# "Vital Essentials" raw food



## NewLabDoodle (Jun 20, 2011)

Anyone use this brand? http://www.vitalessentialsraw.com/html/Feast/products/index.htm

A local pet store carries this and Primal raw premade patties. I didn't find much info about Vital Essentials on dogforums, except maybe one post, but it didn't have much detail.

Curious if anyone out there is having success or failure with these foods? I decided to try their "raw beef tripe" freeze-dried treats. So far so good.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Pretty much all the pre-made raw products are great. The biggest problem is cost. . .most people can't afford to feed those foods exclusively to a large dog.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

I have been told that Vital Essentials is very good; one of the posters here feeds it; maybe she will see this. Willowy, I thought they were mostly the same as well, til I was reading reviews of them on Dog Food Advisor. One of them even has by products!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Hmm, named by-products, or icky old "meat by-products"? I'll have to look at that. . .I've been researching premade raw foods for my cats, and every one I've looked at had excellent ingredients--some have more bone, more veggies, different additions--but something for everyone/every need, right? I haven't seen one that looked bad yet.

ETA: ick! But I didn't know Bil-Jac was raw; I thought it was like a frozen canned food . Well, that one looks crummy but the rest look pretty good.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

http://www.vitalessentialsraw.com/html/Feast/products/ingredients.htm

the only questionable ingredient for me would be mixed tocopherols.....which are generally sourced from soy....

otherwise, it looks pretty good. 

i think my biggest issue with pre mades are i never know how much of what is in each product.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Willowy said:


> Hmm, named by-products, or icky old "meat by-products"? I'll have to look at that. . .I've been researching premade raw foods for my cats, and every one I've looked at had excellent ingredients--some have more bone, more veggies, different additions--but something for everyone/every need, right? I haven't seen one that looked bad yet.
> 
> ETA: ick! But I didn't know Bil-Jac was raw; I thought it was like a frozen canned food . Well, that one looks crummy but the rest look pretty good.


For me, I dont care if the by products are named or not, I don;t want them in my dogs food.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

InkedMarie said:


> For me, I dont care if the by products are named or not, I don;t want them in my dogs food.


i so agree with that. i just wish they would tell us not only what is in the food, but how much of each ingredient.


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## meggels (Mar 8, 2010)

I feed Vital Essentials to Murph and love love love it. And so does he, of course. I can get it in bulk, either by the lb or 22lb boxes for $47 in chicken, beef, tripe, fish or turkey, because my guy has specific deals with the company.

Honestly can't say enough good things about the company.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

MagicRe said:


> i so agree with that. i just wish they would tell us not only what is in the food, but how much of each ingredient.


I agree with that too. I wish everyone realized that they go in order in the ingredients list. If meat comes third, that means it has less than whatever #'s one and two are.


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## saitenyo (Sep 9, 2011)

I've never used Vital Essentials but can speak highly of Primal. That's what I feed my cats and they've been doing very well on it. The company has also great about responding any time I contact them with questions about ingredients or sourcing.

And on an entirely personal preference note, I like that they have different lines for cats and dogs. I always felt weird about raw foods that only have one line for both as if cats and dogs had no variation in nutritional requirements.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

saitenyo said:


> I've never used Vital Essentials but can speak highly of Primal. That's what I feed my cats and they've been doing very well on it. The company has also great about responding any time I contact them with questions about ingredients or sourcing.
> 
> And on an entirely personal preference note, I like that they have different lines for cats and dogs. I always felt weird about raw foods that only have one line for both as if cats and dogs had no variation in nutritional requirements.


i remember feeding primal sardine grind to my dogs...they loved it. i only stopped because i can get fresh frozen sardines now.



InkedMarie said:


> I agree with that too. I wish everyone realized that they go in order in the ingredients list. If meat comes third, that means it has less than whatever #'s one and two are.


well, even that is sometimes misleading, because they are listing it as number one, but it's wet. take the water out and suddenly, the protein is further down the list.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

MagicRe said:


> i remember feeding primal sardine grind to my dogs...they loved it. i only stopped because i can get fresh frozen sardines now.
> 
> 
> 
> well, even that is sometimes misleading, because they are listing it as number one, but it's wet. take the water out and suddenly, the protein is further down the list.


