Are you a new pet owner wondering what on earth to feed your pet?
At this point you are probably wondering ” what are the do’s and don’ts of pet feeding?” what you feed your pet reflects on their physical well being.
Have you been a brand loyalist of Canidae or Taste of the Wild pet food and now you are looking to change your pet food to either Taste or the Wild or Canidae? Or perhaps you are in need of a reassurance on the value these brands offer?
Canidae and Taste of the Wild are pet food brands that provides nutritionally dense and beneficial meals that can be compared with the ancestral diet of dogs and cats.
These brands have undoubtedly gotten better over the year in the face of relentless competition and controversies.
They might have so many similarities but they are distinctively unique in their own way.
To be sure of their uniqueness and answer the above asked questions, let’s take a close look at their nutritional benefit, ingredients, prices and other determining factors.
During the course of this article you will learn how to pick the best pet food brand for your furry friend and what food ingredients to look out for.
After you are done with this awesome comparison check out Canidae and Taste of the wild here to see the different flavors and pricing.
Contents:
- 🤔 Canidae vs Taste of the wild FAQ
- ⚖️ Canidae and Taste of the wild Pros and Cons
- 😻 Types Of Pet Food
- 🥕 Nutritional Value Comparison
- 💰 Price Comparison
- 🤤 Ingredients and Flavors
- 🏡 About Canidae and Taste of the wild
- 🙀 Product Safety and Recalls through History
- 🏆 Canidae Vs Taste of the wild: And the winner goes to…
🤔 Canidae vs Taste of the wild FAQ
What is guaranteed analysis?
The concept of guaranteed analysis on pet food products is to assure purchasers of the precise nutrient content of each consumable. Emphasized by AAFCO, guaranteed analysis by food labels must meet certain requirements such as an exact value for the minimum percentage of crude protein and fat, as well as the maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture on the basis of dry matter obtained. All of the percentages that I use in this comparison are averages of dry matter basis. Learn about dry matter basis here.
Which one has more protein?
The protein content of both brands is roughly the same. Taste of the Wild provides more protein across meal types except for wet cat foods whereas Canidae provides 2.15% more protein than Taste of the wild.
Which one is cheaper?
The Taste of the Wild brand offers cheaper dog and cat meals compared to the meals provided by the Canidae brand, whereas Canidae is considered as one of the most affordable pet food in the market.
Which one has more flavor?
Canidae pet foods offers 63 flavors more than what the Taste of the Wild pet foods offers, while Taste of the wild prides itself more on quality than number of flavors.
Which one has received more recalls?
Both pet food brands have received only one recall while this happened on the same day for the same reason.
Check out the current prices, recipes and flavors for Canidae and Taste of the wild
⚖️ Canidae and Taste of the wild Pros and Cons
Canidae Pros:
Canidae Cons:
Taste of the wild Pros:
Taste of the wild Cons:
😻 Types Of Pet Food
| Product (Dog Food) | Canidae | Taste of the Wild |
| Dry Food | 24 recipes | 9 recipes |
| Wet Food | 15 recipes | 5 recipes |
| Treats | 12 recipes | ❌ |
| Product (Cat Food) | ||
| Dry Food | 9 recipes | 2 recipes |
| Wet Food | 21 recipes | 2 recipes |
| Treats | ❌ | ❌ |
| 😻 See all Canidae recipes | 😻 See all Taste of the wild recipes |
The only similarities these brands have on the basis on food type available is that they both do not manufacture treats for cats.
The Canidae brand has 51 recipes for dog foods and 30 recipes for cat foods while the Taste of the wild brand has 14 recipes for dog foods and 4 recipes only for cat foods.
🥕 Nutritional Value Comparison
The nutritional demands on cat and dog foods are very delicate such that any error in the composition or feeding pattern could result in serious health problems. Our furry friends do not question what they eat so as responsible pet owners, we must probe the nutritional claims of our favorite pet food brand.
