Fromm recently celebrated having 10,000 followers on facebook and and gave out a bunch of coupons for a free bag of food. I quickly took them up on the offer, printed my coupon, and went down to Mini Pet Mart and recieved my two for one bags of Fromm. I picked grain-inclusive foods since they only carry one type of grain-free (Surf & Turf) and I'd already tried that.
Note: I have no issues with grain-inclusive foods whatsoever, if you can't tell by how I used to feed Conker prior to his current endeavor. They do tend to be lower in protein and fat and higher in carbs, though, which I do not like.
The Rundown.
The food I tried first was the Duck & Sweet Potato variety.
Ingredients:
Fresh Duck, Duck Meal, Pearled Barley, Fresh Sweet Potatoes, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, White Rice, Whole Dried Egg, Millet, Dried Tomato Pomace, Safflower Oil, Fresh Wisconsin Cheese, Flaxseed, Fresh Carrots, Fresh Broccoli, Fresh Cauliflower, Fresh Apples, Fresh Green Beans, Chicken Cartilage, Potassium Chloride, Fresh Cranberries, Fresh Blueberries, Salt, Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Chicory Root Extract, Fresh Alfalfa Sprouts, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Taurine, Fresh Parsley, Vitamins: vitamin A acetate, Vitamin D3 supplement, Vitamin E supplement, Vitamin B12 supplement, choline bitartrate, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, L-Ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate, riboflavin supplement,Minerals: zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, copper sulfate, cobalt carbonate, calcium iodate, sorbic acid (preservative), ferrous proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, magnesium proteinate, manganese proteinate, cobalt proteinate, Probiotics: dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried bifidobacterium longum fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried enterococcous faecium fermentation product
Guaranteed Analysys:
| Protein | 24% Min |
| Fat | 15% Min |
| Fiber | 3.5% Max |
| Moisture | 10% Max |
| Total Microorganisms | 100,000,000 CFU/lb Min |
| kcal/kg | 4,155.40 |
| kcal/lb | 1,888.82 |
The Results.
Conker needed around 2 cups of this food in order to maintain his weight. Which, I might add, he lost quite a bit of during the trial, but I do not know if that was due to the actual food or because of how little he would eat. I think it might have been a mixture of both, but I will hold off on my official decision until I've used the other bag which has similar protein/fat/carb ratios.
So I cannot give an accurate determination of Conker's body condition on this food. But what I did notice that was he was flubby, less muscular, even when he was eating the two cups before and after he went completely off food for three days. This could be due to the initial weight loss, or due to the lower protein content.
Conker would eat this kibble with no additions for the first few days he was on it, then he began to refuse to eat it so I spruced it up with an egg, some sort of ground meat, or meat drippings. This brought the protein/fat levels up a bit. Then Conker started to go off for a while and would hardly eat 1 cups worth. Again I do not know if it was the food or something else, but in the week after the Bend trip (where he hit "bottom" with his weight loss) he started eating the full two cups with additions again.
Conker's poop on this food was pretty big. Again probably due to the grains, and pretty soft compared to other kibbles, but nowhere near as bad as it was on Wellness CORE.
I did not have to give Conker probiotics or chicory root in order to keep things swell inside the digestive tract. That is a good thing in my book.
Conker developed a strong "doggy" odor. I was NOT pleased with this. This food gave him the strongest dog odor I have smelled on him since I first brought him home a year and many months ago.
He did, like with most kibbles, get a bit of tartar buildup on his teeth but not too much.
His energy levels were somewhat less on this food, but I think that is probably due to him not eating much or consistently while on it.
Overall I did like this food, but the negatives were a bit strong for me to use in rotation. I would in a pinch if I needed it though, and Fromm is carried in many places (not big chains) so I can easily get it, for the most part.
No comments:
Post a Comment