Senior does not mean that they are actually producing something better for your pet. Chances are, they are just as money-driven as any other business out there.
#2 – Pet Food Brands with “No Recalls”
A lot of people mistakenly believe that “no recalls” is an indication that a pet food company is higher quality.
Many times however, companies issue recalls voluntarily out of an abundance of caution. They should, too, because the alternative to issuing recalls is literally to sweep issues under the rug and hope it doesn’t become a problem.
Of course, sometimes a company will have a very negative recall history. There is a huge difference between that and a recall that a big company issues for quality control reasons. It’s important to figure out how to sort out the difference.
Primal Pet Foods and Darwins are examples of brands with inexcusable recalls who have received some damning warning letters from the FDA as a result of sanitation and nutritional practices at their “family owned” plants.
Champion Pet Foods (the makers or Orijen and Acana) knew they had food on the shelves made with beef tallow that had been contaminated with euthanasia drug. Instead of recalling it from pet owners who had already purchased the food, they quietly pulled pallets from the supply chain and didn’t say a word otherwise.
People unknowingly fed it to their pets…and while no pets appear to have been harmed, the ethics of it are appalling.
A company attempting to uphold a history of “no recalls” is going to be much less likely to recall products for small (but notable) issues. Your pet gets to be the guinea pig.
My point here is this. “No recalls” doesn’t always mean that a company is operating ethically, safely, or with transparency.
So instead of judging a book by that cover, look at the nature of the recalls, how quickly they were responded to, and why they happened in the first place. Some companies should absolutely be avoided. Others? There is more to the story.
Thank those companies for recalling instead of letting pet owners bear the brunt of a human mistake.
#3 – A “Team of Highly Qualified Nutritionists & Veterinarians”
Did you know that the solid majority of pet food brands on the market don’t have a single qualified nutritionist on staff?
But if you look at their website, you’d be made to believe that the company has a massive team of highly qualified and highly educated people sitting in their home office, dedicating their time to formulating food for your pet.
I’m sure you’re starting to catch on here, but this too is a marketing gimmick.
With rare exception, what companies really mean when they say they have a ‘team’ of qualified people, is that they pay off-site 3rd party consultants to look over their recipes.
In many cases, those “highly qualified” nutritional consultants may do nothing more than check a box and verify that on paper, the food is nutritionally complete.
Off-site nutrition consultants have no allegiance to the brand or the formulas being marketed. A solid majority of foods on the market are actually generic recipes that were spit out by a computer.
While this usually results in foods that are generally good at keeping pets alive, it’s a far cry from the nutritional research and formulation processes of companies who actually have qualified people on staff.
This practice of marketing the idea of a ‘team of nutritionists’ is also very, very misleading to pet parents who want to know that a lot of dedication was actually made to their pet’s food!
Our recommendation? Look for food brands that have board certified Veterinary Nutritionists or at minimum, people with a PhD in Animal Nutrition on staff.
Tread cautiously though, because companies use all kinds of slick language to bypass actually saying that they don’t employ people for nutritional formulation and food science.
If they didn’t reply to the Pet Nutrition Alliance or refused to answer? Run. Transparent companies have nothing to hide.
#4 – The “Good” Ingredients List
Marketing has taught all of us to be very, very wary of the ingredients in our dog food.
As a matter of fact, it was Blue Buffalo who largely pioneered this concept when they launched their ads showing pet parents how to compare ingredients.
The problem? Most “good” ingredients lists only look that way because of…you guessed it…marketing gimmicks!
Not only have companies strategically rearranged their ingredients lists to appeal to pet parents, they have intentionally replaced a few highly nutritious ingredients with “nicer sounding” foods that don’t provide anywhere near the same energy, fiber, protein, fat, mineral, or vitamin content.
Piggy-backing off the previous section of this blog, it’s important to keep in mind that many of these “nice” sounding ingredients lists and “quality” substitutions are being created and promoted by companies who have no qualified nutritionist on staff.
This includes Blue Buffalo, who came up with the entire concept of judging a food by the ingredients in the first place but only recently (2022) hired a veterinary nutritionist to correctly formulate their diets.
Because as we are learning, this is all about marketing.
Here are some common ways that dog food companies organize their ingredients lists to sell to you.
#1 – “Meat is the first 5 ingredients!”
This implies that the food has more meat in it than other foods.
However, it’s smoke and mirrors. Instead of using 10oz of chicken, they used 2oz of chicken, 2oz of dried chicken, 2oz of chicken liver, 2oz of whitefish, and 2oz of dried lamb.
The meat content is the same, it’s just been split up. Then all they have to do is split up their grains (by using multiple sources or through ingredient splitting) and other ingredients so that none of those weigh more than any of the meats.
#2 – “Fresh meat is the first ingredient”
Fresh meat is heavy, so it’s nearly always at the top of the ingredients list (which is based on weight prior to extrusion).
Fresh meat is 70% water.
Companies want you to believe that your dry kibble is loaded with meat because they show you a photo of a beautiful chicken breast and an ingredients list with “real chicken” as the first ingredient.
But after the fresh chicken is extruded into kibble, the moisture (and thus a solid majority of that heavy fresh meat) is gone. In many cases, the finished kibble will have less fresh meat in it than other ingredients.
This is why some companies use a meat meal, which is dehydrated before it’s used in the extrusion process and contains a lot more nutrition as a result. A kibble that contains some kind of meat meal or meat by-product meal will always have more meat based protein, amino acids and nutrients in it.
#3 – “Includes spinach, blueberries, and carrots”
In an attempt to appeal to consumers who want a ‘fresh’ or ‘holistic’ option, some kibble foods will include a range of fruits and vegetables from spinach to pomegranate and lay claim to the antioxidant benefits.
The bag will often contain beautiful and colorful photos of these ingredients, too.
But like fresh meat, fruits and vegetables are mostly water. To meet nutritional requirements, these cannot be too high on the ingredients list, either, otherwise it throws off the density and nutritional balance of the finished dry kibble food. They are nearly always listed near or after salt, indicating that they are less than 1% of the overall formulation.
As one board certified veterinary nutritionist put it, “it is fairy dust”.
Skip this and top your dogs food with real fresh fruit and veg. (Up to 5-10% of the overall diet is acceptable for treats and toppers like this).
#4– Ingredient Splitting
This common trick allows dog food manufacturers to take a whole ingredient and split it up into multiple parts on the ingredient list.
This changes our perception of how much of that ingredient is in the food, as it can either be perceived as being “more” (for example, multiple meat sources as in the #1 example above), or “less” (by pushing the now lower-weight ingredients down on the ingredients list).