 I prefer a food that has the meat protein first, be it the meat or the meat meal, which is actually better. If it starts out without meat, I'm not buying it!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

InkedMarie said:


> For me, I dont care if the by products are named or not, I don;t want them in my dogs food.


Chicken necks and feet are considered "by-products". I would feed my pets chicken necks and feet, or a premade raw that had chicken necks and feet in the ingredient list. That's what I meant by "named by-products" .

But no, Bil-Jac looks nasty. I wouldn't feed that to any animal.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

InkedMarie said:


> I prefer a food that has the meat protein first, be it the meat or the meat meal, which is actually better. If it starts out without meat, I'm not buying it!


that's what i'm saying. even if the meat protein is listed first, it's listed according to its wet weight, not the dry weight...which would then put it further down the list once the water is removed, as is done with kibble...

that's called marketing 

not the same as with pre mades and frozen raw......the water is still in there, so if it says beef first, then it's beef...and there is more of it than the rest of the ingredients.

what bothers me is i don't know how much heart, how much bone, how much blood, how much etc. etc.....

but, if i were feeding a pre made vital instincts would probably be on my list.


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## pawsplus (May 4, 2012)

saitenyo said:


> And on an entirely personal preference note, I like that they have different lines for cats and dogs. I always felt weird about raw foods that only have one line for both as if cats and dogs had no variation in nutritional requirements.


They actually don't, really. Yes, cats have an absolute requirement for taurine, but a raw meat diet contains TONS of taurine so it doesn't matter. The reason extra taurine has to be added to commercial cat food it b/c cooking kills it. So the only reason their requirements are different vis-a-vis canned/kibble is b/c it's cooked.

Re: the pre-made raw foods: I agree that it's better than kibble or canned. But there is absolutely NO reason to grind a dog or cat's food for him. They have canine teeth for a reason and they should USE them! Let your dog chew his food, both bony and muscley--it's good for his teeth, his gut, and his psyche!


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

pawsplus said:


> They actually don't, really. Yes, cats have an absolute requirement for taurine, but a raw meat diet contains TONS of taurine so it doesn't matter. The reason extra taurine has to be added to commercial cat food it b/c cooking kills it. So the only reason their requirements are different vis-a-vis canned/kibble is b/c it's cooked.
> 
> Re: the pre-made raw foods: I agree that it's better than kibble or canned. But there is absolutely NO reason to grind a dog or cat's food for him. They have canine teeth for a reason and they should USE them! Let your dog chew his food, both bony and muscley--it's good for his teeth, his gut, and his psyche!


i agree about grinding. but some folks just aren't there yet....ya know? 

so to me, premade is better than not.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

pawsplus said:


> Re: the pre-made raw foods: I agree that it's better than kibble or canned. But there is absolutely NO reason to grind a dog or cat's food for him. They have canine teeth for a reason and they should USE them! Let your dog chew his food, both bony and muscley--it's good for his teeth, his gut, and his psyche!


I mostly agree, but there are some reasons to use ground meat. Maybe a kibble-addicted cat or dog (cats mostly) who doesn't recognize meat as food---ground meat is more like canned food. Maybe an older pet with bad/no teeth who isn't comfortable crunching bone (and, yeah, I know they CAN do it, but will they?). Etc.

Plus the conveniece of using pre-made raw.


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## pawsplus (May 4, 2012)

Willowy said:


> I mostly agree, but there are some reasons to use ground meat. Maybe a kibble-addicted cat or dog (cats mostly) who doesn't recognize meat as food---ground meat is more like canned food. Maybe an older pet with bad/no teeth who isn't comfortable crunching bone (and, yeah, I know they CAN do it, but will they?). Etc.


I do get that -- I have an older dog who refused to convert PERIOD and lost weight even on ground (so she eats grain-free kibble w/ water added, which doesn't thrill me but after a YEAR of trying, I finally had to throw in the towel, LOL).

That said, MOST dogs and cats WILL convert with ease, or at least in less than a year LOL, and most people who use pre-made are using it b/c it's convenient, not b/c their animals refuse to eat real food.  Hopefully many of them will eventually give real food a try--there is nothing as satisfying for a dog as crunching through a chicken carcass.


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