Carnilove is a brand of dog food made in Prague, Check Republic.
In the UK, it is distributed by BSB products. So whenever you buy Carnilove products, your supplier is dealing with BSB products, not Carnilove directly, I will explain why this is important later.
They are known for their rare meat recipes. Reindeer, pheasant, ostrich, carp or rabbit aren’t meat sources you normally see in pet food these days.
Something to note is that their products all contain a high meat content. They currently have 3 product tiers.
- Regular, Fresh and True Fresh.
Their regular food contains 70% Wild-origin meats and 30% Forest fruits
Let’s look at the Duck and Pheasant recipe. This is their entry level kibble.
Duck Meal (30%), Pheasant Meal (22%), Yellow Peas (20%), Chicken Fat (8%), Duck Deboned (5%), Chicken Liver (3%), Apples (3%), Tapioca Starch (3%), Salmon Oil (2%), Carrots (1%), Flaxseed (1%), Chickpeas (1%), Hydrolyzed Crustacean Shells (0.026%), Cartilage Extract (0.016%), Brewer's Yeast (0.015%), Chicory Root (0.01%), Yucca Schidigera (0.01%), Algae (0.01%), Psyllium (0.01%), Thyme (0.01%), Rosemary (0.01%), Oregano (0.01%), Cranberries (0.0008%), Blueberries (0.0008%), Raspberries (0.0008%).
The first thing you will note is the term ‘’meal’’, right next to ‘’Duck’’ and ‘’Pheasant’’. You will be wondering what this is.
‘’Meat meal is made from the parts of animals that aren't consumed by humans, it generally includes residual meat, offal, connective tissues and in some cases, bones. According to UK Feed Stuffs Regulations, meat meal "should be virtually free of hair, bristle, feathers, horn, hoof and skin and of the contents of the stomach and viscera”.
For this entry level price point, you aren’t getting prime cuts of meat in the food.
We would like to point you to the peas now. Irrespective of the brand of dry dog food you choose, it will always contain carbohydrates your dog does not need. Now, are some ingredients preferable to others? Absolutely. Rice, wheat, barley, sugar, and refined carbs have no place in pet food. But how about green beans? Sweet potato? Those are better for your dog’s stomach.
Peas: 20% is a lot for a filler. Peas are legumes. They are high glycemic and something dogs don’t need. But at this price point you have to make sacrifices. At least it’s peas and not rice, or barley, or other nasty inflammatory ingredients.
Fresh Range:
Their fresh range is a step up in quality, with more quality meat content and better cuts of meat. Although they say Fresh, only the first ingredient is fresh, the rest are dried meats.
This is an 80/20 food. Which is a step up.
Let’s look at another recipe:
Fresh ostrich deboned (26%), dried lamb (20%), dried turkey (20%), chicken fat (preserved with tocopherols, 9%), pumpkin, chickpeas, peas, chicken liver (3%), salmon oil (2%), apples, carrots, flaxseed, hydrolyzed crustacean shells (a source of glucosamine, 0.026%), cartilage extract (a source of chondroitin, 0.016%), brewer’s yeast (a source of mannan-oligosaccharides, 0.015%), chicory root (a source of fructo-oligosaccharides, 0.01%), yucca schidigera (0.01%), algae (0.01%), psyllium (0.01%), thyme (0.01%), rosemary (0.01%), oregano (0.01%), cranberries (0.0008%), blueberries (0.0008%), sea buckthorn (0.0008%), ginger root (0.0008%), sage (0.0008%)
Because we are so focused on the nutrition side of things at the pet quarter, it’s useful for you to know this: Both the Fresh and their regular range use Chicken as binder. This means that if your dog has a chicken allergy, you should stay away from these.
The only food that is single protein is the true fresh beef. This is disappointing because using chicken as binder is a way to cut costs.
Their True Fresh range is relatively new and uses better meat sources (fresh) than the Fresh range. This is the top of the range and is a 60/40 food. 60% in the bag comes from animal sources and 40% come from fruits and vegetables.
If you decide to go for this food, supply chain issues might affect your order.
Because the food is not manufactured in the UK, you might find it hard to get hold of the food from time to time.
All in all, this food gets good reviews and is one of the better ones as it’s fairly niche.