You’ve found ingredient splitting when you see a brand utilizing multiple forms of the same ingredient. For example:
“Peas, pea protein, whole peas, pea fiber, pea flour, green peas”
#5 – “Holistic, Super-Premium, Functional, Human Grade”
There are many common words used by dog food companies to sell their products, and the vast majority of them are completely unregulated terms with absolutely not legal definition.
Holistic, for example, is often used to indicate a food that is somehow more ‘natural’. It’s a word that has been misused for so long that people associate it with a perception, not an actual meaning. Any food company can grab this word and throw it into their marketing.
Given how similar 99% of dog foods actually are to each other, even the ‘holistic’ ones, this particular term lacks any real authority to designate one food as ‘healthier’ or ‘higher quality’ than the next.
Super Premium is another word with no meaning at all. To the point of being laughable. As if being ‘premium’ weren’t enough, THIS food option is SUPER premium, ooooh!
See my point here? Words like “Super Premium” are there to make you feel some sort of way about the dog food. There is no legal definition for this term either.
Functional is the new “it” buzzword, courtesy of “Integrative, Functional, Holistic” Veterinarians and practitioners. Honestly though? All food should be functional. It is supposed to support health, right down to the cells.
I’m honestly concerned that some dog food companies have to tell us their food is ‘functional’ to get our attention.
Human Grade is complicated. There are some very loose regulations surrounding the use of this word. In theory, the ingredients should be sourced from suppliers where the intention of the food is for human consumption, and made in kitchens that prepare human foods, for example.
But once ‘human’ food is put into a dog food recipe, it’s no longer human grade as the final product is intended for use by animals. Not humans.
Food from suppliers intended for use in dog food doesn’t have to be trash; and truthfully, it’s well regulated. Keep in mind that the ‘human’ supply chain is just as susceptible to problems related to salmonella or otherwise.
Choose companies that have good ethics and practices and don’t waste your money, hopes, and dreams on the overpriced and wasteful ‘human grade’ marketing gimmick.
Your beloved pet is a dog, not a human. Given the opportunity, they will tear into your trash and happily eat all the guts out of a chicken carcass.
Anytime we post an article like this, we get a million questions about “‘well, “ok fine, what SHOULD I feed instead?”
Do you want the honest answer? Stop looking at the marketing and the ingredients lists. Look around at the literal billions of dogs that are quietly eating and thriving on veterinary recommended food brands. Those brands have qualified nutritionists on staff and dump millions of dollars every year into nutritional research and feeding trials.
For a comprehensive (and growing) list that addresses common brands/formulas as it relates to large + giant breed puppies (in particular), check out this spreadsheet:
You can also check your brand against the data in the Pet Nutrition Alliance Database. Notice how many brands only use nutritional consultants, and that’s if they even bothered to include their information in this database.
You may have seen that the Great Dane community often recommends Victor Dog Food. Is Victor Dog food good for Great Danes? Why is Victor so popular among Dane owners? Can Great Dane puppies eat Victor food?
We’re bringing you the science, stats, and facts today on choosing Victor dog food and yeah, what I have to say about this may be controversial.
If you are looking for the best food to feed your Dane, this post is for you. I’ve done the research for you!
Is Victor Dog Food Good for Great Danes?
I’m going to come out and say this, but please make sure to continue reading into the post because I’m backing my stance up with actual science. Here it is:
Most Victor Formulas are incorrect for Great Danes.
Many popular Victor dog foods have the WRONG balance of calcium to phosphorus, and contain excessively high levels of calcium to begin with.
As a matter of fact, here is a list of things that can be caused by incorrectly balanced food and excessive calcium, especially when fed to Great Dane puppies under the age of 2:
HOD & Panosteitis
Retained cartilaginous cores
Disturbed endochondral ossification
Delayed skeletal maturation & growth of bone length
Abnormal bone remodeling
Skeletal disorders such as incorrect hip or elbow development
Conformational faults including flat feet (affects dogs of all ages)
Heart Disease (affects dogs of all ages)
Poor breeding outcomes (including small litter sizes)
Calcium and skeletal disorders in Great Danes go hand in hand, especially for puppies who are exposed to a high amount of calcium in their diet.
Are you feeding a Victor dog food that is not correctly balanced for your Great Dane?
Calcium, Phosphorus, & Great Dane Puppies
To understand why many Victor dog food that are commonly recommended in the Dane community are incorrect to feed, we have to first understand what appropriate calcium and phosphorus levels are.
Great Dane Puppies should be fed a diet with the following ratios:
Calcium to phosphorus ratio of 1.2 – 1 or 1:1
Calcium guaranteed analysis below 1.3%, and ideally around 1.1%
Balanced vitamin D levels
Calcium amount below 4.5g per 1000kCAL, and ideally below 3.5g per 1000kCal
Why does this matter?
Because study after study shows that excessive intake of calcium, and calcium that isn’t balanced correctly with phosphorus (and vitamin D), leads to skeletal problems and bone growth disorders.
Too low of calcium is also bad, however, that’s a problem seen primarily in raw and home cooked diets, not in commercially prepared diets that meet AAFCO guidelines.
Dane Puppies will utilize nearly all of the calcium fed to them, and it is believed that adult giant breed dogs in general are less able to deal with excessive minerals (including calcium) as well. Basically put, if a Great Danes’ food has too much or too little calcium, it can be disastrous for their bone health.
To further complicate things, nutrients such as vitamin D play a role in the bioavailability of the calcium and phosphorus provided in the diet, and zinc may as well.
Many people believe that knuckling is the only growth disorder that Great Dane puppies face. Knuckling is the most obvious, but not the most dangerous.
Knuckling results from other nutritional factors, not necessarily just calcium, as knuckling is related to laxity in the tendons and excess weight on underdeveloped joints.
Just because a puppy doesn’t knuckle and seems to ‘grow fine’ on a particular food, doesn’t mean that food is the best choice.
Many growth disorders related to nutrition or even genetics are not apparent until the dog is slightly older, in pain, becomes lame, or presents with poor bone health and structural problems.
Correct structure and build of the Great Dane is part genetics, part nutrition, and part environmental factors.
While we don’t love any Victor formula (we will cover this more below), there are a few popular foods that, based on calcium content and the CA/PH ratio alone we would not feed.
This data below is based on the GENERAL analysis, not the Guaranteed Analysis (which Victor gives us very little data on, unfortunately).
The actual calcium levels may be even higher or lower than listed in the general analysis. It seems that Victor doesn’t do a lot of testing on the actual nutrient levels in their foods, which is also problematic.
