Today we’re going to be looking at the Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Fiber Response Dry Dog Food. This kibble is made by Royal Canin. Royal Canin is a brand that is under the company Mars Petcare Incorporated.
The brand, Royal Canin, started in 1968. So, in that year, a certain French veterinarian used a cereal he made in his garage to cure several dogs of various health conditions. After selling this to various companies, he ended up creating the company, Royal Canin.
However, Royal Canin was not a very successful brand, so it had to be sold to multiple companies within the space of 20 years. In 2001, it was finally purchased by Mars Petcare Incorporated. This company had the resources to keep Royal Canin afloat and since then, Royal Canin has been a sub-brand under Mars Petcare Incorporated.
Ever since then, Mars Petcare Incorporated has been in charge of bringing that French veterinarian’s dream to reality. It does this by curing millions of dogs all over the world with its recipes.
Royal Canin’s recipes are approved by the voluntary association of various agencies charged by law to regulate the sales and distribution of animal food, “AAFCO”. The association believes that Royal Canin’s recipes provide dogs with the necessary nutrients needed for the healthy growth and development of an adult dog.
Table of Contents
Who Is The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Fiber Response Dry Dog Food For?
This is a gastrointestinal diet. Therefore, primarily, it’s for dogs who have problems digesting fats. Furthermore, it is also great for dogs who have other digestion problems. These digestion problems include- diarrhea, vomiting and lack of appetite.
The “fiber response” in the diet represents a mix of both soluble and insoluble fibers. These fibers help with movements of the intestine, which in turn, help with gastrointestinal issues. Finally, if your dog has common gastrointestinal sensitivities, this diet will help him a lot.
Also, if your dog does not have a good balance of bacteria in his gut, this diet is definitely for him. The diet includes easy-to-digest proteins, as well as, prebiotics. These help to maintain a healthy balance of good bacteria inside your pooch’s gut.
Although this is not labeled to be an “adult dog food”, it’s more suited for adult dogs. If you have a puppy, you might need to check out other dog foods that are labeled “puppy dog food”.
Finally, you need to check your dog’s eating habits and what he enjoys eating. This is kibble. If your dog prefers wet dog food, then you might need to check out our “alternative options” section, to find a wet dog food that your dog would like.
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Ingredients Of Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Fiber Response Dry Dog Food – Review
Chicken By-Product Meal
By-Products are the clean parts, other than the meat, that is gotten from slaughtered animals. These are typically the parts of the animal that are not normally consumed by humans. These parts include- the lungs, the liver, the kidney, the spleen, blood, bones, and so on.
Now, a by-product meal is basically cooking a by-product through the process called “rendering”. So, chicken-by product meal is basically chicken by-products that have gone through the process of rendering.
Although chicken is the most popular meat in dog food recipes, chicken by-product, just like every other animal by-product, is a controversial ingredient. There are two main dividers that feature the customers on one side, and the manufacturers and dog food experts on the other side.
Customers believe that by-products are simply “cheap dog food ingredients gotten from slaughterhouse waste”. On the other hand, dog food manufacturers and experts believe that by-products contain some important nutrients that are healthy for dogs.
Here’s one thing we think you need to keep in mind- named by-products (such as the chicken by-product in this diet) are more nutritional than unnamed and generic by-product like “poultry by-product”.
Brewers Rice
Brewer rice is gotten by separating the smaller pieces of rice kernel from the much bigger kernels when milling rice. These are small fragments of rice that do not contain as many nutrients as the whole rice grain.
Brewer’s rice is mainly seen as a lower quality grain, which is true, sadly. However, it does act as an inexpensive filler, which is a very good thing. Also, it’s not like it’s unhealthy for your pooch. It’s just that is not nearly as nutritious as brown rice.
In fact, Brewer’s rice typically has a similar amount of nutrient to white rice. The only reason why it’s not eaten by humans is that it’s not palatable.
Chicken Fat
While cooking chicken, chicken fat is collected through a process known as “rendering”. Chicken fat is a great source of necessary fatty acids.
The most notable of these fatty acids present in chicken fat is linoleic acid. Chicken fat has an abundance of this acid. Linoleic acid is a very vital omega-6 fatty acid.
