Dave’s Naturally Healthy (Canned)

Rating:

Dave’s Naturally Healthy Canned Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest rating of four stars.

Currently, the Dave’s Naturally Healthy brand includes two canned products… each designed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for adult maintenance.

• Dave’s Naturally Healthy Beef and Rice Recipe
• Dave’s Naturally Healthy Chicken and Rice Recipe

Dave’s Naturally Healthy Beef and Rice Dog Food was selected to represent both products for this review.

The first ingredient in this dog food is beef. Beef is defined as “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle” and includes skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.¹

Like most meats, beef is naturally rich in all ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The second ingredient is water… which (of course) adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.

The third ingredient is beef liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal. So long as it’s not over-weighted in a dog food, beef liver is a beneficial component.

The fourth ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.²

Chicken is another source of digestible animal protein.

The fifth ingredient is brewers rice. Brewers rice represents the small grain fragments left over after milling whole rice.

This is a cheap cereal grain by-product and not a quality ingredient.

The sixth ingredient includes egg product… a dehydrated form of shell-free eggs. Quality can vary greatly. Lower grade egg product can even come from commercial hatcheries… from eggs that have failed to hatch.

In any case, eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

Guar gum is a gelling or thickening agent commonly found in many “wet” dog foods.

We also note the listing of copper proteinate… a chelated mineral. Chelated minerals are minerals that have been chemically attached to amino acids. This makes them easier to absorb.

Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods. However, we find it odd that copper is the only chelated mineral reported in this food.

The Bottom Line…
Dave’s Naturally Healthy Canned Dog Food

With the sole exception of the brewers rice, the ingredients used to make Dave’s Naturally Healthy canned dog food are of good quality.

But ingredient quality alone does not a winning dog food make. We also need to estimate the amount of meat present in the product’s recipe… before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36%, a fat level of 27% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 28%.

Featuring a line average of 39%, protein numbers range from a low of 36% for the beef recipe to a high of 41% for the chicken formula.

Fat averaged about 32% for the pair.

Moderate protein. Above-average fat. And average carbohydrates (when compared to a typical canned dog food).

With no hidden plant-based protein-enhancers, this is the profile of a canned product containing a generous amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Dave’s Naturally Healthy Dog Food is a meat-based wet product using a generous amount of beef or chicken as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand a favorable four stars.

Highly recommended.

Those looking for a nice kibble from this same company may want to check-out our review of Dave’s Dry Dog Food.

A Final Word

Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult a veterinarian for help.

Have an opinion about this dog food brand… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.

Tagged as: adult, canned, maintenance, senior, value