When I inquired with Victor via email to clarify their general analysis information, they directed me to their 800 number instead. The fact that I have to run around in circles to obtain relevant nutrition information in writing is a red flag.
Name
Calcium
CA/PH Ratio
AAFCO Large Breed?
Victor Professional (Purple Bag)
1.76%
1.3 to 1
Yes
Victor Multi-Pro (Yellow Bag)
1.71%
1.4 to 1
Yes
Victor High Energy (Red Bag)
1.69%
1.2 to 1
Yes
Victor Hi-Pro Plus (Teal Bag)
2.39%
1.5 to 1
No
Victor Beef & Rice
1.77%
1.4 to 1
Yes
Victor Chicken Meal & Rice
1.37
1.3 to 1
Yes
Victor Grain Free (ANY type)
Varies
Varies
Varies
Some of the foods listed above DO have the AAFCO statement indicating that they meet the nutritional levels for large breed growth. Essentially this means that their calcium content is less than 1.8% on a dry matter basis.
In our opinion, 1.8% is MUCH to high for a Great Dane, we like to see 1.2% or less.
All formulas on that list above, regardless of their AAFCO statement, have unbalanced calcium to phosphorus ratios for Great Danes, with one exception (the Victor Hi-Energy red bag), and even that still has a high calcium content (1.67%).
It’s important to note that a Hi-Energy formula is meant to provide extra nutrition (in this formulation, they use a lot of fat). Excess nutrition is ALSO linked to orthopedic growth disorders, so that food is another example of one that should not be fed to Great Danes under the age of 2.
The two most popular foods also have high calcium levels as a whole, which exceed the recommended safe upper limit of 4.5g per 1000kCal.
Victor Professional at 4.7g per 1000kCal
Victor Beef & Rice at 5.4g per 1000kCal
Both of those formulas are popular among Dane owners who feed them to puppies, and we’re not sure why. The analysis alone goes against every reasonable guideline on the topic.
There is one food that I found among Victor foods that has a small label on it indicating that it’s for ‘big dogs’. That is the Elite Canine, green bag. It has a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 1.3 to 1 or 1.2 to 1 (depending on the analysis), approximately 3.4g per 1000kCal, and is an “all life stages” formula (essentially, this is puppy food).
Do not go running to get that formula without finishing this blog post, though, as Elite may also be problematic!
Is Victor Dog Food Good?
We don’t like to food bash around here.
One of my biggestpet peeves in the dog focused social communities are statements such as:
Truth time: all of those statements above are based on misinformation and classism. The misinformation that leads to these statements is often dangerous and frustrating, too. (I’ll be covering each in different blog posts).
We have no tolerance for bashing foods that are correctly balanced and at a price point that dog owners can afford. A lot of marketing goes into ‘premium’ pet foods to make us feel like they are healthier or better for our pets, but it’s all marketing.
Of course, you want to choose the best option for your budget, and that is where science and information comes into play. Many people choose Victor because it’s marketed as “Super Premium” and comes at a reasonable price point.
You will notice that we don’t food bash, but we DO point out legitimate factors to consider when choosing nutrition for your pet. We look past marketing and past a lot of the needless, inflammatory, and misguided statements listed above.
PhD in Animal Nutrition, ideally companion animal nutrition
To put this simply, the “head chef” at Victor Pet foods has an animal science degree buffered by a simple, inexpensive online certificate in companion animals, from an organization focused primarily on livestock. He does not have even basic nutrition credentials, let alone a veterinary background.
While Victor does collaborate with consultants, they aren’t clear about the scope of that relationship or the qualifications of the consultants.
It’s important to understand that most times, what this really means is that a recipe in written form was signed-off by a 3rd party, or tested in an off-site lab for verification of nutrient content.
Just because a food meets AAFCO minimums, does not mean it was thoughtfully and professionally designed to provide optimum nutrition. For giant breed dogs, this is an important consideration as they have very particular nutritional requirements.
One of the greatest faults of many dog food brands is that they don’t have formulas which were designed and tested specifically to properly support large and giant breed growth.
Of course, some dog foods have the correct ratios, but were they designed for that purpose? Or do they just happen to meet the AAFCO minimum guidelines on paper?
We prefer foods that were developed, by qualified nutritionists, specifically to support the slow, even growth and healthy bone development of large and giant breed puppies.
Calcium Levels & Great Dane Puppy Growth
The science of calcium and the calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D link to bone growth issues and poor bone modeling becomes more and more clear as research is done.
When we look at food brands that have qualified nutrition staff, who do feeding trials, and who do a lot of research, we see MUCH different analysis from their large and giant breed formulas than we see from most, if not all Victor formulas.
Science-backed companies have cutting-edge nutritional profiles and their formulas should be the baseline upon which other true large and giant breed puppy formulas are built.
Unfortunately, Victor foods does not meet any of these basic requirements and most (if not all) of their formulas end up missing the mark. Notice how the Victor formula is lower in protein, much higher in fat, and higher in calcium, too.
A note about protein: many people choose food for their Great Dane based off the protein level. This is an outdated practice with many studies showing that the protein level is not a factor in the development of growth disorders.
Too low of protein can actually be detrimental to proper growth, and may result in excessive intake of calcium.
Do Great Danes Do Well on Victor Food?
Anecdotally, many people cite that their Great Dane does well on Victor foods. Fixing an issue with chronic loose stools seems to be a common positive comment that we see from Dane owners who switched to Victor.
Many Victor dog food formulas contain inulin (a prebiotic) and probiotics, so this isn’t a surprise.
Good stools happen on many other brands as well. While good gut health is super important, it’s not the only sign of good health, however.
Many dogs with shiny coats and perfect stools die in their sleep from unchecked heart disease that presented with very few symptoms. When evaluating the health of the dog, we’re not just looking for good stools.
Additionally, most Great Dane owners are unable to properly evaluate their dogs movement and structure. As a result may not see an issue with poor angulation, wonky movement, swollen knuckles, turned out limbs, or flat and splayed feet. These are all things where genetics, environment, and nutrition play a role.
For perspective, check out this young Great Dane. In the first image, she’s being fed Victor foods. Notice her feet after being switched to a more appropriate food. She no longer has swollen ankles, and her feet are providing a much better, stronger platform to support her weight.
This was a positive and notable change for multiple dogs in this same breeding program, not just the one in this photo. I know this dog personally and her feet improved in a matter of 2 weeks on the food switch.
Does Victor Dog Food Cause Breeding Issues?
We prefer to rely on science rather than anecdotes, but we should note that MANY reproductive veterinarians advise clients to stay away from Victor foods and recommend using well-researched, specially designed formulas from Pro Plan and Royal Canin instead.
