Hey guys! So today we’re going to be looking at a very interesting dog food diet. We’ll be talking about the Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food, a high energy diet produced by Royal Canin.
The Royal Canin recipe has been manufactured by the company, Mars Petcare Incorporated, since 2001. Before then, the brand “Royal Canin” moved through multiple ownerships from the year, 1968, when it was first created.
The brand was created by a French veterinarian who cured dogs of various diseases with a cereal-based diet that he made in his garage. The best thing about Royal Canin recipes is that they are AAFCO approved. AAFCO is an association of different agencies (federal, state, and local). They are charged by the law to regulate the sales, as well as, distribution of both animal food and drugs.
Table of Contents
Who Is The Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food For?
The first thing about this diet is that it is a gastrointestinal diet. So, basically, it’s meant for dogs who have issues with digestion, more especially, issues with digesting fats. So, if your dog does not have any issues with his digestion, then it’s not for him.
Furthermore, this is a high energy diet. So, it’s best for dogs who need all the energy they can get in their diets. If your dog is overweight and you need him to get his exercises up, then this diet is great for him. However, you need to be careful so you don’t get his fats up in the process.
Finally, this is great for dogs who have an unhealthy imbalance of good bacteria in their guts. This one is a bit tricky and only your vet will be able to ascertain for sure. Which is why this is a veterinarian diet. That means that you need the recommendation of your vet to get this for your pooch.
Alright! Now that you know whether this product is for your pooch or note, let’s take a closer look at each of the ingredients that make up this recipe.
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Ingredients Of The Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food – Review
Chicken By-Product Meal
The first ingredient in this recipe is the chicken by-product meal. According to AAFCO, a by-product refers to the clean parts of an animal, other than the meat, that humans would naturally not consume. These include parts such as- heart, kidney, spleen, blood, bones, and so on.
Now this being a “meal” basically means that it’s been rendered. There is usually a lot of dispute concerning by-products. Some people believe that by-products are just inexpensive fillers gotten from slaughterhouse waste.
On the other hand, manufacturers, as well as dog food experts, believe that by-products contain a lot of nutritional values that are great for your dog. They being inexpensive is simply an added advantage.
One thing that experts always advise, though, is that you always get a by-product from a named animal. For example, this ingredient is called “chicken by-product meal”. That’s a lot better than a more generic by-product like “poultry by-product”.
Brown Rice
Brown rice is the best kind of rice. It’s very nutritious and healthy for your pooch. Brown rice acts as an excellent source of carbohydrates and because this is a high energy diet, a lot of carbohydrates are needed to give your dog that energy boost he needs.
Furthermore, brown rice provides a lot of healthy minerals, as well as, the B vitamins. Compared to white rice, it’s a lot better because it still contains all the hulls, brands, and outer layers. This is why it still retains its brown color.
White rice, on the other hand, has lost all these outer layers, which is why it’s not as nutritional as brown rice. So, brown rice provides your dog with a healthy dose of carbohydrates, added with extra vitamins and minerals.
Brewers Rice
This one is not as nutritional as brown rice. In fact, brewers rice contains as many nutritional benefits as white rice. It’s really affordable, and so it acts as an inexpensive filler. Ingredients like brewers’ rice make the dog food more affordable for you.
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Chicken Fat
Chicken fat has two major benefits- taste, fatty acids. The first is the taste. Just like every other edible part of a chicken, chicken fat tastes good. It’s really important to have ingredients like this in this type of diet because, ordinarily, it’s not very sweet.
The greater benefit of chicken fat in this diet, though, is the presence of omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6 fatty acids are great for your dogs’ skin, fur, and coat. The omega fatty acids provided by this chicken fat helps to give your dog healthy skin, as well as, a shiny coat.
Corn
Corn is a heavily contested dog food ingredient, and for good reasons. It’s a grain that produces a moderate amount or both vitamins and minerals. Furthermore, it’s a great source of plant-based protein. So what’s causing the contest? Well, let’s find out.
The defenders of corn bring forth several claims. They claim that corn is highly digestible. They further claim that it’s a good source of protein, minerals, vitamins, energy, and even some necessary fatty acids.
The opponents, on the other hand, feel like the claims of the defenders are too exaggerated, and we do agree with them. First, with digestibility- corn is only easily digestible when it’s turned into a flour or meal, and is cooked, afterward.
In terms of protein contribution, yes, corn is an excellent source of plant-based protein. However, dogs need more animal-based protein than plant-based protein. This is because the amino acid profile of animal-based protein is a lot better than the amino-acid profile of plant-based profile.
This is why your vet would always advise that nothing should replace meat in your dog’s diet, because of how important the protein from meat is. It’s needed for proper dog growth and nutrition.
Finally, with vitamins and minerals, the defenders are pretty close, although they exaggerated a little bit. Corn is actually a healthy source of different vitamins and minerals. However, keep in mind that it’s not exceptional. Many other ingredients are similar, and even better, in this regard.
Corn Gluten Meal
This is a by-product recovered after the production of various corn products. Although this by-product is rich in protein, it’s still contested. Because it has so much protein(60% protein), people feel like it increases the overall proteinous content of the diet. This would have been a good thing, only if it was animal-based protein and not plant-based protein.
Natural Flavors
This ingredient is as basic as it sounds. It’s flavoring produced with natural materials i.e plants and animals. It helps sweeten the food and makes it more palatable for your pooch.
Egg Product
Egg product refers to the different forms of eggs gotten from cracking and processing shell eggs. They include whole eggs, egg whites, and egg yolks. This can either be in frozen, liquid, or dried forms. Eggs are a really great source of animal-based protein. They also help cure stomach upsets.
