IAMS LAMB MEAL AND RICE

IAMS LAMB MEAL AND RICE
Calories
3,551 kcal/kg
341 kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis
Nutrient (percent)
Crude Protein, minimum 22.0
Crude Fat, minimum 12.0
Crude Fiber, maximum 5.0
Moisture, maximum 10.0
Omega-6 Fatty Acids, minimum 2.0*
Omega-3 Fatty Acids, minimum 0.2*
*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.
Iams® ProActive Health™ Adult Lamb Meal & Rice Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for Maintenance.
Manufactured under U.S. Patent Nos. 5,616,569, 5,932,258 and 6,093,418; other U.S. and foreign patents pending.

Feeding Guidelines
Weight of Dog (lbs) Dry cups per day
3 1/4 - 1/2
10 3/4 - 1
20 1 1/4 - 1 1/2
30 2 - 2 1/4
40 2 1/4 - 2 3/4
50 2 1/4 - 2 3/4
60 2 1/2 - 3
70 2 3/4 - 3 1/4
80 3 - 3 1/2
100 3 1/2 - 4

Ingredients
Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Corn Grits, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Ground Whole Grain Barley, Dried Beet Pulp, Fish Meal, Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Caramel, Choline Chloride, Flax Meal, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), DL-Methionine, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Monosodium Phosphate, Rosemary Extract.

LAMB MEAL is the dry rendered (cooked down) product from lamb tissues, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. Lamb meal is simply lamb meat with the moisture removed, making it suitable for use in dry food. Before you buy a product containing lamb meal, ask the manufacturer about the origin of the lamb meal they use. This is a great ingredient to start out with! If it were just lamb and not lamb meal, it wouldnt be as good because lamb is 70-80% water.

BREWERS RICE is the small milled fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice.
Brewer's rice is a lower quality rice product that is missing many of the nutrients found in ground rice and ground brown rice. Since it is the second ingredient in this formula, we can only assume that it is being used as a cheap filler.

CORN MEAL is the entire corn kernel, finely ground.
While the whole corn kernel is nutritious, corn is considered to be highly allergenic. Being the third ingredient also shows us that it is being used as another filler.

GROUND WHOLE GRAIN SORGHUMis the ground grain of the sorghum plant.
Sorghum is a member of the grass family; its leaves and stalk resemble corn but it does not have ears. Although sorghum is a good source of carbohydrates, it is low in digestibility and therefore avoided by me.

CORN GRITS are coarsely ground grains from which the bran and germ have been removed, usually screened to uniform particle size.
Corn grits would be considered a grain fraction, missing its complete host of nutrients. Therefore, i would recommend avoiding this ingredient, especially if it is high on the ingredient list.

CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL consists of the dry, ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices. Chicken by-product meal is an inconsistent ingredient because of the multiple organs used, their constantly changing proportions, and their questionable nutritional value. Chicken by-product meal is much less expensive and less digestible than chicken meal.

CHICKEN FAT is obtained from the tissues of chickens in the commercial process of rendering or extracting. Chicken fat is the highest of all animal sources in linoleic acid (over 23%), an important element for skin and coat health. I would definitely recommend chicken fat! But, be aware that products with a lot of fat may not be suitable for puppies. You will find that a lot of grain free dog foods will fit this category. Please contact your vet before starting your puppy on a regiment of grain free dog food. And if they tell you that you should try Science diet, Iams, or Eukanuba, then you should switch vets because they don’t have you or your pets’ interest in mind.

BARLEY is a major food and animal feed crop, a member of the grass family Poaceae. Ground barley is the entire barley kernel, ground or chopped.
Ground Barley is a good quality source of carbohydrates. The only reason you should stay away from Barley is if your dog is gluten intolerant. Some signs of intolerance will be vomiting, loose stool, diarrhea, or even bad gas. Changing your dog’s food too quickly can also produce many of these symptoms so talk to your vet before you do anything drastic.

