Canidae's Meat vs. Meal Claim?

[Susan Bacon]

Canidae's website maintains that the meal in their top two ingredients makes their food more "meat-based" than others (see below for their quote). Does anyone have any insight on this? Can anybody share their opinions on Canidae who has tried it? My boys are on Chicken Soup, but they've never been crazy about it and are eating way under a cup a day apiece and I'm afraid they're not getting enough nutrients/kcals from it. Canidae's kcal amount is much higher and I'm wondering if it is "yummy." Thanks for any and all opinions!



Meat vs. Meal ....on Pet Food labeling
What does the real difference mean to your pets and you?
Meat
(Chicken & Lamb are 70% water and only 15% protein)

Pet food labels found in grocery and mass marketers like to use Chicken or Lamb to represent real meat. – (Contains 70% moisture). This leads you the consumer to believe that their product is meat based. Chicken or lamb meats are heavier than grains prior to cooking. The moisture contained in the meats (70%) is reduced by 2/3rds after the cooking process, leaving the total formula as a grain base food after processing.


VS.

Meal
(Chicken Meal and Lamb Meal are dry and 50% to 65% protein) meat protein!


Canidae Pet foods list Chicken Meal & Turkey meal as the first ingredients. Chicken, Turkey and Lamb meals are dry and are less than 10% moisture and contain 50% - 65% meat proteins. In processing the meat meals do not shrink below the grain weight, producing a true meat based formula for your carnivores. AAFCO label rules require that, the heaviest to the lightest ingredients be the order on the guaranteed analysis panel, (with or without water content)

[Sarah Moore]

Susan-

I'm not sure about the meal vs meat, but i have read that on other pet food websites as well, that meal has less water the meat making it a better source of protein. But, i'm sure someone more knowledgable then me will chime in :)
I feed 2 of my dogs (Ginger & Teddy) Canidae, and I think it is an excellent food. They both eat it without any problems (Ginger inhals it, but she tends to eat fast anyway). The only reason I don't feed it to all 3 is Lucky is allergic to lamb, so he he doesn't do well on it. Ginger is 14 lbs (probably pretty close to your boys) and she gets 1 cup per day and is at a perfect weight according to the vet (i'm feeding her a little less right now cause she is on "almost" complete bedrest until her foot heals. Overall, I think it is a very good food for the price (I pay $26 for a 40 lbs bag, cheaper then Nutro in this area). I also like the snap biscuits to put in their kongs as they don't have wheat (Ginger is allergic to wheat). So 1 vote for Canidae here!
Hope that is helpful!! :D

[Rebekah Hartman]

I don't have a response to the meat v. meal claim, although it makes sense to me. Canidae, however, is a great food and consistently recommended as one of the best by those that "know their stuff". I currently feed Innova EVO, but Canidae will definitely be one that I will feed at some point. It's a great value, too. Around here it costs about the same as a bag of Chicken Soup, but has much higher caloric content so it's actually cheaper. My dog has loved the samples and I use the canned food to freeze in Kongs. I would give it a try if I were in your position - I would say Chicken Soup is a good food, but Canidae is a great food.

[Susan Bacon]

Wahoo! Thanks for the feedback Sarah and Rebekah!

I don't know why it is so blasted hard to find super-premium foods in my town. I've searched for all the recommended ones listed in this forum in every pet store and grooming shop and kennel in town. Came up only with Nature's Variety and Solid Gold, which were both out of my price range. My only alternative was to drive 2 hours north to Amarillo, which seems to have every single brand I've been looking for, but geez! Four hours on the road!?!!

I thought Chicken Soup would do it, but my guys just don't like it. Then I found out that a man that shows Cairn Terriers sells Canidae from his home. He must've like me because he gave me about 10 lbs of samples for free today! And yes, his prices are about the same as Chicken Soup, but not as fabulous as Sarah's $26..... Wow!~

I'm heartened by your response ladies! Surely they'll like this better and I'll start a slow transition this afternoon! If they don't go for it, I guess I'll be Amarillo-Bound-HA!

[Rebekah Hartman]

Let us know how they like it, Susan! I'm glad for you that you were able to find a great (and economical) food nearby. "Food people" usually rank Innova and Canidae as the top 2 best foods - by that I just mean the people that seem to really get into the food thing. So, fingers crossed that your guys will love it and keep loving it.

By the way, the best price I can get here is $32 for the 40-lb. bag of Canidae. Sarah, your deal really is fantastic!

[Grace Erick]

Susan,

If I understand you correctly, it's being said that kibble has more protein because some contain meal. I'm not really sure. I always read that if you remove the moisture from the animal protein in the canned food, it still comes out ahead of kibble protein. Better canned foods tend to have less grain, so that is another reason why better canned foods may come out head with more protein. They also have two proteins listed first where some hard foods just have one.

Meal is fine as long as it states what it's from, like it should say beef or lamb and not just meat or worse, by products. That goes for any food. It should not just say meat. It should name the meat source.

I think we really need an expert in here. We can call dog food companies, but for questions like these, they may not be totally honest. You would have to call each food co. in question and ask how much animal protein is in it per serving. I'm stumped!

Bye, Grace

[Rebekah Hartman]

Susan, I think you got your answer about Canidae but here's what Natura says about chicken meal (they are the company that makes Innova & California Natural):

"Chicken meal is the dry rendered (cooked down) product from a combination of clean flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts of whole carcasses of chicken -- exclusive of feathers, heads, feet, or entrails.

Chicken meal is considered to be the single best source of protein in commercial pet foods. Natura uses high quality, low ash chicken meal extensively. This ingredient is very digestible, very palatable, and very expensive."

Just thought it might help to see something from another (well-respected) company.