General Question Pure Vita dog food from Nutri-Source

[Scueva]

But "meal" is an excellent ingredient (of course, only if the "meal" is a named meat like Salmon Meal - not "mystery meat meal"). Meal is basically meat concentrates which would have 3 times the amount of protein per volume than plain meat. The Primitive Natural formula of Earthborn Holistics, for example, has 3 meat "meals" as its first ingredients and it costs over $10 less than Fromm.

I so wanted to switch to raw, though. Prey model type. I'm just scared of the cost... I need to figure out some co-op or something that I can get cheaper meat than my regular grocery.

"meal" is good for manufacturer as it is cheaper to produce than actual meat. If I was still feeding kibble I would use a kibble that is 100% Meal free such as -spring naturals grain free. It's pricey but worth it in my opinion.

 

[anatess]

"meal" is good for manufacturer as it is cheaper to produce than actual meat. If I was still feeding kibble I would use a kibble that is 100% Meal free such as -spring naturals grain free. It's pricey but worth it in my opinion. Www.springnaturals.com

Meal is "actual meat". And yes, Meal is NEVER better than it's whole meat counterpart. But, even then, cheaper does not always mean bad. And more expensive does not always mean it is better. A "meal free" dog food that is low in protein or derives most of its protein from plants is worse than a "meal full" dog food with its protein coming mostly from animal meal.

A "meal free" dog food with the meat listed as the first ingredient means lots of moisture (usually 70% moisture and only 15% protein)... when that moisture is extruded to make the dry kibble, that protein becomes small in volume compared to the other ingredients. Now, meat in meal form contains about 65% protein and a lot less moisture (dried up meat). When that meal is processed to make dry kibble, that protein content remains at least 4 times higher than its whole meat counterpart. So, if you have an ingredient list like this: "Turkey, Peas" compared to "Turkey Meal, Peas", you can bet that the whole Turkey and Peas food has a much lower animal protein content (either a low protein food overall, or a high protein food with a lot of its protein derived from the peas), whereas the "Turkey Meal, Peas" have a much better chance of actually having the protein come from Turkey more than the Peas.

Now, of course, not all meals are created equal... Turkey Meal is quality meat, Animal Meal probably comes from roadkill. Anything that says by-products is bad - like Turkey By-Products Meal more than likely comes from slaughterhouse waste. So, things to avoid: Generic Meats and anything that says By-Products on it - example, Poultry Meal (may come from roadkill birds), Chicken Glandular Meal (may come from nothing but gizzards or stomachs and such), Animal Meal, Meat and Bone Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal... anything that doesn't specify a quality meat (like Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Beef, Lamb, Bison, etc.) and anything that says by-products or glandulars or blood.

I really hate putting down somebody else's dog food choices especially since each dog reacts differently to dog food. But I looked up Spring Naturals... generally, not very good food. Pure-vita is better. Spring Naturals has low protein, high carbs... higher carbs than Pure-vita.

 

[cowsmom]

ok im gonna weigh in here as ive actually fed pure vita and i found it to be a pretty good dog food. i like it because it is truly an limited ingredient food such as if it says salmon then it all salmon. if it says turkey its all turkey so if your dog has allergies this maybe a good choice. as for meals there are much debate about whether they are good or not id say it depends on where they come from and if the company is reputable or not in where they get them from. i agree though that a food that has real chicken with a chicken meal is probably better. im not going to get into all water weight stuff with meals and such. if your dog is pooping alot more on this food then they may not be digesting it all. sarah has nice dark firm poop and not to much of it and she goes maybe 2 or 3 times a day. the only thing about pure vita is i wish it had more protein in it as i think 24 maybe a bit to low for a bully but you can add stuff and make it more protein. all in all i like the food pretty well. is it fromm well no but its not bad food either. oh and pure vita is listed in the dog food ratings under nutri source and its rated a 4 star @Valentine215

 

[kazzy220]

I've never seen this food so can't comment, so I was going to tag our resident food guru [MENTION=2291]cowsmom[/MENTION] for her opinion ... but I see she's already been here!