Anecdotally, there is a huge volume of reports from breeders whose dogs were struggling on Victor. Low birth weights, stillbirth, and small litter sizes are just some of the suspicious volume of noted complaints.
This problem could be related to certain ingredients, bioavailability, or the nutritional balance of protein, fat & carbs.
We will never know, however, because Victor does NOT do any research and does not perform any feeding trials.
Does Victor Dog Food Cause DCM?
Many studies have shown, on repeat, that there are two main factors contributing to dogs developing heart disease (DCM) from dog food.
An abundance of peas, potatoes, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, or similar legumes used in the first 10 ingredients.
Foods that do not have a board certified Veterinary Nutritionist (DACVN) or PhD in Animal Nutrition on staff to formulate the foods (incorrect formulation).
It’s not about being ‘grain free’. There are confirmed cases of DCM on all kinds of foods, with or without grains.
There is a lot of misinformation about grain-free dog foods and DCM.
We do not believe that all Victor dog foods will cause heart disease, but, we encourage all Dane owners to stay away from Grain Free foods of all types. Here is an ingredients list from Victor Grain-Free.
The lack of qualified formulation staff and unbalanced calcium levels should give dog owners pause about considering this food for their Great Dane.
Of course, if it works for you and you love it, we’re not going to bash you for feeding it. We do however, want to make sure you are well-equipped with legitimate information.
Today we’re going to do our Royal Canin Giant Breed Dog Food Review!
Unlike other dog food review sites, we’re going to deep dive into the science of kibble-based nutrition and give you real information that will help you make a healthy choice for your giant dog.
Giant breed dogs are prone to growth, joint, and heart issues, so it’s important to feed them a diet that will help them grow correctly and keep their joints and heart healthy.
Royal Canin has made a line of dry dog food geared specifically towards extra large dogs, with precise nutrition and balanced energy content to support healthy development during each of the three growth stages:
Let’s take a closer look at the Royal Canin size, health, and targeted nutrition food line and see how this dog food rates for giant dogs (especially Great Danes)!
Royal Canin Giant Breed Dog Food Review
My Personal Review of Royal Canin Giant Food
No good dog food review is complete without a personal touch! As you will learn below, it took me a while, as a “boutique dog food snob” to come around to Royal Canin, but I’m so glad I did.
Pro Plan and Royal Canin are my personal top two picks for Great Danes.
RC Giant Adult food SMELLS LIKE MEAT! Most kibbles are dry and smell like cardboard or sour milk.
While we humans may not love the smell of this food for ourselves, we cannot deny that it definitely smells like something a dog should be eating.
I like knowing that I’m giving my dogs meat, not dried-out stale-smelling kibble made primarily of peas, lentils, and rice.
I’ve never seen a ‘sensitive’ tummy clear up so fast! RC giant formula foods are magic for dogs with chronic loose stools. Don’t believe me?
Read the literal thousands of positive reviews. Many people indicate that they have had this same experience, after battling chronic loose stools and itching for years.
My dog’s stools on Royal Canin foods are small and infrequent, and my super-sensitive male is no longer littering my lawn every other week with soupy poop bombs.
I would compare Royal Canin growth formulas stools to what we see from raw-fed dogs.
Optimal stool quality is one massive benefit of feeding RC foods with targeted nutrition to giant-sized dogs.
By-Product meal likely contains a fair amount of bone: bone is known to help raw-fed dogs firm up loose stools.
Between the by-product meal and the added fiber, it’s no surprise that sensitive tummies are a thing of the past for dogs fed this brand.
Royal Canine Giant Kibble Size
The adult formula from this line is made into huge kibbles. Each one is about 2/3 the size of a charcoal briquet!
This promotes slow eating, healthy digestion, and correct chewing, which is good for digestive health and may reduce bloat risk.
Our Danes absolutely LOVE the giant kibbles in Royal Canin giant formulas.
I’ve read that some dogs are hesitant because the size is unusual; I recommend that you hand feed a few (as if they were treats) to get your dog started.
I also recommend measuring this food on a scale. It will be much more accurate than scooping the large kibbles into a cup. Because this is so nutrient-dense, it is easy to overfeed! Less is more, with Danes.
Some people who wish to sell you boutique dog food (primarily natural foods pet stores) will say anything to convince you that what they sell is better quality.
You may hear things such as “Royal Canin is full of fillers, trash, and carbs” or “you might as well feed your dog McDonald’s!” from pet owners, commission-driven salespeople, and people with no qualifications in canine nutrition.
The truth is that Royal Canin is extremely high-quality dog food; they just don’t use fancy marketing buzzwords. Royal Canin foods are recommended by veterinarians and veterinary nutritionists worldwide.
Every ingredient in Royal Canin’s foods is there for a good reason, including icky-sounding things such as “by-product meal” and “corn”, which we will dig more into the actual science of this below.
Royal Canin hires Ph.D. veterinary nutritionists to formulate their recipes, which are based heavily on decades of peer-reviewed science and research.
As you read our Royal Canin Giant food review today, we hope this information helps guide you towards a science-backed choice.
We will be digging into those ‘nasty’ ingredients, the science of canine nutrition, what a natural diet for a dog actually looks like, and more. Read on, friends!
These ‘leftovers’ are highly nutritious and contain necessary minerals, vitamins, proteins, amino acids, and even things such as natural Glucosamine for joint health.
Compare that to fresh deboned chicken, which is 70% water.
When processing ‘by-products’, very little of the slaughtered animal goes to waste. This is a win-win for your dog, for the environment, and for the animal who was farmed to be processed into pet food.
The environmental impact of throwing out ‘by-products’ because “natural” food brands want you to believe that organs, cartilage, necks, fat, skin, and the remaining tissues are dirty, gross, and disgusting is, well, tragic.
If a food company is marketing to what you want on your dinner plate (“Fresh deboned chicken, lentils, blueberries”) vs. what your DOG wants (“By-product” liver, cartilage, tissue, skin, and bone), ask questions.
The reality is that by-product meals are highly digestible and nutritious, and they’re an important part of a giant breed dog’s diet.
Dare we say that “by-products” are more biologically appropriate for dogs to eat than just “de-boned chicken” and some blueberries?
If you read your dog food ingredients label and see things such as whole mackerel (which includes the head, eyes, tail, scales, bone, and organs), pork kidney, chicken liver, blood meal, or lamb tripe, you are seeing by-products that were purposefully named to appeal to your human taste.
Fun Fact: foods containing rendered meat products (meals) in the first ingredients were shown to reduce bloat risk by 53%!
