Pet Food Recommendations from Lostinidaho.me

I talk about Pet Food from time to time, because I have a passion for pet nutrition.  Hell, it's my day job, and I love what I do.

But most of my posts have been in a negative tone:

I've railed against Science Diet and brainwashed veterinarians.

I've made fun of Beneful and their junk-food in a bag.  (Tortilla chips and vitamins?  NOT food!)

Every time I do a post like that, people ask me:  "Ok, don't feed this.  Don't feed that.  Well, Mr. Nutrition Expert, what SHOULD I feed?"

To be honest, if you go into your local independent pet shop (Not Petco, Not Petsmart.  Joe's Pet Palace, and places like that) you really can't go wrong.  There are a lot of super-premium foods out there and most pet stores are knowledgeable enough to tell you the right fit for your pet.

If you want to feed the best of the best, look into raw pet foods.  They're extremely expensive, but the most natural and bio-available diet for your animal.  However, my recommendation here is going to be for the majority of us that want super-good, but not super-expensive.

If I have to recommend one brand of food above all others, I am going to choose Dr. Tim's Pet Foods.  This is still unknown in some areas and can be hard to find, but a lot of online retailers sell this food.

(Give it another 12-18 months, and it will be everywhere.  It's that good, and I have a feeling it's about to get the industry recognition it deserves.)

Dr. Tim Hunt is a veterinarian and a dog-sledder.  He is a raw food advocate, but it's tough to feed raw meat at 10 below zero.  He designed his own petfood at home, using a cement mixer and a lot of knowledge.  The company is still run by the doc, and he still practices veterinary medicine in Michigan.

Best of all, he interacts with his customers.  Twice a week, you can ask Dr. Tim questions on the company Facebook page.  Instead of dealing with a Marketing or PR person like most food companies, you get the man himself!

There are currently 4 formulations of dog food:  Momentum (the super-high-energy sled dog formula), Pursuit (high-energy, but not as much as Momentum), and Kinesis (all life stages, for most dogs) in both a grain and grain-free formula.  There is also one formulation for cat food, called Chase.  In Dr. Tim's words, he basically ground up a mouse and tried to mimic that in a cat food.  (I love that story)

The ingredients are top-notch.  The vitamin premix he uses was specially designed for his foods.  On average, 87% of the protein in the foods are derived from high-quality, low-ash animal protein (which is AWESOME!  Pets thrive on meat-protein more than plant-based protein, ESPECIALLY CATS).  ALL ingredients are sourced in either North America or Europe.  His standards are insanely high.  Even independent rating websites like dogfoodadvisor and dogfoodchat give this food stellar marks, often times higher than bags of food that can cost $20-30+ more.

Speaking of price, it's not too expensive.  If you feed Kinesis to a medium-sized dog, it'll cost you about $1 a day.  The 'mainstream premium' foods you would find in Petco, Petsmart or Grocery can be 25 to 50 cents more per day, at a MUCH lower quality.  (And unlike other 'top-tier' pet foods at independent pet stores, this bag will not cost you $70/80/90 or higher!)

With a good food at a good price, you also get good service from the top down.  If you email the company or ask a question on Facebook, you get an answer.  Often times from Dr. Tim.  He also does informative videos (example:  Why do dogs eat cat poop?) about nutrition and overall pet health.

I love what I do, and love to help keep pets happy and healthy.  I get that vibe from him.  It's a good company, good food, and a good price.  Currently, I don't sell Dr. Tim's (and he's not paying me to say this), so please treat this as an unbiased opinion, but if it's good enough for the current Iditarod Champion, it's good enough for me.

And now you know.  With luck, this will be at your local pet shop soon enough (if it isn't already).  In the meantime, there are plenty of online retailers to choose from that will deliver directly to your door.  I hope this helps, and as always, please let me know if you have any other questions or feedback.