Recent Comments
- Pet Food Reviews (Australia) on Senate inquiry into the Safety of Pet Food: “Hi Robyn, I very much hear your concerns and frustrations. I myself hoped for more given the results of the Senate inquiry, but in hindsight should never have expected much to happen as a result. Swept mostly under the carpet, sadly. Irradiated dog food products should be banned until proven safe, not legal until proven harmful. Especially considering the harm to cats has been proven. Australia is perfectly capable of being self sufficient in the case of pet food treats, with the main reason companies import (and irradiate treats) these treats being profit and little else. Having a labelling requirement such as “must not be fed to cats” in tiny print behind a flap on a label isn’t sufficient warning – it’s a joke really.” Nov 27, 20:49
- on What’s the best dog food (in Australia)?: “Hi Belinda, yes the list is still very current even if the article hasn’t been updated. I occasionally change the list, and there are also other brands worthy of being listed on this page, but I try and keep it limited to about 10 brands.” Nov 27, 20:44
- on Raw Dog Food: “Hi Emma, many thanks for the feedback, and it’s great to hear about the development and success of your whippet on homemade raw! Yes, unfortunately many pet owners simply want to own a dog and feed it “dog food” without consideration, and even when their pet gets sick in later years they won’t consider diet as the cause. Sadly there will always be poor quality pet foods as long as there are consumers to sell them to, with the result being less than optimum health of pets.” Nov 27, 20:40
- on Cat Food Reviews in Australia: “Hi Kim, when a kitten (or pup) has been raised on one (or two) brands of pet food, it’s very common to see some digestive upset when you change the food. For this reason it’s worth changing gradually, so going from a bit of the new food to more of the new food over a couple of weeks. Moving forward, feeding your kitten a variety should stop them suffering digestive upset over the long term. Feeding a mix of wet/dry/fresh/raw is all good in my opinion, and better than feeding a completely dry or completely wet diet. As for brands I try not to make specific recommendations, but any of the best rated cat food page should be a good start.” Nov 27, 20:10
- on LifeWise Dog Food Review: “Hi YG, if your dog is itchy from a specific type of food then your best way forward is figuring out the cause, but that might be tricky if the MFM single protein diets didn’t work – most of the time I find hypoallergenic diets really do help. LifeWise may be a good choice, so let me know if it works for you. Dogs survived millions of years before kibble was invented, so that answers that question, but the concerns are when dog owners don’t feed a balanced diet. Dogs need nutrients from a range of foods – meat, organs, bones, or suitable alternatives at the least. Some non-animal foods provide a dog with essential nutrients. Feeding treats in excess, even raw meaty bones or mince beef, may not provide a dog with all the nutrients they need. This can cause health issues in the long term. I believe this is the reasoning behind a pet food manufacturer telling you you absolutely must feed a “complete and balanced” kibble. One final thought though – dogs can be sensitive to specific animal proteins, so if the bones are, say, chicken, then try not feeding chicken for a while to see if that helps.” Nov 27, 20:06
- on LifeWise Dog Food Review: “Non of MfM single protein worked for my dogs itchy. So I’m going to try lifewise. Their website said dog should only eat their kibbles (sounds like Mars or Nestle?) and less than 5% of treats. My dog always eats meaty bones and has very good teeth. One meaty bone exceeds way more than 5% of food. How can I stop itchy with meaty bones?” Nov 26, 19:15
- on What’s the best dog food (in Australia)?: “Hi everyone, great reading and I must say… still very abstract and overwhelming. What diet would you recommend for an adult (just) Australian Shepherd? I am not much of a detective so please keep it very plain and simple, recipe style (quantity and ingredients). Thank you all.” Nov 26, 12:30
- on Cat Food Reviews in Australia: “Hi!, Myself and my 3 children are getting a kitten in a few weeks and we are super excited! from what I know the kitten is being fed a combination of Leaps and Bounds cat food and Fussy cat food (cant say which one is wet or dry though) both of which don’t seem to have very good reviews that I read above. I don’t want to cause any upset to the kitty’s tummy so I’m assuming I will need to continue with those foods and slowly introduce something else, also something I’m not sure of lol! I have looked at quite a few options and taking into consideration the financial side of it and availability, I landed on Black Hawk kitten food, I will be using a combination of wet and dry food. Any feedback/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time 🙂 Kim.” Nov 25, 09:30
- on Raw Dog Food: “I have worked in a dog food outlet for 6 years, I used this site for all the brands available so I could give good advise to customers who were open to receiving it (many aren’t). I have whippets and my 2 yr old has only ever been fed raw home prepared food. She started competing at lure coursing this year and has had phenomenal results so far. I have no doubt that her diet has played a huge part in this as its allowed optimal growth and muscle development. Thank you for such an amazing resource.” Nov 25, 09:03
