New Zealand Only.
My neighbour has a Labrador. She’s overweight, dull coat, and on the rare occasions she gets excited enough to run she ends up coughing and spluttering. I thought she was older, but she’s only 5, and when I asked the owner what she was eating I wasn’t surprised to hear “Supercoat“. Supercoat is Purina’s mainstream offering to the Australian market, and our kiwi friends have TUX. I’d like to say it’s better, but it’s not. It’s worse.
In our Purina TUX dog food review you’ll find out why, so read on…
TUX dog food review
What the marketing says
The TUX website claims they “understand the unique requirements of dogs”. We all know dogs are essentially carnivorous, don’t we? Didn’t we learn as kids about dogs having canine teeth? Those big fangs for devouring meat?
Basic canine nutrition 101.
So why is Purina TUX mostly Cereals and/or Cereal By-Products?
Yep, that’s right. Even though it may say Chicken Flavour on the packaging, the regulations require only a small form of chicken product to be in the food in order to use the word “flavour”. That leaves great deal of leeway to use aforementioned cereals and cereal by-products, but they don’t mention that on the packaging, do they?
They state “Complete 100% Balanced” on the bag, which means it conforms to the absolute minimum requirements for canine nutrition. Or in other words, the minority of the food is the require vitamins, minerals, fat, and protein, and the rest is whatever they can fill it with cheaply – yes, that’s right, cereal by-products which aren’t great for a carnivore.
What the ingredients really say
When we look at the guaranteed analysis we find a low amount of protein at 18%, and a very low fat content of 7%. Not only is that bad given our dogs depend on protein and fat, but it also means a very high carbohydrate percentage. I estimate 57% which is a huge amount of carbs, and carbs turn to sugars. To make matters worse, the low protein will also come from the cereals in the food, and cereal proteins aren’t as readily digested.
Not good.
Let’s talk more about the cereals.
If cereals weren’t problematic enough in causing allergies, dull skin and coat, bloat, and general poor health, then cereal by-products are worse. Why would you feed a dog all the crap left over which would otherwise be waste product?
I’m looking at the Original Chicken Flavour formula and wondering why it isn’t called the Filler & Floor Sweepings Flavour. Granted, it has meat and meat by-products in the food, but it’s the cheapest and nastiest inclusion.
Don’t get excited about the other flavours either, as they’re pretty much all the same. They all contain a concoction of various meats, just packaged up as different flavours. The term “same shit, different bag” comes to mind – I should work in marketing!
That’s about it really. There’s a token vitamin and mineral pack as a legal requirement, and “natural flavours” whatever they are. They may as well list it as “stuff we really don’t want to tell you about in case you vomit”.
Fat is an essential source of energy for a canine, so feeding a high-carb food with such low fat means your dog will have to utilise sugars produced from the carbohydrate content of the food. At 57% carbohydrates I estimate TUX dog food to be one of the highest carbohydrate foods available. Research has shown high carbohydrate diets are damaging to dogs.
How Purina can claim on their website that TUX keeps kiwi dogs “full of life” and “fit as a fiddle” merely shows how little they respect us and our dogs. They’re taking us for mugs.
Our recommendation – feed the pet you love something better than TUX dog food. Hopefully this review will sway you towards something better, and a better life for your dog.
Ingredients
The ingredients of Purina TUX dry dog food is as follows:
Cereals and/or Cereal By-Products, Meat and Animal By-Products and Fats Derived From Poultry and/or Beef and/or Sheep and/or Goat and/or Venison, Salt and/or Natural Flavour and/or Vegetable Oil, Vitamins and Minerals.
Guaranteed analysis
The guaranteed analysis of Purina TUX dry dog food is as follows:
| Protein | 18% |
| Fat | 7% |
| Crude Fibre | 4.5% |
| Carbohydrates * | Estimated 57% |
If our Purina TUX dog food review has been of use, please share it with others! Better yet, print it out and stick it on the TUX shelf at the supermarket.
Tux buscuits look like meat flavoured cardboard. Both my dogs will not eat them.
People are fooled by the SPCA stamp of approval in NZ.
Do Tux biscuits contain carbohydrates?
Hi Pip, I believe it’s one of the highest carbohydrate dog foods you can buy unfortunately. It’s mostly cereals, and worse cereal by-products. Dogs depend on quality protein (from meat), and quality fat (from animal fat), and Purina TUX is low in both protein and fat. I estimate carbs around 57% for the chicken formula, possibly more for others.
we know a dog who is fed tux. her coat is splotchy, she’s constantly itchy, stinks of fish, and breath ranks of something fierce. please don’t feed your dog this rubbish. list of ingredients are a giveaway with so many byproducts and/or. what a shame.
I’m not surprised in the slightest.
Could you possibly sneak some better food into her diet? you start super slow at like 1 kibble for a long while and than up to two. I mean if you make convo with these guys you could ask how she’s going and if no upsets continue building it up. I’ve given a few dogs some better treats and foods in the past, however we don’t get out much so it’s not like we have access to these guys dogs always. Which is a shame as I’d totally feed them some better stuff if I did. Usually we see them once and than the next time is like months or years later, they prefer phone calls.
Had bought 2 lots of dog biscuits/Kibble (an attempt to vary food a bit)…purchased 20kg Digger Beef & Vegetables Dry and 20kg TUX Adult Original Meaty Dry Dog Food (large triangular biscuits).
My Mastiffs gets cups of Digger (kibble) in the morning….and then Tux product in evening, with dog rolls.
OMG…I think the Tux biscuits gave my dogs the worst gas of Canine nuclear fart bombs…great silent ones!
Decided to get rid of TUX….the dogs turns their noses up at it…they simply dont like it.
I guess that “understanding” the requirements of a dog and claiming to have actually implemented them are two different things, something that probably didn’t escape the attention of whomever approved the marketing copy. Lookout Baxters, you have some competition in the race to the bottom.
Time to expand the Pet Food Reviews empire into NZ?
Holy shyt fiddles 6% I’ve never seen a formula targeted at all dogs not just overweight ones this low! the 16% protein could be worse though let’s be honest here, I think I remember seeing one with 12% in the UK.
I feel extreme sorrow for any pet that is fed this food and sorry for the people who are so misinformed that they feel this food is everything gold that it’s not.
Wish we could put Purina and Mars out of business, no more business no more trashy foods especially moist and meaty.