PDA

View Full Version : Grade your dog's food



animal_rescue
06-12-2006, 03:39 PM
How to grade your dog's food:
(Some brands are done at the very bottom]


Start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points

2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or
fat) reference, subtract 10 points

3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points

4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source,subtract 5 points

5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five
ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewerâ?Ts rice", "rice flour" are
all the same grain), subtract 5 points

6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats
in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points

7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points

8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3points

9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 morepoints

10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil,subtract 2
points

11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic
to other protein sources), subtract 2 points

12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points

13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isnâ?Tt allergic to
wheat), subtract 2 points

14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isnâ?Tt allergic to
beef), subtract 1 point

15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point


Extra Credit:


1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points

2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or
nutritionist, add 5 points

3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points

4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points

5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points

6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points

7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points

8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points

9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points

10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point

11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point

12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source
but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point

13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point

14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free
add 1 point

94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
69 = F

Here are some foods that have already been scored.
Dog Food scores:


Authority Harvest Baked: Score 116 A+
Bil-Jac Select: Score 68 F
Canidae: Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior: Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance: Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice: Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula: Score 99 A
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium: Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato: Score 106 A+
Foundations: Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold: Score 93 D
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium: Score 73 D
Innova Dog: Score 114 A+
Innova Evo: Score 114 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables: Score 110 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice: Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy: Score 87 B
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice: Score 23 F
ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley: Score 103 A+
Purina Benful: Score 17 F
Purina Dog: Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It: Score 16 F
Royal Canin Bulldog: Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult: Score 106 A+
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice: Score 97 A
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+: Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies: Score 69 F
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken: Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold: Score 97 A

Jessika
06-12-2006, 03:46 PM
I think there was already a post like this, but my Natural Choice (Oatmeal, Chicken Meal and Rice or whatever) got more like a 92 or 95 or something haha

dab_20
06-12-2006, 03:55 PM
Mine is a D. I don't really have a choice on what to feed Molli and Sammy. When I grow up and have my own dogs I will feed them like Innova, because they have that at petsmart.

Kfamr
06-12-2006, 03:56 PM
I was too lazy to do it all, but before finishing TimberWolf Organics Ocean Blue got around 115% - A+ for my kibble of choice, according to this grading chart. ;)

Jessika
06-12-2006, 03:56 PM
Mine is a D. I don't really have a choice on what to feed Molli and Sammy. When I grow up and have my own dogs I will feed them like Innova, because they have that at petsmart.
Are you sure they have Innova at Petsmart?? Chain stores like Petsmart and PetCo normally don't carry those brands because they don't have as long a shelf life as brands with lots of preservatives in them.

dab_20
06-12-2006, 04:00 PM
Are you sure they have Innova at Petsmart?? Chain stores like Petsmart and PetCo normally don't carry those brands because they don't have as long a shelf life as brands with lots of preservatives in them.

I'm pretty sure I saw Innova in cat food... do they make cat food? If not, maybe I'm going crazy. lol

binka_nugget
06-12-2006, 04:02 PM
Raw - 119
I occasionally feed Innova Evo if I can't feed raw (road trips usually).. that's 114. Both A :D

Jessika
06-12-2006, 04:03 PM
They do make cat food I believe, but I just searched petsmart.com and Innova didn't even come up. I think maybe you are just thinking of another brand? ;)

dab_20
06-12-2006, 04:16 PM
They do make cat food I believe, but I just searched petsmart.com and Innova didn't even come up. I think maybe you are just thinking of another brand? ;)

Probably.

lute
06-12-2006, 04:31 PM
ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley: Score 103 A+
that's my kibble :D

cyber-sibes
06-12-2006, 04:37 PM
:( oh dear...ours didn't do too well..."F"
Guess maybe I better buy some sample bags of other food & see how they like it. Even so, they are both very healthy. My friend just gave me a whole bag full of all-natural vitamins & supplements for dogs. All kinds of good organic stuff.

Suki Wingy
06-12-2006, 04:51 PM
what I'm forced to feed him isn't even on here but what I do sometimes is an F, the other I was considering got a 116

IRescue452
06-12-2006, 05:09 PM
I figure about 116 for raw, if you add vegetables and other healthy foods to the diet on a regular basis. With just the meat you don't get over 110. What Autumn is getting right now is an A- in this rating scale. I can't afford raw right now.

caseysmom
06-12-2006, 05:14 PM
I switched from california natural to kirland several months ago and have felt guilty about it so I switched to innova (I was trying to find a smaller kibble for bubba) anyhow...I just tripled the price for only 4 points? I guess kirkland is pretty darned good for the price.

any of you young folks that are at your parents mercy with the dog food tell them kirkland is 15.99 for a HUGE bag. Of course you have to get it at costco.

animal_rescue
06-12-2006, 05:37 PM
My dogs' food is an F too. I gotta convince my mom to switch their food.

My Peanuts
06-12-2006, 06:08 PM
I'm at work and I don't have to bag in front of me. I use the chicken soup food. I wonder how that does.