You WANT to see meat meal and/or meat by-product meal in your dog food.
How does dog food math work?
By law, dog food companies must list ingredients in order of their weight prior to extrusion.
So let’s do the math. Fresh meat is 70% water. It’s pretty heavy! Once you cook it, not much is left.
If you see ‘deboned chicken’ or ‘fresh salmon’ (for example) at the top of the ingredients list, with no meat meals, chances are that the finished kibble may actually have a higher content of meatless products (such as peas or lentils) than it does real meat.
Even if the bag says ‘meat is the 1st ingredient’!
On the flip side, by-product meals and meat meals are already rendered and dehydrated before extruding, so if they are at the top of the ingredients list when they went in, they likely remain as the bulk of the nutrient profile and composition in the finished product, too.
Meat meals and by-product meals contain a concentrated source of animal-based protein, nutrients, and joint support in other words. You actually WANT to see them in the first ingredients!
Royal Canin relies on by-product meals because they are nutrient-dense and species-appropriate.
By-products are regulated and no, they don’t contain “blood and guts scooped from the floor” or “euthanized animals“.
Have you ever fed your dog a bully stick, pig ear, rawhide, chicken paw, or dehydrated liver training treat? You fed your dog a by-product!
Those studies did not differentiate between foods where fat was listed in the top four ingredients when fresh meats were used, vs. foods where meat meals and meat by-product meals were used, and how that might affect the “avoid fat in the first 4 ingredients” rule.
It also did not discuss ingredient splitting, which can artificially adjust how and where fat shows up in the ingredients list.
When a company uses a large amount of concentrated, high-protein meat meal or meat by-product meal there is nothing (such as water weight from fresh deboned chicken) to push the fat further down on the list.
So in that case, fat may show up in the #2 or #3 spot, simply because they kept the formula meat-focused and didn’t also then utilize ingredient splitting to keep the fat lower on the list.
If they used mostly or all fresh meat (70% water) and the animal fat lands in the top 4 spots, tread cautiously! Tread even more cautiously if you see ingredient splitting.
After speaking with the Royal Canin directly about this, my mind has been put to ease here.
Animal fat, before being cooked and extruded into kibble is a heavy product. It will weigh a fair amount compared to other ingredients but will make up much less of the diet once it’s been extruded. Especially when it’s paired with heavy meat meals.
Fat IS a necessary part of the canine diet. It tastes good to dogs and is a great source of fats and omegas which are essential for skin and coat health, development, and a strong immune system.
What matters the most is the nutrient profile of the food after it has been extruded and cooked. For this reason, it’s incredibly important to ONLY choose foods that were formulated by board-certified Veterinary Nutritionists.
Veterinary Nutritionists understand what nutrition looks like going into the kibble and how each vitamin, mineral, enzyme, acid, or protein works with a dog’s live digestive system and can help or harm them.
Their allegiance to formulating the product correctly is based on decades of science and research. They formulate for health, not what sells well because it “looks good” to the average, uneducated consumer reading a label.
Dogs need 22 different amino acids to live a healthy life, 11 of which they can produce on their own. The other 11 must come from their diet, some of which are synthesized naturally from other nutrients in that diet.
When we see meat by-product meals, meat meals, and chicken fat in the first ingredients, we can be assured that the diet is not only meat-based and high-quality but completely appropriate for canine health.
“All our products are researched and developed not by trends in human nutrition or preferences of the pet owner, but through innovative nutritional science and the observation of cats and dogs.“
This formula is made for giant puppies that are under 8 months of age. It aids in healthy bone development, proper digestion, joint health, and energy levels.
Many people are confused by the higher protein level in Royal Canin giant breed, which goes against common advice to “keep protein levels below 26%”.
The protein myth has been debunked by many experts in the canine nutrition field.
Puppies are growing at an exponential rate and their bodies are using amino acids (the building blocks of protein) to construct new tissue, including muscle, bone, hair, skin, and organs.
Feeding a lower protein ‘adult’ food deprives them of the nutrition they need to thrive. We see this in play with young Great Danes who appear chronically malnourished and skinny or that may be slow and heavy with no muscle tone.
Correct calcium to phosphorus ratios are much, much more important.
This formula should be fed from 8-18 or even 24 months. Royal Canin giant junior dry dog food was formulated specifically to meet the needs of dogs in the second growth phase.
This is when rapid bone growth slows and the dog begins to develop more robust muscles and a mature stature.
Royal Canine giant junior dry dog food is extremely palatable and correctly balanced for this second growth stage. Many giant junior dogs at this age become ‘picky’ and their appetite slows.
This is normal! Giant junior dogs aren’t actually picky, they just have different nutritional requirements than a puppy does.
We recommend keeping Great Danes (among the largest of the giants) on the Royal Canin giant junior dry dog food formula until 24 months of age (or 18 months if neutered/spayed) and then transitioning to the adult formula.
Crude Protein 26.0% min
Crude Fat 18.0% min
Crude Fiber 3.9% max
Moisture 10.0% max
Taurine 0.14% min
Glucosamine446 mg/kg min
Chondroitin Sulfate4 mg/kg min
Caloric Content
3958 kcal/kg, 427 kcal/cup
Nutrition for Giant Dogs
Raising a giant puppy and living with any 70+lb dog is a lifestyle that also requires some research.
You may have heard that Great Danes should not have protein above 22-24%.
This is a huge myth and old wives’ tale that was based on poor research and anecdotal speculation many years ago.
Protein helps with lean muscle mass, and since Great Danes are a working breed, they need all the help they can get!
Peer-reviewed studies have also put this myth to rest. Excess calories, unbalanced meals, and poorly formulated nutrition contribute to bone-growth disorders, NOT protein levels in dog food!
CA/PH ratios, amino acids, and the overall formulation are where it’s at. Dogs NEED protein and starving them of it to “hopefully” prevent growth problems isn’t actually solving anything.
Many people are confused about whether they should feed adult food or puppy food to their giant puppies.
Puppies that are given too much nutrition in the form of calories, especially in kibble foods not correctly balanced by a veterinary nutritionist, may struggle with painful and debilitating growth disorders.
Adult food, which is lower in protein and fat, has often been cited as the solution to this problem; however, giant puppies (including Great Danes) who are only fed adult foods may then be starved of the nutrition they need to support their muscle, skin, and brain development.
Too little nutrition can make them scrawny, bony, and fragile looking.
“Adult only” from puppyhood will make a dog more likely to develop a long and lanky teen body or even look malnourished as a result, especially during the second growth stage when hormones kick in and muscle development needs extra support.
