HI, does anybody feed their dogs the Naturediet which is all fresh meat and veg. Thinking about giving it to my two German Shepherds but would like to hear what anybody else thought first.

Hi Harley,

are you talking about BARF?

Taylor

Hi Harley, all my lot are fed raw meat & veg *au natural* :) Is that what you mean?
Christine, Spain.

Harley

Yes I feed it to my two cockers, but i use the "lite" diet. They go mad for it, and I have never had any problems., they just want more :D

Taylor: Nature Diet is a processed meat food with rice and vegetables., which is preppacked and you buy off the shelf, like you would normal tinned dog food. :D

NAt

Harley, I believe it's ideal for dogs who need to be on low protein as there's very little in it...is that the case for your dogs?
I feed this as a backup if I ever forget to take their raw food out to defrost. It's the only type of dog food they have now and that's not often.
Because of the low protein, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable feeding it to my two Shepherds on a full time basis :)

Oh dear didn`t know it was a processed food!!!!!! :)
Christine, Spain.

Hehe, Nat, that goes to show what you CAN'T get in the West of Ireland. Mine are more than happy on BARF.

Taylor

LOL Taylor....:D

The only reason I started feeding it to my girls, was that my little one was a bit "overweight"....her tummy was bigger than her bum !! Then my older one decided she wanted some of that too...she was always so fussy with her food, and she has had this for near on a year now, and not missed a day...so its obviously good for fussy eaters too...:D

Nat
xx

I have to say, Fergus, the CS I took in, eats like a hmmmmm would maggot be precise? :D He hoovers up his food and then looks around for more. If he stays much longer he'll be as fat as a maggot or I have to put him on a diet :D.

Taylor

I feed my ESS and my ESS x BC and they are doing great - better than when they were on Burns - infact the ESS became quite extrovert when I changed her from Chicken Naturediet to Lamb.

I have recently changed my 2 JRT's onto Nature Diet and they love it! They like all varieties especially the tripe one. I was impressed by the fact that it has no artificial aditives, no added sugars (unlike many of the other tinned foods) and the ingredients used are all fit for human consumption.

Having said that I didn't realise that the protein was low (or is that only on the 'lite' version?) The tripe and lamb both give the protein as 10% which is low compared to dried foods I guess (I also feed a litte Nutro each day to help with teeth) but it seems wrong to compare it with a dry food in terms of percentages. Is it also low compared to other 'moist' foods? I don't have any tinned food to hand to compare it with.

I'm pretty new to dog ownership but thought that the Nature Diet was a balance of natural ingredients and convenience. I must admit it looks good when you open it - you can see pieces of carrot and the individual grains of rice rather than a 'mush'!

Karen

Don't get too confused bythe protein levels - you just can't compare moist foods like NAturediet with dried as the amounts are given 'as fed' - so 100g of ND would contain 10g of protein - the same as 50g of dried complete food which contains 20% protein.....

Right! Thanks Digger! :)

So I have just sat down with my calcualtor (new my O Level Maths would come in handy one day!) and worked out the actual amount of protein in the recomended daily feeding amount for a dog the size of my JRT's (one tray in the case of the Naturediet) and the amount in the recommended amount of Nutro (22% protein) and I would actually be feeding more protein per day with the ND.

So I think I will stick with it - largely because Daisy who was a fussy eater loves it and so does Teddy and it has reduced his 'windy' problem. Wonder if I could get hubby to eat it too.....??? :)

Karen

JRT Mum

When I first opened the packet, I thought it had maggots in it:rolleyes: I didnt read the packet to see that it contained veg and rice !!! :D

LOL Crazy Cockers!

If it had I am sure that they would have been 'natural' maggots, fit for human consumption! :D

Karen

Hi thanks for all the messages. I wanted to try Naturediet because one of my Shepherds is rather hyperactive but slightly overweight and the other one is a bit of a fussy eater so someone recommended I try it. At the moment they are fed on James Well Beloved. Still not sure what to do!!

Naturediet is an excellent food. There are no preservatives or fillers in it. Anglian meats do a similar product called Natures menu. Both foods are meat and veg ONLY no cereals etc..
Dawn.