We have a slight complaint, though, and that is the fact that the egg used in this diet is not named. We would have loved to know what poultry this egg was gotten from.
All the ingredients in this diet were listed according to pre-cooked weight. So, all the remaining ingredients are made in such small amounts that they would not affect the overall quality of this diet.
Pros Of The Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food
i. Being a gastrointestinal diet, this dog food does its job. It helps cure various digestion issues including- diarrhea, vomiting, and so on.
ii. It’s a high energy diet. The brown rice ingredient in this diet serves as a great source of carbohydrates, which provides energy.
iii. Chicken fat is a great source of omega-6 fatty acids. These fatty acids are great for your dog’s skin and fur.
iv. The diet has both animal and plant-based protein. It’s great to see that there is a healthy amount of animal-based protein because it has a better amino-acid profile.
v. It’s a pretty affordable diet.
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Cons Of The Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food
i. This is one problem that is consistent with all gastrointestinal diets. They are not sweet. Because of this, getting your dog to eat it might be tough. You might need to add different sweeteners or flavors.
ii. While kibble is great for some dogs, for some others, it’s not. If your dog belongs to the latter, it’s a huge con.
iii. The egg product is not named, so, we cannot fully determine its nutritional value.
Alternative To The Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food
Low Fat Diet Option — Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Low Fat Canned Dog Food
If your dog does not need a high energy diet, but would benefit greatly from a low-fat diet, then you should get this alternative.
The main ingredients in this diet are- water sufficient for processing, pork by-products, rice flour, corn grits, cornmeal, powdered cellulose, and dried plain beet pulp. This is where we have a slight problem with this diet.
The diet has more plant-based protein than animal-based protein. In fact, the only source of meat-based protein in this diet is “pork by-product”. That’s a problem because animal-based protein is more nutritious to your dog than plant-based protein.
However, we can understand it because it’s a low-fat diet. The problem with putting a lot of animal-based protein in a diet is that those animals also have fats. So, it would also increase the calorie levels of the diet. You can’t have it all in one meal, at the end of the day.
Lastly, this is canned food. So, if you have a dog that prefers canned dog food to kibble, then this is something he would absolutely love. Furthermore, it would be easier to sweeten canned dog food, compared to dry dog food.
Canned Dog Food Alternative — Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy Canned Dog Food
If you like the featured product but your pooch prefers canned food to kibble, then this is the product for you. It doesn’t come with the same ingredients, but it functions the same way. It gives your dog a burst of energy to go about his daily activities.
The main ingredients in this diet are- pork by-products, chicken, salmon, brewer’s rice, powdered cellulose, and vegetable oil. We actually prefer this diet to the featured product because of the ingredients. It comes with a lot different meats, which serve as animal-based protein.
Also, canned food is naturally sweeter than kibble. Furthermore, it’s easier to add flavors and sweeteners to canned food, compared to kibble. So, if your pooch prefers canned food to kibble, this is the diet for you.
Vegetarian Diet — Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Vegetarian Canned Dog Food
There are extreme cases where your dog would need to be put on a strict vegetarian diet. Other times, it might be a personal decision on the part of you, the parent. In any case, if you want a vegetarian diet that’s still healthy enough for your pooch, then you should definitely check this out.
The main ingredients in this diet are- water sufficient enough for processing, soy protein isolate, brewer’s rice, rice flour, vegetable oil, brown rice, and so on. These ingredients come together to give your dog a healthy balanced diet.
A vegetarian diet gives your dog great skin and coat. This is because a vegetarian diet is rich in linoleic acid, biotin, as well as, zinc. Also, a vegetarian diet reduces purine excretions, which is a building block of bladder stones.
Comparison Table
| Featured | Low Fat Option | Canned Option | Vegetarian Option | |
| Product |
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food
|
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Low Fat Canned Dog Food
|
Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy Canned Dog Food
|
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Vegetarian Canned Dog Food
|
| Ingredients | Chicken By-Product Meal, Brown Rice, Brewers Rice, Chicken Fat, Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Natural Flavors, Egg Product, Grain Distillers Dried Yeast, Dried Plain Beet Pulp | Water Sufficient for Processing, Pork By-Products, Rice Flour, Corn Grits, Corn Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Calcium Carbonate, Guar Gum, Natural Flavors, Gelatin By-Products, Carrageenan | Water Sufficient for Processing, Pork By-Products, Chicken, Salmon, Brewers Rice, Powdered Cellulose, Vegetable Oil | Water Sufficient for Processing, Soy Protein Isolate, Brewers Rice, Rice Flour, Vegetable Oil, Brown Rice, Flax Meal, Powdered Cellulose |
| Kibble/Canned | Kibble | Canned | Canned | Canned |
| Best For | Dogs who need more calories in their diet but prefer kibble to canned food. | Dogs who require very little fat in their dog, mostly overweight dogs. | Dogs who need more calories in their diet. | Dogs who need a vegetarian diet, maybe because they have food sensitivities. |
What Do People Think About The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food
A lot of people liked this product. The main reason why they liked it is that it helped their pooch. It was quite emotional for people to see their pooches go from struggling with indigestion to being super active with a lot of energy.
One thing people struggled with, though, is getting their pooch to eat this food. This is not a very sweet diet, so you might have to add extra flavors and sweeteners to get your pooch to actually eat this food.
Our Verdict
We believe that a product is good when it does what the manufacturers claimed it was going to do. On that ground, this product is a great product. It does help your dog’s indigestion, and it also provides your dog with a boost of energy.
So, for us, this is a great product. One thing you have to keep in mind, though, is that this is a veterinary diet. That means you need the permission of your vet to feed your pooch this dog food.