We recommend research-backed large and giant puppy foods that have been substantiated in feeding trials for the growth of 70+lb dogs.
The veterinary community and veterinary nutritionists agree. We’ve done the research for you and feel that science is the way to go when it comes to this decades-old debate.
Great Danes and other giant dogs are prone to a number of developmental growth disorders that are made worse by incorrect nutrition.
For this reason, it is essential that you feed your puppy a large or giant puppy diet that has been specifically tailored to meet their growth needs.
Royal Canin Giant Puppy food is designed to support the health of your puppy and giant junior during their crucial first 8-24 months of life when knuckling, HOD, Panosteitis, and Angular Limb Deformitiescan easily form.
It has the correct balance of nutrients, amino acids, calcium, and phosphorus and when you choose the correct formula for the life stage of your giant junior or puppy dog, the adapted energy intake will promote healthy bones and joints.
What to look for when choosing food for a Great Dane
You’ll see list after list of the ‘best foods for a Great Dane’, and information about protein levels, fat, meat meals, and calcium.
Much of this information is important and true, however it’s important to keep in mind that countless dog food options are available to you as a consumer, and every single brand is trying to get your business.
Pet stores, sales clerks, “natural pet food shops”, bloggers, influencers and the Dog Food Advisor all want your click and your purchase. They stand to gain from convincing you that they are the best.
“Holistic”, “Human-Grade” and “Super-Premium” are common marketing terms with no legal definition. These are unregulated statements that any food company can apply to their labels.
We recommend choosing only foods that meet the ethical standards outlined by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (below), to ensure that you are getting the best and most balanced nutrition for your dog.
These basic ethics standards include the following 4 things you should ask every company before purchasing the food they sell:
Do they employ at least one full-time board-certified veterinary nutritionist, and is that person formulating and testing the food I’m about to purchase? Can I see their name and credentials?
Do they own and operate their own manufacturing plants, and in doing so, do they have strict quality measures when it comes to product sourcing and the finished product?
Do they participate in and contribute to peer-reviewed research?
Do they utilize feeding trials and tests that substantiate their formulas in real life (not just on paper)? Were digestibility tests completed, or only palatability? Can I see the research results of those trials?
As of this writing, only 5 companies can legitimately say they are following WSAVA Guidelines for animal nutrition, without fudging the words to make it look like they are: Purina, Hill’s, Iam’s, Eukanuba, and yes...Royal Canin!
Royal Canin Giant Supplements
This food contains taurine (for heart health), Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin D, Biotin, and Chondroitin sulfate among others.
Chondroitin provides joint support, in addition to the fish oil in this dry dog food. Remember, natural joint support like this literally COMES from animal by-products!
Chicken paws and cartilage are naturally rich in joint support, for example.
These added vitamins and supplements help support energy needs, joints, skin health, eye health, and more.
Antioxidants and trace minerals boost immune support.
We’ve posted the actual list below. Here is a breakdown of what you’ll see in this food:
Chicken By-Product Meal – as above this is a high-protein and nutrient-dense meal made up of biologically appropriate tissue, cartilage, bone, and organ.
Chicken Fat – provides fats, proteins, and amino acids. Plus, it’s tasty! Dogs love it.
Pea fiber, corn gluten meal, wheat, and dried plain beet pulp aid in digestion and the production of healthy stool. This combination of substances may be one reason so many Great Dane owners claim that this Royal Canin food eliminates chronic loose stools so quickly. These ingredients also provide additional amino acids and nutrients to help balance the food.
Brewer’s rice is chipped or broken rice that was sifted out during regular rice production. It’s a great source of fiber and energy and a smart place for the manufacturer to lower costs, without compromising quality, so they can put more money into the meat meals.
Brown rice provides additional linoleic acid, omega 6, and fiber for healthy digestion.
I LOVE that Royal Canin Giant Adult has so many different forms of fiber: studies have shown that fiber reduces bloat risk. It also creates optimal stool quality; that’s a win-win.
The balanced energy content from different forms of fiber-rich ingredients is just one reason why dogs fed Royal Canin will have great stools, shiny coats, incredible muscle development, and tons of energy.
Fish oil provides additional omegas for skin, coat, and eye health. Natural flavors make this food even more palatable.
The highly digestible proteins in quality, properly sourced, well-researched by-product meals are a key to this formulation.
Today, we’ll be providing a comprehensive Gentle Giants dog food review, offering fresh insights to help you make an informed decision when choosing food for your Great Dane or other giant breed dog. We are experts in large and giant breed dogs, and share science-backed information!
This review is part of our ongoing series on dry dog food.
Here are some things I will cover in our Gentle Giants review:
Where Gentle Giants dog food is manufactured
If Gentle Giants food will make your dog live longer
The carbohydrate content of Gentle Giants dog food
Whether or not Gentle Giants can be fed to puppies
Our opinion on the quality of this pet food brand
Science and research behind dog nutrition
Gentle Giant Dog Food Ingredient Analysis
Here is a list of the ingredients in Gentle Giants’ chicken dog food formula. While they have other formulas, they are all comparable. For this review, chicken and rice will be used as an example.
Author’s Note: It’s important to note that we are not Veterinary Nutritionists, so our assessment is limited to a cursory examination, and we cannot provide a definitive judgment on commercial dog food recipes or the specific ingredients in this formula.
The addition of fruits and vegetablesin Gentle Giants is a marketing gimmick; the amounts of each of these would be so low that they essentially amount to fairy dust. Each one is listed after salt in the ingredients, which means they make up less than 1% of the final formula.
Green Lipped Mussel has some promising indications for joint health, but as with fruits and vegetables in this formula, there is very little of this product in the final food. It is unlikely to have any benefit at all.
According to Gentle Giants, this food is classified as a “natural formula” designed to offer balanced nutrition for dogs of all ages and sizes.
Carb Content of Gentle Giants Dog Food
It does appear to be high in starchy ingredients such as barley, brown rice, oatmeal, and peas, especially compared to many other dog foods and dry food recipes.
Brown rice is an excellent example of a typical healthy grain in Gentle Giant Dog food. Brown Rice may contain higher levels of arsenic than white rice, so brown rice must be included thoughtfully and only from companies that do a lot of product lab testing during and after production. It is unclear what their testing processes are.
This puts Gentle Giants dog food at a much higher carb content than Purina One Large Breed Chicken and Rice, which lands at 44% carbs, and higher than Purina Dog Chow Chicken which lands at 51% carbs.
This means that the Gentle Giants formula has LESS meat than other more established and known pet food brands.
