Question about Primal

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by Verbena

I thought primal and natures variety was dehydrated?

They actually have a line of frozen raw & freeze dried raw products...no dehydrated products.

[mimimomo]

Hi Jenny, thanks for your email. There may be some confusion based on labeling requirements set by state departments of agriculture in the United States. The first ingredient listed as duck, for example, in our duck formula is followed by duck necks. Our main source of muscle meat in our duck formula is neck meat. However, the first ingredient listing is required by the state departments of agriculture to be used as a "catch all" ingredient. If, for example, we were unable to secure duck necks, we would be allowed to use duck breast. The catch-all ingredient allows us to do so.


We've secured a healthy relationship with our lamb vendors to ensure we won't need to substitute another muscle part for these diets. Thus, we don't need to put a "catch all" ingredient as our first ingredient. The muscle meat in our lamb formula specifically is heart meat. The heart is striated muscle tissue. The heart carries the greatest volume of blood through the body, which makes the heart the most nutrient-rich muscle in the body and is why Primal utilizes this as a source of muscle meat in our formulas.


We've written a blog entry on our website on this exact topic:
http://blog.primalpetfoods.com/post/19313616133/muscle-meat-vs-organ-meat


I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Regards,

Kyle Frautnick
Marketing Director
Primal Pet Foods

t: 415.642.7400 | toll free: 866.566.4652
f: 415.642.7404 | w: primalpetfoods.com
e: kyle@primalpetfoods.com

[mimimomo]

I totally get it now. (happy camper) I kept having tunnel vision when it came to hearts, thinking it = organs. Now I understand (by reading the blog Kyle linked) that it is not considered an organ meat...like Ann & tem_sat was saying. But it didn't click in my mind...til now.

[Teresiana]

That's actually really interesting. Thanks for posting!

[Island Girl]

Thank you for sharing this information!

[margiepickens]

So Natures Variety has the HPP processing right? As does the primal?

[tokipoki]

Originally Posted by margiepickens

So Natures Variety has the HPP processing right? As does the primal?

NV and Primal both use the HPP. If Primal's website is up to date, they state that only the varieties containing poultry utilize the HPP but the red meat ones do not. Stella & Chewy's also uses the HPP.

[Verbena]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

They actually have a line of frozen raw & freeze dried raw products...no dehydrated products.

Oh ok. I was actually looking at it for one of my cats. I need to get him to put on some weight. They eat Natures Variety Instinct. And I started giving him wet Avo.

[Verbena]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

Hi Jenny, thanks for your email. There may be some confusion based on labeling requirements set by state departments of agriculture in the United States. The first ingredient listed as duck, for example, in our duck formula is followed by duck necks. Our main source of muscle meat in our duck formula is neck meat. However, the first ingredient listing is required by the state departments of agriculture to be used as a "catch all" ingredient. If, for example, we were unable to secure duck necks, we would be allowed to use duck breast. The catch-all ingredient allows us to do so.


We've secured a healthy relationship with our lamb vendors to ensure we won't need to substitute another muscle part for these diets. Thus, we don't need to put a "catch all" ingredient as our first ingredient. The muscle meat in our lamb formula specifically is heart meat. The heart is striated muscle tissue. The heart carries the greatest volume of blood through the body, which makes the heart the most nutrient-rich muscle in the body and is why Primal utilizes this as a source of muscle meat in our formulas.


We've written a blog entry on our website on this exact topic:
http://blog.primalpetfoods.com/post/19313616133/muscle-meat-vs-organ-meat


I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Regards,

Kyle Frautnick
Marketing Director
Primal Pet Foods

t: 415.642.7400 | toll free: 866.566.4652
f: 415.642.7404 | w: primalpetfoods.com
e: kyle@primalpetfoods.com

Originally Posted by mimimomo

I totally get it now. (happy camper) I kept having tunnel vision when it came to hearts, thinking it = organs. Now I understand (by reading the blog Kyle linked) that it is not considered an organ meat...like Ann & tem_sat was saying. But it didn't click in my mind...til now.

Thanks for sharing the info.

[Verbena]

I have to ask . . are you finding feeding the primal you a having better teeth results because of the bones in it?

Also the food is very high in protein. Does the protein drop when you rehydrate or is that the number? I can not remember

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by tokipoki

NV and Primal both use the HPP. If Primal's website is up to date, they state that only the varieties containing poultry utilize the HPP but the red meat ones do not. Stella & Chewy's also uses the HPP.

Thank you for this answer, I wasn't aware...I thought all Primal products were HPP'ed. I'm not too concerned about the controversy behind it since I'm not a hard core raw feeder. I actually like the fact that the bacteria is killed off. I understand the risk of re-contamination, so must practice safe handling procedures.

