good post ontariogreys! however i will have to disagree, again you are trying to compare apples to oranges. pure raw meat protein %'s cannot be compared to kibble protein %'s no matter how you flip that pancake, because they are two VERY different biological realities. kibble is cooked. kibble contains grains, vegetable matter, etc. all this alters the bioavailability of the nutrients. you can crack your head trying to analyse & break matter down to comparable bits, but the truth of the matter is: raw meat and kibble are digested & absorbed in completely different ways. it takes a dog 4 hours to digest meat & bones, and 12-16 hours to digest kibble (no matter the brand). that, alone, says a lot.
and strangely, from the mouth of the devil - ooops i mean purina itself (
http://www.puppychow.com/Nutrition/About_Protein.aspx):
Quality control during pet food processing is important. Protein may be damaged by heat processing, but most reputable pet food manufacturers use proper cooking methods and employ quality control measures to ensure that products are made properly. Because information about protein digestibility cannot be listed on pet food labels, the manufacturer's reputation is important.
and i just found this disturbing statement from
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/in...bc/182904.htm:
Statement of Nutritional Adequacy:
This statement indicates how the food was tested (feeding versus laboratory analysis or formulation) and for which life stage the food is intended. AAFCO recognizes only 4 life stages: growth, maintenance, gestation, and lactation. The term “all life stages” is frequently used on a label and indicates that the product has been either formulated or tested for growth. By default, it is anticipated that such a food would also pass a maintenance protocol because testing a food for growth generally includes gestation and lactation. There are no AAFCO-approved nutrient profiles for geriatric, senior, or weight loss stages.
The statement “complete and balanced” indicates the product contains all nutrients presently known to be required by dogs or cats and that these nutrients are properly balanced to the energy density of the diet. The “complete and balanced” claim must be substantiated by successfully completing AAFCO feeding trials, or the food must contain at least the minimal amount of each nutrient recommended by AAFCO. There are cautions “against the use of these requirements (levels) without demonstration of nutrient availability” because some of the requirements are based on studies in which the nutrients were supplied as purified ingredients and, therefore, are not representative of ingredients used in commercial pet foods. Laboratory analysis does not address the issue of bioavailability.