When I get my puppy in a few months (fingers crossed), I would love to feed a fairly natural diet. But I'm much too lazy to do the proper raw feeding! :rolleyes::o I have been wondering about NatureDiet/Nature's Menu. I like the sound of them, but do they work out much more expensive than a good quality dry food (Nutro, JW, etc)?
Sarah

Harley, then I think it would be ideal for the hperactive but overweight, GSD, as I still believe it to be low protein ;)

I'm talking 'usable' protein. There's 75% moisture in ND....that's 3/4's of the pack. Just how much 'usable' protein comes from water? Not much by my calculations.
That means the protein content of your pack of ND comes from the other 25% dry matter.

25% dry matter divided by 10% protein = 2.5% usable protein!

Hi Jacqui. Thanks for that info about the protein, I was getting really confused about it. With a low protein level like that and no additives etc surely it must do the dogs some good and hopefully might calm down my hyperactive Shepherd a bit. Fingers crossed.

Harley

You're welcome, Harley :)

I do think it does some good, for instance, your overweight GSD should start to show weight loss on it pretty soon. I'm still not all that convinced that it's enough protein, for general maintenance, for a large breed over time.

Edit: I was just going to say that it's going to cost you a fortune to feed two GSD's on it! Have you not thought about feeding raw? That can be ideal for overweight, underweight, hyper', non-hyper dogs, it's a great form of usable protein...and it's cheap if you can find the right scource ;)

Hi JaquiN

I assumed that the 10% protein was 10% of the package as it is fed. I have a pack in front of me and it lists the analysis as: 10% Protein, 7% Oil, 1.2% Fibre, 2.5% Ash, 75% Moisture. Giving a total of around 96% - most of the packet I assumed, when you allow for rounding and other traces which are not listed. Therefore I thought that the 10% protein would mean 10% of the package as it stands not 10% of the dry components and therefore 10% usable protein. Is there a reason why you beleive this not to be the case or is it just a case of different people interpretting the data differently? If that is the case I will e mail Naturediet and get them to clarify. It seems wrong to me if they can say 10% protein if the pack actually only contains 2.5% protien!!! :( If you need to take off the 75% water first then it ought to state that somewhere :(

I must say that if you look at the ingredients (in the case of the tripe variety 45% chicken, 15% Tripe) I find it difficult to imagine that there would only be 2.5% protein. Have just looked on some chicken slices I have in the fridge and they are listed as 19.7% protein. So the 45% chicken would give nearly 9% protein without the tripe. (19.7% of 45% = 8.87%).

Sorry to go on and I am by no means saying that you are wrong and I am right (I very often am!) ;) I just want to establish exactly what I am feeding my dogs! And sorry for the calculations - I got carried away with my calculator!

Karen

JRTmum,
If you do a search on 'usable' protein, you'll see what I'm trying to explain (not very well I might add, but blame that on the Baileys) ;)

Quote<<<To some extent we can believe what we read, but to another extent we can't . As we read the label, all ingredient percentages are presented in an as-fed percentage.>>>End quote

Hi JaquiN

I think I have found the article that your quote came from although not on this site - found this via google. However it follows on from your quote to say:

<<To some extent we can believe what we read, but to another extent we can't . As we read the label on the bag, all ingredient percentages are presented in an as-fed percentage. If we figure the ingredients on a dry matter basis, we will have a more accurate idea of the actual nutrients being presented in the feed. Lets say the label indicates that we have 21% protein and 10% moisture. We have a feed that has 90% dry matter. Now we determine the amount of protein on a dry matter basis in the feed. We divide the percentage of protein by the percentage of dry matter and we get a general view of the amount of protein we have. In this instance we would have, 23% protein in the ration. Now then, this does not mean we will have 23% usable protein. Here again, unless we do a feed study, we can't be sure of the actual activity of the protein. Therefore, the result of our simple formula is a guideline. This is where the addition of meat in the ration can be beneficial in terms of readily available and usable protein. In the processing of grains for the feeds, oftentimes proteins and/or amino acids are destroyed or 'bound' and deemed unusable to the animal. This occurs in the processing of meat, but to a lesser degree.>>

According to this it would seem to me that if you take the moisture content out of the equation, the protein content of the dry components goes up not down (i.e. 23% not 21% in the example) above. This seems to me to fit with Brainless' explaination under the original post. The usable protein part of the artice seems to refer more to the type of protein and the way it is processed.

