Amount of protein in dog food

[Pam]

I currently feed Buddy Nutro Lamb and Rice.  I am looking for a better food for him.  I noticed that most of the brands recommended here on the food group, have varied amounts of protien listed.  They go from a low of 20% to as much as 34%.  How important is the amount of protien in a dog food and what percent of protien should I be looking at?

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

It depends on whether you feed grain-free or not. Grain-free foods are generally higher in protein - usually over 30%.  It is really up to you.  If Buddy has been fine on the Nutro, you might want to try a healthy grain food, such as Fromm.  That is one of our favorites.  I feed that to Peri and the protein measures anywhere from 24 to 26%.  I rotate between the 4-star formulas (duck, pork, chicken, etc) to keep things interesting.  Only problem is that sometimes Fromm is harder to find.  Do you have good local pet supply stores around you that sell these types of foods? 

 

We also recommend Blue Buffalo and Solid Gold, both of which are sold in Petsmart.

[Pam]

We don't have a pet store in our area that sells Fromm, however we do have a Petsmart and Pet Supply Plus close to us.  I will check out Solid Gold and Blue Buffalo, but it seems I saw something about a Blur Buffalo recall?

Thanks for the information

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It was a voluntary recall which only affected one line- the Wilderness grain-free line - and was not related to anything wrong with the food itself. A handful of dogs (so a very tiny percentage, something like .00001 of all the dogs eating the food across the country) had elevated vitamin E levels and the only common denominator was that all 16 dogs were on that food. The food was tested and there did not appear to be a problem with it; the owner of one of the dogs is a vet, and she herself felt that it had something to do with some propensity in these few dogs themselves. The illness in each case was treated with no lasting harm, and it remains a mystery; we do have the detailed articles here in TFG somewhere, but our search function is on the fritz.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I personally think that anything under 25% is too low, unless the dog has a medical condition that calls for a low protein diet. Orijen and some of the other grain-frees actually have protein contents of 38-40%, and they're highly recommended. Grain-free foods are going to be higher in protein than foods that contain grains.

Protein content is one of the most important factors in a dog's diet. Protein is their natural food, and it's necessary for every body function. It would be pretty hard for a healthy dog to get too much protein.

I wouldn't choose a food solely by the protein content, though. As long as it's in that 25-40% range, you're fine. IMO, higher is better, but lots of people are feeding foods with 26% protein and their dogs are happy and healthy. It's more about finding a food that is available, priced within your budget, agrees with your dog's digestive system, and is something your dog likes. You may need to experiemnt a little to find what works for you.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

22% is a little low; the other Life Protection formulas have a bit more- 24% for the Chicken and 26% for the Lamb. Maybe you could try one of those for the next bag.

But it doesn't mean that this is a poor quality food, or that your dogs will get sick from it. The ingredients are still much better than what they were getting, and the source of the ingredients is safe. And you aren't giving your dogs menadione sodium bisulfate anymore, which is what was in Beneful and most of the other grocery store brands. Read this if you want to feel better about switching foods:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=menadione

Lots of our dogs are getting 21-24% in some of the formulas we recommend, and are all doing fine. So don't worry.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Jared you should be good to go.  Peri is eating a chicken Fromm right now that is only 24% protein. I think she is super healthy.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I think a lower protein food is fine for some dogs, not fine for others. Cooper is high energy so I feed her Orijen which is about 38% protein, but for less active dogs, a lower protein works well