Innova Evo - 42% fat!!

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

I am feeding Cali Innova-Evo (for about a month). For some reason I didn't pay attention to the % of fat in this food. It's about 42% where most top-rated foods are 16-24%.

Whole Dog Journal rated this as one of the best foods you can buy. How can that be with this high fat content?

Also, the protein % is about 40% where most top foods are about half that.
I know the protein is high because this is supposed to be more like a raw diet for people who don't have time to cook it all themselves.

It's just that fat content that's bothering me.

Does anyone else feed this food to their dog?

[RoughCollies]

Because of the quality of the food, you feed WAY less. For example, if Faith ate it, she would get under a cup a day. With NB she gets 3 1/2 cups a day. So the fat content needs to be higher to make up for lack of food.

[Dax]

I stopped feeding it because it gave both Dax & Ariel the runs even after a slow introduction of new food.

[RoughCollies]

Faith ate it for a month and I also stopped feeding it. She had the runs pretty often, she didn't seem to be full after eating such a small amount, and she threw up a lot.

[Rip's Girl]

It is a highly concentrated food best suited to working dogs or those with fast metabolisms. It's excellent for dogs like mine who need to get the most nutrition out of every little kibble, or they lose weight rapidly.
Have you noticed Cali gaining any weight? I've never had a problem with my dogs, but they're also very energetic and burn energy quickly.

[barnjess]

Personally I wouldn't feed it, that high a protein and fat level is likely to cause joint probs, especially in the medium to large breeds

[rottiegirl]

Now that Haunter is done growing for the most part he gets the canned
Innova mixed with his Fromm. I struggle to keep weight on him, he never stops moving. I also mixed a little with Uolie's food when I first got her... she was just full of nurvous energy.

[nana]

Originally Posted by barnjess

Personally I wouldn't feed it, that high a protein and fat level is likely to cause joint probs, especially in the medium to large breeds

my vet said the same thing. he said it is too much protein. even the raw diets are not meant to be fed 7 days out of the week. they are supposed to be substituted w/ raw meaty bones and occasionaly a fast. i think that the regular innova is good though.

[Rip's Girl]

Actually raw IS meant to be fed 7 days out of the week. What do you think raw meaty bones are? Protein and fat. It is a lot of protein, but it also isn't meant to be fed in large amounts. So many people insist that they have to feed their dogs 3+ cups of food a day. When they do that with a very rich food like Innova EVO, they get fat dogs who wind up with kidney problems due to filtering all that protein. It just isn't meant to be fed in huge amounts.

[Haiyai]

Originally Posted by nana

my vet said the same thing. he said it is too much protein. even the raw diets are not meant to be fed 7 days out of the week. they are supposed to be substituted w/ raw meaty bones and occasionaly a fast. i think that the regular innova is good though.

I think it's okay to feed Raw 7 days a week. I usually fast my dogs once a week feeding Raw. They never have the runs, and Joey sometimes will throw-up if I don't fast him weekly.

Heck, I even fast once in a while. And I miss meals often too. I rarely throw-up.

My dogs are both about 35 pounds. I feed 4oz of steak in the morning and 7oz of chicken wings in the evening 6 days a week. They seem to be very healthy on this diet. Being feeding them both like this for about 2 years. I give KelpHelp as a supplement 6 days a week.

Their poops are small so clean up is easy and not smelly.