SHeineman's Full Review: Innova Adult Dog Food Dry 16.5lb Bag
My whole experience with Innova dry dog food comes from me being a bad doggie Mom! The two Cairn Terrors (no, that is not a typo, and yes, I know how to spell Terrier! :) ) have eaten the super-premium dog food Flint River Ranch for a long time now. The oldest has eaten it for about two years now, and the youngest has eaten it for the almost one year since he came to live with me. I've always been pleased with that food and had no desire to change.
But then I was a bad Mom. Flint River Ranch is available only by mail order. 99.999% of the time, that is so convenient. Enter the holidays and a busy time at work for me. One morning I went to feed the Terrors and noticed that the bad was nearly empty. UH OH!!! I knew there wasn't enough time to get a new bag shipped to me with the madness of shipping times over the holiday period, so off I went to the local pet supply store to pick up a bag of trusty Nutro.
I was surprised to see that this pet supply store was now selling Innova pet food and treat products. I'd researched Innova before choosing to feed the oldest Terror Flint River Ranch. I felt, and still do, that it is a high quality food, but availability and Innova's customer service made me choose Flint River Ranch instead (more on these later).
So, I decided to pick up a bag of it to try. Innova is definitely not an inexpensive food! In fact, a 6.6 lb. bag was $10.49. To me, price is NO object when it comes to feeding the Terrors. Not only do they deserve the best, but I find the higher quality foods to be more cost effective in feeding amounts and fewer vet bills in the long run.
The Ingredients
The first things that impressed me most about Innova is a great ingredients list. When looking at a dog food, I concentrate on the top five ingredients. Those are the ingredients that make up the largest percentage of the nutrition you are feeding your dog. Innova's top five ingredients are:
*Turkey
*Chicken
*Chicken Meal
*Whole Ground Barley
*Whole Ground Brown Rice
With so many of the grocery store and pet store foods having at least three to four grains in the top five ingredients, some having grains as even the top three ingredients, the amount of meat in this product is wonderful! Dogs don't need the huge amounts of grains we tend to give them, and this is a refreshing change.
I have to list some of the other ingredients as well. You'd think this was the list of a human product! It includes apples, carrots, potatoes, cottage cheese, alfalfa, and many other ingredients you will recognize.
The protein level is 24%. This may seem high to some, but higher quality protein at a higher level is supposed to be much better for dogs than lower protein levels of lower quality proteins.
The Quality of the Ingredients
Do a search online for dog food ingredients. The information you will find on what those ingredient listings really mean will disgust you. Thus I want a food that uses only human grade ingredients. Innova will only use human grade meats and grains in their food products. If I won't eat it myself, why should my dogs?
In addition, I will not use any food that uses BHA, BHT, or Ethoxyquin in their products. These have been linked to cancer in dogs. Many list these ingredients right on the bag. A dirty little secret is that often it is used and not listed as the meat is preserved before it gets to the dog food manufacturer, who is then not required to list it. I want a product that denies using these products in any form. Innova DOES NOT use chemical preservatives. Their food is preserved naturally with Vitamin E.
The Feeding Tests
This particular Innova product is a dry food. It's also available in a canned version with a similar ingredient list. The kibble itself contains small flat triangular shaped pieces. My dogs are around 15-16lbs., and the kibble is easy for them to crunch and eat.
Innova lists a quite detailed feeding amount chart on the back of the bag (although the print is kind of small. You may need to get out your magnifying glass!). The chart lists weights of every 10lbs up to 140lbs. The amounts for each weight are grouped into activity level categories of Inactive, Moderate, Active, and Performance. I tend to find that the amounts on dog food bags are way more than my dogs need, and they both tend to get chubby at times, so I choose the Inactive amounts, even though I'd describe both as moderate. For a 10lb, inactive dog, the feeding amount is 0.65 cup per day. They weigh a bit more than 10 lbs., but from my experience with Flint River Ranch, this amount fills them up and keeps them from gaining a lot of weight.
The Terrors are definitely not picky eaters. If they missed a meal, I'd be rushing them to the vet fearing a serious illness! So, taste tests really are not effective here! But for what it's worth, they do enjoy the taste of this food.
Does it Work?
The dogs have done well on this food. Less grains as fillers means less stool. I've found that this is a major plus of a high quality food, and Innova is no exception.
I must qualify some of my *Opinion Details* from the bottom. I said that I noticed no change in coat, weight, or energy level. That is because, IMO, I was feeding a high quality food before. If you switch from a grocery store or pet store food, you probably will notice a difference more quickly.
Customer Service
I mentioned above that when I chose Flint River Ranch over Innova when first choosing dog foods for my oldest Terror, one reason for that choice was the company's customer service. I contacted a Flint River Ranch distributor for samples, and she happily sent them a few days later. One month later, I still had not received Innova samples. I called again and requested them. Another month went by before I received the samples. As I would have to order the food from their website, I didn't feel as though I could trust them to get my delivery to me quickly. I have never had a problem with this since starting on Flint River Ranch around two years ago.
Innova's Website
Innova's parent company, Natura, has a wonderful website located at www.naturapet.com. You can find information on Innova and their other foods, including California Natural, which is supposed to be one of the best on the market for allergy prone dogs. You can also find lots of comparisons between Natura products and other foods as well as definitions of what many dog food ingredients really are.
You can also find a store locator so you can find a retailer near you.
Switching your Dog to Innova
Here's a warning here. Innova is a super premium, highly concentrated dog food. Switching any food for your dog may cause tummy upsets. Switching to any super premium food is highly likely to cause some major diarrhea. When switching, do it gradually. Try 1/4 of the Innova in place of 1/4 of the dog's regular food for a few days. If the pup handles that okay, up the amount to half and half. Do the switchover very slowly, and you should be okay.
Innova versus Flint River Ranch
When I purchased the bag of Innova, I fully expected to just purchase the one bag then go right back to our old standby Flint River Ranch when we were done with that. Unfortunately, one of the Terrors ended up with a severe GI problem that kept her at the vet's office for two days (see my review on Beggin' Strips which probably caused her problem). I hated to change her food as she was recovering from that, so I got another bag of that. To be honest, I am so pleased with the convenience of ordering Flint River Ranch and having it shipped to me, and the cost is about the same as buying the Innova in the store, so I will probably go back to Flint River Ranch once this bag of Innova is gone.
But, it's nice to know that there are companies out there that sell such high quality products that I have access to in my own town.
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