To comprehend the nutritional value of any pet food brand, quickly skip the fancy marketing image created by the manufacturers and dive into the guaranteed analysis section found on the wrap of the box, can or bag.
This analysis as mandated by AAFCO provides the amounts or percentages of the nutrients in the meal such as proteins, fats, moisture, minerals, fibre, carbohydrates and vitamins.
| Canidae | Protein(dry) | Protein(wet) | Fat (dry) | Fat(wet) | Fiber (dry) | Fiber (wet) |
| Dog | 30.5% | 41.0% | 15.1% | 25.1% | 4.7% | 6.7% |
| Cat | 36.7% | 46.6% | 19.0% | 28.1% | 3.9% | 7.6% |
| TOTW | ||||||
| Dog | 31.9% | 45.6% | 18.0% | 22.2% | 5.0% | 5.6% |
| Cat | 41.1% | 44.4% | 18.9% | 16.7% | 3.3% | 8.3% |
Protein
Protein is the macronutrient that supplies the ten essential amino acids that are not readily synthesized yet required by dogs and cats for all their metabolic and developmental functioning.
Unlike dogs that can use both protein and carbohydrate as sources of energy, cats depend solely on protein as their energy source, thus making good quality protein a-must have in every premium brand that manufacture cat foods.
Protein rich meals is one tactic most manufacturers use to stay ahead of their competitors so as pet owners and vets we must look closely at the source of the protein if it is commensurate with the protein requirement of our pets.
Fat
Dogs and cats synthesize non-essential fatty acids by themselves and sometimes when they consume dietary carbohydrates but all essential fatty acids required for dietary energy, combating diseases, strengthening immunity and other body functions must be obtained from fat rich sources such as fish oil, soybean, safflower or sunflower oil, and others.
Other benefits of fat in dogs and cats diet includes adsorption and digestion of vitamin, improved coat and skin, reduced blood pressure and inflammation.
For pets especially cats that are allergic to fish, plant based sources of fats such as flax, krill or mussel oil will be an excellent choice to obtain all the essential fatty acids including Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.
Both brands guarantee almost the same amount of fat, however, Canidae offers slightly higher amount of fats for all food types except the dry dog foods.
Fiber
Fibre is basically gotten from carbohydrates and they are classified on the bases of their fermentation and digestibility rates, structure, and other basis.
Fibre, though not consider an essential nutrient by some scientists, is listed in every pet food’s guaranteed analysis and its role in animal nutrition cannot be over emphasized. Over the years, vets and experienced pet owners have chosen fibre as an adjunct to other therapies in treating certain medical conditions in cats and dogs.
There is no significant difference between the fibre content of Canidae and Taste of the Wild pet foods.
💰 Price Comparison
The more expensive pet food is no better than the less expensive one. We do not want to pay for the manufacturer’s marketing fee thinking we are getting the best pet foods for our dogs and cats.
To get the actual cost of the pet food we are purchasing we have two available options, the cost per calorie or the cost per pounds. However, the cost per calorie comes highly recommended by experts because it calculates the dry matter of the meal exclusive of the moisture content.
Using both metrics, it is seen from the comparison table that the Canidae brand offers more expensive meals than the Taste of the Wild does.
| Dog Food | Canidae (Dry) | Canidae (Wet) | TOTW (dry) | TOTW (wet) |
| Per pound | $3.12 | $5.50 | $1.86 | $2.79 |
| Per calorie | $0.0020 | $0.0116 | $0.0011 | $0.0060 |
| Cat Food | Canidae (Dry) | Canidae (Wet) | TOTW (dry) | TOTW (wet) |
| Per pound | $3.29 | $7.64 | $2.29 | $4.26 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0019 | $0.0171 | $0.0013 | $0.0100 |
So where is the best place to purchase these brands? Good question! Overall, chewy.com has the cheapest prices.
