[aimee]

It was interesting to see what companies Dr. Mike chose for his list. There are some I agree with and others that I wouldn’t have included.

For example I looked at Grandma Lucy’s as a potential diet for Jack. I contacted them about the phos level in their venison diet and asked for them to provide it as a grams/1000 kcals format. From their website: Ca min 1%, phos max .45% ( As a side note This exceeds AAFCO max 2:1 ratio and since they are reporting Ca as a min and phos as a max it can only go up from there.) Using their max phos .45% and their caloric information I calculate a max phos of 1.08 grams/1000kcals. AAFCO min for maint profile is 1.4 grams/1000kcals. This is why I called them.

It took them days to get back to me and the number given to me was very very low… way below AAFCO min. for maintenance. I questioned that value as the AAFCO statement said it meets AAFCO nutritional profile for all life stages. When I questioned it, it again took several days for them to get back to me and they insisted they gave me the correct value. If I remember right they said it was .8 grams/1000 kcals. AAFCO min for ALS is 2.28 grams/1000 kcals. The Customer Service person didn’t have any explanation and was only able to repeat what she was told.

I also asked about the caloric information as it didn’t make sense either. They couldn’t answer the discrepancy, and said someone would contact me to explain it. But after e mailing repeatedly and never hearing back I gave up. They report 4144 kcal/kg, 17 cups/3 lbs and 470 cal/cup. If I calculate calories in a 3 lb bag by converting lbs to kg, 1.36 kg x 4144kcals/kg gives me 5650 kcal/3 lb bag. BUT if you use their figure of 17 cups/3 lb bag and multiply by their given 470 calories /cup 17 X 470 = 7990kcals in a 3 lb bag. Huge difference!

These discrepancies that the company was unable to explain led me to pass on this diet.