# Pride by Instinct - Anyone try this recipe?



## angiec (Mar 11, 2015)

Wondered if anyone has tried this cat food yet? I see the protein is 37, a bit high, but I like the squash and sweet potatoes, the blueberries and cranberries....looking for feedback please.


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## angiec (Mar 11, 2015)

Anyone try this cat food?


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

I've never heard of it. It looks ok, but seems like it's made out of mostly peas  The protein is a little high, but not too bad. Are you wanting to incorporate this into a mix? If mixed with a food that has a lower protein it would be ok.


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## angiec (Mar 11, 2015)

Yeah, I was looking to use this as part of a mix, however, the main food I use is Blue Buffalo. ( also high protein) 
The protein also concerned me. Maybe I can look for lesser protein, and just alternate between the BB and this one as the main part of the mix. This way they have a different flavors every other week.


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## writergirlmel (May 16, 2015)

I wouldn't switch mixes each week. That sounds like a great way to cause gastrointestinal distress or a food strike.

Instead, I'd either choose another food to mix with the Blue Buffalo, add a third kibble to the mix (one that brings the protein down to acceptable levels), or choose between this one and the Blue Buffalo.

In addition, while I'm not as well-versed in ingredients as a few of our members, I feel like I'm seeing a lot of ingredients I don't recognize listed well before the ingredients you mentioned liking. Personally, I wouldn't base a decision on ingredients near the end of the list unless I was deciding between two foods that were otherwise equal in all other areas of my assessment. In addition, I'm concerned about the addition of a few freeze-dried ingredients (particularly if there are chunks of them), and I'm curious regarding what our more well-versed members (I'm thinking of Lily'smommy and twobytwopets) know about montmorillonite clay since a cursory search only yields information supplied by companies trying to sell it or food containing it.

EDIT: I should also mention that I do use Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit Meal Formula as a small part of my mix (mainly because Fitzgerald and my cat, Lucky, both really like rabbit as a protein source, and it's hard to find). It also contains the clay and the freeze-dried ingredients. So, I'm not saying the Pride formula _shouldn't_ be used, only that those things should be considered.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Honestly I hadn't come across that ingredient yet. I seen this when the op first posted yesterday but wasn't able to look it up. 
Here is my quick google search

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmorillonite
http://www.eytonsearth.org/bentonite-montmorillonite.php


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## angiec (Mar 11, 2015)

It's a new brand on the market. I'm going to stick with my blue buffalo because no one here has even heard of this brand. At least I know blue buffalo.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Just because the couple people that doesn't mean it's not a good food choice. And you got 3/4 most active posters in the food forum at the current time. 
I can't speak for the other two that have shared with you. For me personally, I will occasionally hunt for a new food to add to the mix and have my backup list. But when picking a new food in the mix I normally go to my backup list and recheck info on those foods. Other than that I generally don't check what is new on the market. New foods sometimes worry me because if they don't sell well, they get pulled from the market. Then I'm stuck with another diet change. That is part of my PERSONAL opinions on picking foods.


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## writergirlmel (May 16, 2015)

angiec said:


> It's a new brand on the market. I'm going to stick with my blue buffalo because no one here has even heard of this brand. At least I know blue buffalo.


Actually, if you check my response, I added that I actually use another food in the line. Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit Meal is made by the same company: Nature's Variety. Instinct Pride is just a different line.


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## angiec (Mar 11, 2015)

I reread it. For some reason I pictured rabbit food...lol. I see you meant rabbit...lol.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I like Nature's Variety. I don't think it gets used much for hedgehogs because most of their foods (both cat & dog) are high in protein & over the 35% limit. This one looks like it'd be fine to mix with what you have, the protein isn't that much over & the ingredients are generally good. The only thing I have a problem with is what Mel mentioned, that it still has a lot of "filler" type ingredients (the things after duck up to canola oil). The canola oil is sometimes considered an iffy ingredient too, in cat/dog food, because animal-based oils are more accessible for them (and I would imagine for a hedgehog as well). But those can be considered more nit-picky things. I'm not seeing any honestly problematic ingredients in it. 

The freeze dried bits could be an issue for a hedgehog due to their small size. If I remember right, NV includes chunks of FD meat. If it were me, I wouldn't consider it a reason to avoid the food, but would take the FD pieces and rehydrate them in some water to offer separately. 

About the clay, nothing wrong with that. NV likes to add it to many of their foods. As far as I remember reading, it contains a wide variety of minerals and can be used as a natural mineral supplement, and it's also supposed to be good for intestinal health (I've seen it touted as an ingredient to help detox the body, whether you believe in that kind of thing or not). I bought some while dealing with my dog's issues in switching to raw because she had no issues at all with NV raw food & I thought maybe it'd help keep her poops formed while I was adding in new proteins. I don't think I ended up trying it though, as I figured out what the problem was (she can't have whole pieces of meat, grinds only). I still have it though, and plan to give it to the hermit crabs as a mineral supplement. Wild animals of various species will ingest the clay in the wild, probably for minerals. I haven't decided if I'll use the clay for anything else (say, the hedgehog), but I'll update you guys if it ends up being part of the hedgie's diet in the future.  I received great news on the job front recently & have definite plans on moving out & taking one of the female hoglets from Soyala now, so hopefully in a few months I'll be able to start my own thread on a hedgie raw diet! (sorry for the brief off topic there, heh)


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