Eukanuba dog food - an overview of all the advantages and disadvantages of dry food

Manufacturer

The Eukanuba brand first appeared on the animal feed market in 1969 in Ohio, USA. The founder of the company is Paul Iams.

Initially, the company was called Iams Company, since 2014, Eukanuba food is produced by Procter & Gamble. The plant, supplier of Eukanuba feed to European countries and Russia, is located in the Netherlands, Kuforden.

In addition to the Netherlands, since 2014, feed has been produced by Mars LLC for the Russian market.

The name of the food brand comes from an English slang expression meaning “cool”, “excellent”, “best”.

The main idea of ​​the creator of the food was initially: to produce food that would be superior to all food existing on the market at that time. He hoped to achieve this due to the high content of natural meat products in the diet - natural food for predators.

Paul Yams dealt with this idea quite successfully. Having appeared in 1968, the Eukanuba brand quickly took a leading position and is among the leaders in this industry to this day.

Today, the Eukanuba brand is represented by more than 40 types of food for cats and dogs, which are successfully sold in many countries around the world, including Russia.

Dog breeders and kennel owners are discovering Eukanuba food for their pets

Clay Mathile, then head of R&D and sales and marketing, was confident that high-quality dry dog ​​food had a bright future. He began introducing Eukanuba brand products to pet store owners, dog breeders and professional kennel owners. At first, only one variety of this food went on sale - “in a purple and green 32 oz (0.9 L) cardboard bag.” Later, the company began producing Eukanuba food in other packaging - in bags weighing 50 pounds (23 kg), at a wholesale price of $15.

Rulers

The line for healthy cats includes the following dry food items:

1. Food for kittens (1-12 months), nursing and pregnant cats with chicken and liver – Kitten Healthy Start.
2. Food for adult cats over a year old, with chicken, or with lamb and liver - Top Condition.
3. Food for older cats (7+) – Senior Top Condition. The composition of the feed prevents the development of urolithiasis, to which older animals are predisposed.
4. Food for feeding sterilized animals , as well as overweight cats over 1 year old – Sterilized / Weight Control. (Sterilized Veit Control).
5. Food for adult cats with a hair removal function, also intended for cats permanently living in an apartment (without walking) - Heirball Control.

The line is complemented by chicken pouches for kittens and pouches for adult cats, containing different types of meat:

• Chicken;
• Salmon;
• Lamb;
• Rabbit;
• Beef.

The medicinal line (Eukanuba Veterenary Diets) includes dry food and corresponding canned food:

1. Diet for cats with kidney failure - Diets Renal (Renal).
2. The Intestinal series was created for cats with digestive problems.
3. Diet for overweight cats - Restricted Calorie.
4. Diet for urolithiasis , for dissolving struvite stones - Struvite Urinary (Struvite Urinary).
5. Diet for urolithiasis , to dissolve oxalate stones - Oxalate Urinary.

Feed range

Eukanuba brand technologists have developed a fairly wide range of diets. First of all, they are divided by the age of the pets.

The following foods are offered for babies under one year of age:

• For any breed with sensitive digestion;
• Toy – for pets whose weight is less than 4 kg in adulthood;
• Small – for small dogs;
• Medium – for medium-sized dogs;
• Large – for big pets.

All feed is based on poultry, with lamb added to the all-breed feed. The cost of these feeds ranges from 1500 to 1700 per bag weighing 3 kg.

For adults, the range is much wider. In addition to dividing by dog ​​size (toy, small, medium and large), separate breed diets are offered:

• for German Shepherd;
• for Labrador;
• for dachshund;
• for Chihuahua;
• for Yorkshire Terrier.

All food is developed on the basis of poultry or lamb (as an offer for pets with sensitive digestion). The price for adult diets is 1,450-1,700 rubles per 3 kg.

A separate line is offered for older pets over 6 years of age:

• for all breeds with lamb and rice;
• for giant dogs with poultry.

A 3 kg package will also cost about 1,500 rubles.

In addition to basic diets, the manufacturer offers options for dogs with special needs:

• Weight Control – lightweight food with a reduced amount of fat for animals prone to gaining excess weight;
• Jogging & Agility - for pets with an increased level of activity (higher protein content - 28% and fat - 19%);
• Working & Endurance – for dogs with high physical activity (proteins increased up to 30%, fats up to 20%);
• Sensitive Skin – based on fish, for pets with skin diseases;
• Sensitive Joints – to maintain healthy bones and joints of pets;
• Sensitive Digestion – food with prebiotics for dogs with gastrointestinal problems;
• Overweight/Sterilized – a lighter diet for animals that have been neutered or have gained excess weight.

These special diets will cost dog owners about 1,300-1,500 rubles per 2.5 kg package.

In addition, Eukanuba manufacturers offer medicinal food for dogs with certain diseases:

• Dermatosis FP - for dogs with allergies and pets with increased hair loss;
• Intestinal - diet for pets with frequent intestinal disorders;
• Joint Mobility - for pets with skeletal diseases;
• Renal - diet for dogs with kidney disease;
• Restricted Calorie is the most dietary low calorie diet for obese dogs;
• Weight/Diabetic Control - food for diabetic dogs;
• High Calorie - a diet with a higher calorie content. Suitable during the recovery period after surgery and during pregnancy or lactation.

Prices for a package weighing 12 kg in various stores range from 5,000 to 5,500 rubles.

The range of Eukanuba feeds is very wide. The manufacturer offers basic diets that differ from each other according to the age and breed characteristics of pets. In addition, diets have been developed for dogs with specific needs (those with digestive difficulties or those prone to developing various diseases).

