Has anyone heard of a new dog food called Nature's Variety Prairie? I'm thinking about changing over to it. I will post ingredience if anyone would like.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.la...25316iXJ3070ED2

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Nature's Variety has pioneered this unique and revolutionary concept called Bio-Coating™. All Nature’s Variety Prairie Brand Kibble Diets are now coated with freeze dried USDA raw chicken, beef, lamb, or venison, along with liver and freeze dried Norwegian Salmon Oil.

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Nature’s Variety recommends a high level of meat in a pet’s diet – including fresh meat such as Nature’s Variety Prairie Brand Raw Complete Diets. But what about kibble? Now, we’ve pioneered a unique and revolutionary concept called Bio-Coating™.

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This coating greatly increases enzymes, unaltered bio-available amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals that may otherwise be degraded during the processing necessary to produce kibble diets.

C'mon, even Ol'Roy has the vitamins and minerals sprayed on after baking. There is nothing new about the process. I do not like this being marketed as new and revolutionary. However I do like the yogurt product and freeze dried meat products rather than animal digest.

From reading the ingredients, it looks like another quality feed. However, is it better than adding a spoonful of yogurt to your current feed?

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Ingredients:
Lamb, Brown Rice, Barley, Oatmeal, Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Flaxseed, Menhaden Fish, Suncured Alfalfa Meal, Montmorillonite, Flaxseed Oil, Freeze Dried Lamb, Freeze Dried Lamb Liver, Freeze Dried Salmon Oil, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Carrots, Peas, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Parsley, Blueberries, Cranberry, Kelp, Artichoke, Inulin, Rosemary, Sage, Clove, Fermentation Products (Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product Dehydrated), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (a source of Vitamin C), Carotene, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Folic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Ferrous Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, and Vitamin B12 Supplement.

I feed Innova EVO to my guys. It sounds like the Natures Varity guys are taking a simular approach with their food. I've been very happy with the EVO and it really made a difference over the Pro Plan Performance that I was feeding before. Check out EVO before you make any changes.

Innova EVO
I would also poke around on their site and look at their comparison tools, they have some pretty interesting stuff on their site

It is rediculous to claim a dry kibble dog food is 95% meat - in laymens terms thats called BEEF JERKY. Just another example of dog food companies making outrageous claims. Has enyone ever heard of or seen a dog food company that does not say "OUR FOOD IS THE BEST"?

I see it now - I was looking at the kibbles. They have a frozen raw diet that is 95% meat 5% fruits and vegs. I haven't read the details yet.
http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.la...25316iXJ3070ED2

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Ingredients:
Lamb, Brown Rice, Barley, Oatmeal, Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Flaxseed, Menhaden Fish, Suncured Alfalfa Meal, Montmorillonite, Flaxseed Oil, Freeze Dried Lamb, Freeze Dried Lamb Liver, Freeze Dried Salmon Oil, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Carrots, Peas, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Parsley, Blueberries, Cranberry, Kelp, Artichoke, Inulin, Rosemary, Sage, Clove, Fermentation Products (Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product Dehydrated), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (a source of Vitamin C), Carotene, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Folic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Ferrous Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, and Vitamin B12 Supplement.

Going back to what I said in another post about meat vs. meal on a dog food label, I just wanted to point out that this food, by weight after being cooked is made up of mostly Brown Rice, Barley, and Oatmeal. The lamb, which is listed as the first ingredient, is actually further down on the list because most of its weight (up to 75%) is water before it is processed. If it were lamb meal listed as the first ingredient, then the label would be more accurate.

This food also contains two instances of flax (flaxseed and flaxseed oil), which is not tolerated well in some dogs.



Also, it's beyond me why montimorillonite is in this food, unless they are using it to make the food expand when wet - therefore meaning the dog could eat less but still feel full because it would expand in the stomach.

The following web site gives one definition of it. I'm sure if you did a

Yahoo! or Google search of your own, you could find more information, but I didn't want to post a gazillion websites about a rock.

http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/montmori/montmori.htm

QUOTE: Also, it's beyond me why montimorillonite is in this food, unless they are using it to make the food expand when wet - therefore meaning the dog could eat less but still feel full because it would expand in the stomach. END

Excellent question. I think it's a clay that swells somewhat when wet......maybe it contains minute amounts of calcium, too? I would agree that I'd want to hear WHY it was included in food.

The flax products: Yes, flax and its oil are not tolerated well by everyone (human as well as canine), but I believe from my own research when I wanted to add more Omega 3s to my own diet and that of my arthritic/allergic dog (at the time) that most people and dogs tolerate it well if it's introduced gradually.

Sudden and substantial additions can cause a laxative effect (and other reactions), but I think those effects are decreased to almost zero when it's a gradual addition. (I'm talking about non-allergic effects.) Flax does not contain every beneficial Omega 3 component that fatty fish does, but it can be a less expensive substitute or partial substitute for people or animals who can't or don't eat fish.

I buy and grind a lot of flax seed (which is not of nutritional benefit when left whole), and I'd be very interested to learn of negative effects (besides the above).

Thank you! And does anyone know the "why" for the montimorillonite?

Jason,

Though my pup's diet is mostly raw but I also feed " wellness". I had compared it with Inova and did not find much difference. But I have not found anyone who feeds their pet- WELLNESS. Wonder why?? Is it not well known??

Rashmi

I use Solid Gold "Millennia". I temporarily switched my dogs to Wellness as I was under the mistaken impression (per my vet) that my dog had a yeast infection. We wanted to see if perhaps the Solid Gold was the cause of the allergy (I was skeptical of that possibility). My dogs did NOT like Wellness. And, after taking my dog to a different vet, I learned that he does NOT have a yeast infection. So I switched them back to Solid Gold and I know they like it much better.

This Solid Gold food is also crunchy, which I think is better for their teeth and the texture is, I believe, more palatable.

The Innova doesn't make the 95% claim, I was refeing to the fact that it's being marketed as an alternative to raw feeding. Obviously you end up sacrificing some things, but I just don't have time or freezer space to feed raw. I do like the fact that all ingredients are human grade with Innova and that there are not alot of fillers.