- on Instinctive Bite Dog Food Review: “I’m not sure why they are out of stock but I can still order it from past auto deliveries… Tried it and still got my order even though they have been out of stock for awhile now.” Nov 24, 03:40
- on Lyka Dog Food Review: “Agreed. That increase was a deal breaker for me, plus being treated like an idiot when I received a couple of rancid pouches and brought it to their attention. I’ve just changed my dogs to WolfIt Box, a newer contender in the fresh food subscription game. They seem to be just as high quality as Lyka, significantly more affordable, more flexibility with the subscription, and dare I say it, the customer service is much friendlier. My dogs seem to enjoy it more too Could be worth looking into!” Nov 23, 23:42
- on Nood Dog Food Review: “The ingredients seem to be the same from what im looking at?” Nov 23, 14:27
- on Talentail Dog Food Review: “Our dogs love Talentail Ultimate Chicken. We were feeding them the original Premium Lamb, but when we saw the quality of the Ultimate range we decided to give it a try. They went nuts over it! After they’d been eating Talentail for a little while we had fellow dog walkers in our neighbourhood comment on our dogs’ coats. We were like proud parents! Talentail Premium and now Ultimate are the only foods that our fussy Basenji hasn’t at some point turned his nose up at! We won’t be changing away from Talentail now. Not only do our dogs love it and visibly benefit from it, but we found out that Talentail supports community/social groups. We particularly love that they support the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation. Amazing!” Nov 23, 12:51
- on What’s the best dog food (in Australia)?: “Thanks for all the info on your website. I note that this article was written awhile ago- are these still your current recommendations for best dog food ?” Nov 23, 10:57
- on Senate inquiry into the Safety of Pet Food: “A large number of everyday pet owners, not just in Australia, but the USA and the UK have brought forward concerns over cheap pet treats available at Big W ; Reject Shop and Red Dot that has been iradiated and contains toxic substances, banned for inportaion into Australia according to DAFF. My serious concern is that the manafacturers undergo a desk audit of their products and their production methods. Even though the RSPCA have voiced their concerns over the importation of pet products from China and vets are having to deal with the effects of the ingesting of these products all the time, not to mention the death of many dogs, the Minister for Agriculture is still sitting on recommendations of a report which recommends a review of the whole pet food industry.” Nov 23, 09:00
- on How to Read Pet Food Labels: “Hi Hayley, you’re not missing anything – it’s long overdue completion! Sorry! I will get around to finishing it….” Nov 22, 20:16
- on What’s the best dog food (in Australia)?: “Hi Samuel, these are my thoughts. Let me know what you think!” Nov 22, 20:16
- on Best Dog Food for Small Dogs: “Thanks Vincenzo, that looks like a ChatGPT response to me…? There are some good points here though, although I’d urge an emphasis on feeding a dog more whole prey/animal in a homemade diet rather than grains. Budget friendly dog foods with high-quality proteins don’t tend to exist as it’s not very viable from a profit standpoint. Adding fresh foods like carrots or fruits occasionally is all well and good, but adding raw meaty bones, raw meats, and organs would probably be a better option. Or eggs, fish, etc.” Nov 22, 20:15
- on Orijen Cat Food Review: “Orijen has definitely been plagued with supply issues this year unfortunately. ACANA is another good option – not quite as good as Orijen, but it’s made by the same manufacturer Champion (now actually owned by Mars).” Nov 22, 20:11
- on Goat Horns for Dogs: “Hi TJ, generally the “science” in this respect is very hazy, and most of these beliefs come from pet food companies. Usually these claims are worded “may help clean teeth” or “can fight plaque and tartar” which doesn’t necessarily mean they do, or not to any meaningful effect. From personal experience I’ve seen the teeth of numerous dogs and cats have an incredible turnaround when raw meaty bones or tough meat/animal based chews are introduced. I can’t say I’ve seen the same for dogs fed wet mush, kibble, or Greenies. I wouldn’t consider the ingredients of brands like Greenies overly species appropriate either, but there aren’t really any regulations for any dog treats to be healthy anyway. If I observe my own dog “chewing on” a bone or chew, there is definitely dental descaling going on! She also has a tendency to use one side of her mouth, and the teeth on that side are always completely clear of any plaque and tartar. My 13 year old cat has always “chewed on” (I’m going to steal that chewed on/chewed through term!) raw meaty bones such as chicken necks/wings and the occasional dried meat chew, and he has no plaque or tartar whatsoever – not bad for an “elderly” cat.” Nov 22, 20:09