The Good: Mitzie loves it! Nothing bad in it, Seems to be on sale frequently enough.
The Bad: Utterly unnecessary, Packaging is not environmentally impressive.
The Basics: An environmentally unimpressive bulking of a pretty wonderful dog gravy, the Mixables Grandma's Country Stew is worth stocking up on!
When it comes to Pet products, I frequently let two things decide: my wallet and my animals. I love the dog, two cats and now a rabbit that I have, but more often than not, they get to try new things mostly as a process of me reviewing new things. But when Mitzie absolutely loved the Mixables Colorado Cookout, I felt I had to get her more of the Mixables if we could find them. Fortunately for both of us, we managed to snag a bulk pack of the Grandma's Country Stew Mixables on clearance. This was a huge boon and it became a far better value for us when we discovered just how much Mitzie, our geriatric cocker spaniel, truly loved it!
The Mixables Grandma's Country Stew dog gravy is intended to be a nutritious supplement to liven up the dog's regular diet and as one who loves gravy on virtually everything, I can certainly get behind the concept! We started Mitzie with the larger 5.3 oz. pouch because our local Pet Smart was offering the bulk pack – a box with twenty-four of the individual pouches at clearance prices. The pouch is a very standard foil food pouch and it opens easily with a perforated opening at the top. The 5.3 oz. pouch is not resealable, but one suspects that because is it intended for a medium to large dog (in the twenty pound and above weight category) such dogs could get through all of the contents of the pouch in a single sitting.
It is worth noting that I am not wild about the lack of environmentalism to these packages. The resealable packages are nice, but I would rather have had a single, larger pouch that I could scoop the servings out of as opposed to all of the foil waste that comes with this particular bulk pack.
Opening the package, what immediately caught me about the Mixables Grandma's Country Stew was how good it actually smelled! This dog food smells like a chicken gravy (which is odd, but I attribute to being the mixture of beef and liver scents) and from the aroma, the idea that there is real meat in the gravy is almost undeniable! Mitzie actually ran me over to get to her food when I opened the pouch of the Mixables Grandma's Country Stew. As I began to pour it over her regular dog food, she pushed her way in to start licking it all up! Mitzie showed a clear preference to the Grandma's Country Stew Mixables versus the untopped dog food or the Colorado Cookout, which is saying something because she truly loved that!
The Mixables Grandma's Country Stew looks and smells like a stew, containing little pieces of beef, bacon, potatoes, carrots and peas. All of those ingredients, which look almost human-quality, are drenched in a thick gravy which looks like beef gravy and smells like chicken gravy. The Grandma's Country Stews Mixables is made with mostly natural ingredients and they make a point of indicating that there are no artificial flavors, though there are some necessary preservatives. The Grandma's Country Stew is made primarily of meat broth (seriously, no specific meats, just "meat" broth), beef and beef liver. Because this mostly-meat-based treat is not packed with preservatives, the pouches we bought on July 20 (2010) are only good until July of 2011. This dog food has a minimum of 8% crude protein and 3% crude fat and no more than 1.5% crude fiber and 82% moisture. Even though it has a very high moisture content, relative to other dog foods and treats, it is still highly recommended that one have water available to the dog right after they eat this. Arguably because of the high moisture content, Mitzie did not go right for her water after she gobbled up this dog gravy.
Even on clearance, the bulk box intended for medium to large dogs is likely to run one over $25 which seems a bit steep for a bunch of 5.3 oz. packages. That said, the fact that Mitzie is getting up in years and still responds so favorably to this tells me it is worth it for her.
For other dog treats or food, please check out my reviews of:
Senior Greenies
Purina Pro Plan Chicken & Rice Shredded Blend
Bark Bars Peanut Butter And Carob Chip
7/10
For other pet product reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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