Comments on: Before Grain Dog Food (Dry)

By: Judy Shafer

Judy Shafer — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:03:11 +0000

Mike
Here are the figures I got on the Before Grain. Folks, should remember these are the minimum percentages and not the maximum. As you mentioned on another post, companies don’t have to disclose the maximum percentages and most may not even have that data. Again, these figures are way too high for dogs with even early kidney issues which should be kept at around .6% phosphorous.

“Sample Description
Phosphorus
BG Buffalo
1.28
BG Salmon
1.27
BG Chicken
1.30″

Judy

By: Mike Sagman

Mike Sagman — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:02:19 +0000

Hi Keri… You’re asking what I’d describe as a “quality control” question more than anything else. And that’s one of the major flaws in reading any pet food review.

You may want to read my article, “The Problem with Dog Food Reviews” to see what we’re all up against when trying to feed a good quality (contaminant-free) product.

By: Keri

Keri — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:20:29 +0000

In reference to a previous post on the corn, wheat & rice…
My dog also can not tolerate corn and possibly the wheat and also has a mite allergy. Dog is also taking allergy meds. As a test, we took him off of his normal dog food (which had corn in it) and gave him a few days of boiled chicken & rice. He responded well and was not nearly as scratchy & itchy (we did not change any of the meds for this test run). So my question is this…
If rice can also contain storage mites, but the dog seemed to respond to our human chicken & rice test; do you know if the rice used in high end dog foods are “human quality”? or could it be a lesser standard with the higher probability of mites. This will help make my decision on whether I have to go comepletely grain free as well or just stay clear of the corn & wheat.
Thank you for your time.

By: erin arvin

erin arvin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:34:36 +0000

i thought about switching to bc but i have a dog that has chicken allergies and all their grain free has chicken. why would they do that?

By: Mike Sagman

Mike Sagman — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:39:27 +0000

Hi Christine… When I first wrote the article about mite contamination in cereal grains, I was mainly referring to corn and wheat. But after recently reading more about this subject, I was surprised to learn that grain mites can also affect rice.

According to Louisiana State University, the panicle rice mite (also known as PRM) has been discovered (2007) in greenhouses and rice crops in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and New York.

So, to be safe, you may want to consider going grain-free. Don’t forget to transition gradually from the old food and into the new one over 7 to 10 days or so.

By: Chistine

Chistine — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:15:30 +0000

First, thank you for this wonderful website, and all the hard research you do! It is making my quest easier and I have learned a lot.

My Rescue dog (SATO) has been “diagnosed” with dust mite allergies. It’s pretty bad… After reading much of your site, I have come across a great article about the corn/grain mites which states that they are VERY closely related to the dust mites. So then I thought, I could be making my own dog worse just by feefing him! I am going to try a grain free diet for him, but the one question I am wondering is, is Brown Rice usually fall into the same “Caution” category as the corn & wheat etc? So that I should go comepletley grain free or possoble just stay away from the norm like corn, wheat soy…

By: Mike Sagman

Mike Sagman — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:05:49 +0000

Hi Sandy… All Merrick products are now ethoxyquin free. Here’s their the reply:

At Merrick, we don’t use ethoxyquin as a preservative, nor do we attempt to bend the rules by buying fish or other raw material that contain ethoxyquin. We test all of our finished product to detect ethoxyquin on a regular basis. While this final step of regular testing of finished product is somewhat time consuming and costly, we do this to be able to guarantee that Merrick products consistently test as having undetectable (less that 2 parts per million) levels of ethoxyquin.

It’s certainly reassuring to know this. I’ll edit my Merrick reviews within the next few hours to reflect these changes. Thanks for you comment.

By: sandy

sandy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 03:48:16 +0000

I emailed Merrick to ask if their fish products were completely ethoxyquin free on 8/9/10 and they have not replied back to me yet.

By: Mike Sagman

Mike Sagman — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:42:11 +0000

Hi Jan… Before Grain is made by Merrick Pet Foods in Amarillo, Texas. You should be able to get an answer to your question by calling Merrick Customer Service at 800-664-7387. Hope this helps.

By: Jan Benton

Jan Benton — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:59:10 +0000

I have been giving my 5 yr. yorkie BG for about two years. He had developed allergies (we know it’s not the food at this date) and is gaining weight. I would like to know the number of calories in a cup of BG. Thanks for your help!