The Kibble Trials: EVO Red Meat Results

Conker Finished that bag of EVO Small bites I got at the Grange a while ago, and has been eating some Large Bites for a short while because it was available in Alaska.

The Large Bites

Conker has done very well on this food, is in great shape with good muscle tone and very little excess fat.
Note: Due to his greatly reduced activity while in Alaska, Conker lost a lot of muscle tone. However, it was amazing beforehand while he was on this food, so I am giving it good marks on the muscle score.
There is almost zero coat smell or grease, an amazing coat actually. Since we'd been in Alaska it had grown in incredibly thick and was very soft and of a nice quality. Very shiny. Shedding out now but is still maintaining it's quality.
His teeth look great, energy is great, poops are good (small, firm, nonsmelly), I really like this food.

Conker usually gets around 1-2 cups (depending on the brand) of kibble, but he needs a bit less of this stuff since it is very calorie dense, so it tends to last quite a long time. I've still got a bit of it left.

Large Bites kibbles

Both the large and small bites are square shaped, the large bites being about 1/2 inch big and the small bites being about 1/4 inch. It has a meaty smell, not too strong or unpleasant.
I soaked the kibbles a few times when Conker would not drink and it would take a long long time for them to fully soak, so they are pretty dense.

Conker really likes the taste if this food. Enough so that I can use it for treats, which is highly unusual for a kibble that he is currently on. That normally does not work with Conker.
He also did not need any pre or probiotics added to this food. He digests it quite well and can make an instant switch to it with no problems. This is always a good thing and something I look for in a food.
Note: This kibble contains probiotics in it already. However, I highly doubt that they actually do anything, so I never depend on probiotics that may be in a kibble and will always add my own if I feel they are needed. Also, I tend to freeze kibble if it is in a larger bag or won't be using it soon, and that will kill the probiotic bacteria and render them useless.

The Small Bites

In general, I find this kibble to be a very good one. The price is on the high side, right at the top of the price range, but I would be able to feed this full-time since Conker does not need a whole lot and I like to add in other things.
I plan on testing out the other two varieties, one fish-based and the other poultry-based once I have gotten through some of the other bags I still have on hand.


Note: I did try out a few cans of this food (beef and fish) and quite like them as well.

The Kibble Trails: New Contestant #7 EVO Red Meat (Small Bites)

I stopped the previous food due to some nasty digestive issues that began to occur when I started to feed it, and also since I bought some new kibble that was going to expire soon so I bumped back the other one and started to feed this one instead. The digestive problems have vanishes so far, so I figured I'd introduce the food properly now.

I spied a few bags of EVO on sale at the Grange for a good price. (13.2bs for $25, 28.6lbs for $50) They had Red Meat (small and large bites), Herring & Salmon, and Weight Management. (Holy shit check out the protein levels in the WM food!) They might have had Senior as well, but I can't remember.
I only bought one 13.2lb since the food was set to expire soon and I didn't want to stock up on stuff that would go bad before I could use it.

Anywho, I ended up with a bag of the Red Meat Small Bites.

Ingredients: 
Beef, Lamb Meal, Potatoes, Eggs, Sunflower Oil, Buffalo, Lamb, Venison, Herring Oil, Natural Flavors, Apples, Carrots, Tomatoes, Alfalfa Sprouts, Cottage Cheese, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins: (Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E Supplement, Betaine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Beta Carotene, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Folic Acid), Minerals: (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper, Dried Chicory Root, Direct-Fed Microbials: (Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product)

Guaranteed Analisys:
Crude Protein (Min)     42.0 %
Crude Fat (Min)     22.0 %
Crude Fiber (Max)     2.5 %
Moisture (Max)     10.0 %
Carbohydrates NFE (Max)     15.0 %
Linoleic Acid (an Omega-6 Fatty Acid) (Min)     1.2 %
Vitamin E (Min)     300.0 IU/kg
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) (Min)     500.0 mg/kg
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Min)     0.4 %
DHA + EPA (Min)     0.1 %
Total Microorganisms (Min)     90,000,000.0 CFU/lb
4370.0 kcal/kg
27.0 kcal/cup


This is the highest protein dry food Conker has eaten since I attempted to feed him Orijen Puppy way back in St. Louis. (If you don't know already, that did not go very well at all.) Conker normally gets a protein level that's identical to the one in this food with the homemade stuff, but this is dry and that is packed with moisture.
This bag should last for the rest of the month. I might add in some canned or an egg every now and then, but not every day like I do with most other kibbles.

