Bil Jac Dog Food Review

November 4, 2008
Filed under Bil Jac, Dog Food Reviews

Bil Jac Dog Food

The Bil-Jac dog food product line is the brainchild of brothers, Bill and Jack Kelly.

Bil-Jac believes in producing the best quality dog food for optimum nutrition and at the same time generates the best-tasting dog food in the market.

Currently, Bil-Jac dry dog food is marketed in three product lines—Sensitive Solutions, Amino Health System, and Immune System Health Formula.

Sensitive Solutions tries to address the unique dietary needs of dogs with sensitive digestive systems, skin, and coat. They achieve this by not using high pressure and high temperature extrusion processing to preserve the quality of the nutrients.

The Amino Health System line includes Select Adult, Reduced Fat, Large Breed Select Adult, and Small Breed Select. This is a premium dog food line that claims to balance the amino acids which are needed by the body. Lysine, leucine, arginine, and methionine are just some of these amino acids which are required but are not sufficiently manufactured by the body, thus needing an external source which can be easily obtained from the diet.

The Immune System Health Formulas are tailored for puppies and senior dogs. These are life stages that need optimum immune support. Bil-Jac answered this need by incorporating the essential amino acids—arginine which an important role in innate and acquired immunity, and methionine which is an important component in the synthesis of antioxidants.

Bil-Jac formulas are primarily based on a high percentage of fresh chicken and fresh chicken organs which are the main sources of protein in the diet. Whitefish is also present in some of their dog food products.

Bil-Jac dog food formulas claim to contain higher quantities of fresh chicken and fresh chicken organ meats compared to other dog food brands. Although high in protein values, these ingredients are still in their raw form thus a large portion of the meat is composed of water which accounts for about 80% of the composition. After processing only a fraction of the fresh meat remains because water is lost.

Bil-Jac also specifies that the chicken by-products that they use are organ meat only and are usually termed as chicken giblets.

No gluten-rich grains or grain protein concentrates are used in the dog food ingredients. Their dog food rations claim to be free from gluten-rich rice, wheat, and exogenous fat sources however there are Bil-Jac formulas which contain corn meal. The manufacturers believe that the absence of any type of grain meal allows optimal digestion and absorption of important nutrients.

Although corn meal is a good source of carbohydrates, it has been linked with food-based allergies in dogs.

Other controversial ingredients include dried beet pulp which is a high-fiber ingredient but is considered by many as an inexpensive dog food filler, and BHA, a synthetic food preservative. Brewer’s dried yeast is rich in protein but critics link yeast to dog allergies.

There is no mention of the addition of probiotics and chelated minerals.

Customer Reviews

Dog owners share different opinions of Bil-Jac dog food formulas.

Although many dog owners report how their dogs seem to do well with Bil-Jac’s formulas, some resent the addition of corn meal as the main source of carbohydrate in the ration. There are also reports of food-based allergies which many dog owners attribute to corn and to a lesser extent, chicken.

Overall, we would not recommend Bil Jac and believe that there are many better dog food brands for your dog.

Please visit the links listed below for Bil Jac dog food reviews by formula.

Have a comment or question about our Bil Jac dog food review? Want to share your experiences with others? We welcome your comments!