FAQ

FAQ

Buying Nutrience

Feeding Nutrience

Pet Food Nutrition

Quality Assurance

Buying Nutrience

Why do some bags look vacuum packed?

Certain factors such as food density, ambient temperature and humidity can affect the packaging of the product. Due to these factors on the day of production, some bags will contain more air than others. Rest assured that this doesn’t affect the freshness of the food.

What is the best way to store my food?

Nutrience pet food packages consist of a sealing device and can easily be resealed once the package is opened. Keep Nutrience stored indoors in a cool and dry environment, away from light exposure.

Does Nutrience offer hypoallergenic dog and cat food?

We do offer formulas that are good alternatives to either protein allergies or grain sensitivities in your dog or cat:

Allergies in dogs and cats

Dogs and cats are typically allergic to proteins, which most people relate to either fish, beef, egg, milk, chicken, etc. Your pet’s body will overreact to what it considers an invasive protein, which can happen at any time. However, it can only be if they are exposed to that specific protein. If your pet develops an allergy, you can look for foods with “less common” proteins or foods free of chicken, egg, fish or beef which tend to be the most common allergies. Nutrience offers the following suggestions:

Grain Sensitivities in dogs and cats

All Nutrience formulas are free of corn, wheat and soy. Every pet is unique, which is why Nutrience offers a wide range of carbohydrate sources to accommodate your pet’s sensitivities.
Should your pet develop an allergy, consider the time of year in which symptoms appear, since they can be attributed to seasonal and/or environmental allergies. If you have any questions regarding allergies and/or food sensitivities, please talk to your vet or to a pet store specialist.

Feeding Nutrience

When it comes to feeding my dog or my cat, how many times a day is ideal?

All pets aren’t created equal. Your dog or cat may require more or less food depending on age, activity level or environment. We recommend feeding your pet twice a day: once for breakfast and once for dinner. Please refer to our daily feeding guide that can be found on the Nutrience pet food package and adjust as needed. Make sure to always have fresh water available.

When changing foods, why is it important to transition slowly?

Pets are usually fed the same food for a long period of time. Transitioning to a new diet can be difficult on some pets’ digestive systems. Common digestive signs due to transition include diarrhea, loose stools and vomiting. Transitioning slowly from an old diet to a new one will reduce the risk of your pet experiencing these digestive problems.

Transitioning to Nutrience is quite simple. Start with a proportion of 25% Nutrience to 75% old food. Slowly change the proportions over the next 5 to 7 days by gradually increasing the amount of Nutrience and decreasing the amount of the old food.

How will I know if I’m feeding my dog or my cat the right amount of food?

There are a few indications that you can look for to see if you’re feeding your pet the right amount of food. Loose stools are a common sign of over feeding. Obesity is another common problem of overfeeding and can be the cause of some serious health issues.

If your pet seems heavier than normal, decrease the amount of food you normally give and more importantly, try to increase the exercise he gets. If you feel that your pet is too thin, you may need to increase the amount of food during meal time. A pet getting thinner over time on the same amount of food may indicate a medical condition to be checked by your vet.

When is my puppy or kitten considered an adult and should therefore transition to an adult food?

Small breed puppies can transition to adult food at approximately 8 to 9 months. Large breed puppies can transition after 12 months. As for kittens, they can be switched to adult food after 12 months. Pets may also reach adulthood when they reach their adult body weight and cease to grow.

Pet Food Nutrition

Nutrience is made with low-glycemic carbohydrates. Why is this important?

We’ve increased the focus in our formulas to low-glycemic carbohydrates, a vital step in helping ward off diabetes and obesity, serious health issues for pets. For example, corn is an ingredient scoring high on the glycemic index – a primary reason why Nutrience is now completely corn-free. Examples of low-glycemic ingredients found in Nutrience are steel-cut oats, lentils, sweet potatoes, green peas, broccoli, pears and apples.

What is the source of the glucosamine and chondroitin in Nutrience foods (ex: mussel shell, chicken cartilage, bovine trachea, etc.)?

The glucosamine and chondroitin used in Nutrience formulas are standard, non-synthetic forms commonly found in pet foods. Our glucosamine is extracted from shrimp and crab shells, and the chondroitin is extracted from chicken cartilage.

There are 500 million CFU of probiotics applied to Nutrience Grain Free formulas. What are the health benefits of probiotics and how do we ensure these living organisms aren’t killed off during the cooking process?

Probiotics are live organisms and are sensitive to heat, so the method of applying them to food is critical. Typical extrusion processes, extrusion being a cooking method, involve high heat which can kill these microorganisms. However, Nutrience has invested in an innovative, post-extrusion spray system, allowing application of the probiotics to the kibble after extrusion, keeping the organisms alive. Probiotics are applied at a quantity estimated to give the guaranteed levels for the duration of the shelf life.

What are the benefits of multiple meat proteins in my dog’s and cat’s diet?

Multiple meat proteins offers a wider variety of amino acids to animals, ensuring their needs for essential amino acids are met (especially those that cannot be reproduced in their own body and that must come from the diet), as well as non-essential amino acids (those that animals can synthesize using the building blocks provided from the meats in the diet). These amino acids are then used by the body to produce body tissues including muscles, hormones, connective tissues and many others.

