nagels's Full Review: Innova Adult Dog Food Dry 16.5lb Bag
It’s time for dinner. Let’s mix up a delicious casserole, cut a few corners, save a little money, and make it easy. Which of these would you like to have on your plate?
Meat that couldn’t pass USDA inspection
Wheat, rice, corn that failed USDA inspection just because of a little mold or contamination
Beaks, feet, heads, lungs, some blood
Greasy fat
Preservatives like ethoxyquin that’s also used as a rubber preservative
BHA and BHT that can cause health problems and are banned in Europe
Nobody would willingly ingest these things yet too often these ingredients and worse are found in popular pet foods. The recent widespread recall of Menu Foods produced dog and cat foods containing wheat gluten imported from China highlights the importance of choosing a high quality pet food. Even such popular brands as Iams, Nutro, Authority, and Eukanuba have been affected by the recent recall. At present 90 brands are on the recall list. Innova is NOT one of them.
Our two dogs are like children so we’ve always been fussy about what we feed them. We’ve been especially careful with our bichon Evie after determining she was allergic to wheat products. Because of our avoidance of wheat in her food, none of the recently recalled pet foods were in our pantry. We’ve been feeding both dogs the Wellness brand of foods successfully for the past several years until our shih tzu Piper decided to become a finicky eater. After some research and conversations with the owner of small local pet store we switched Piper to Innova foods. She immediately loved them. Since Evie showed a great interest on the Innova also, we eventually converted her to Innova foods to make feeding time less complicated.
Innova dry dog food is made by Natura Pet Products in a variety of recipes including: dry puppy food, large breed adult, large breed puppy, large breed senior, and reduced fat adult. For even more choices there’s the Innova Evo (evolutionary diet) dry food. This type is entirely grain free and has the highest protein content of any meat based dry pet food on the market. A dog used to food with lots of grain and filler may have a difficult time transitioning to this rich formula. My daughter’s puppy ate the red meat formula for a period and is now eating the a turkey formula that is a little less expensive.
The first ingredients listed for Innova red meat formula dog food are:
Beef, beef meal, lamb meal, POTATOES, egg, sunflower oil, buffalo, lamb, venison, beef cartilage, natural flavors, herring oil, apples, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, yadda yadda.
Crude protein – 42%
Crude fat - 22%
Crude fiber - 2.5%
The first few ingredients of Evie’s Reduced Fat Innova are: turkey, chicken, barley, brown rice, POTATOES, rice, chicken meal, pea fiber, herring meal, chicken fat, flaxseed meal, apples, carrots, cottage cheese, yadda yadda.
All of the products are wholesome and natural though I do wonder about the chicken meal.
Our Experience
Both of our dogs are now on an exclusive Innova diet with the exception of a few snacks. My daughter’s Bella also eats Innova (puppy formula) exclusively. It may be fortuitous coincidence, but since Evie’s switch to the Innova low fat diet her energy level has risen dramatically. The old girl run’s more, is more playful and has resumed jumping on the bed by herself again with the aid of an ottoman. Again I don’t know for sure if Evie’s reinvigoration is due to the Innova dry food or her loss of a few pounds, but we are pleased nonetheless. Also, as mentioned in other reviews, Evie’s itching and scratching problem has also improved dramatically since eliminating wheat from her diet. Being a dog she still scratches, but doesn’t mutilate and bloody her skin as before.
Piper, usually a reluctant and fussy eater, took to the Innova immediately. She begins eating when the food is presented to her and seems eager to dig in. The puppy Bella loves her Innova, but she’ll eat most anything anyway. All three dogs have healthy looking coats and, knock on wood, have been mostly healthy this past year.
Go to the Natura Pet Products web site for more information about the Innova product line. According to the manufacturer Innova is a holistic pet food following the dietary pyramid principal.
“ Every Innova pet product incorporates elements from the five food pyramid groups - meat, dairy, vegetables, fruit and grain - plus essential fats and oils to deliver supreme nutrition for the overall health of your dog or cat.” The Innova Evo foods do not contain grain. Also in the Innova line are a great selection of canned foods and even health food bars. The Evo line of Innova products are no grain formulas.
Keep in mind that Innova refuses to use the following in its foods:
“Meat Meal, Animal Fat, Poultry By-Products, Soybean Meal, Rice gluten, Wheat Mids, Peanut Hulls, Wheat Flour, Wheat Bran, Rice Flour, BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin, Artificial Colors or Flavors, or any other substandard, low-quality, by-product from human food processing.”
Innova is a bit more expensive than the supermarket fare and is not universally available.
For our pets we think it’s worth the price. If your dog has a problem with excessive itching and hot spots he/she may have a wheat allergy. For your dog’s comfort the condition might merit some investigation, a conversation with your vet, and perhaps an Innova trial.
Footnote: While on the Innova diet our girls have been regularly making good, firm STOOLS with a few off days once in a while. Just thought the Shleppies might be interested in that little factoid.
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