It is priced at $44 U.S.D. for 30 pounds.
Author’s note: Purina Puppy/Dog Chow is $28 for 40 lbs. It’s a less expensive food by far, yet, has a lower carbohydrate content than Gentle Giants.
Dog Chow also has an insane amount of research (including lifetime feeding trials) behind the formulation. If you would not feed Purina Dog Chow to your pet, you should begin to recognize how Gentle Giants is unquestionably the lower quality option between the two.
Where is Gentle Giants Dog Food Manufactured
As of this update (2024), it is believed that Gentle Giants Pet foods are manufactured by Consumers Supply Distribution in Sioux City, Iowa. It is made in the U.S.A.
While marketing would like to lead consumers to believe otherwise, Gentle Giant pet food is a classic example of a mass-manufactured brand coming from a co-packing factory that is responsible for hundreds of other labels, formulas, and products.
Because it is unclear where Gentle Giants Dog food is made, I did a deep dive for this blog post!
Gentle Giants has a video on their website showing how their food is manufactured.
It starts with sweeping views of a factory, where a computer-generated version of their logo appears on the signage and distribution trucks. This would be believable to the untrained eye, but once you realize what is happening, it is clear that they are attempting to white-label the factory.
The video takes us inside the facility where this dog food is made, and we can see employees wearing “Consumers Supply” polo shirts.
Gentle Giants do NOT manufacture their food; they contract it out. While this is an acceptable albeit sub-standard practice (it’s better to choose pet foods coming from owned manufacturing facilities with strict quality control and dedication to the safety and bioavailability of the final product), it’s so much worse that they attempt to lie about it!
Consumers Supply manufactures and distributes several products that service the pet, wildlife, and livestock industries including food, minerals, salts, bird seed, and even rope and twine. They are commissioned by companies to make and distribute products and have no affiliation otherwise with the mission or branding of the product being sold.
Is Gentle Giants dog food made in China?
No, it is made in the U.S. However, most, if not all dog food companies (even ‘natural’ ones) source vitamins and minerals from other countries (including China).
Many people believe that their dog has grain allergies, however, this condition is exceedingly rare. Grains provide important nutrients and energy that dogs need to thrive.
Unfortunately, many grain-free dry dog foods have been associated with a preventable and deadly form of heart disease. We do not recommend feeding grain-free dry diets to dogs.
Is Gentle Giants dog food holistic?
The term ‘holistic’ is a marketing term that is not regulated. It’s made up!
Anybody can claim that the food they make and sell is “holistic”. It’s a catchy term that encourages well-meaning pet parents to make a purchase.
Holistic should imply that a food is formulated to treat the “whole body”.
Any good science-backed food would thus, actually be holistic. Comprehensive veterinary care including prevention is thus, holistic.
Gentle Giants dog food does claim to be “holistic”. Take that with a grain of salt. It doesn’t mean anything.
Gentle Giants is an “All Life Stages” food, meaning that it’s formulated for puppies and adults.
All Life Stages foods are essentially puppy foods. This can be okay in some cases, but in others, it’s simply a way for companies to minimize the need for different formulations, bags, and feeding trials.
When evaluating whether a food is appropriate for a large or giant breed puppy, it is critical to assess the calcium and phosphorus levels.
An appropriate food for a big puppy will have 1.2% or less calcium, a CA/PH ratio of as close to 1:1 as possible, and 3.5g or less calcium per 1000 kCal. It will also have the AAFCO large breed growth statement.
Ideally, the food will have also undergone feeding trials, extensive lab testing, and research, proving the availability of other important bone-growth nutrients such as Vitamin D, zinc, and phosphorus. From what we can tell, Gentle Giant’s food has not been subjected to rigorous and thorough testing.
Gentle Giants Chicken and Rice does have the AAFCO Large Breed Growth statement, indicating that the calcium level is expected to be 1.8% or less.
However, it is impossible to find calcium and phosphorus levels for this food. Without this information published and easy to find, we cannot verify that the food is 1.2% or less (the value recommended for giant breed puppies in particular). Additionally, we can not calculate how much calcium is in 1000 kCal of Gentle Giants puppy food.
As above, the food is co-packed in a massive manufacturing facility that makes many other brands and labels. This facility is probably responsible for the nutritional formulation as well, yet there is no indication of the qualifications of the individuals overseeing this process.
Tread cautiously when choosing to feed this food to a large or giant breed dog under the age of 2.
Incorrect nutritional values in puppyhood can increase the risk of dysplasia, bone damage, painful growth disorders, and even osteosarcoma bone cancer or wobblers disease!
Behind the Gentle Giants Food Brand
Our Gentle Giants dog food review would be incomplete without some information about what goes on behind the brand.
Not only does this food come with bold, in-your-face marketing geared toward pet owners with gentle giants, but it also has some interesting stories behind it. Read on, friends.
The Gentle Giants Rescue
Burt Ward (the owner of this brand) has been rescuing dogs with his wife in California for decades.
This unusual rescue makes wild claims about the longevity of the dogs (20+ years in some cases) living on their “all-natural dog food“, and says they have rescued over 14,000 pets.
Meanwhile, as of this writing, they have no animals available for adoption.
Many of the ‘available’ breeds they offer via this rescue are unusual and rare, including Staghounds, Xolo, “woodles”, and Saluki. They have had many, many litters of puppies, too.
Many people, including us, believe that this ‘rescue’ operation is nothing more than a glorified puppy mill.
They claim that 30-40 dogs live with them in “peace and harmony” on their property and that all are seniors exceeding their normal lifespan because of their “world-classfood and training program”.
There are many verifiable reports of neglect, poor living conditions, and uncontrolled dogs breeding at will in the unsupervised ‘Gentle Giants’ pack.
People seem to associate ‘celebrity’ with ‘trustworthy’.
Burt Ward played Robin in the 1960s Batman TV series.
That doesn’t make him a nutrition expert, last we checked…
Is Gentle Giants Dog Food Good?
We don’t stand behind any dry dog food that doesn’t stand with science. It’s that simple. The people behind Gentle Giants dog food do not participate in research, studies, or food trials.
The only “proof” they have of the efficacy and safety of their food is the claims made that their pack of “rescue” dogs are all over the age of 10.
A cursory glance at dog food reviews of this product indicates that some people have had no trouble feeding this food and swear by it while others experienced blood in the urine, inflammation, loose stools, and itching.
Has Gentle Giants Food Ever Been Recalled?
As of this writing, it appears that Gentle Giants food has never been recalled.
We see this as a red flag. Why?
A company that will recall its food is a company that wants to control the quality and the consistency, even if the problem that led to the recall is minor.
