Sunday, April 26, 2009

Life’s Abundance Dog Food Review & Giveaway

Choosing a dog food can be a daunting task. Walk into any local chain pet food store and you are bound to see several aisles of food to choose from. We picked Davey's puppy food because it was what a store employee handed us. Several years plus one nation-wide pet food scare later and we are very different pet parents.

The 2007 pet food contamination disaster left pet owners second guessing the food they lovingly feed their cats and dogs. To me it is an unimaginable nightmare that the bowl of food Davey so joyfully eats everyday could be a bowl of poison fed to him by the person who is supposed to protect him.

Dave was still eating puppy chow during the 2007 pet food recall and thankfully his was not on the recall list. When I switched him over to adult food I selected food from a handful of companies that were not on the big recall list.

In a past life I spent years working a variety of quality assurance jobs for a pharmaceutical manufacturer and during that time I learned a few things. I learned that if a company took quality control seriously only after a recall and FDA action then that company didn't take quality serious at all. I learned that bad quality control habits die hard in large companies. I wanted to feed my pets food from a company that had ALWAYS taken quality seriously, not one that was forced into doing so.

Life's Abundance is one of the few pet foods that were not on that big ugly recall list. As far as I can tell from my research, they have never had an FDA action or recall. In part that is due to the fact that Life's Abundance does not use cheap protein sources, such as the wheat gluten and rice proteins from China that contained toxic melamine. Life's Abundance uses only high quality chicken as its protein source- a significant advantage over many of the dog foods on the market. Their dog food has a number of other pluses including:

  • No artificial flavors or colors.
  • Made with a "fast-cook" process which assures maximum nutritional value.
  • Contains a veterinarian developed blend of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and omega-3 fatty acids.
  • Strict inventory and quality controls for safety.

All this and, I'm told, it tastes great. Who told me? Why Dave of course. Here he is waiting for a Life's Abundance Wholesome Heart treat, which he gobbled up with glee:




Thanks to Lisa, a rep for Life's Abundance and owner of the blog Health Products for People & Pets, provided us with some samples. Davey got to try those delish Wholesome Heart treats, the Gourmet Dental Treats and the Premium Health Food. He whole-heartedly approves of all 3, and even searched the packages for crumbs when the samples were gone.


If you are considering switching your dog's food there is a tool on the Life's Abundance website that is super handy for comparing foods. This tool will tell you the cost of your current dog food compared to Life's Abundance as well as a side by side look at each product's ingredients.

Even if you don't feed Life's Abundance I highly recommend using this tool to see what you are feeding your dog. I also advocate searching the FDA's list of recalled foods to see if your dog food manufacture has had past recalls. Although past recalls do not indicate a problem with current food, prior FDA actions do provide insight into which companies buy their materials from cheap foreign sources.

Life's Abundance also has some wonderful supplements you might want to consider checking out. I plan to talk about them in the very near future.

Want to try out Life's Abundance? Head over and click on "dog" or "cat" to request a sample for a small shipping charge. If you end up liking the product they have a great autoship system which saves you money and trips to the pet store.

Still want more? How about a FREE bag of dog or cat food? Lisa has generously offered to supply one free bag of food to a reader.

How to Enter
The giveaway is limited to the U.S. (sorry no Hawaii or Alaska). The winners will be picked by the randomizer, but Dave will be rooting for whoever will share with him!

If you're a doggie who wins you'll receive a 3.3 pound bag of Life's Abundance Dog Food or if your a kitty who wins you'll receive a 2.2 pound bag of Life's Abundance Cat Food.

If you do not have a blogger account you may e-mail your entries to me at pestkaj(at)yahoo(dot)com, send me a facebook message or DM me on twitter.

First entry (must be done for other entries to count)

Visit http://www.feedpetshealthy.com/ and tell me which product you think your dog would like best.

Additional Entries

  • Follow
@health4uandpets on twitter (1 entry, leave your twitter ID)
  • Tweet this giveaway (1 entry per day, leave a link please)
  • Purchase any item from http://www.feedpetshealthy.com/ and tell me what you bought (5 entries!)
  • Blog about this giveaway (5 entries)
  • Fav Health Products for People & Pets on technorati (1 entry)
  • Become a friend of Health4UandPets (aka Lisa Jelinek) Facebook (1 entry)
  • Follow me on blogger or tell me if you already do (1 entry)
  • The giveaway will close on May 10th at 12 noon PST. Good luck everyone!


    20 comments:

    Nicola said...

    Great review =)
    Love that you're such a caring "Dave" owner. He's very cute & now I know where that gorgeous icon of yours coomes from!

    Skittles would probably like Dave (if he didn't try to eat him) but as he's quite an old Mog most of his teeth are gone so we have to pick soft stuff for him.

    He loves having a good chew on ham though, try to eat a ham sandwich in our house and he'll soon be over to say hello :)

    Love
    Nicola xx

    Joy and Melissa said...

    I would like the dog gift basket for my boys! Love your contest for pets! madly59

    Joy and Melissa said...

    I follow you on twitter, and RT this contest. madly59

    Joy and Melissa said...

    am following @health4uandpets on twitter madly59

    Joy and Melissa said...

    I follow you on blogger. madly59/madmad59 .. onlyjoy1959@yahoo.com

    Andrea Hatfield said...

    My dog would like the Life’s Abundance Premium Health Food for Puppies & Adult Dogs.

    Andrea Hatfield said...

    I follow @health4uandpets on Twitter.
    (simplyandreah)

    Jenna Z said...

    Sully (Pembroke Welsh Corgi) would probably say buy the most giant bag of dog food there is! But we go through training treats like nobody's business, so I would love to try the Tasty Rewards!

    Anonymous said...

    Great review and giveaway! I've been looking for a new food for my Lola Bella. I would love for her to try the Wholesome Hearts. She's a snacker and it'd be good to give her something that's good for her. Thanks for the opportunity!

    Brooke said...

    This dog food sounds wonderful! I know my babies would love it! They would also love some "Wholesome Hearts" Dog treats!

    Thank you so much for the chance!

    ;-)

    Brooke said...

    I follow on twitter!
    preschoolinmom
    Thanks!

    Brooke said...

    I follow your blog!

    Thanks!
    ;-)

    Brooke said...

    Their a favorite on technorati!
    preschoolinmomma

    Diane said...

    My cats love both wet and dry food so im not sure which they would like best - they would probably devour both!

    Anonymous said...

    Life’s Abundance Premium Health Food for Puppies & Adult Dogs for the poochie and my cat would eat anything.

    ♥ LLL with Leslie ♥ said...

    My dog would like the canned Chicken & Crab Dinner in Sauce =)

    always_317537(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ♥ LLL with Leslie ♥ said...

    I follow health4uandpets on twitter =)

    laughwithleslie

    ♥ LLL with Leslie ♥ said...

    I follow your blog =)

    Rochelle said...

    I loved the site. My 3 dogs would love the Puppy Pak (Medium to Large Breed). It has everything in it, food and snacks!! What is not to like! And I feel better feeding my 4 legged family members healthy food.

    Unknown said...

    Awesome article, I am a big fan of this website, keep on posting that great content, and I'll be a regular visitor for a long time...looking for the next one....keep it up!!!
    Life's Abundance