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Cloud Star Wellmade Baked Kibble Dog Food Review (Dry)

Product May Have Been Discontinued
Unable to Locate Complete Label Info
On Company Website1

Rating:

Cloud Star Wellmade Baked Kibble Dog Food receives the Advisor’s mid-tier rating of 3.5 stars.

The Wellmade Baked Kibble product line includes the 5 dry dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its related AAFCO nutrient profile when available on the product’s official webpage: Growth, Maintenance, All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Use the links to compare price and package sizes of Wellmade at an online retailer.

Wellmade Chicken Meal, Peas, and Lentils Recipe was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

Cloudstar Wellmade Chicken Meal, Peas, and Lentils

Dry Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Protein = 27% | Fat = 16% | Carbs = 50%

Ingredients: Chicken meal, peas, lentils, tapioca, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), beet pulp, flaxseed, natural flavor, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, sea salt, choline chloride, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, vitamin E supplement, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, sodium selenite, niacin, vitamin A supplement, D-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium iodate, folic acid, rosemary extract

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 5.6%

Red denotes controversial item

Estimated Nutrient Content
MethodProteinFatCarbs
Guaranteed Analysis24%14%NA
Dry Matter Basis27%16%50%
Calorie Weighted Basis23%33%44%
Protein = 23% | Fat = 33% | Carbs = 44%

The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken meal. Chicken meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.

The next two ingredients include peas and lentils. Peas and lentils are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, they’re rich in natural fiber.

However, peas and lentils both contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The fourth ingredient is tapioca, a gluten-free, starchy carbohydrate extract made from the root of the cassava plant.

The next ingredient is chicken fat. This item is obtained from rendering chicken, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality ingredient.

The sixth ingredient is beet pulp. Beet pulp is a controversial ingredient, a high fiber by-product of sugar beet processing.

Some denounce beet pulp as an inexpensive filler while others cite its outstanding intestinal health and blood sugar benefits.

We only call your attention here to the controversy and believe the inclusion of beet pulp in reasonable amounts in most dog foods is entirely acceptable.

The seventh item is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

After the natural flavors, we find calcium carbonate, likely used here as a dietary mineral supplement.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other inclusions.

But realistically, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this Wellmade product.

With 2 notable exceptions

First, we find no mention of probiotics, friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing to help with digestion.

And lastly, this food also 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.

Cloud Star Wellmade Baked Kibble
Dog Food Review

Based on its ingredients alone, Wellmade Dog Food looks like an above-average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 27%, a fat level of 16% and estimated carbohydrates of about 50%.

As a group, Wellmade features an average protein content of 27% and a mean fat level of 14%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 51% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 52%.

Which means this Wellmade product line contains…

Near-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the peas and lentils, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a moderate amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Cloud Star Wellmade Baked Kibble is a grain-free dry dog food using a moderate amount of named meat meals as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 3.5 stars.

Recommended.

Cloud Star Dog Food
Recall History

The following list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 directly related to Cloud Star. If there are no recalls listed in this section, we have not yet reported any events.

A Final Word

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Notes and Updates

  1. “Last Update” field at the end of this review reflects the last time we attempted to visit this product’s website. The current review itself was last updated 03/10/2020
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