# Pets 4 life



## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

anyone know anything about it , we just started carrying it at the pet store i work at 
does it look ok to you raw feeders

http://www.pets4life.com/


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Sounds good but they give the list of ingredients in alphabetical order.
I'd like to see them in order of % in the product.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Bob Scott said:


> Sounds good but they give the list of ingredients in alphabetical order.
> I'd like to see them in order of % in the product.



When I clicked on individual products, I found the ingredients listed properly.

http://www.pets4life.com/products/raw-pet-food/dog-food-lamb/

Honey ... it surprises me to see a sugar ahead of the lamb bones in the lamb product.


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## Butch Cappel (Aug 12, 2007)

Connie is right about the honey being listed before the lamb bones, which made the dog food salesman in me curious. When you look at the percentages as Bob wanted to do, you get 11% protein. Lambs meat or most any of the red meats should average between 18-23 percent protein, so that eleven percent makes me think the total volume of meat may be pretty low, not individual ingredients they are listed in order of weight, but the total volume.

So the way to know if the dog food company is playing label games is to always look at the fat content. You can count vegetable protein in your label and pass AFCCO so the protein % can seem good, but fat only comes from meat. If a dog food says it is meat based, meaning the majority weight from meat, as I would think a raw diet should be, the fat volume will always be over 12% this has fat at 9% so your vegetable content in this food is really high.

With these percentages the food is a vegetable based food so your biggest problem with this food may be keeping Bugs Bunny out of your carrot patch


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Butch, the percentage of protein in the food is actually appropriate because they calculate it in dry matter form. It would be more appropriate to compare a raw diet with a canned food as the water % is going to be similar. Like something like EVO 95% beef canned food, which by law must contain 95% beef as labeled, is still "only" 10.5% protein due to it being something around 76% moisture (water).


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Butch Cappel said:


> Connie is right about the honey being listed before the lamb bones, which made the dog food salesman in me curious. When you look at the percentages as Bob wanted to do, you get 11% protein. Lambs meat or most any of the red meats should average between 18-23 percent protein, so that eleven percent makes me think the total volume of meat may be pretty low, not individual ingredients they are listed in order of weight, but the total volume.
> 
> So the way to know if the dog food company is playing label games is to always look at the fat content. You can count vegetable protein in your label and pass AFCCO so the protein % can seem good, but fat only comes from meat. If a dog food says it is meat based, meaning the majority weight from meat, as I would think a raw diet should be, the fat volume will always be over 12% this has fat at 9% so your vegetable content in this food is really high.
> 
> With these percentages the food is a vegetable based food so your biggest problem with this food may be keeping Bugs Bunny out of your carrot patch



Similar to Maren's comment. The meat % in any given dry food is a wet weight before combining the "ingredients". 
that can be very misleading.
Fat content can be a part of the oil added in dry. Usually leftover grease that is sprayed on in the processing of the product.


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## Butch Cappel (Aug 12, 2007)

Absolutely Maren, thanks. Bob if the oil is added I think it has to be listed as an ingredient for labeling?


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Yes, it would have to be on the label. That's usually what animal digest is on many kibbles, which is a cooked down reduction added for flavor. Same for the fat. I've seen the kibble come off the line before it's been sprayed with fats sources at the Natura plant (they use high quality oils, like sunflower oil, and not unnamed, mystery sourced fat). It has a fluffier feel than standard kibble. Tastes a bit different too. Yes, I have tried a piece before and after.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Thanks Maren!
That "animal digest" on the label can often be nothing more then recovered cooking oil from an eating establishment.
Similar to how hog farmers used to recover garbage for their hogs. You get what you get.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Well...strictly speaking, "animal digest" is more like cooked down or hydrolyzed leftover animal parts, not really restaurant refuse. It's a very...erm..."green" practice and all. The circle of life and everything... :-\":lol:


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> Well...strictly speaking, "animal digest" is more like cooked down or hydrolyzed leftover animal parts, not really restaurant refuse. It's a very...erm..."green" practice and all. The circle of life and everything... :-\":lol:


 You mean when you have your vet put a dog down and don't take it home with you, or a farmer has a cow that died of unknown causes?
What your saying is it's the stuff the knacker man hauls off to the rendering plant. :-& :lol::lol:;-)
Most people don't have a clue what's in their dog's kibble. :lol::lol::lol:


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