# Instinct Duck?



## roothy (Nov 28, 2010)

Petco has Instinct duck and turkey meal kibble. I did not see this variety on Nature's Variety's web site. Is it new? Old? Has anyone fed it? I need something for a dog with allergies - not sure if they're food, but prefer something that might be appropriate if he IS allergic. He has never really eaten duck before, although he has had some turkey. I want something that does not have flax seeds in it, and low or no carb, so this food interested me.


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## DDBsR4Me (Jan 23, 2012)

Here's the link to their duck formula Instinct: Duck Meal & Turkey Meal Formula: Grain-Free Kibble for Dogs | Nature's Variety


I'm currently feeding my boy the Instinct Salmon formula, and he really likes it. My only concern is the ash content - which is 12% for all the Instinct formulas, but you can supplement with a cranberry pill to help out the kidneys.


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## roothy (Nov 28, 2010)

Thank you; I don't know how I missed that on their web site. 

Are you feeding your boy Instinct because he has allergies? Is it helping?

I'm not familiar with the ash issue. What does too much ash do - make things too alkaline or something?


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## DDBsR4Me (Jan 23, 2012)

No problem. 

No, my boy doesn't have allergies, I just wanted to try him on something different. He'd pretty much been on lamb based kibble his whole life. 

From what I understand, ash is what remains of the food after it has been heated at a high temperature, mainly minerals. I think that a high ash content can contribute to urinary crystals.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

I have fed their limited ingredient Turkey with great success but not the "regular" duck & turkey


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I like their formulas a lot, but the high ash levels worry me...


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## domika (Jul 15, 2012)

meggels said:


> I like their formulas a lot, but the high ash levels worry me...



I agree. I want to try all the formulas because they look decent, especially the new "Rawboost" ones, but the high ash scares me. hwell:


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## pgiven (Nov 4, 2011)

domika said:


> I agree. I want to try all the formulas because they look decent, especially the new "Rawboost" ones, but the high ash scares me. hwell:



Glad to see NV finally getting the attention it deserves on this forum. We've been feeding them exclusively for almost a year now. A much higher meat content than comparative foods and a better company, to boot. 

So those of you that are "concerned" about high ash, can I ask why? Other than random internet posturing, i've never heard of any documentation of the problems commonly attributed to high ash. Of all of the things to be concerned with that go into your dogs food, ash should be near the bottom.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

pgiven said:


> Glad to see NV finally getting the attention it deserves on this forum. We've been feeding them exclusively for almost a year now. A much higher meat content than comparative foods and a better company, to boot.
> 
> So those of you that are "concerned" about high ash, can I ask why? Other than random internet posturing, i've never heard of any documentation of the problems commonly attributed to high ash. Of all of the things to be concerned with that go into your dogs food, ash should be near the bottom.


NV gets mentioned all the time here, what's the issue?

Much higher meat content than comparative foods? What's the comparison then? What's a better company? Compared to who? Have you ever asked yourself what these formulas would produce of results without montmorillonite clay? You have talked about marketing tricks earlier. Granted m. clay got some properties worth looking into but I guarantee you it also is a godsend for their sales & marketing department. NV also rely heavily on long traveled ingredients. China, Thailand, the middle east and europe. Poor environmental profile and low support for local and North American businesses.

Why pay for ash? 100% is 100% and at a certain point the excessive levels (percentages) of ash comes at the expense of something else. All the needs can be taken care of within the 5% to 8% range. Why would you want to loose 7% to 10% of other nutrients? Just so you can add a stool hardener? Why do you want to feed 2.5% calcium? This is AAFCO's own extreme top end. Why would you be there when AAFCO is more or less a business friendly tweak of NRC's recommendations. Various studies have shown a more rapid rate of deterioration of renal function in animals eating a high phosphorus diet. High ash comes with many questions. Not everything is well understood. Questions related to various minerals is plentiful but that's all I have time for now.

At the end of the day NV have a set of questions attached to them that many other brands does not have. That's my personal view, doesn't mean that other ppl put the same weight on the various questions/issues, or even bother with the same questions.


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## domika (Jul 15, 2012)

High ash isn't necessarily on the top or bottom of my "list" when choosing a food, but when there are other brands with the same meat/protein content for a similar price, I might as well pick one with lower ash. Not saying I would never feed it or scoff at anyone who feeds it, just my choice.


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## pgiven (Nov 4, 2011)

DaViking said:


> At the end of the day NV have a set of questions attached to them that many other brands does not have. That's my personal view, doesn't mean that other ppl put the same weight on the various questions/issues, or even bother with the same questions.


That's a fair statement and most of your points are fine enough. My priorities are different than yours, and our dogs are certainly different still. It happens. Good info for the reader.


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## pgiven (Nov 4, 2011)

Er, I should say. Every brand has a DIFFERENT set of questions attached. There is no singular brand that comes without question, period.


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