EVO's website has a feeding calculator that can be used to determine how much food a dog should get. I generally do not follow the guidelines on bags or websites since they are usually wrong when it comes to my dogs, but it can give a starting place if one is not sure how much to feed of a new food. (They almost always overestimate by a lot how much to feed.) Conker has been getting one cup a day, but that could change.

Anyways, so far he's been able to digest it fine with no problems. I had to switch him off the Fromm cold turkey because of the digestive problems but he handled the switch without problems. (Sometimes he does not.)

Switching things up

So, I found a bag of EVO Red Meat for cheap, and since it's got the closest expiration date, I will be trying it out. I'm going to put the Fromm Salmon on hold for now, since when I began to feed it to Conker, he started having odd poop problems that I haven't seen in a long long time. If they continue, then I will investigate further. But for now, I'm hoping that a food change will stop the nasty from occurring.

EVO Wild Cravings: Herring

I've seen these treats a couple times in the past but for some reason I've never picked them up.  I decided today to give them a try.  You can read about them on it's website.

The package is actually teal, not blue.
Anyways, I got these for $4.99 and it contains 10 ounces of treats.  One thing I liked about these was the fish.  They are fish-based treats and fish treats, at least in my area, normally cost a lot more than other treats.  They also have glucosamine and chondroitin in them.

Ingredients: Herring, Herring Meal, Peas, Pea Fiber, Pumpkin, Tomatoes, Sunflower Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, a Natural source of Vitamin E), Herring Oil, Apples, Carrots, Potassium Chloride, Cottage Cheese, Dried Chicory Root, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondoitin Sulfate, Minerals (Zinc Protoinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Protoinate, Manganese Protoinate, Calcium Iodate), Vitamins (Absorbic Acid, Vitamin E Supplement,Betaine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Ninacin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta Caratone, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Botin, Folic Acid)

I like how there's two fish ingredients, though they are the same, at the beginning of the list.  I think all the vitamin and mineral supplements are somewhat unnecessary for a treat however, on the bag it states that:  "EVO Wild Cravings Herring Formula Baked Dog Treats are formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for adult dog maintenance.  Therefore, you can feed these treats exclusively to your pet as their sole source of nutrition.  If you choose to feed a smaller amount, please reduce your pet's meal size by the same amount you're giving your pet in these treats.  Always adjust the total amount of food and/or treats to maintain or achieve an ideal body condition."
That's pretty interesting.  It's also got this printed below:

Never seen one of those on a bag of treats or food before.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min)        33 %
Crude Fat (min)        13 %
Crude Fiber (max)        3 %
Moisture (max)        10 %
Linoleic Acid (Omega-6 Fatty Acid) (min)        1 %
Carbohydrates NFE (max)        33 %
Vitamin E (min)        250 IU/kg
Vitamin C (min)        250 mg/kg
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min)        1.8 %
Glucosamine (min)        689 mg/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate (min)        574 mg/kg

There is a fair amount of glucosamine and chondroitin, more chondroitin (compared to the glucosamine) than I've seen in other joint treats so far.  As a food I guess this is okay for somewhat more active dogs but I haven't really looked into that.  Also, I think feeding just this to anything bigger than a Papillon would cost a lot.

There are four shapes in the bag.  Each one is about 1 1/4 inch long, so they aren't really small but aren't huge either.
Taste wise Conker loved these.  They are crunchy but softer than most crunchy treats and are easily crumbled so they may not hold up too well if they are stuck in a pocket.  They don't smell horrid like some other fish-based treats so if you aren't into stinky treats, you might like these.  As a treat the price is good, as a food not so much but I'm basing the price rating on these being treats.

For those of you who care about this, EVO is owned by Natura who sold out to Proctor and Gamble.  If you don't like P&G then ignore these treats but if you don't give a darn then go ahead and buy them.  They don't appear to contain any horrible low-quality ingredients so I think they are safe.