They also offer 30% on your first autoship order which saves you a good chunk of change and makes your pet food ordering process automatic. Overall, this has saved me a ton of time.
🤤 Ingredients and Flavors
In a bid to have so many flavours and reduce production cost, some pet food manufactures have resulted to using different techniques that might not have immediate effects on your pet so as to pass the safety screening tests.
As responsible pet owners, it’s stick we stick to pet foods without artificial flavours, colours, preservatives and the likes.
Canidae
This premium grain-free brand offers 71 irresistible flavors by using some of the best quality ingredient currently available.
Salmon, brown rice, menhaden fish, chicken, lamb, turkey, salmon and ocean fish broth, bison, potato, lab and chicken meal, minerals and vitamins are some of the popular ingredient used by this brand.
However, this brand is famous for using two very controversial ingredients, garlic powder and white rice.
Popular flavors
- Real Bison, Lentil and Carrot recipe
- Salmon and Whitefish
- Salmon and pumpkin pork
- Sardine and Mackerel
- Chicken and shrimp
- Turkey and Salmon
- Beef and Chicken
Taste of the wild
The brand uses different type of lean meat such as bison, quail and venison for their recipes as source of protein.
It also uses rapeseeds that are genetically modified and fish oil as a source of omega-3, omega-6 and other essential fatty acids.
Tomato pomace is the major source of fibre for this brand while peas, pea flour and chicory root are their major source of carbohydrate since they only produce grain free meals.
These ingredients and many more are what makes up the 18 flavors owned by Taste of the Wild.
Popular flavors
- Trout and salmon in Gravy
- Roasted venison and smoked salmon
- Venison and Garbanzo beans
Check out the current Canidae recipes and Taste of the wild recipes here
🏡 About Canidae and Taste of the wild
Canidae Information
The Canidae pet foods was found in 1996 by the Whipple and Gordon family and it is owned and operated by the US based Canidea Corporation located in San Luis Obispo, California.
The dog and cat foods of this brand are produced in Texas by the Ethos Pet Nutrition facility (owned by Canidae Pet Company) but the ingredients used are sourced from all over the US.
Though quiet new to the pet food industry, the Canidae brand is fast becoming one of the most popular brand especially with the recent small breed line added to its product line. Some popular recipes are Platinum Less Active recipe, Chicken Meal and Rice recipes, Real Chicken and pea recipes. And much more.
Taste of the wild Information
Taste of the Wild is a pet food brand made by the famous Diamond Pet Company owned by Schell and Kampeter Incorporation. The company has four manufacturing facilities located in Northern California, Central California, South Carolina and Missouri.
The company uses steam gotten from its purification process in processing it’s dry foods. Four out of the nine dry dog food recipes owned by this brand can be used for dogs at all life stages.
🙀 Product Safety and Recalls through History
Companies make scheduled recalls on products that may have a foreseen defect or safety issues. The importance of a recall is to conduct further safety tests in order to effect changes to
Canidae Recalls
- May 5, 2012: Salmonella risk
Taste of the wild Recalls
- May 5, 2012: Salmonella risk
🏆 Canidae Vs Taste of the wild: And the winner goes to…
Despite the fact that both brands are US based and they were both recalled only once for the same reason, the Taste of the Wild brand is the winner of this comparison not only because it offers more protein and uses premium nutrients, it is cheaper and equally safe and these qualities compensates for the low number of flavors offered by the brand.
| If you want | Then you should choose |
| Higher levels of protein | Taste of the wild |
| A cost effective option | Taste of the wild |
| A wider variety of flavors and ingredients | Canidae |
| Safety, based on number of recalls | Both brands |
| A balanced diet for all age levels | Both brands |
References:
https://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/formula-finder/formula-results/?pet_type=Cat
Thank you for this in depth comparison! There are so many options now a days, and all I wanted was some straight forward info on what to feed my new corgi puppy. Definitely giving Totw a shot. Thanks again!