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This Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food is created by the Addiction pet food company which was started in 2002 by a holistic veterinary surgeon and clinical nutritionist. This pet food company formulates their pet foods around whole protein sources and high-quality wild game meats to provide allergen-free nutrition. In addition to using allergen-free ingredients, Addiction also produces their pet foods using sustainable and ethical practices as part of their eco-friendly philosophy. This Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food is the “Outback Kangaroo Feast” flavor which is made with wild kangaroo meat and apples. This formula is grain-free and dehydrated so it can be prepared fresh for your dog, if you choose to rehydrate it. If you are looking for a high-quality commercial dog food for your pet, this Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food may be a good option to consider. Before you purchase this brand of dog food, however, you would be wise to consider the ingredients used to make this dog food and how they impact the total nutritional value of the product.
Pros/Cons of Dehydrated Dog Food
If you have never given your dog dehydrated dog food before, you may not even know what it is. Dehydrated dog food is a kind of commercial food that is prepared fresh and then dried to remove the water and increase its shelf-life. One of the main benefits of dehydrated dog food is, of course, its long shelf-life and the fact that it takes up much less space than most commercial foods. Dehydrated dog food is a cost-effective alternative to fresh and frozen foods, but it is more expensive than traditional kibble. Another major benefit of dehydrated dog food is that it retains a higher percentage of its nutrient content during preparation than kibble because it is not actually cooked, it is just dried to remove the moisture content. One of the downsides of this type of food is that it may not look and taste like regular commercial food to your dog and, if you choose to rehydrate it, it could take a few hours.
Ingredients List
Kangaroo, Potatoes, Carrots, Papayas, Canola Oil, Apples, Sunflower Seeds, Tapioca, Spinach, Choline Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Taurine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, d-Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulphate, Ferrous Sulphate, Potassium Iodate, Manganese Sulphate, Sodium Selenite, Zinc Sulphate, Calcium Carbonate, Tocopherols (preservatives), Lecithin, and Rosemary Extract.
Explanation of Top 5 Ingredients
The top 5 ingredients included in Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food are: kangaroo, potatoes, carrots, papayas, and canola oil. Below you will find a brief explanation of each of these ingredients:
Kangaroo – The fact that a fresh source of protein is listed first for the ingredients in Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food is a plus. If you delve deeper into this ingredient, however, you will find a few drawbacks. One thing worth noting is that fresh meats like kangaroo contain up to 80% water and only about 18% protein, at most. Even though this dehydrated dog food formula is not cooked, it is still dried to reduce the moisture content and to increase the shelf-life of the product. By dehydrating the dog food, most of the water is removed and thus the meat content is also significantly reduced. As a result, the actual weight of this ingredient is much lower than its original weight after dehydration. This is why it is troubling to see only one source of protein listed on the ingredients list for this Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food formula.
Potatoes – While potatoes are a gluten-free carbohydrate, they do not provide an exceptionally large degree of nutritional value. In fact, aside from their calorie content, they do not do much for your dog. The fact that potatoes are listed with two other carbohydrates (carrots and papaya) within the first five ingredients on the list for Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food is somewhat troubling. It would be better to see another source of protein (or two) listed within the top 5 ingredients.
Carrots – Similar to potatoes, carrots provide your dog with calories as well as some dietary fiber. It is important to note however, that dogs only require a moderate amount of dietary fiber in their diet. For this reason, carrots can only be considered of moderate nutritional value in this formula.
Papayas – Both carrots and papaya may be rich in nutrients and dietary fiber but, again, it would be more beneficial to see a high-quality source of protein listed in its place.
Canola Oil – This ingredient is a mixture of good and bad for your dog. While canola oil is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, it is less biologically available than an animal source of omega-3 fatty acids like fish oil. There is also some concern about canola oil being produced from genetically modified rapeseed.
Other Notable Ingredients
Aside from the top five ingredients, there are several other notable ingredients found in Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food. Some of these ingredients include: apples, sunflower seeds, tapioca, and a variety of vitamin and mineral supplements. Apples are another source of carbohydrate that provide some vitamins and minerals but it is not likely to be in significant quantities. It is also interesting to note that the package for this Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food formula states the inclusion of apples as it if were a major ingredient yet it is listed sixth on the list behind several other fruits and vegetables. Sunflower seeds are another unusual ingredient in this dog food formula – they may provide some omega-3 fats and a small amount of protein, but they are likely only to be of moderate nutritional value for your dog.
Another ingredient worth considering is tapioca, a gluten-free carbohydrate. Tapioca is a very starchy carbohydrate so, aside from its calorie content, it provides little nutritional value for your dog. This ingredient is made from the root of the cassava plant and it is generally a non-GMO and non-toxic ingredient. While it may not provide a significant amount of nutritional value, it is unlikely to be a harmful ingredient for your dog.
The rest of the ingredients on the list for Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food are mostly vitamin and mineral supplements. Though it may be tempting to think that these vitamin and minerals supplements are a valuable addition to this dog food, it is likely that they are present in such low volumes that they provide very little nutritional value at all. It is also important to consider that nutrient supplements like these are more difficult for your dog’s body to absorb than vitamins and minerals found in whole foods. Many quality dog foods contain chelated minerals – minerals that have been chemically bound to a protein molecule to make them easier for your dog’s body to absorb. The minerals in this Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food have not been chelated.
Conclusion
Overall, this Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food formula is an above-average source of nutrition for your pet when compared to the typical dog food. Some of the benefits of this formula include the fact that a high-quality source of protein is listed first on the ingredients list and the fact that it is grain-free and gluten-free. It is slightly troubling to note, however, that this formula only contains one source of protein and, after dehydration, its weight is likely to be much lower than the original weight of the ingredient. While this Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food formula does provide some nutritional value for your dog, you could do better. There are several ways in which this formula could be improved to make it a better, more balanced source of nutrition for your pet.
Paw Rating
This Addiction Raw Dehydrated Grain-Free Dog Food receives and overall paw rating of 4 out of 5. Not only does it only contain one source of animal protein, but it is loaded with fibrous fruits and vegetables when dogs only require a moderate amount of dietary fiber in their diets. This formula would benefit from at least one more source of animal protein as well as a source of animal fat. All of the fats included in this formula (sunflower seeds and canola oil) are from plant-based sources which are less biologically valuable than animal fats for dogs.