Here's a list of what is HPP'ed & what's not: Primal Pet Foods: Knowledgebase

Originally Posted by Verbena

I have to ask . . are you finding feeding the primal you a having better teeth results because of the bones in it?

Also the food is very high in protein. Does the protein drop when you rehydrate or is that the number? I can not remember

The bones in Primal is very finely ground. Primal Pet Foods: Knowledgebase

I have noticed that when they eat premade raw food, less tartar build up. When they were eating soft canned food, plaque magnets!
As w/all foods that have moisture in it, it must be converted to dry matter basis to get the true amount of protein, fat, fiber, etc. So yes, it is higher in protein, fat & everything else. What I understand, is that they use the fat for energy, they burn it off. This would be an excellent food for cats bc they require more protein & it has moisture, which they lack when eating kibble. If you have a picky kitty, you should deg give this a try!

I'm not an expert by any means, so I hope someone w/more knowledge can answer your questions better. I've been feeding premade raw (not exclusively) for about a year, maybe longer. We've tried many other different brands but we keep coming back to Primal. I also feed other foods for every meal, they seem to like the variety, esp my picky girl Mimi. All 4 do great on it & their blood test comes back WNL. I always check their poopies & it's always tiny & firm.

[Island Girl]

Sachi has been on raw since she was about 6 months old. Her teeth look fine, but not sure at this age (1 year) if they start to build up plaque already?

Sachi is active, so although it is higher in fat, she hasn't gained any weight because of it. The last 2 months or so, she has been consistently about 4.4 lbs. She only gets raw, no kibble, no canned food. She gets treats when we train her, but we keep 1 to 2 ingredients and as natural as possible. No Beggin' Strips or those types lol. Oh and she has to have her carrots everyday too.

Mid-December she got some teeth removed and her blood work results came out normal. So far, she is doing good on it.

[tokipoki]

Originally Posted by Verbena

I have to ask . . are you finding feeding the primal you a having better teeth results because of the bones in it?

Also the food is very high in protein. Does the protein drop when you rehydrate or is that the number? I can not remember

I always thought dogs that ate raw had "nicer" teeth because they were getting whole bones to chew on which scraped stuff like plaque off their teeth...I don't know how much research is behind that though. So I wouldn't think that the ground bones would have the same effect necessarily. Maybe since this food does not have a very high amount of carbohydrates and is higher in protein, it helps prevent build up and tooth decay from occurring.

And although the protein listed is higher on the packaging, it will "drop" when you rehydrate it. But it is still a higher amount of protein than is found in kibbles when you convert it to a dry matter basis, like Jenny said.

[mimimomo]

This is from ziwipeak, but it explains the higher fat content in raw food:

Frequently Asked Questions - ZiwiPeak focus on what?s really important
What’s the fat content?

Fat in ZiwiPeak is as naturally occurs in the meat of the source species. The percentage may look high because of the low moisture in air-dried ZiwiPeak. But on an as-fed basis our veterinary experts advise that the levels are as best for cats and dogs.
We, as people, tend to be wary of fat (certainly too much fat), but it’s an essential source of energy for your animal. It also supplies essential fatty acids which play important roles in metabolism, cell membranes and skin permeability in pets. Cats and dogs don’t get heart attacks from fat around the arteries. They need roughly the percentage we provide to function properly and energetically. Without it, they lack energy and don’t burn calories. The perfect daily diet for dogs and cats is rich in proteins and fats sourced from raw meat and organs balanced with vitamins and minerals. It must be low in carbohydrates as they’re not easily digested. It’s a description of ZiwiPeak!

[mimimomo]

I had emailed Kyle back & asked if they're going to make any more different formulas of the freeze dried (preferably Rabbit & Pheasant) & asked him about sodium selenite...if he could explain the safety & long term use of this controversial ingredient.

Here's his response:

We're looking to expand our freeze-dried offerings in 2014. I don't have any specific dates or exact formulas we'll be adding, but we will have more to offer later this year.


As for Sodium Selenite, it's actually the mineral Selenium, which you can see listed on our website now and has been updated on all of our packaging. It comes down to semantics. We use a natural form of Selenium derived from an ancient mineral deposit in Utah that was labeled as Sodium Selenite to comply with AAFCO and State Departments of Agriculture guidelines. We had an ongoing conversation with State Departments of Agriculture that now allows us to label as the actual mineral Selenium. You will see new bags reflecting the correct ingredient name soon. We can assure you that Primal researches all of our ingredients to insure the safety and nutritional adequacy for your pets.

Regards,

Kyle Frautnick
Marketing Director
Primal Pet Foods

t: 415.642.7400 | toll free: 866.566.4652
f: 415.642.7404 | w: primalpetfoods.com
e: kyle@primalpetfoods.com