Are your fish and fish meals from your suppliers ethoxyquin-free?

Our suppliers must comply with specific standards for every ingredient that is included in our food in terms of the raw ingredients and their quality. With regards to fish, our suppliers must meet our “no ethoxyquin” demand. In addition, random testing is performed of incoming fish and fish meals batches to help ensure suppliers meet our requirements. No artificial antioxidants (BHT, BHA, Ethoxyquin) are used in any of the ingredients throughout the Nutrience formulas. We only use natural antioxidants to preserve our foods.

We’re very strict with these demands. We take great measures to ensure our quality control, food handling and testing procedures surpass industry standards. All procedures are double-checked by third parties for safety.

Nutrience does not practice ingredient splitting; however, I see there are green peas and pea fibre in the Grain Free formula. Why is this?

Including green peas (a source of protein and energy) and pea fiber (a source of fiber) in one formula is not an ingredient split since they are two different ingredients. One ingredient is the peas themselves, whereas pea fiber comes from peas that were subjected to a process from which the fiber component was extracted. Including whole peas, peas, ground peas and pea flour would be considered ingredient splitting since they are the same ingredient, but given different names.

Quality Assurance

Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs

STATEMENT

Emerging studies and media outlets have put Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in the spotlight in the past year. To date, no causality has been established between grain-free diets and DCM. We love our pets and are dedicated to making the safest and highest-quality food for them. We are taking this issue very seriously and will continue to work with researchers to determine the cause of DCM and if any additional preventative measures need to be taken to ensure the safety of all pets.

Historically, DCM has been linked to a genetic predisposition in certain breeds. Non-genetic factors such as age, sex, activity level, underlying medical conditions, and specific nutrient related deficiencies have recently been questioned in idiopathic cases. When considering nutrition as a potential factor contributing to the development of DCM, it is important to examine specific nutrients, rather than a subset of diets or ingredients. A huge amount of variation in ingredient panels can be observed when comparing different grain-free diets to each other or to those that are grain-inclusive. Grain-free ingredients such as pulses or legumes also exhibit just as much diversity in their nutritional composition when compared against each other.

According to Dr. Solomon, DVM, MPH Director, Center for Veterinary Medicine U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “It is important to note that pulse ingredients have been used in pet food for a long time, and we have no evidence to indicate that they are inherently dangerous.”

There is no evidence in current research that grain inclusive diets will prevent or treat DCM nor that grain free diets are the cause. Furthermore, there is no statistical evidence to indicate that the number of cases of DCM differs from the historical norm.

All Nutrience diets are formulated to be complete and balanced and to meet or exceed the nutritional guidelines set by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). In addition, even though taurine is not considered nutritionally essential for dogs, we recognize what an important role it plays in heart, eye, digestive, and reproductive health. This is why we have always supplemented all of our grain-free dog kibble with taurine to ensure optimal nutrition for every pet.

Based on the information gathered so far, the FDA is not currently advising dietary changes. The information currently available strongly indicates that there is no single factor that can be pinpointed as the cause of DCM in dogs, including non-hereditary cases. It is clear that there are multiple factors, many of them non-nutritional, that may contribute to the occurrence of DCM.

If you have questions or concerns about your dog’s health or diet, we and the FDA suggest that you consult your veterinarian, who should consult a board-certified veterinary nutritionist for personalized advice based on your dog’s specific needs and medical history.

-The Nutrience Team

 

References

Does Nutrience test its pet foods on animals?

No one would feel comfortable eating a food that hadn’t been consumed by someone else. This also goes for pets! We conduct feeding trials which are a perfectly safe and comfortable process. With these feeding trials, we can monitor the taste, the effect on the digestive system, the effect on sensitive animals, the body weight and the quantity of food consumed. The animals are kept in comfortable conditions under the supervision of a veterinarian and a technical team.

What type of quality controls are in place to ensure a quality product?

Our ingredients, foods and procedures go through very strict testing procedures:

  • incoming ingredients are subject to strict quality control
  • ingredients are each assigned designated bins while being stored in the plant
  • the first few bags of each production run are discarded to prevent cross-contamination
  • samples from each batch of food produced are tested and kept on hand for the duration of the product’s shelf life
  • we are strictly audited by third parties for all of our procedures

Does Nutrience outsource the production of their food to third party manufacturers or do they make it themselves?

All Nutrience dry food diets are created in Vancouver British Columbia, within a jointly held facility, where we have full visibility and control of the process of sourcing and cooking. Operating our own pet food facility provides absolute assurance that our brand promise is kept: to create foods from quality ingredients and ensure there is No Bad Anything in all of our foods. It is our priority to create every bag of Nutrience to the highest possible standards. Every batch is sampled for quality and is subject to feeding trials, a chemical analysis and a microbial analysis.

Nutrience treats and wet foods are sourced from select co-packers who specialize in the creation of high quality, small batch production using locally sourced ingredients. We work closely with our vendors of choice, who we have carefully selected as best in class Canadian manufacturers to uphold our No Bad Anything pledge and who also follow our strict quality control procedures.