Eukanuba Dog Food Review

WebsiteEukanuba
Available fromPet Circle  

You’ve heard of Mars right? Eukanuba is just one of the many dog foods made by the same confectionary giant. Not many people know that despite Eukanuba being a huge brand worldwide.

Advance, Royal Canin, Optimum, the latest supermarket rubbish Crave – all made by Mars.

Anyway, enough about the manufacturer, how does Eukanuba stack up as a healthy, nutritious, dog food? Let’s take a look at the pick of the bunch “Premium Performance”, and you can consider any other formulas in the range not quite as good…

Eukanuba Dog Food Review

There are five main ingredients in the food, of which they want you to think the first two are the main ones – chicken and chicken by-product meal. Although these are decent meaty ingredients (by-product more likely being remnants), truth is the top five ingredients are probably in relatively equal proportions. That would suggest the next three ingredients outweigh the chicken. These are corn, sorghum, and brewers rice, and not as nutritious for your dog. This is common labelling trickery (found on almost all pet foods) to conceal the fact they’re mostly cheap ingredients labelled in a way to look more meaty than they are.

A selling point of this top “performance” offering from the Eukanuba range is it boasts a higher protein of 30%, higher fat of 20%, and consequentially less carbs which is a definite plus point. But it has to be noted some of that protein will come from the grains, particularly corn.

So that’s the best they have to offer. Be wary of other Eukanuba products which list ingredients such as “Maize, Wheat, Maize Flour, Barley”, as they have far less meat than this does.

Eukanuba Dog Food Review

To end on a marginal positive note, the Mars production facilities tend to have better regulations and hygiene compared to other Australian manufacturing facilities.

Ingredients

Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal (Natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Brewers Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Chicken Flavour, Dried Beet Pulp, Fish Meal, Dried Egg Product, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Choline Chloride, Fructooligosaccharides, Monosodium Phosphate, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Calcium Carbonate, DL-Methionine, Vitamins (Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Vitamin E Supplement, L-Carnitine, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

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7 Total Score

PROS
  • Decent protein and fat (and less carbs)
  • A decent amount of chicken
CONS
  • Chicken likely outweighed by grains

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15 Comments
  1. I was feeding my pup Supercoat and found that he was never gaining any weight despite feeding him a lot of food. I decided to do some more research and found Eukanuba was rated well on this website and offered a good balance of cost and nutrition as compared to so many other brands. I’ve been really pleased and impressed. Pup seems to like it and he’s built out now to a proper, healthy adult physique, and all on less food too. He also poos less. Highly recommend.
    If I were to fault anything about Eukanuba it’s that I wish they had recipes with other flavours to give my pup some variety.

  2. I heard Eukanuba will be manufactured in Australia, I can’t find any news on this company, Would anyone on here know what is happening, Thanks for any info

  3. Seems like some changes have happened and not for the better, the new ingredient list doesn’t have percentages and no longer lists chicken and turkey but instead as hydrolysed poultry protein, taking the Royal high road with ambiguous ingredients.

  4. I started feeding my 4 year old Airedale Eukanuba “Sterilized & Overweight” about 2 1/2 years ago and she has never looked back. She is in excellent condition. Previously on cheaper dry food she was always hungry and would eat her own poo.

  5. We are giving the Eukanuba puppy food mix to our young Jack Russell, basically on an available all day in a feeder, he does not seem to eat a lot as he is given his main meal of fresh beef or chicken raw with some rice and vegs, (peas, carrots). So his dry food is just an available in between snack. We did the same with our previous Jack who passed on at 17 years. We also supplement with a brisket or rib bone a couple of times a week. Also make his own treats and dog biscuits from quality ingredients and give them as a treat, also dry our own fresh chicken and beef strips in a dehydrator as a training reqard, the shop ones are rubbish.

  6. Can you recommend to me what is a good quality wet or rehydratable pellet to start weaning 3-4 week old pups on to.

    • I personally love Ziwipeak and K9 Natural their foods are amazing and have helped Rusty with his various health problems, I also really like Artemis osopure kibble it soaks great and contains the very valuable coconut oil, which has been said to be very good for puppies.

      K9 Natural states on the bag that it can be used by all life stages even pregnant dogs, so it’s quiet good indeed.

  7. Any comment on the addition of beet pulp? The reps really push it as super healthy.

    • Hi Narelle, it’s an ingredient common to many pet foods these days and there’s mixed opinion. It’s a by-product from making sugar which makes it very cheap, and manufacturers love to promote cheap ingredients claiming they have nutritional benefits. It’s a source of insoluble fibre. It artificially hardens stools by absorbing moisture in the colon, which I don’t see as a good thing, and many people gauge their pets health based on how firm their stools are. There’s evidence that it’s harsh on digestion, but it’s not substantial evidence. In any case it’s in such a small quantity it’s very unlikely to have a negative effect. I wouldn’t consider it a concern.

  8. Hi there!
    I have noticed Science Diet & Ekanuba both have a “sensitive stomach” food range! I was just wondering how they differ from ordinary kibble? Is there no wheat or eggs? Is it better to just go grain
    Thank You

  9. I feed our dog Eukanuba as well – I heard both advance and Eukanuba owned by same company now

    • Procter & Gamble sold Eukanuba & Iams to Mars Incorporated 2014, Eukanuba & Iams will be part of Mars Petcare joining leading brands Pedigree, My Dog, Whiskas, Dine, Optimum, Royal Canine, Nutro Natural Choice & Advance dog & cat foods….. All brands have crappy ingredients like Corn gluten, Maize, Wheat & Beet Pulp, it’s 2016 you’d think they’d improve their ingredients but corn, Wheat, Beet Pulp are very cheap fillers & Mars cares more about making money then caring for dogs & cats health…. Read ingredients & shop around there’s better quality kibbles & wet tin foods then these brands..

  10. I have always used Eukanuba and have never had an issue, I make my own mince/rice/veg mixture and add some to the biscuits. Both my dogs love it. No skin issues, no runny poo etc. Both dogs are fit and healthy with glossy coats

  11. i’m dissappointed, i spend a fortune on this food only to find out this could be causing my dogs allergy

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