K9 Natural Freeze Dried Dog Food

[heroeswit]

I'm looking into other options for feeding my pup

K9 Natural looks like it is better then Vets All Natural which I was going to feed my pup when I first got her in August but changed to Royal Canin GSD Jr. She has gone off eating that as I think she is sick of the flavour.

I think K9 natural might be better for her because I can alternate the flavours so she doesn't get sick of one flavour.

What are your opinions on these products

[karly101]

I've only tried the cat version, it didn't quite rehydrate like I expected! Regardless my ferrets did like the taste, and I tried it on the dog and he liked it too! Only negative a lot of it was crushed in the bottom of the pack and so it got wasted as they refused to eat it.... expense wise.. it is fairly high.

IMO I would go for the k9 natural over the vets all natural as the VAN looks very grainy to me.

[Alibi]

I have used both, the K9 does not really rehydrate at all and the dog didnt really like it that much so i have moved onto the VAN which she likes. They are both good foods, the VAN is grainy but not all of it is meant to be digested (for fibre). I dont really think you could go wrong with either, i just went with what she found was more tasty.

[Skye2]

I have used both, the K9 does not really rehydrate at all and the dog didnt really like it that much so i have moved onto the VAN which she likes. They are both good foods, the VAN is grainy but not all of it is meant to be digested (for fibre). I dont really think you could go wrong with either, i just went with what she found was more tasty.

I tried it too but the dogs didn't really like it.

[JRzipper]

I use both, but not all the time. I keep a bag of VAN for when I sometimes run out of frozen raw meals at the end of the week. The dogs love it and lick their bowls clean.

I take K9 Natural with me when I go interstate to show as it's much more convenient than trying to bring enough frozen raw meals to see me through 3 or 4 days. It's certainly doesn't look like I thought it would when you add the water and leave it to soak. It looks a bit disgusting, but the dogs go nuts over it - even my fussy eaters who sometimes have not wanted to eat on a road trip in the past.

It's far to expensive to feed regularly to my pack of big dogs but is a fantastic, healthy and convenient food for what I require when I don't feed raw.

JR

[Nekhbet]

never seen a dog get sick of flavour unless they're just playing you or it's making them sick.

If you want variety use the VAN dry mix and use different meats. I had a rep keep trying to sell me on the K9 Natural and for what it is, it's horribly expensive. Just remember too the K9 Natural has a terribly high level of protein for a growing large breed, I would reserve it for an active adult dog.

[Tintin Jac]

Our boys love K9 Natural.

It doesn't rehydrate by itself very well so I squish it with a potato masher. I have tried a few foods in the past. K9 Natural is by far the most popular. It is expensive but works out ok for us as we also feed raw to the younger dog (old boy isn't interested in it).

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the crumb like bits at the bottom of the box - it all rehydrates the same.

AFAIK, it is only available in lamb in Australia atm but there are other varieties in NZ.

Also, I don't know who is distributing it in Australia but it seems that they have not been that great for retailers to deal with. I am lead to believe they have been a bit tricky to deal with. I need to plan ahead and order a week in advance of when I need it because none of my local retailers hold stock.

[Nekhbet]

Dr Neils is the distributor in Australia

[Red Fox]

I use K9 Natural as back up on the days that I forget to defrost something or for travelling. My dog loves it

I've never had problems with it rehydrating either - just boil the kettle, pour on the recommended amount of water and leave it to cool. Within 15 mins it's a good temp and the water has completely absorbed.

It's not something I'd use everyday though. Firstly due to the expense and secondly because I'd prefer to feed real meat/bones/vegies as opposed to re-hydratable ones. Cheaper and better for the dog IMO.

If you want to make the dry food more palatable and add some variety perhaps you could try adding some fresh meat, yogurt, sardines or an egg to it?

[lucknow]

never seen a dog get sick of flavour unless they're just playing you or it's making them sick.

I agree. There are an awful lot of overweight dogs out there whose owners state that they have to change their food regularly becasue 'they get bored with it'. More like the dogs eat larger volumes than they need when food is new and interesting, fast forward a few days/weeks and the dogs eat enough to satisfy themselves instead of eating for pleasure.

I assume this is an older pup if you brought him/her home in august? I wonder if growth has slowed and your pup just doesnt need as much food as previously.

Some dogs will naturally regulate their own food intake especially if its not 'interesting'. I have a dog like that - when its plain old dry food she will go days on end eating half a cup of food a day or less (sometimes nothing). Add some tablescraps to the bowl and she would eat until vomiting if allowed. She is never underweight, but if there are lots of goodies being given she gets fat easily enough!

Are there any other signs that worry you such as weight, behaviour etc? If not then I wouldnt worry about switching around unless it makes you feel good.

[heroeswit]

never seen a dog get sick of flavour unless they're just playing you or it's making them sick.

I agree. There are an awful lot of overweight dogs out there whose owners state that they have to change their food regularly becasue 'they get bored with it'. More like the dogs eat larger volumes than they need when food is new and interesting, fast forward a few days/weeks and the dogs eat enough to satisfy themselves instead of eating for pleasure.

I assume this is an older pup if you brought him/her home in august? I wonder if growth has slowed and your pup just doesnt need as much food as previously.

