Instinct Original Wet DOG FOOD Review

With an average score of 6.6/10, Instinct Original Wet is considered a moderate risk dog food. There are 3 recipes that average 44% protein and 13% average carbohydrate as calculated on a dry matter basis. 

Even though this line has 13% average carbohydrate, 3 of the recipes have carbohydrate levels  higher than 20% and that costs ingredient quality points. The Real Rabbit Recipe has carbs of 27%. These levels are considered high for a wet dog food. Product lablling points out that these foods do not contain grain, potato, corn, wheat or soy but they do include peas, tapioca and chickpeas which are starches that contribute to the carbohydrate level. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrate. Excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of lower food quality as it can be used to reduce manufacturing cost. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance. 

This line also loses significant ingredient quality points for having added vitamins and minerals. Ideally, these nutrients should come from whole food sources and their inclusion is usually due to poor quality or overly processed raw ingredients. Vitamin and mineral excesses, especially vitamin D and copper, can also result from vitamin premixes. 

These recipes use canola or sunflower oil, which are highly processed and inflammatory oils. Seed oils are an inexpensive alternative to higher quality animal fats and oils. 

The ingredient safety score is lower because, like all canned foods, Instinct Original Wet is highly processed, and is heated before and during canning, leading to nutrient losses. 

Rounding out the ingredient safety scores, Instinct loses points for foods known to have high pesticide or herbicide residues, some in the top 5 ingredients. This line also loses points for added natural flavor. This ingredient is often animal digest or MSG, both low quality ingredients with limited safety studies.

It’s also worth noting that the line contains sodium selenite as a source of selenium. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. However some research suggests that sodium selenite may be associated with potential toxicity, so selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral.  

The inclusion of “glam” ingredients is also a concern. These are ingredients added to make consumers think the food has healthy produce rich in antioxidants. These recipes list artichokes, cranberries, pumpkin, tomato, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, kale and parsley but they are at the end of a long ingredient  list, and they’re listed below salt, which means they’re present in tiny amounts that won’t benefit your dog. 

There’s also a concern about ingredient splitting in some recipes. This is the practice of splitting ingredients into sub-categories (like peas, pea fiber, pea protein and pea flour) to make them appear lower in the ingredient list. It’s often done to disguise the amount of lower quality ingredients in the food.

There’s no indication whether fish ingredients are farmed or wild-caught. Farmed fish is less nutritious, with a less favorable fatty acid balance. 

The label does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.