# Now brand dog food



## dex'smom (Jan 11, 2009)

Hi has anyone tried this brand or have opinions.? I have heard a couple recommendations for it potentially being a better alternative to acana for small dogs


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

I haven't heard of it.... is it new on the market?:huh:


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## wooflife (Aug 8, 2007)

It's made by Petcurean, a Canadian company that patterns the manufacturing of it's foods after Orijen and Acana. The company has been around for about 3-4 years but just became well known in the last year or so. 

The first ingredient is chicken and then chicken meal. The food has very high quality ingredients and is lower protein than both Orijen and Acana - it is grain free. They make an adult version and a small dog version with tiny kibble. The small dog version has parsley and green tea to supposedly improve oral health and reduce teeth cleaning - this is a claim that company makes however I wouldn't count on it working long term. 

I do sell both the adult and small breed in my store - and I have heard that dogs love the taste. If your dog needs a lower protein it's a good choice, however I prefer the Acana because you can rotate the protein sources within the formulas.


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## PreciousPrince (Feb 27, 2006)

I think it's a good company - they also have the Go line which has grains if the other is too rich. I gave Perri some of the Go when we were travelling and he didn't really like it, but he's not a big fan of kibble anyway.


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## wooflife (Aug 8, 2007)

The Go! brand does have canned and kibble Grain Free. Go! Endurance is the grain free kibble that is comparable to EVO or Orijen per Petcurean. 

The big difference between the Now! and Go! food lines is that one uses real meat while the other uses only meal in the recipes.


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## wooflife (Aug 8, 2007)

wooflife said:


> The first ingredient is chicken and then chicken meal. The food has very high quality ingredients and is lower protein than both Orijen and Acana - it is grain free.


Whoops I mis-quoted the ingredients - They use turkey in this one - no meal at all. 

De-boned turkey, potato, whole dried egg, pea, flaxseed, apple, coconut oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), tomato, salmon, de-boned duck, sun dried alfalfa, carrots, pumpkin, bananas, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, papaya, pineapple, grapefruit, lentil beans, broccoli, spinach, cottage cheese, alfalfa sprouts, dried kelp, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, lecithin, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, vitamins: ( vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vit. C), niacin, inositol, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, d-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, beta-carotene, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement) , minerals: (zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, iron proteinate, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), taurine, DL-methionine, L-Lysine, algae extract, chicory root extract, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus casei, enterococcus faecium, bifidobacterium thermophilum, dried aspergillus niger fermentation extract, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, yeast extract, yucca schidigera extract, marigold extract, garlic powder, L-carnitine, dried rosemary.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

I have a very limited selection of brands that I chose to bring in and Petcurean's Now! is one that I did bring in. Leslie did a great job telling you about it. The other thing I really like about Petcurean is the meat they use is hormone free and the baking process, if my memory serves, is the kibble is baked at a very low temperature.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> I have a very limited selection of brands that I chose to bring in and Petcurean's Now! is one that I did bring in. Leslie did a great job telling you about it. The other thing I really like about Petcurean is the meat they use is hormone free and the baking process, if my memory serves, is the kibble is baked at a very low temperature.


Crystal,
I looked on your site & could not find this listed? Where is it posted please?


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Meal is meat with the moisture removed, correct?


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

edelweiss said:


> Crystal,
> I looked on your site & could not find this listed? Where is it posted please?


I haven't set up a UPS or FedEx account yet and so I don't have the larger bags of food on my site since it would be a ridiculously high price to ship it USPS. But if you are interested in a small bag, I can fit that in a Medium Flat Rate USPS box. You can either PM me or Email me at [email protected] and I can give you any info you are needing.

Here is the website for Petcurean Now Small Breed Formula:
http://petcurean.com/files/File/small breed sell sheet website.pdf


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

Nikki's Mom said:


> Meal is meat with the moisture removed, correct?


Yes, that is my understanding as well. I think what Leslie was inferring is when it's meal vs. fresh meat, it's just one more step away from the product in it's natural state. I've read differing opinions on whether it's better to have a meat listed first in the ingredients or a meal listed first. There are really great foods that the WDJ has on their 'Approved' List and some have the meat listed first and some have meal listed first. I think the most important thing is that they identify the what type of meat it is. I shudder to think what is in a food when it says something like 'poultry by-product meal' or 'Meat and Bone Meal'. :yucky:


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## wooflife (Aug 8, 2007)

Nikki's Mom said:


> Meal is meat with the moisture removed, correct?



Meal is rendered meat and bone. However, Petcurean uses high quality meal made with Turkey from local farms - it does not contain the scary parts or low quality meats found in lesser quality pet foods.

Yes Crystal is correct that they do cook their kibble at lower temperatures.

Crystal - have you found info that explains that "meal" is not rendered, i.e. uses a different cooking process?


