Science Diet: Puppy Small Bites

Here goes, my review of a Science Diet formula.

When I got Conker he came with a bag of Puppy Small Bites.  I already knew that this was not that awesome of a food but I continued to feed it to him as I switched him to a different kibble anyways.  At this time I didn't know the extent of Conker's digestive problems and though I quickly found out about them, I didn't link some of them to ingredients in this food until somewhat recently.


Ingredients: Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Liver Flavor, Brewers Rice, Dicalcium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Fish Oil, Flaxseed, Soybean Oil, Iodized Salt, Potassium Chloride, L-lysine, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, 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), Magnesium Oxide, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Average Nutrient And Caloric Contents*
Protein    31.5
Fat    19.8
Carbohydrate (NFE)    38.4
Crude Fiber    2.3
3897 kcal/kg 384.0 kcal/per cup
*Dry-matter basis


Lets take a look at the ingredients.
Corn  is one of Conker's sensitivities, as it is for many dogs.  Not a quality ingredient in my book.  Followed by chicken by-product meal.   Another sensitivity, but at least it's named. (Doesn't mean it's good.) Corn gluten meal is a bad ingredient, and another problematic one for Conker.  Animal fat but from what animal? Generally not good ingredients.
This "food" is comprised of fillers and garbage.


How did Conker do on this?  Terrible.  He smelled bad, shed a lot, was constantly itching, had unpredictable and often really nasty poop, he refused to eat it at times and was generally not in the best of shape while eating this food.
And it's not surprising, given how crappy the ingredients are.

When I switched him to a different brand he stopped smelling bad, the shedding lessened, he stopped obsessively itching (didn't completely go away though) and his poop became a bit more predictable.  I attributed this to the higher-quality ingredients in the new food.


I know it's not long but it's a simple review due to how bad Conker's condition was on it. I do not think there is much else to say about a food which is obviously not a good one and that's not based on ingredients alone.  He really was not in good shape while eating this stuff.