Purina Ingredients, What do you think??

[rasmy]

Now I try a new dog food which is Purina Hi Pro. This is the best quality that I can get, however there are some ingredients that I don't understand. What does a meat meal mean?? Foes this includes any by products??
Anyway this is the ingredients list, tell me what do u think?

Ingredients
Beef and bone meal, ground wheat, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, ground yellow corn, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of vitamin E), soybean meal, animal digest, salt, potassium chloride, L-lysine monohydrochloride, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, DL-methionine, vitamin supplements (A, E, B-12, D-3), soybean oil, manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, brewers dried yeast, riboflavin supplement, biotin, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), calcium iodate.


Crude protein (Min) 27.0%
Linoleic Acid (Min) 1.2%
Crude fat (Min) 15.0%
Calcium (Ca) (Min) 1.0% Crude fiber (Max) 4.0%
Phosphorus (P) (Min) 0.8%
Moisture (Max) 12.0%
Vitamin A (Min) 10,000 IU/kg

[lblax]

Originally posted by rasmy
Now I try a new dog food which is Purina Hi Pro. This is the best quality that I can get, however there are some ingredients that I don't understand. What does a meat meal mean?? Foes this includes any by products??

if that is the best comercial quality food you can get ... then you are doing the best you can for your dog and that is all any one can ask of an owner. have you thought of looking into barf (the raw diet) you can resurch that here or on the net

[Carina43]

That's certainly not the worst food you could feed - it has no BHT/BHA as preservatives, at least. Like Larry says, if that's the best you can get, you are doing the best you can for your dog!
I don't like that it is mostly grain, (most kibbles are, but some use better grains) and there's only one identified meat source (beef.) You can always supplement with meat or fish - I probably would.

Meat meal is the meat after it has been processed and the water has been removed. Listed meats are always weighed BEFORE they are processed and the moisture is removed (about 80% of the meat). So it's better that you see this as the top ingredient than "animal byproducts" or "animal digest."

Just a note on "by-products." I doubt whether any kibble uses good steak, plump chicken breast or juicy pork roast as part of the meat ingredients! It's mostly what is unfit for human consumption, like brains, marrow, etc. I feed raw, and have found a small processor where I can get all the free left over carcass parts I want for my dogs...I basically go pick through giant drums of lower legs, entire cow heads, de-meated bones, guts, etc. This is not a task for the faint of heart! A truck comes by weekly and picks all this stuff up for - you've guessed it - kibble manufacturing. Now most dogs LOVE "by products" and just because it's not something we want to see on our dinner plate doesn't mean it's not perfectly fine for dogs.
And if you think choice cuts of meat goes into hot dogs, sausage, meat pies, pizza meat, boloney, Arby's meat, etc, think again! My friends at the processing plant tell me exactly what goes into those things, and it's not much better than what goes into kibble. :p

[rasmy]

Thanks for replies.

I used to feed BARF but I can't find a dependable source for supplements so what I do now is giveng a BARF meal and a kibble meal. When I don't have BARF supplements I only feed dry food.

[Carina43]

Rasmy, about half way down this page there's ideas for what to add to kibble - this is a really informative site for dog nutrition. I know much of the product info may not be useful to you, but it's a good place to learn about ingredients.
http://home.attbi.com/~mstraus/dogfeeding.html

[rasmy]

Thanks that link was really very helpful.