I wonder how Jimmy's vegetarian prescription food does. I’ll try to check when I get home. I hope it does well. Poor guy doesn't have too many choices anymore :(

Roxyluvsme13
06-12-2006, 06:42 PM
Lily's puppy food got an F, but I do plan on switching her to Pro Plan natural soon. I'm even afraid to grade Roxy's food, cuz I know it has an F.

Flatcoatluver
06-12-2006, 06:46 PM
any of you young folks that are at your parents mercy with the dog food tell them kirkland is 15.99 for a HUGE bag. Of course you have to get it at costco.
Yeah we get Kirkland's Lamb and rice, I want to get nutro so bad, but my parents are cheap.

bckrazy
06-12-2006, 07:12 PM
Innova EVO - 114 A+
California Natural Puppy - 122 A+
Farmore Raw with my own added supplements - 140 A+++ :p YES I win!


Also... I agree with Caseysmom! My sister feeds Kirkland and her Lab does really well on it. ;0) A lot of people claim they can only afford foods like Iams, but in reality, Kirkland/Canidae/Nutro is much much better quality and because of that quality the cost evens out.

I really like this test. I e-mailed it to all of my friends & family with dogs, and a lot of them were horrified by just how bad their dogs food was. Many of them switched, and my Aunt (who is visiting here from NC right now) will be switching her Weimeraner to raw (from Pro Plan, with a flakey coat/eyes, low energy, bloated, etc) after helping me feed Gonzo & Fozzie for the past week. ^^

IRescue452
06-12-2006, 07:40 PM
For those of you who have trouble finding a good food for cheap, purina makes a food called mainstay. It isn't advertised much at all so many people don't know about it. It costs $5 for a 17 pound bag at the grocery store. This food gets a B on the scale and Autumn usually gets it when we are low on funding. She does great on the food. If you feed something expensive but horrible like Iams I really recommend you switch to mainstay. I recommend it to friends because its so much better than a lot of the crap out there. It is beef though so the dog must not be allergic. No wheat, which is good. It also passes all the tests for phenobarbital and all that other bad stuff.

edit: I think they do make a lamb and rice and possibly other types

critter crazy
06-12-2006, 08:00 PM
We just switched(over the last few months) to Nutro! we got a B!!! Woohoo!! Our last dog food got an F, Glad we changed!!! The dogs love Nutro and it has Glucosamine in it, which i love! :D

caseysmom
06-12-2006, 09:48 PM
I am trying to feed 25 percent of the innova and 75 % of the kirkland to adapt bubba to the new food, he won't even touch the kirkland, he weed through the kibble and only eats the innova...which is good because he is picky and he wasn't eating his kibble well.

I wonder if the innova turkey and chicken is the same as the evo...I got the turkey and chicken.

bckrazy
06-13-2006, 12:06 AM
Have you tried Canidae? It's cheaper than Innova, and really good quality. Just wondering, why did you quit CN? My puppy eats half that, and he loooves it!

caseysmom
06-13-2006, 12:21 AM
I quit CN because the kibble was way too large for bubba's little mouth, the kirkland and Innova is about half the size, or at least the shape is easier for him to eat.

I just bought a huge bag of innova so we will give this a try, I hate to switch because casey is so sensitive but so far she is doing okay with innova.

DogLover9501
06-13-2006, 01:24 AM
Jasper's food(Fromm Duck & Sweet Potato) scored 106.

shihtzulover850
06-13-2006, 09:57 AM
we used to use kirkland now we are going back to that or we are getting nutro. It is on sale at petsupermarket so we might be going there today or tomorrow. :)

Tollers-n-Dobes
06-13-2006, 10:14 PM
Tango's eating Nutro Ultra adult and it got roughly 106pts. I'd still like to feed her a higher quality food (Either Canidae, CN, or Innova...and eventually raw) but this is atleast better than the Natural Choice and she likes it (she usually hates kibble).

The others are eating Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Meal, Oatmeal & Rice and it got roughly 93pts

*I put roughly, as I could've made a mistake or two as I'm awful at math...lol

Aspen and Misty
06-13-2006, 11:01 PM
I feed Chicken Soup Adult. On the list they already had the senior kind done as a 115 A+ . I'm just gonna assume the Adult is also a A+ or an A


Ash

pitc9
06-14-2006, 09:07 AM
I've given my pups ProPlan senstive skin and stomach from the time I first got them ( because it was the first food that didn't give Sierra the runs!! :o )
But I've been looking at the ProPlan Natural Turkey and Barley since they came out with it, and I guess since the formula I feed got a D, I'll be switching!! :D

ramanth
06-14-2006, 09:46 AM
Kia is on California Natural Lamb and Rice and it scored over 100. :D

Kfamr
06-14-2006, 10:04 AM
For the raw they get at night, it scores something around 125.

So, their breakfast is 115+
and their dinner is 125.

Jessika
06-14-2006, 11:16 PM
I've given my pups ProPlan senstive skin and stomach from the time I first got them ( because it was the first food that didn't give Sierra the runs!! :o )
But I've been looking at the ProPlan Natural Turkey and Barley since they came out with it, and I guess since the formula I feed got a D, I'll be switching!! :D
To be honest, I wouldn't feed Pro Plan ANYTHING. Its just.. not a high quality food.