Some dogs will naturally regulate their own food intake especially if its not 'interesting'. I have a dog like that - when its plain old dry food she will go days on end eating half a cup of food a day or less (sometimes nothing). Add some tablescraps to the bowl and she would eat until vomiting if allowed. She is never underweight, but if there are lots of goodies being given she gets fat easily enough!

Are there any other signs that worry you such as weight, behaviour etc? If not then I wouldnt worry about switching around unless it makes you feel good.

Thanks For everyones replies.

My pup is 10 months old now. On RC GSD she would take a piece then spit it out, it didn't matter if I added different meats. I have been noticing that she was actually loosing weight and getting way too skinny. I think her growing has slowed but it didn't explain her weight loss. I have now changed to a almost complete raw diet and she is getting to a healthy weight again.

[Erny]

I've never had problems with it rehydrating either - just boil the kettle, pour on the recommended amount of water and leave it to cool. Within 15 mins it's a good temp and the water has completely absorbed.

Boiling water? Wouldn't that destroy some of the goodness in it? I thought the water was supposed to be warm. From what I've read up on it, it seems good food and I'd be happy to support it as a back-up to raw/natural, save that I've been unable to try it out because of my boy's digestive issues which seem to relate to his inability to process certain proteins and isn't anything to do with how good a food is or isn't. The people at K9 Natural here in Australia are really helpful and pleasant to deal with as well. Not that this makes for good food, but it is an added bonus :D.

[BorderBo]

For what it's worth, I tried K9 several times with my old girl who has since passed away and whilst she ate it up well enough, she was very restless for hours afterwards on each occasion. Couldn't settle, kept getting up and moving around, would then lie back down and try to settle but would be back up again, pacing around the house. I suspected it could be because the product was expanding further in her gut. She was a medium sized dog but I wondered if this was a wise food to feed a larger sized breed that could be suspeceptible to bloat. I followed the directions to a tee, too. I concluded that it just wasn't the right choice for her though I know other people who think highly of it. Just my personal experience with the product and not a criticism.

[Red Fox]

I've never had problems with it rehydrating either - just boil the kettle, pour on the recommended amount of water and leave it to cool. Within 15 mins it's a good temp and the water has completely absorbed.

Boiling water? Wouldn't that destroy some of the goodness in it? I thought the water was supposed to be warm. From what I've read up on it, it seems good food and I'd be happy to support it as a back-up to raw/natural, save that I've been unable to try it out because of my boy's digestive issues which seem to relate to his inability to process certain proteins and isn't anything to do with how good a food is or isn't. The people at K9 Natural here in Australia are really helpful and pleasant to deal with as well. Not that this makes for good food, but it is an added bonus :D.

Sorry Erny I missed this.

Just to clarify I don't pour boiling water on it - just boil the kettle just until it warms up a bit. So yes hot, but not at boiling point.

I find the water absorbs quicker and better with the hot water and it ends up a nice temperature by the time it's absorbed and ready to eat.

I'd not thought of it destroying the nutrients, perhaps it would? Though I don't feed it often enough for that to be a huge concern for me .

[Austerra]

I put it in my store when it first came out, lucky if I have been able to sell one or two bags in all that time. Their treats don't sell well either.

Dr Neils are down to one sales rep in Vic so you never see them. I fax through orders now and only get what isn't available through other sources.

[tomas]

I use K9 frozen and freeze dried exclusively for my 5 Vizslas.

They always have firm stools,great coats and recover well after loads of offlead exercise a day,1-3 hours EVERY day! Today I did 16km,they would have done a LOT more.

They also get K9 Joints Plus treats,with deer velvet in them. I give them these or Ziwipeak treats when they go to bed at night. They race to their bedroom!

For supplements they get Dr Krugers Joint and Muscle probiotics for dogs and also collagen hydrolysate for their joints.

They get bones to chew most days also.On other days they have dehydarted deer tendons to chew.

They all love their food and I would'nt use anything else now,even after doing raw myself,as well as trying Ziwipeak and Orijen.

Edited May 23, 2011 by tomas

[Best in show]

Glad to hear others love this product too! I particularly like the reassurance of having a box in the cupboard that I can use as a quick and healthy meal for my girl. I buy the larger 4kg box online from an Australia distributor http://www.roarkingdom.com.au/catalog/products/nourish and although it is a bit of a cost up front, once it rehydrates (use warm not cold water) it makes 16kg so works out good value. You can only get the lamb flavour in the 4kg box in Australia but you can get lamb, beef or venison in the 0.5kg bags.

I’ve also introduced two friends to K9 Natural and their dogs love it too. One reckons his two dogs start salivating at the smell as soon as you add water and then almost lick the shine off their bowls! Highly recommended!!!

[wagsalot]

I put it in my store when it first came out, lucky if I have been able to sell one or two bags in all that time. Their treats don't sell well either.

Dr Neils are down to one sales rep in Vic so you never see them. I fax through orders now and only get what isn't available through other sources.

Yeah I stocked it for a while too - I actually quite liked the product and it was super handy to keep when we ran out of other food for Riley. He loved it.

But no one really seemed overally interested in buying it.

Anyway, I thought it was a good product and would recommend it - perfect for camping trips with the dog!