For dogs suffering from one or another ailment, technologists have created a special veterinary line, offered as a treatment line.

Compound

Eukanuba dry rations (Netherlands) contain the following ingredients in different proportions:

• Freeze-dried poultry (chicken and turkey), from 20% in the diet for kittens, to 44% in the diet for older cats. Sublimation is freeze-drying, that is, without heat treatment, during which some important vitamins are lost and the protein structure changes. The presence of freeze-dried products in the feed increases its value;
• In addition to poultry, the dry diet for adult cats with lamb and liver includes chicken liver (9%) and lamb meat (14%);
• Flour from chicken by-products;
• Rice;
• Corn;
• Animal fat;
• Fish meal;
• Cereals: rice, sorghum, wheat;
• Vegetable fiber;
• Dried sugar beet pulp;
• Whole dry eggs;
• Hydrolyzed animal protein;
• Chicken extract;
• Fructo-oligo-saccharides;
• Brewer's yeast;
• Fish fat;
• Minerals and vitamins;
• Rosemary as a natural preservative.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of Eukanuba feed include:

1. High percentage of natural meat and, accordingly, animal protein in the feed;
2. The composition includes high-quality animal fat;
3. Availability of necessary lines separating feed by age and physiological state;
4. There is a medicinal line of food and canned food;
5. High nutritional value and digestibility;
6. There are no dyes or flavors;
7. There are no artificial preservatives.

Disadvantages of Eukanuba feed:

1. The presence of grain components in the feed that can cause allergies - wheat, corn;
2. Presence of vegetable protein in diets.
3. There are no canned goods in the daily line.
4. Instead of freeze-dried meat, the Eukanuba food produced by Mars LLC contains protein of animal origin (poultry). This is not good, since it is not known which parts of the bird are used to obtain protein, and this affects the quality of the protein (different amino acid composition).

Cost and replacement feed

Considering that diets of this brand are not suitable for everyone, and also due to some changes in content after a change in manufacturer, many owners have decided to switch their pets to alternative types of food.

Today, the cost of 1 kg of dry product costs approximately 500 rubles, and 50 for a wet product per pack of 80 grams.

How to replace food

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Price

The cost of feed produced under the Eukanuba brand is slightly higher than the average cost of similar super-premium class feed.

The price of a package weighing 400 g of dry food in the daily line ranges from 290 to 440 rubles, 2 kg of food will cost 1250-1850 rubles.

The price of dietary dry food is on average 1,220 rubles per package weighing 2 kg.

Cost of Eukanuba feed for daily feeding

Cost of medicinal feed Eukanuba

Conclusions about Eukanuba food

There are both positive and negative reviews about Eukanuba cat food. Although there are more of the former, the PetObzor website will not recommend this dry food as the main food for your cats. The reason is the inflated price, which clearly does not correspond to the quality of the composition.

However, if the last mentioned fact does not bother you and you want to overpay, then Eukanuba can be bought as an alternative to any premium food.

Verdict: not desirable (?)

• Mars
• Premium food for cats

Owner reviews

You can leave your reviews about Eukanuba food, other users will be interested: Most owners speak positively about Eukanuba cat food, but many are confused by what they think is an inflated price.

Here is a review that quite fully expresses the owners’ opinion about Eukanuba brand food.

Review by Julia.

I want to tell you about my search for the ideal food for my cats. Two cats live in our house, six-year-old Vasilisa, a Persian mixed breed, and a two-year-old Scottish cat, Peach.

As a responsible housewife, I was worried about what food to choose so that my cats would not eat just anything, but more or less decent food and, most importantly, without harm to their health.

I bought a bunch of different cat foods from an online store and decided to find out my cats’ preferences experimentally.

In this review I would like to tell you about Eukanuba food.

Previously, this food was produced in the Netherlands; since 2014, the brand has been purchased by Mars LLC, which also produces Pedigree, Kitiket and Royal Canin food.

I bought a pack recommended for cats over 1 year old, weighing 2 kg for 980 rubles.

Personally, I saw both pros and cons in the composition. Protein of animal origin is undoubtedly good, but there is no information from what parts of the bird it is produced from; manufacturers modestly kept silent about this.

Whole dried egg, fish oil, hydrolyzed animal proteins are also pluses, but the presence of wheat confused me; its presence in super-premium food (as stated by the manufacturer) is rather an extra element for food of this class.

Other ingredients, in my opinion, have their place; it is difficult for me to characterize them in any way. And here’s another mystery - what was used as a preservative, not a word about it in the composition, apparently the manufacturer decided that this should remain a secret.

The packaging contains recommended feeding rates. I didn’t use the recommendations, but I paid attention to the food consumption for each cat per day. It turned out that a cat weighing 5,550 kg can eat 50 g, and a cat weighing 3,540 kg can eat 35-40 g. It turns out that the food is quite nutritious, and this is a savings, despite the cost. But the cost is still too high; for the same money I could buy food with a more attractive composition (more on this in the following reviews).

Now about the granules - they are medium in size, dark brown, oily.

The smell is not pungent, does not irritate, the cat quite liked it.

I was pleased that my cats accepted the food well, although without excessive fanaticism, they did not rush.

During the feeding period, the animals felt stable: normal stool, normal activity, normal molting. That is, everything is within normal limits, as with other high-quality feed.

To summarize, I think the food is good, although not the best in this category. At a similar price there are feeds that are more attractive in composition. I give the food 3.5 stars, okay, 4 is a stretch, because the cats liked it. In general, I recommend it, it may be ideal for your pets.