[Kim J]

So, I just became a member after considering adding a dehydrated food to my dog’s raw diet. After choosing the 7 dehydrated foods that received 5 stars on this site, I went to the Editor’s choice section to see if that would narrow my choice down even further. Eureka! Wellness Core Air was on the Editors choice list. I clicked on the link to buy it, and then also did a google search to try to figure out how much food this two pound bag would make toward the daily requirements of my three great danes.

And that’s when I came across some horrible reviews on Amazon.com from people who cited to the inclusion in allegedly all of Wellness’ products of green tea extract and underlying research indicating that green tea extract is toxic for dogs. Links were provided to publications and were active and did lead to actual publications – one in 2009 and another in 2011. Granted both indicated that the toxicity was seen in fasted dogs, but still.

So, my question is this – how do I reconcile these papers with the reviews on this site? Do the reviewers of this site have information to the contrary?

[Pitlove]

All I can say personally is that I have heard there is research linking Green Tea Extract to toxicity in dogs. I haven’t seen the research myself. Many would say the dose makes the poison, as is true for dogs and chocolate. The Green Tea Extract in the Wellness foods tends to often be the last ingredient meaning it makes up the least amount of the food. They have their reasoning for its inclusion on their website if you care to read their side of it. I’ve forgotten what it says off the top of my head.

From what I’ve gathered others are also concerned about it containing caffeine. Again, I don’t know that there has been studies done long term with dog foods that contain trace amounts of it showing that it has toxic effects. Perhaps someone else knows and can link some of the research they have come across.

[C4D]

I actually use l theanine for my dog that has anxiety.

Here’s a link:
http://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/January-2012/Supplement-Can-Bolster-Pets-Anxiety-Treatment/

[zcRiley]

Don’t think canines would be hunting for green tea in the wild. It’s all marketing & if you fall for it. Try ZiwiPeak air dehydrated. It wiped away all my pups’ ailments in days. Just read the pure ingredients.

[Kim J]

Thank you for your replies.

I actually just called Wellness, and asked them about this, as well as ‘why the gelatin’ that this site says actually has no nutritional value for dogs. The person I spoke to knew about the amazon post and they had seen the papers referred to. She said that the Green tea extract was given in super doses to fasting dogs, whereas it is used in much smaller quantities in their foods for its natural preservative effect. By the way, green tea extract has a similar effect in people if you take the doses that were given to these dogs. She also pointed out, as is true, that in these studies they said no such effect was seen in dogs that had not been fasted. If the dog eats the food with the green tea extract in it, it is necessarily not ‘fasted’.

As long as I had her on the phone, I asked her why they used gelatin – she told me it was basically used as a binder because of the high meat content of the food.

All in all, I was pleased with her response.

To the user who suggested Ziwipeak – thank you – I looked at it, and was impressed that it includes glucosamine and chondroitn – I currently give my dogs a supplement for these. However, so does Wellness, and Wellness has a lower fat to protein ratio than Ziwipeak. I read a couple of reviews from people that had fed Ziwipeak and said that their dogs had loose stools and/or gas when on Ziwipeak. My dogs do tend to get gassy if they eat too much fat, and since I have three Great Danes that could make for a pretty stinky house. I did contact Ziwipeak too, to be fair, and haven’t heard back. So, while I didn’t have a negative experience with their customer service, I had a better one with Wellness.

I have samples of Honest Kitchen, Wellness and Ziwipeak (I think) coming. While I prefer the latter two for their inclusion of glucosamine and chondroitin, Honest Kitchen’s grain free has an even lower fat to protein ratio, and no gelatin.

More will be revealed….

[Author]

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