Of course I may have got the wrong article and we could be talking at crossed purposes ;) And I don't think I have put things as clearly as I might have - and I haven't eve had any Baileys :D

Karen

LOL, Karen, that was the one and I used that (portion) because I can't find the one that explains it fully for wet.
A friend of mine was recommended this food because it was low protein...on that we'll have to agree to disagree. Like it says in that study, unless you do a feed study, then it's only a guidline and no way of ascertaining the usuable protein in any given food.

<<<if you take the moisture content out of the equation, the protein content of the dry components goes up not down>>>

It does, but that is then the protein content based on 100% dry matter....you'd have to feed an awful lot of packs of ND to get this same equasion...wouldn't you? I know what I'm trying to say, I'm still not doing it well :rolleyes: (at myself)

BTW, The Baileys comment was meant for my post from last night (wouldn't want you to think I start at this time of the day ;) ) but even now, I can't find what I'm looking for even though I know I've saved it somewhere....geez, I think I might be driven to the bottle at this time after all :D

I went to a nutrition seminar, and as one would expect from the dogs natural diet, that meat actually has more protein (when you reduce to dry matter), than dry food which has other lesser quality ingredients, as the meatis the most expensive component. This probably also explains why you don't have to feed 4 times the amount in weight of wet food, as compared to dry, to keep your dog in condition, mut more like 3 1/2 to 3 times. Say a pound of wet compared to 6 ounces of complete.

It is a myth that Dry preemium foods are too high in protein compared to meat and wet food. It may be that the TYPE of protein causes the problems with hypiness, as Animal protein is the kind that the dog can naturally deal with. It is the grain that tends to cause the probelms, as canines are not designed to assimilate grains well.

HI JaquiN

LOL about the Baileys! With all these facts and figures i think that I need one now! ;)

<<on that we'll have to agree to disagree.>>

I don't really disagree with you, just looking at the data differently. ND may well be low in protein compare to other wet foods - my only concen is whether it is TOO low!

<<It does, but that is then the protein content based on 100% dry matter....you'd have to feed an awful lot of packs of ND to get this same equasion...wouldn't you? >>

I suppose though you do feed quite a lot more of wet food than dry food ie I would feed mine 400g of ND per day but only 100g of say Nutro. Therefore if the % is lower in the wet food the actual protein intake per day may not be that different. Oh dear that doesn't sound right - I know what I mean but can't put it into words!

Anyway, for now I will stick with it as at least my Daisy is eating it (she wasn't getting much protein from her previous food when it just sat in the bowl was she? :) ) In my ignorance, high protein always sounds better to me than low protein but I guess that is not always the case anyway. I will perhaps mix a little extra Nutro in with their ND to be on the safe side - it is the only way they will eat dry food anyway!

Anyway, if you do come across the other atricle at any time I would love to read it - and it has been great sharing opionions and interpretations with you!

Thank you for taking the time to try to explain things to the 'Newby'

Karen

<<<(she wasn't getting much protein from her previous food when it just sat in the bowl was she? )>>>

LOL, well, you can't argue with that point ;) (not that I'm in any way trying to argue with anyone coz now it sounds like I was :rolleyes: at self again)

Actually, I think it's probably a great food for JRT's. They don't need as much calories/protein/whatever per day as a large breed would. And ND is a good food from the few choices of premium foods that we have to choose from.
My concern was for Harley's dogs being fed long term on it, it's just not what I'd feed my GS's for long term maintenance.....but then heck, I feed BARF, and others will be thinking the same :p

When I finally hit the Baileys (at a suitable time tonight)...I'll have one for ya! :D

JaquiN

All this talk of Baileys has got me wanting one - and we don't have any in the house! I might just have to go and get some! And I promise to not even look at the ingredients list! I bet it is low in protein though ;) :D :D :D

Karen

<<<I bet it is low in protein though>>>

Oh, of course! <giggle> :D

You have it wrong. The protein is 10% of the total, so it is half of the dry matter (most moist food being 80% water). A dry food is 90% dry matter, so 30% protein of 90% is actually lower than 10% out of the 2o % if that makes sence.

The protein in the wet food is actually 50% of the dried matter, and in the high protein dry is 33%.

Harley

Have you looked at their website (www.naturediet.co.uk)? If not I would have a look at it as there is a lot of information on their products etc including ingredients etc. As I said before, mu picky eater can't get enough of it!