 

[Valentine215]

ok im gonna weigh in here as ive actually fed pure vita and i found it to be a pretty good dog food. i like it because it is truly an limited ingredient food such as if it says salmon then it all salmon. if it says turkey its all turkey so if your dog has allergies this maybe a good choice. as for meals there are much debate about whether they are good or not id say it depends on where they come from and if the company is reputable or not in where they get them from. i agree though that a food that has real chicken with a chicken meal is probably better. im not going to get into all water weight stuff with meals and such. if your dog is pooping alot more on this food then they may not be digesting it all. sarah has nice dark firm poop and not to much of it and she goes maybe 2 or 3 times a day. the only thing about pure vita is i wish it had more protein in it as i think 24 maybe a bit to low for a bully but you can add stuff and make it more protein. all in all i like the food pretty well. is it fromm well no but its not bad food either. oh and pure vita is listed in the dog food ratings under nutri source and its rated a 4 star @Valentine215

Thank you so much All! So I went to my local petfood store, Healthy Pet, and, as the name implies, they only sell healthy food for pets. The store owner has a Frenchie named Biggie Smalls who roams around the store...he is an adorable dog. ANyhow, the owner said he fed Biggie Pure Vita in the grain free Bison formula. I decided to go with the Earthborn Holistics Meadowfeast and bought some Merrick's canned dog food Grain-free in Bison and Beef. Oh my, did she love that food! I did mix the kibble with the existing one (Pure Vita Salmon and Sweet Potato Grain free). I could tell she liked it right off. I will add frozen green beans and then I would really like to get her off canned altogether...but I really want to transition it pretty slowly so we don't have any gastric distress.

I'll come back to update you all regarding how her coat, smell, weight, etc...are going.

Y'all's input is much appreciated!

 

[cowsmom]

ok just something to add here if your going with a new food then i would maybe hold off on a new canned food and maybe the green beans as if your pup has a reaction to something you wont know if its the new dry food or the canned food or what. maybe transition the food then add the new canned food. just my 2 cents.

 

[Valentine215]

ok just something to add here if your going with a new food then i would maybe hold off on a new canned food and maybe the green beans as if your pup has a reaction to something you wont know if its the new dry food or the canned food or what. maybe transition the food then add the new canned food. just my 2 cents.

Hmmmm....well, she hated the other canned food and wouldn't eat her food. I definitely won't start adding green beans until she is fully transitioned for a while. So, in this case, what would I do? Change the canned...wait to see if there is a reaction and then change over the kibble slowly?

 

[anatess]

Hmmmm....well, she hated the other canned food and wouldn't eat her food. I definitely won't start adding green beans until she is fully transitioned for a while. So, in this case, what would I do? Change the canned...wait to see if there is a reaction and then change over the kibble slowly?

Were you giving her the can before? If so, then just continue with that if she's eating it. Otherwise, don't worry about topping with canned food unless she won't eat just plain kibble. After the transition, you can add the can.

I have 3 dogs and I top their food with one can (9 oz, I believe) shared between all 3 of them. They only eat once a day.

 

[cowsmom]

Hmmmm....well, she hated the other canned food and wouldn't eat her food. I definitely won't start adding green beans until she is fully transitioned for a while. So, in this case, what would I do? Change the canned...wait to see if there is a reaction and then change over the kibble slowly?

well however you do it when you add several new things to a bullies diet I always do one at a time to know what is causing the reaction if there is one. if the kibble n canned are new then add one or the other first before feeding both whichever is easier. I use canned food myself ad a topper

 

[Lunasmommies]

Bringing this thread back from 2013��
Does anyone currently feed this brand to their dog? I just bought a small bag of pure vita kangaroo for my little girl. Hopefully she does well on it and doesnt keep pooping 10 times a day like on the zignature.

 

[Hankster]

Bringing this thread back from 2013��
Does anyone currently feed this brand to their dog? I just bought a small bag of pure vita kangaroo for my little girl. Hopefully she does well on it and doesnt keep pooping 10 times a day like on the zignature.

I did use it with my shih tzu and it was even recommended (as a dry food) by my dog's health food store that generally recommend only raw foods. That was a few years back, but thought id throw it out there for ya

 

[oscarmayer]

That’s funny...we just switched to Zignature from Acana and have noticed a profound increase in poops. Thought it was a getting used to period...perhaps not.

 

[Lunasmommies]

Luna is still pooping a pretty good amount but it could be because we were still mixing the 2 foods together until she got use to it and ran out of the zignature. She is now done with it so tomorrow will be all the new food. Hopefully within a week we will be down to a normal amount of poop!

 

[2bulldogsstuff]

That’s funny...we just switched to Zignature from Acana and have noticed a profound increase in poops. Thought it was a getting used to period...perhaps not.

Thats what I noticed with Brett & Logan too. With Zignature they both seems to poop way more and seems to be thirsty even more. Might have to give another brand a try


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[1Chumly]

That’s funny...we just switched to Zignature from Acana and have noticed a profound increase in poops. Thought it was a getting used to period...perhaps not.

When I switched Monty to Zignature, he poo'd like a champ for several days or so but it all settled down and has been perfectly normal ever since. Well, slight correction there. It was normal till I tried him on their Turkey. It didn't agree with him and he was quite constipated for days. Went back to his normal protein and everything was good again.