When a company has never issued a recall, voluntary or otherwise, you can pretty much bet that they are casually overlooking some things so that they can continue to say ‘no recalls’ in their marketing.
Boutique Dog Foods vs. Science
Boutique ‘feel good’ dog foods, including Gentle Giants, rely on careful marketing to sell the brand.
They tend to use buzzwords such as “human grade”, “all-natural”, “no recalls”, “super-premium”, or “holistic”. This can lead consumers to feel that they are purchasing something healthier for their pet (even if no actual health benefits have been proven by any legitimate science).
Even the word “farm-raised chicken” is meant to evoke a certain feeling or emotion about the food. All chickens are raised on farms!
Common ’boutique’ companies that you may have heard of or seen include Fromm, Orijen, 4Health, Halo, Solid Gold, Nulo, Nutro, Zignature, The Farmer’s Dog, Muenster, and Life’s Abundance.
What’s interesting about boutique dog food is that, despite the health claims they make, there is very little science going into the food itself.
Many people are shocked to learn that very few (if any) boutique food companies have a legitimate nutritionist formulating their foods. In many cases, the person making the recipe is even less qualified than a veterinarian.
For example, Fromm (who relies on the ‘ family-owned’ mantra to sell food) is formulated by a chemical engineer.
Victor Foods are formulated by somebody with a master in science and an online certificate in dairy cattle nutrition.
Diamond brand foods (including Taste of the Wild, Costco/Kirkland, Diamond, and Nutra Nuggets) are formulated by a computer and packaged in different bags to appeal to different markets.
Boutique brands also don’t participate in nutrition research and science. In many cases, the pet foods they make are only “formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO”, on paper.
This sounds great, but all that means is that on paper they’ve added enough nutrients to satisfy a minimum legal guideline. It doesn’t mean that they’ve tested and proven the formulation itself.
So when a brand is telling you they are “super-premium” and “holistic”, ask yourself if you are being sold to, or if that food has legitimate science backing its claims of being “healthier”.
Want to see how YOUR current dog food stacks up? Visit the Pet Nutrition Alliance and look your brand up.
Each food company was asked to provide information about just a few key things, including who formulates their food.
You’ll notice that many boutique dog food brands refused to share the requested information because it is damning to their brand.
We smell something fishy here, folks, and it’s not the fish meal in your bag of kibble.
The Great Grain-Free Debate
So what is inherently wrong with a “super-premium”, “natural” dog food from a boutique company, anyways? Let’s talk for a moment about the great grain-free pet food debate.
Many otherwise ‘healthy’ shiny dogs ‘with good poop’ who randomly die while playing or after going for a walk have been diagnosed with, or even passed from DCM, and the owners never knew something was wrong.
No official pre-death diagnosis means that very little data is collected on the dogs who die this way. The devastated owners move on with their lives, assuming that their dog had a genetic problem. Veterinarians around the country are seeing it happen over and over again.
While genetics do play a role in primary DCM, secondary DCM is believed to be caused by unbalanced nutrition. These dogs are essentially starved for certain amino acids and micro-nutrients: the heart enlarges and eventually gives out.
This brings us back to the fact that a sound majority of boutique dog food brands do not employ a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to formulate their food. This includes Gentle Giants.
As a Great Dane owner, you could not PAY me to feed Gentle Giants dog food.
Nutritional levels established by AAFCO
AAFCO is a non-profit agency that works in tandem with government regulatory agencies. Regulatory agencies moderate and enforce nutrition and food safety, and AAFCO was established to help with definitions and requirements.
The AAFCO label on every dog food bag is there to help you establish if the formula is correct for your dog.
All of this canine nutrition information can be frustrating and alarming to Great Dane owners who want to choose the best foods for their giant dogs!
We recommend picking a highly-researched, truly science-backed brand that employs highly qualified professionals (Veterinary Nutritionists) to formulate their food.
Find out if the formulations from those brands are substantiated in actual food tests, or if they just look correct on paper.
Ask if the brand has made any contributions to widely accepted canine nutrition science (the very science that has also now made it possible to feed Great Danes puppy food instead of adult food, YAY!).
Contrary to what small boutique brands want you to believe, the blueberries and spinach they have added in minuscule amounts to make you ‘feel good’ are doing nothing but lining their pockets.
If you want your dog to have blueberries, toss a few whole ones into their food, instead! Serving a balanced meal is important, however, so no matter what, make sure that toppers make up less than 10% of your dog’s overall dry dog food diet.
We recommend Large Breed Purina Pro Plan (puppy or adult, salmon recipe) or Royal Canin Giant Breed foods as the gold standard in healthy, highly researched dog foods for your gentle giant. However, Eukanuba and Iams have solid choices for you as well, at all price points!
Picky dogs hate their food after a short time. If you have a picky gentle giant, we recommend sticking with the same food, avoiding bribery, and making food FUN by offering it in puzzles or for training.
Senior dogs may eat less, too. Don’t mistake this natural behavior for ‘pickiness’.
The Dog Food Advisor Blog
Many people turn to the Dog Food Advisor blog for information about choosing pet food. It’s one of the top blogs to show up on a Google search when looking for dog food reviews!
The Dog Food Advisor rates the Gentle Giants brand as 4/5 stars and considers it an ‘above average dry product’ with a ‘moderate amount of meat’.
Here is the thing about the Dog Food Advisor. That blog was created by a human dentist with absolutely no credentials at all in veterinary nutrition. The rating system is made up.
Of course, we aren’t veterinary nutritionists either. But unlike the Dog Food Advisor, we aren’t making up a ratings system. Our evaluation of food is based purely on nutrition science and company manufacturing practices and ethics.
We align ourselves with veterinarians and veterinary nutritionists, for a reason. Our recommendations may not “look pretty” and “feel good” like the ones on the Dog Food Advisor, but we can confidently state that our information is based on science, NOT what results in more clicks and traffic.
That said, the Dog Food Advisor does rate Pro Plan as a top pick on its ‘recommended foods list’, and states that it is one of the only brands highly tested and formulated by a team of veterinary nutritionists. They are correct about that.
Our Rating of Gentle Giants Dog Food
This is one food we think you should skip.
No science.
Wild and questionable marketing claims about longevity (“Your dog can live longer!”).
Affiliated with a sketchy ‘giant breed rescue’ (very likely a puppy mill, but at the least nothing more than a wild pack of dogs that are fed out of trash cans and left to their own devices).
Unclear calcium/phosphorus levels.
Co-packed in a random factory.
Higher carb content than “low quality” Purina Dog Chow.
