Molly Diaries | Canned Food Wars

Pedigree VS Butchers

Continuing on the food theme from last weeks Molly Diaries, I am going to review the current tinned food that is eaten by the four legged friends in my home. 

 

My parent's three dogs usually only ever eat the Butcher's tinned dog food, whether that be the original or the Lean & Tasty range to aid their weight loss. I however, tend to mix up the food that Molly eats and tend to get her something different every few months. For the past month or two she has been eating the Pedigree original tinned foods. I am now going to review it compared to the Butcher's natural nutrition.

Pedigree

Looking back I must have had a moment of madness choosing to purchase 12 tins of Pedigree for Molly. I was in a slight rush and although it is no excuse picked it up cause it was on offer. I really wish I hadn't. I got home and my mum who has done lots of research into the best tinned dog foods told me that she hadn't heard good things about the brand and I should have just gotten the Butchers - I really should have!

As soon as I opened the tin I didn't like what I saw. The loaf was a very dark colour - rather unnatural looking to be honest - and there was no sign of any real meat or vegetables being present. It all looked over manufactured and really not very good quality. It also felt extremely different in texture to that of the Butcher's. It was smooth - too smooth in fact - it didn't feel like it had been made to a high standard at all!

With this being said, Molly devours every dish full she is given, although, i'm not sure if this is because she enjoys it or because she just loves to eat. Despite the front of the tin trying to reassure me it contained everything Molly needed to be healthy I wasn't convinced. I was so unconvinced that I decided to do my own research on the brand. My mum was right! It contains nothing that is going to be good for Molly's wee tummy - rather it contains ingredients like ground whole corn which is particularly difficult for dogs to digest, which can excess waste and discomfort.

After reading these reviews I really am shocked - I knew I didn't like the product but to find out it contains so many additives and products that are bad for dogs just disgusts me. I will never be purchasing Pedigree food again.

Butcher's Natural Nutrition

My parent's have been feeding their three dogs on Butcher's tinned dog food for nearly a year now. My mum has done lots of research and decided that this was the best brand available to us and she started the dogs on eating this. Molly has also eaten this dog food recently herself.

Straight off the Butcher's tinned food is vastly different to the Pedigree for many reasons but mostly in colour. The Butcher's looks like a more natural food - it has the same colour as meat would have which gives me more confidence. When I put it into the bowls the texture is completely different, it has large chunks of meat and vegetables and I have regularly seen whole peas and other vegetables through the loaf - the gravy version has larger chunks of meat and vegetables and looks even better than the loaf variety.

On research I have also learnt that Butcher's does not contain any cereal grains which makes me very happy as it is much easier on the dogs stomachs and less likely to cause them any unnecessary pains. It is not perfect and there are still some aspects that I am not 100% happy with such as they above average ash content but it is below average in 'carbs' which means that it will not add any weight to the dogs without me realising it.

Who Wins?

In this case it is probably easy to tell who wins this food war - it has to be Butcher's. As I said, although it is not perfect it is definitely the better choice out of the two we are discussing here today.

Molly gives it her woof of approval!