DRIED BEET PULP is the dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned, freed from crowns, leaves, and sand, and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. Dried beet pulp is added to some pet foods to act as a fibrous stool hardener. This ingredient is quite controversial in the dog food industry. Some focus on the fact that it is a good source or fiber and other argue that it is used as a filler and that better sourses of fiber could be used. For the most part, this ingredient is usually pretty far down the list and should be taken lightly. Unless it is one of the top ingredients, don’t pay too much attention to it.

FISH MEAL is the clean, rendered (cooked down), dried ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil. Fish meal is made from unspecified types of fish. As long as you know that the fish is free of any artificial preservatives (ethoxyquin) I would still say that this is a good ingredient even though we don’t know what type of fish it came from. Since this is the 10th ingredient, it doesn’t really help or hinder my opinion.

CHICKEN FLAVOR is added to dog food to make it more appealing to your pet. For most cases, if the dog food has good ingredients, they won’t need to use any flavorings.

EGG PRODUCT is product obtained from egg graders, egg breakers, and/or hatchery operations that is dehydrated, handled as liquid, or frozen.
Egg product consists of the unused leftovers from eggs for human production. It can include undeveloped eggs, shells, and other tissues unfit for human consumption. This is also much cheaper than the whole egg, but not near as beneficial.

EVERYTHING ELSE on the list seems to be ok, and i will mention that they do use natural preservatives. (mixed tocopherals)

When looking at a dog food i find it is important to look at three things.
1.) The guaranteed analysis-This will show you the crude percentages of four main things: Protein, fat, fiber, and moisture. Personally, i like to see the protein over 23%, the fat between 10% and 22%, the fiber will almost always be 4%, and the moisture can be whatever you want it to be. When it’s higher the kibble is softer and when it’s lower the kibble is crunchier. But I will say that i have not found a good semi-soft kibble in my research. Plus, it is harder to keep semi-soft dog foods fresh longer. The guaranteed analysis seems ok, but i would like to see protein a little higher, and the moisture is at 10% which means that it is a hard kibble.
2.) The second thing i look at is the ME, or metabolizable energy. These are shown in kcals per cup, pound, or kg. The higher this number is the better. This formula has 341 kcals per cup which is a little on the low side. Some weight management formulas could get away with this amount but that’s just because it is used to slim your dog down. Metabolizable Energy alone will not tell you if it is a good dog food. Kcals can come from bad ingredients and good ingredients alike. Some dog foods have upwards of 500 kcals per cup!
3.) The last of the three main things i look at are the ingredients. Usually i look at them first. If the ingredients are bad then i don’t need to look at the other two areas. If the ingredients are good then you can get a better picture of the amounts of those good ingredients from guaranteed analysis and the ME.

THE YEARLY COST of this formula (for a 75lb dog) will be about $232. During that time your dog would have eaten 251lbs of food. This is about average as far as amounts of food go. For some dog foods the amount are over 400lbs! So your amount of "waste" would be normal. Some of the formulas for IAMS don’t show the feeding recommendations for 75lb dogs so i will show you the yearly costs for a 50lb dog and the costs for a 75lb dog:
Proctor & Gamble Iams ProActive Health Weight Control--$194 (50lb dog)
Proctor & Gamble Iams ProActive Health Adult MiniChunks--$171 (50lb dog)
Proctor & Gamble Iams ProActive Health Adult Chunks--$150 (50lb dog)
Proctor & Gamble Iams ProActive Health Adult Large Breed--$233 (75lb dog)
Proctor & Gamble Iams ProActive Health Active Maturity Large Breed--$222 (75lb dog)
Proctor & Gamble Iams ProActive Health Weight Control Large Breed--$234 (75lb dog)

IN CONCLUSION IAMS has a good first ingredient and a good fat, but almost everything else is low quality or unrecommended. I would not suggest buying this brand, and would instead suggest Diamond Naturals or nutro Natural choice, which are a better quality food and are in the same yearly price range.