The "feed less" argument

oh, I'm sure the companies don't actually burn anything anymore. Someone did that in the past and now you can go look up the calories of each of your ingredients and digestibility indices and just do some math. 
[linkhttp://www.dairyscience.info/energy_label.asp#3]http://www.dairyscience.info/energy_label.asp#3[/link]
 
 
 

For example (to feed 1200 calories)
Purina- $17/38lbs. Feed 2.8 cups daily. Cost/day=$.30.
Kirkland- $18/40 lbs. Feed 3.5 cups daily. Cost/day= $.39
Pedigree- $19/44pounds. Feed 4.1 cups daily. Cost/day= $.46.
Canidae- $33/40 lbs. Feed 2.5 cups/day. Cost/day=$.54.
Beneful - $24/35lbs. Feed 3.7 cups. Cost/day $.63.
Innova EVO $44/29lbs. Feed 2 cups daily. Cost/day $.79.
Eukanuba $39/40#. Feed 3.4 cups daily. Cost/day $.82.
ProPlan Select $43/33lbs. Feed 2.6 cups. Cost/day=$.85.

 
That's a really nice analysis. I love how it shows Canidae to be less expensive than Beneful and EVO less than Eukanuba and ProPlan. I didn't realize EVO was that affordable.

For example (to feed 1200 calories)
Purina- $17/38lbs. Feed 2.8 cups daily. Cost/day=$.30.
Kirkland- $18/40 lbs. Feed 3.5 cups daily. Cost/day= $.39
Pedigree- $19/44pounds. Feed 4.1 cups daily. Cost/day= $.46.
Canidae- $33/40 lbs. Feed 2.5 cups/day. Cost/day=$.54.
Beneful - $24/35lbs. Feed 3.7 cups. Cost/day $.63.
Innova EVO $44/29lbs. Feed 2 cups daily. Cost/day $.79.
Eukanuba $39/40#. Feed 3.4 cups daily. Cost/day $.82.
ProPlan Select $43/33lbs. Feed 2.6 cups. Cost/day=$.85.

I know that is the amounts to feed per 1200 cals *according to the manufacturer* but I have had far different results in my dogs. When I fed Euk Low Residue, Blackhawk was actually on *less* food per day than when I switched him to Canidae Platinum. I agree with other posters that digestability is important and depends more on each individual dog than on a predetermined "optimal" ingredient list.

Add in any digestion issues a dog may have and it gets even trickier to say which food is better. Euk Low residue wasn't optimal by any holistic-all-natural standards, but for Blackhawk's colitis it was a miracle. Especially since regular Canidae, even fed at 1/3 to 1/2 the recommended amount nearly killed him with an acute colitis attack. The Canidae Platinum he was on when he died wasn't much better. Whenever I fed enough to try and get weight back on him he'd start to flare up again (as indicated by mucousy stools). I was planning on switching back to his "crappy" Euk because he was simply healthier on it.

Kcal = Metabolizable Energy whether it's Dog Chow or Innova.

 
Not necessarily. If it doesn't say specifically say Metabolizable Energy you can bet it's NOT Metabolizable Energy, it's "as fed", which means nothing as digestability is not taken into consideration.

ORIGINAL: chelsea_b

Not necessarily. If it doesn't say specifically say Metabolizable Energy you can bet it's NOT Metabolizable Energy, it's "as fed", which means nothing as digestability is not taken into consideration.

I didn't know that, but Dog Chow does say Metabolizable Energy:

[linkhttp://www.dogchow.com/Products/Detail.aspx?intProductID=11]http://www.dogchow.com/Products/Detail.aspx?intProductID=11[/link]

ETA: Interestingly enough, Natura doesn't say anything about ME on their site.

ETA: Interestingly enough, Natura doesn't say anything about ME on their site.

 
That is interesting, but I have a bag of Evo RM, and it does say Metabolizable Energy. You'd think they'd put it on their site though...