New Science Diet Natures Best formula?

Here is an interesting link that discusses some of this.

http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/full/41/4/273

I always *do* wonder about this issue in particular.....I mean, wild canids eat the whole animal, right? I hear a lot of "oh by-proudcts have heads and hooves and hides etc!"

 One important myth is that meat by-products are inferior in quality compared to whole meat in a diet. Meat by-products are defined as nonrendered, clean parts of the carcass and may contain lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, the head, feet (of poultry), partially defatted fatty tissue, and stomach and intestines emptied of their contents.¹ Meat byproducts do not include hair, horns, teeth, or hooves

And here is Innova  talking about how awesome EVO is because it has ground chicken and turkey meat, bones, fat, cartilage and connective tissue.  Aren't those GASP!!! by-products??? Heh...I like EVO as a food don't get me wrong but...I still get a chuckle out of it. I wouldn't hesitate to say that, if you were feeding food from a reputable company with high standard for it ingredients, a byproduct meal wouldn't be too terrible.

 I mean what about people that feed whole prey model diet? Their animal is getting a lot of "by-products" But those are processed byproducts, you say! So, if processing immediately renders something which is fine pre-processing to become bad...wouldn't processing regular meat make it bad and useless also, by that logic? 

BOTTOM LINE is, though, I suppose it depends mostly onn the source/manufacturer about how "good" the byproducts really are, since they are variable. I would feel more comfortable feeding a Natura food with "byproducts" listed than a Walmart food with "byproducts" listed, for example.

whtsthfrequency

One important myth is that meat by-products are inferior in quality compared to whole meat in a diet. Meat by-products are defined as nonrendered, clean parts of the carcass and may contain lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, the head, feet (of poultry), partially defatted fatty tissue, and stomach and intestines emptied of their contents.¹ Meat byproducts do not include hair, horns, teeth, or hooves

I'm a person who doesn't worry too much about byproducts, unless they don't specify what animal they come from. Just as I'm wary about most generic "meat ____" in a label. However byproducts are very important, IMO. I feed freeze-dried liver AND we have lightly browned  but basically still mostly raw liver frozen. Those are both "by products" in commercial foodspeak. But they are so GOOD for animals. Heck, raw chicken feet are one of the best arthritis medicines for dogs. Don't forget sheep's heads, I know people who feed whole sheep heads, it's "brain food". ;-)

I guess dogs shouldn't be eating cow hooves then, since they are so "bad". Too bad they are a top-selling item in most pet stores (even though I don't feed them, I don't like them personally and think they are rather dangerous chew items, perhaps raw ones would be different).

 The puppy version of SD Nature's Best is much better.  I have a friend who has been feeding this to her adult APBT as long as it's been "improved" (as we get it RIDICULOUSLY cheap from the vet school H.O.L.O.S program) and she is on a budget.  (and by ridiculously cheap I mean $6 for a 15-20 lb bag)

Nature's Best Lamb SD puppy:

Lamb, Soybean Meal, Lamb Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Brown Rice, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Brewers Rice, Dried Egg Product, Powdered Cellulose, Flaxseed, Natural Flavor, Whole Grain Oats, Apples, Cranberries, Peas, Carrots, Fish Oil, Soybean Oil, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Broccoli, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), L-Threonine, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, DL-Methionine, Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Lysine, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, L-Tryptophan, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

 Protein: 25.5% as fed/ 30.1% DM
Fat: 16.5% as fed/ 22% DM

442 kcal/cup 

Not too bad for a healthy dog w/ no allergies (especially for the price we get it at). 

papillon806

...(as we get it RIDICULOUSLY cheap from the vet school H.O.L.O.S program) and she is on a budget.  (and by ridiculously cheap I mean $6 for a 15-20 lb bag)...Not too bad for a healthy dog w/ no allergies (especially for the price we get it at). 

 
 

whtsthfrequency

Hey papillon, you need to come up to blacksburg and hang out with us nutrition crazies at VMRCVM ! You are at NC State I suppose? I just saw HOLOS and went ooo I know what that means, I get a zillion emails about it at the end of every month, ha ha....

 LOL!

Yeap, NCSU here  
 

VMR is where??? I'm at Iowa State CVM... glad to have another vet-medder here!! 

VMRCVM -- worst and longest acronym ever haha Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (whew! say that five times fast). I have a sweatshirt with vmrcvm on the back and everyone just stares at it going..."what the.... ".   We are in Southern Virginia, right on the campus of Virginia Tech (we are technically shared between Virginia Tech (my alma mater) and Univ of Maryland). The entire school loooves the vetmedders so whren the whole Vick thing broke out...man, the entire undergrad and grad campus PLUS the vet school were just FURIOUS. And yeah, I was on campus when the shootings happened....but hopefully thats behind us now.

Lets all have a party!!  Oh and if you are on Facebook...you must join "Dear Vet School...High School Called and They Want Their Drama Back" group...you know what I mean.....;)

 I wonder if there are any other vet students out there....come out come out wherever you aaaarreee...we have free treat samples and heartworm preventative and logo pens for yooouuu ;)

dcmidnight

I would like to hear specific feedback as to why this new label is so bad.

Because the ingredients are crap(plain and simple),and as much they "appear" to be trying,science diet will never be on par with super premium brands.They are far too interested in their profit margins than the health of the dogs they are feeding! 

whtsthfrequency

Lets all have a party!!  Oh and if you are on Facebook...you must join "Dear Vet School...High School Called and They Want Their Drama Back" group...you know what I mean.....;)

 I'm pretty sure I've been a member for like 2 years now... I'll have to go back and look. If not, I know my friend is a member and I can find the link to join pretty easy. What year are you? I graduate in May!! 28 days until my board exam! EEK!
 

Misskiwi67

28 days until my board exam!

Oh Misskiwi GOOD LUCK! I bet your so nervous.You'll have to let us know you go. 

Oh wow good luck!!!! I am my second year. Just finished up all sorts of crazy bovine/caprine/porcine restraint and injection/procedure techniques..lemme tell ya, shoving that 4-inch needle up through a screaming 500 pound hog's chest all the way up to the vena cava was....well, terrifying! :) We do fun stuff "down on the farm" in the 'Burg, we even have our famous fistulated cows

whtsthfrequency

Oh wow good luck!!!! I am my second year. Just finished up all sorts of crazy bovine/caprine/porcine restraint and injection/procedure techniques..lemme tell ya, shoving that 4-inch needle up through a screaming 500 pound hog's chest all the way up to the vena cava was....well, terrifying! :) We do fun stuff "down on the farm" in the 'Burg, we even have our famous fistulated cows

 LOL! We have Bart, our 1232932323232239797779 year old fistulated cow   He's still used for some metabolism studies, and we have a few other new ones too (but he is by far the biggest and oldest--and I can't remember his exact age). 
 

"Lamb, Soybean Meal, Lamb Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Brown Rice, Pork Fat"

wow, you think those ingredients are OK?  since "lamb" is listed first, it's mostly soybean meal. Which means most of the protein in the food is deficient in certain amino acids. Which means poor puppy is being starved for protein. Not to mention dogs have trouble digesting soy, tend to get very gassy on soy, tend to develop allergies to it, and many people think soy in the diet may contribute to bloat. That's not worth the $6 you're paying for it. Pennywise and pound foolish.