Dog & Cat Feed FAQs

Product Selection

• How do I switch my pet from his current diet to your product?

  We recommend a slow transition from your current product to our diets. While diets may appear similar from the label, they may contain very different sources of nutrients that your pet will need to adapt slowly to.

  It is recommended to transition diets over a 1 week period starting with ¾ of the daily amount of your previous diet and ¼ of the daily recommended amount of your selected new product. Change these amounts every 2 days by ¼ of the daily allotment until you fully convert to your new product completely on day 7.

  As with all foods, the recommended amounts listed on your new packaging should be adjusted based on your individual pet to maintain a desirable body condition.

• How do you feed dogs with allergies or sensitivities?

  True allergies are actually rare. There are dogs that have skin or digestive sensitivities, which can cause gastric upsets, loose stools or skin irritations. For these dogs, if they are on one type of protein source like poultry, it is best to try a new protein like lamb meal and rice.

  If the sensitivities continue, a visit to the vet may be in order to determine the cause. If it is a true allergy, the pet will need to be on a special type of diet prescribed the vet.

• How long should my puppy stay on puppy food?

  Puppy formulas are recommended for dogs up to 12 months of age because it contains nutrients like EPA and DHA and enhanced levels of vitamins and trace minerals, which are important for development. After 12 months, it is best to transition a dog to an adult formula.

• What should I feed an overweight dog?

  One of the big misconceptions about feeding overweight dogs, is just to feed him less. What you really want to do is reduce the calorie intake and not the vitamins or minerals and some of the other essential nutrients.

  So when you have a dog that’s overweight, the first thing you want to do is switch them to lower calorie product that reduces calorie intake but leaves the other nutrients at a high level.

About Pet Food

• I see different things about “grains” for pets. Are grains bad?

  Grains are not “bad” for your pet. Some individual animals can have food allergies or sensitivity which may affect how they respond to specific grains. In the Loyall Life lineup of products, you will find selections of different grain sources that will help you select what is right for your companion.

  Grains deliver starch and specific fatty acids and fiber to the diet that is important in the overall nutrition package of the diet. It is important that products are “cooked” correctly to get the most out of them. You wouldn’t eat corn or rice without cooking it, but you have probably been served corn or rice that has been on the stove too long. You know that cooking can be too much…or too little.

  Our “Opti-Cook” process was developed to ensure that grains and other ingredients are cooked correctly to help provide a diet for your friend.

• What are prebiotics, and what are they for?

  Prebiotics are the ingredients that enhance the growth of good microbes or the good bugs in the digestive system. An example of a good bug is Lactobacillus. Since prebiotics encourage the growth of the good bugs, there generally isn’t room for the bad bugs to grow.

• Why are trace minerals important?

  Trace minerals are an essential component of a pet’s diet. Trace minerals are important for sound growth and development, as well as everyday maintenance of health and specifically optimal skin and hair coat quality.

• What does the “AAFCO” formulation statement on the bag mean?

  AAFCO is an acronym for the “American Association of Feed Control Officials”. This is a group of US and Canadian, both state, and federal “feed” regulatory officials. As a group, they publish a book annually known as the “Official Publication” that provides a model regulation for ingredients, nutrients and labeling that may be selected by individual states as law.

  For the most part in the US, petfood labeling defined in AAFCO’s Official Publication governs what appears on petfood labeling. One part of AAFCO’s labeling for petfoods, is a statement that defines how the diet was designed and for what lifestage of the pet. While the regulatory options are complex, in general terms they define the lifestage of the animal (ie, adult maintenance, growth, or reproduction) along with whether the diet was designed to meet or exceed scientifically proven nutrient requirements or if the diet or diet family was “tested” in a prescribed format to verify that the product meets the lifestage needs of the animal.

  Arguments are made by companies trying to defend how they have chosen to design and test diets. AAFCO publishes a listing of nutrients required as a minimum (or in a few cases maximum) to satisfy the nutrient needs of a particular lifestage of pet. These levels are selected by a group of scientists and professionals that are not affiliated with any specific company and which are not influenced by the “costs” of delivering needed nutrients. Our Loyall™ lineup of products are designed to exceed the nutrient levels established by AAFCO for various lifestages to ensure that your companion is able to perform.

  Other companies may chose to “test” diets and in some cases they suggest that “testing” is somehow better than formulating to the nutrient profile of AAFCO. The reality is that arguments can be made in both directions regarding the applicability of testing to ensure that the diet is appropriate. “Testing” facilities may or may not be equal to how any individual is housed and certainly activity levels of pets will almost always be different than those used in a testing kennel. We have chosen to utilize the well established benchmarks that have been published after thorough review across many different types of animals and across many different locations as published by AAFCO to be the basis of the nutritional claims on our packaging.

Product Availability

• Are Nutrena pet foods available online?

  While there may be retailers that carry Loyall Life and Nutrena True pet foods and sell them online, we do not have a central website that offers the products for sale.

• Does Nutrena offer any canned pet foods?

  Nutrena pet foods are only available in dry kibble form.