Weruva Kobe (Canned)

by Mike Sagman
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Rating: ★★★★★

Weruva Kobe Dog Food gets the Advisor’s top rating of five stars.

The Weruva Kobe product line includes three canned dog foods… each claimed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages.1

  • Weruva Kobe Master
  • Weruva Kobe Yume
  • Weruva Kobe Gyro

Weruva Kobe Yume Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.

Weruva Kobe Yume

Canned Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Protein = 36% | Fat = 23% | Carbs = 33%

Ingredients: American style kobe beef, organic chicken, organic turkey, beef broth, guar gum, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D2 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, thiamin mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 6.8%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients

The first ingredient in this dog food is Kobe 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.2

Hey, but this isn’t just beef. It’s Kobe beef… a Japanese delicacy considered by many to be the finest beef in the world. Rich in omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids, this meat boasts the highest ratio of unsaturated to saturated fat of any beef on earth.

Kobe beef is raised in an organic, antibiotic-free environment and is a major component of every Weruva Kobe product.

The second ingredient is organic chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.3

The third ingredient lists organic turkey. Turkey has a favorable nutrient profile similar to chicken.

By the way, organic ingredients are produced under remarkably strict government standards… standards which greatly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.

The fourth item is beef broth. Broths are nutritionally empty. But because they add moisture to a dog food they are a common finding in many canned products.

The fifth ingredient lists guar gum… a gelling or thickening agent found in many wet pet foods. Refined from dehusked guar beans, guar gum can add a notable amount of dietary fiber to any product.

We also note this food contains chelated minerals… minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.

Weruva Kobe Dog Food
The Bottom Line

The ingredients used to make Weruva Kobe Dog Food are among some of the finest we have yet encountered.

But ingredient quality alone can’t tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the amount of meat before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36%, a fat level of 23% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 33%.

Each Weruva Kobe product boasts the same nutrient percentages as our Yume example.

Near-average protein. Average fat. And near-average carbs… when compared to a typical canned dog food.

Yet after closely studying the ingredients panel, we believe these figures (as reported by Weruva) are exceptionally conservative… and notably understated.

Free of any plant-based protein boosters, this is the profile of a wet food containing an abundance of meat.

Bottom line?

Weruva Kobe Dog Food is a grain-free canned product using an abundance of quality named meats as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand five stars.

Enthusiastically recommended.

Those looking for a comparable pork version of this product line may want to check out our review of Weruva Kurobuta Dog Food.

A Final Word

This review is designed to help you make a more informed decision when buying dog food. However, our rating system is not intended to suggest feeding a particular product will result in specific health benefits for your pet.

For a better understanding of how we analyzed this product, please be sure to read our article, “The Problem with Dog Food Reviews”

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.

Notes and Updates

06/16/2010 Original review
01/16/2011 Review updated

  1. Weruva Customer Service email dated 9/11/2011 ↩
  2. Association of American Feed Control Officials ↩
  3. Association of American Feed Control Officials ↩
Dog Food Advisor IconThe Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.


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  • sandy

    Tiffany,

    Is she supposed to be eating soft food or hard food by now? Have you tried a dehydrated food? The kind you just add water? Ex: Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy’s, Addiction.

  • tiffany

    My 13 year old great dane has the hardest time with this food. I have no idea why. She has had laryngeal tieback surgery and the surgeon said to feed her canned food meatballs. I bought this thinking it was a good food for her. She can’t keep it down. After struggling for weeks trying to find a replacement, I started making her food and she immediately stopped vomiting and smacking. I decided about 3 months later to give this another try and added a little dollop of this mixed in her food. Less than an hour later, she’s smacking again and it has gone on all night. Wonder what is doing this? She had the same problem with the Orijen, but only after her surgery. I want her to regain some weight, but this homemade food is new to me. Just frustrated!!

  • Rain

    I don’t know how I missed it, but according to their website, for all Kobe and Kurabuta, “all ingredients are sourced in the US, and these formulas are produced in a US based pet food facility.”
    So if anyone else is afraid of pet food made near Chinese, these two (five flavours) are an alternative.

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Hi Rain… That is precisely why I always rate dog foods the way I do. There’s simply no way to know the answer to any question about the source of ingredients in any specific dog food. Please be sure to read my article, “The Problem with Dog Food Reviews“.

  • Rain

    I’m seriously not racist, and I would trust anything from Japan, but I’m worried because they’re made in Thailand. How can I be sure that none of these cans will contain any Chinese poisonous additives?

  • DAWN LEDER

    BOTH MY BEAGLES LOOOVES THIS FOOD…BUT THEIR BELLIES AND INTESTINES DONT…MY OLDER BEAGLE WHEN HAVING THIS HAS VERY LOOSE STOOLS AND WHEN OUT FOR A WALK STOPS MANY TIMES SEEMING TO NEED TO HAVE A BM BUT NOTHING COMES OUT..I LIKE THIS FOOD FOR THE INGREDS (AND YES FATTYMOOCOW(HILARIOUS NAME BY THE WAY) DOGS EAT 98% OUT IN THE WILD EAT JUST MEAT NOT VEGGIES OR GRAINS SO ITS FINE) BUT MY GIRLS JUST CANT USE IT….

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Hi Fattymoocow… Obviously, it would be misleading for me to comment on your description of your dog’s stools. The fiber in Weruva is about 40-50% higher than it is in an average dog food. Since all meats are fiber free I would have to assume it’s coming from the guar ingredient. Even though Weruva claims its product meets AAFCO profiles for all life stages, I’d still be inclined to add a small amount of fresh veggies with each meal. Hope this helps.

  • Fattymoocow

    Hi! Thank you for all the hard work you put into this website! I just started feeding my 6.8lb maltese Weruva, human style and the kobe style dog food (chose both styles just to try the difference). I have noticed that my little doggie has trouble going #2 with the human style cans of food, but with the kobe style he goes regularly. I am assuming it is because of the fiber content and I know that in your analysis, the Kobe cans have almost double the fiber content in a serving. Currently with the Kobe can, his stool is soft but firm, should his stool be completely firm or is a soft firm okay? I know you’re not a vet, and can’t give any medical advice, but any information would be great!

    I also have another question.. in terms of the Kobe cans, it seems like the only ingredients are meats.. is it okay that he eats only meat like this in his daily diet? He’s very sensitive and has consistently been chewing and gnawing on his paws before the switch to Weruva (he was previously fine on Halo before their recipe change…then the recipe change called for almost a year’s worth of trying new foods to find something that he won’t itch on or have dark dark tear stains..which first started after Halo switched their recipe!!) I then switched to Honest Kitchen, but his tearing didn’t get any better.. but since I’ve been on Weruva, it seems like the tearing is slowly going away! I am just worried that he’s not getting enough in his diet to keep on Weruva because the only ingredients in this food is just meat. Should he have other things in his foods like blueberries/sweet potatoes/etc that other dog foods have? Or is it okay that Weruva is really just a meat product?

    Thanks for your time!

  • DAWN LEDER

    WOW NOT COMMENT EEEKKK I JUST ORDERED THIS! SHOULD HAVE COME HERE FIRST :o (
    NOT….A GOOD SIGN WHEN NO FEEDBACK HERE! :o (