Woofbix Dog Food Review

Just because you can buy your dog food at Big W, doesn’t mean you should. No offence to them, as they’re a great place to buy stuff for a good price, but don’t expect the best in canine nutrition for such an “affordable” price.

You’ll also find Woofbix dog food to be one of the cheapest at Woolworths. But is cheap good?

At 24 bucks for 15kg I bet lots of Australians feed this to their dogs, but from my point of view I wonder how they can produce anything remotely healthy for that price and make a profit.

Don’t hit the close button just yet. Keep reading and you may learn a few truths about “dog food”.

Woofbix review

What the marketing says

The Big W website says Woofbix is “packed with vitamins and minerals and made from quality ingredients”. They also say “your dog will love the taste of Woofbix”.

When you take a look at the packet, we see “Proudly Australian Made & Owned” which will easily win the hearts of many Aussies, but doesn’t mean it’s a decent product.

The first bad sign is the statement on the front of the bag which says “Based on rice for optimum digestibility”. You would think some kind of meat would have better digestibility for a dog, wouldn’t you? Not a cheap grain.

What the ingredients really say

Take a quick look at those big gnarly gnashers in your dog’s mouth? Especially those pointy teeth designed to tear the flesh from freshly caught prey.

Yep, our dogs may be cute, and we often think of them as furry toys, but did you know their dental structure and digestive system is designed to eat and digest meat? If we want the best for our dogs we must ensure they have a decent amount of meat in their diet.

Let that sink in for a little.

The first and main ingredient in Woofbix dog food is wholegrain cereals & cereal by-products.

Firstly, that definitely isn’t meat, and secondly how much of that main ingredient is the by-product part? The wastage part of cereals?

How many foods do you buy for yourself made from cereal by-products? None I imagine.

Is your dog your lovable furry companion, or a garbage disposal?

Worse yet, out of those cereals they list wheat first, which I find to be the cheapest, nastiest, most problematic of grains. If your dog has itchy skin, a dull coat, or isn’t as happy or active as he should be, then this is probably the reason. But what’s his insides like? His gut, digestive system, organ health?

Besides, I thought the marketing said “based on rice”? According to the ingredients it could be rice or sorghum, so how’s that true? Don’t believe me? Read the ingredients below!

The second ingredient is meat & meat by-products, what I consider the cheapest and most ambiguous meat inclusion. But what do they mean by by-products? The nutritious organ parts, or left overs which would otherwise go to landfill? What do you think?

Anyways, wanna know how much meat is in there?

I’ll get a bit scientific for a moment, so bare with me, but with only 18% protein and only 10% fat – poor compared to most dog foods – that could mean over half of the food is carbohydrates (from the cereals and cereal by-products).

If that sounds bad, then get this – most dog foods have a guaranteed analysis, where you’re given absolute minimums. Not the case here, they give you a typical analysis. That means there’s probably way more carbohydrates (and way more cereals and cereal by-products) than you think.

Or in other words, when they say 18% protein and 10% fat (which are both low), it could really be 15% protein or 6% fat, or worse. Who knows?

Your dog needs decent protein and decent fat to be healthy.

I’m not sure if I’ve put you off already, or if you’re hanging on for anything positive to be said about Woofbix “dog food”, but there really isn’t.

Tallow is included, and I suggest you Google it to find out whether it sounds pleasant.

“Preservatives” are included, but they don’t tell you what they are. Let me tell you, there’s some nasty “preservatives” out there. They don’t tell you what the antioxidants are either. Why not?

If you’re feeding this to your dog then I feel for them. I let my dog lick the bums of other dogs in the park, but I wouldn’t let her eat this dog food.

Yuck.

Ingredients

Ingredients of Woofbix dog food:

Wholegrain cereals & cereal by-products (wheat, rice and/or sorghum), meat & meat by-products (beef, chicken and lamb), chicken digest, tallow (beef and/or chicken), calcium carbonate, salt, vitamins and minerals, choline chloride, preservatives, natural antioxidants.

Typical analysis

Typical analysis (i.e. not guaranteed) of Woofbix dog food:

Have you fed Woofbix to your dog? How have you found this brand?