With two very hungry Chihuahuas to care for, I’m always on the lookout for top-notch pet products. Recently, I heard about Addiction, an amazing pet food company based out of New Zealand. Addiction prides itself on offering eco-friendly food and treats, made from wholesome, natural ingredients. They have innovated the concept of using hypoallergenic premium proteins that contain no by-products, fillers or preservatives to prevent allergies and promote wellness and long-term health in pets. They also pioneered the use of low-temperature processing to retain valuable nutrients, co-factors and enzymes in their foods.
When they generously offered me the chance for a review, I was super excited, knowing how much Oscar and Charlie would love it!
We started by sampling some dehydrated goodies.
Perfect Summer Brushtail
I had no idea what Brushtail was, but my dogs really loved the gamey flavor! Brushtail is a marsupial found in large numbers in New Zealand and eats only the best berries and foliage. Unlike farmed animals, Brushtail is free from antibiotics and artificial hormones. The recipe combines this exotic Brushtail meat with nutrient rich Sunflower Seeds, Papayas, Spinach and Potatoes. This is an ideal novel protein source for dogs sensitive to chicken, beef and lamb.
You can feed their raw dehydrated foods dry or add water to re-hydrate. The dry version is very crumbly and my dogs struggled to eat the powdery meal, so I simply added water to the next variety we tried for a more oatmeal-like consistency.
Steakhouse Beef Zucchini Entree
So, after I added the water to this one, the dogs went crazy, in a good way. They were both crying as I mixed the liquid in. The best part about this was Charlie, my senior chihuahua, was able to wolf this down without any issues. He has had most of his teeth extracted, so he cannot eat hard dog food. These dehydrated meals absorb water almost instantly! It’s made with over 50% chunky beef pieces of free-range New Zealand cattle. The third listed ingredient is canola oil, and I would have liked to see a different oil (like flax or coconut), but otherwise I was very happy and so were the pups! Of all the samples we tried, this was our favorite!
After that, we moved on to dry food.
Wishbone Ocean
Made with New Zealand King Salmon, this grain-free recipe includes with blueberries, cranberries, papayas, mangoes and granny smith apples. The pieces are wide and thin, which made them easy to crunch for my bigger dog. My chihuahua was unable to eat the pieces whole, but I had no trouble cutting it up with scissors for him and soaking in a bit of water. It wasn’t stinky which was a bonus for a salmon-based food. Chamomile is an interesting ingredient I have not seen in other dog foods.
Wishbone Pasture
Both of my dogs really enjoyed the lamb in this one! Overall Wishbone was a big hit in both flavors my dogs tried. I added a bit of chicken broth to soften the pieces. They love fresh blueberries, so I knew they would like Wishbone Pasture, which also includes cranberries, papayas and summer mangoes.
Viva La Venison
I was really surprised that both my dogs hesitated to eat this awesome recipe made with free-range New Zealand venison! It has hard, round pieces which my bigger dog finally fell in love with after he spit a few pieces on the ground. Formulated without grains, this variety is ideal for sensitive dogs of all lifestages. Venison is great for dogs because it’s much lower in cholesterol and fat than most meats. I was happy to see kelp and dried organic eggs also included in this recipe.
Salmon Bleu
Featuring Pacific Salmon, Addiction’s Salmon Bleu is a hypoallergenic diet with an optimal balance of essential nutrients. It is high in Omega 3 fatty acids and natural antioxidants and grain-free as with all Addiction foods. The dogs liked this one equally to the other salmon variety they tried, Wishbone Ocean, but Salmon Bleu included flax seed. I feed flax seed oil daily to my dogs, so this will saved me a few supplement capsules.
Meaty Bites Venison
Addiction’s Grain-Free Meaty Bites are tasty, soft and packed with a wonderfully delicious and nutritious meat with a full, rich taste that dogs simply love! They were moist and almost spongy. There are no hard-to-pronounce ingredients, and I think I will try to make these at home. The ingredients are: venison, potatoes, vegetable glycerin, canola oil, and green tea extract. I guess my dogs are fancy now after trying the Viva La Venison dry food because they both inhaled the venison treats!
Meaty Bites Wild Brushtail
Oh, hello again, Brushtail. These were a big hit! Made of exactly the same ingredients as the venison recipe above, except of course with a different variety of meat, I can’t say enough good things about these healthy treats or the Addiction pet food company. Quality brand. Quality food.
After sampling so many tasty delights, Oscar and Charlie had to take a long nap (or was it a food-induced coma?!). Both of them really enjoyed the food and give everything from Addiction 2 paws up!
Too expensive for me
Min, I totally understand that point of view. Some people are on very tight budgets and don’t want to spend the extra money on pet food. Nothing wrong with that! But for those folks who do like to buy premium food, I wanted to share my experience with this particular brand. Thanks for sharing.
I have a poodle and she is pickier than my son ever was growing up. I surely wish I had the money that I’ve spent on food that she turned her nose up to. This food looks really good and sounds good for her. I find that when she is eating dog food with less fillers she tends to eat less, have better and more regular bowel movements and it makes her happier. It helps to balance out the cost.
That is great advice about food fillers and I agree.