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

wooflife said:


> Crystal - have you found info that explains that "meal" is not rendered, i.e. uses a different cooking process?


From some articles in the WDJ from past years and then doing a quick search, my understanding is, for example chicken meal, is simply chicken that has been baked to remove the moisture. Some arguments that say it's better to have chicken meal listed first vs. chicken. The list of ingredients goes by weight. Chicken has a lot of water in it so once it is cooked it may not technically be the highest content of listed ingredients. So the chicken will be cooked or baked to remove the moisture in one way or another to make it kibble. I'm not sure baking or cooking human grade meat is considered rendering. I have yet to find an actual definition of what rendering is when it's linked with meat.

This was taken from Flint River Ranches WebSite and I thought it a good place to start in trying to define what is and isn't rendered meat. (I don't carry Flint River Ranch but do think it a high quality food.)
 *What Are Animal By-Products and Rendered Meats?*

  Animal by-products are ground, rendered, and cleaned slaughtered meat carcass parts such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, bones, heads, and intestines (and a small amount of feathers in the case of chicken) — yes, by-products are as gross and disgusting as they sound. The quality of animal by-products is very inconsistent between batches.  In many cases, by-product meals are derived from "4-D" meat sources — defined as food animals that have been rejected for human consumption because they were presented to the meat packing plant as "Dead, Dying, Diseased or Disabled." 

 *AAFCO Definition for Meat By-Products* 
"Meat by-products is the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hoofs. It shall be suitable for use in animal food. If it bears name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereto." ​  Animal by-products are commonly found in the majority of lower-grade pet foods and even many of the larger name brands that market themselves as "premium pet food" manufacturers, including Science Diet (even their prescription diet product line), Purina (both Purina One and Purina Pro Plan), and Iams / Eukanuba. Ingredients listed as "beef, chicken, and/or poultry byproducts" on pet food labels are not required to include actual meat, and "rendered meat" on labels can refer to ANY rendered mammal meat, including dogs and cats! 
 There are no bones, meat byproducts, rendered meats, or indigestible parts in the meat sources used in Flint River Ranchpet foods and treats. As an example, the chicken meal used by Flint River Ranch is strictly human-quality chicken flesh with some edible skin — the same as you would cook for your family. The chicken is cooked at the supplier to maintain freshness and to reduce the possibility of contamination in handling and shipping uncooked product. It is processed into a "Ground Meal" form with most of the water removed for ease of handling and reduced shipping costs.


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## wooflife (Aug 8, 2007)

I just hung up the phone with a lovely representative from Petcurean and she helped me understand this. 

Rendering is just a cooking process. Any "meal" was derived by using the rendering cooking process. 

Meat meal, poultry meal, by-product meals etc. usually contain the scary stuff. 

Turkey Meal for example ONLY contains clean muscle meat and bone. No offal no feathers, beaks, feet etc. Rendering is the cooking process that reduces the meat and bone to the meal form. 

You always want to know exactly what kind of meal is included in the food. Unfortunately rendering has become associated with only the processing of the scary parts/waste into a stable usable form. 

Hope that makes sense. Crystal let me know if that sounds fishy to you I can always ask more questions.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

wooflife said:


> I just hung up the phone with a lovely representative from Petcurean and she helped me understand this.
> 
> Rendering is just a cooking process. Any "meal" was derived by using the rendering cooking process.
> 
> ...


It sounds right to me. Basically it's what the info that Flint River Ranch stated on their site so to me, that's a good indication. lol I hesitate to use the term 'rendered' when talking about meal because it does have a negative connotation to it. Personally, the conclusion I've come to is whether it is meal or the actual meat listed first does not make the difference as to quality of food. It's the quality of the meat and that the source of meat is identified, not a by-product and that it be listed first. And I love the fact that Petcurean uses hormone free meat. :thumbsup:


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## poochie2 (Jan 14, 2010)

I have tried many foods with my malt. I always prefered the grain-free. 
I used Acana for a bit but found it was too rich in protein for my malt and it stunk like crazy. 
I am so happy with the NOW Grain-free pet food. I use the small breed kibble and my malt loves it and it smells very good. She is very picky so I finally have found a good kibble that is MODERATE protein, MODERATE fat and with very good ingredients geared towards a small breed dog.
I use Weruva canned food in the morning and NOW Grain-free in the evenings.
I highly reccommend the NOW brand especially for picky little ones.


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## Rocky's Mom (Apr 10, 2010)

That is what I always heard.



Nikki's Mom said:


> Meal is meat with the moisture removed, correct?


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## Tanner's Mom (May 27, 2005)

It gets a 4 Star rating from Dog Food Advisor.


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## wooflife (Aug 8, 2007)

Tanner's Mom said:


> It gets a 4 Star rating from Dog Food Advisor.



Yep - I think Dog Food Analysis gives it a lower rating because of the protein content and the real meat. They prefer high quality meat meal and a higher protein percentage.


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