Karen

Hi. I have looked on the Naturediet website and they have sent me information. It sounds great but will work out about £80 per month to feed my two Shepherds which is alot of money if they don't get on with it. Really not sure what to do.

I buy it from a local supplier at 48p a tray works out about £8.50 a box so you could try a small mixed amount first, but do shop around as price vary quite a bit. Ingrid

Hi Ingrid, my local pet store sell it for 58p a tub. What breed do you have and how much do you feed per day?

Hi Harley

My local petstore sell it at 59p a tray. I bought a few trays from them to see how the dogs got on with it and then ordered 10 crates of 18 trays direct from Naturediet which cost £8.50 per crate (or about 48p per tray - there I go with the calculator again!) once I knew that they liked it. I guess it does work out more expensive than dry food but I thought that it was worth a little extra. Of course the difference in cost for you will be more if you have bigger dogs.

Karen

pedigree do one very similar, real meat etc, no additives, looks better than a lot of pies inards :D

Hi Harley, I've got 3 dogs, a GSD, GSP & JRT x who like a somewhat varied diet (some would call them fussy). They all have chudleys complete food with naturediet mixed in, I use 3 trays a day between them, I also use frozen minced meat (tripe or chicken).
Prices round here vary from 48p to 63p, the cheapest be a local supplier in the middle of no where. The manufacturer is only 10 miles away from me, which could account for the price diifferene & I have often wondered how much I could get if for if I collected it direct. Ingrid

I feed my youngest spaniel on Naturediet, it is one food that I found suited him. On other foods he used to get very loose motions which I believe is probably an intolerance of the preservatives and flavourings that are used in many dog foods. He is looking really well on naturediet and has two trays a day at 59p a tray. I have considered feeding my other dogs on it but they are all doing well on their dried food at present so I shall probably leave them as they are for the time being Jackie

Harley

I would go for the nature diet but for the one that is overweight make sure you get the nature diet LITE., they all look the same only this one has "Lite" across the top of the packet, quite easy to miss. The other one should be ok on the normal nature diet. We only get the "original" nature diet lite here in Jersey, but I noticed that the "normal" packets have either, chicken, lamb etc...so not sure if the lite one only comes in the original flavour......

If any of that makes any sense at all :D

nat

Hi again. Somebody mentioned that the protein level in the Naturediet is too low for my GSD's. Does anybody else have a large breed fed on this and how much do you feed?

Oh my, what have I started? :rolleyes: at me again ;)

Harley, my dogs are not overweight or hyperactive. Before switching to BARF, I tried ND (it being natural and no preservatives etc) and my dogs lost condition on it so I switched back to Nutro and then Arden Grange...yours may do just fine, but you won't know 'til you try :)

Thanks Jacqui. Even more confused now but will probably give it a try.

Hi Harley

I have a four year old GSP bitch who is fed on ND. I switched her over from a dry complete food a few months ago when she had a throat injury which made it difficult for her to eat dry food. She loved it so much that I never changed back again. She is reasonably active and is fed two packs of ND a day. Her weight has stayed the same and her coat is in fantastic condition.

I get it from a local independent pet shop at about £8.50 for a box which contains 18 packs.

Janet

Protien is the building block of all life (built up of Amino Acids) You Should buy some form of Amino Acids from a helth food store i.e Holland and Barett Of the Free Form Brance chain verity.
And In capsuel form.
Then Before bed let the dog have the capsuel of if he/ she will not eat it mix it into some weak chicken stock.
Do this while your puppy is Stuill young i.e less than 18 mnts in the case of large breeds.
I breed German Shep Pups and Labs And i have considreble backing by diff Vet's practersise to say that this will give you dog the best start to life .
the suplement can also be given when older about twice a week at bed time.
This is the time when you dog will sleep and regenerate it's muscles and hair ect.....
Many food are good dry food and canned and as one reader said check the cntence and also the effect on stool formation thanks hope you dog is fit and well and continues to be so . from Rick Kirkby

Hi Rick. Thanks for that info. I might try that for my one year old. What age should i stop giving him this every night and also if i give it to him in the capsule might it not come out the other end whole as he probably won't chew it !

Anything that comes in a capsule, other than from the vet's, should be split open and poured onto some food. Dogs don't digest this capsule stuff well and have been known to pass it whole :)