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Powdered Cellulose
This ingredient is gotten from minute pieces of plant fibers and wood pulp. The only nutritional benefit that powdered cellulose has is its high amounts of fiber content. Looking at the fact that this is a fiber response diet, we can see why this was used in such large amounts in this recipe.
This fiber makes this dog food a lot easier to digest by your dog.
Rice Hulls
Rice hulls are sometimes called “rice husks”. Basically, this is the outer layer of rice grains. While some people regard this as just another by-product and inexpensive filler, it does provide some nutritional value.
Rice hulls, or husks, have high amounts of fiber in them. This makes them the perfect affordable filler for this recipe, looking again at the fact that it’s a fiber response diet. As a fiber response diet, it must come with as much fiber as is necessary for easy digestion.
Before we move on, the ingredients in this article were all listed in order of their pre-cooked weight. So, the next few ingredients we’re going to be looking at are not as important as the first five we just talked about.
However, while the next few ingredients might not affect the overall recipe individually, together, they have a noticeable impact on the overall quality of the recipe. With that said, let’s look at the remaining ingredients.
Corn
Corn is a grain that produces an average amount of minerals, vitamins, and plant-based protein. However, it is still one of the most contested dog food ingredients.
People who like it claim that it’s highly digestible. They also claim that it’s a great source of other nutrients like protein, vitamins, energy, minerals, and the necessary fatty acids.
On the other side of the divide, opponents to corn as a dog food ingredient claim that what the proponents claim are simply exaggerated truths, if not completely false.
Well, we have to somewhat agree with the opponents on this one. Let’s explain.
First, talking about digestibility, corn is only “highly digestible” when it’s processed into a flour or meal and then cooked. In terms of protein contribution, corn is a great source of plant-based protein.
However, one thing you have to keep in mind with regards to plant-based protein is that it does not contain as much amino acids as are needed by dogs. So, although it’s a great source of plant-based protein, it’s not a great source of protein for your dog. You cannot substitute corn for meat.
The last thing is the vitamins and minerals. This is one where the proponents exaggerated a little bit. Corn is rich in both vitamins and minerals, no doubt. However, it’s nothing exceptional. There are other ingredients out there that are better than corn in this regard.
If this was the main ingredient in this recipe, we would be even more critical. However, looking at the fact that it’s only used in small amounts, we think it’s good enough.
Wheat
In dog food recipes, wheat is basically seen as an affordable filler. It provides plant-based protein, but as we’ve mentioned, that’s almost inconsequential. It’s simply a filler that makes the dog food more affordable for you, the consumer.
Corn Gluten Meal
This is a by-product that’s gotten after the production of different corn products. This is one by-product that is not highly contested, and this is because of how much protein it possesses. This meal is about 60% protein and so it can boost the protein content of the overall diet.
Natural Flavor
It’s basically flavoring produced using natural sources like plant and animal parts.
Wheat Gluten
This is the main protein in wheat. It’s mostly protein, and therefore, increases the protein present in the product. Many people don’t like this because plant-based protein doesn’t have some of the necessary amino acids that meat-based proteins have.
Dried Plain Beet Pulp
Yet another by-product, dried plain beet pulp is a by-product which is left when sugar has been mined from sugar beets. “Plain” is used in this ingredient to show that this beet pulp is not sweetened.
We would have preferred for it to be sweetened because that would have made it more palatable. As for nutritional benefit, this is another source of dietary fiber.
Fish Oil
According to AAFCO, fish oil is defined as “oil gotten from rendering whole fish or cannery waste”. Fish oil is rich in fatty acids (omega-3 specifically), which makes it a good source of fat.
On the downside though, the particular fish used to get this oil is not stated. Because of that, we cannot be specific on the nutritional benefits of this particular fish oil.
Alright! We’re done with the ingredients that matter. The remaining ingredients are most likely to not affect the overall quality of this product as they are present in such small amounts.
Pros Of The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Fiber Response Dry Dog Food
i. For the quality you get with this diet, this is pretty affordable.
ii. For dogs who have any form of digestion issues, this is a great diet. It has a lot of fiber which helps a lot in digestion.
iii. This recipe comes with a good blend of both animal and plant proteins, which is great for dog growth and development.
iv. These proteins also help to maintain a good balance of healthy bacteria inside your dog’s gut.
v. This recipe is also rich in necessary omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These fatty acids help give your dog great skin and a shiny coat.
vi. It’s a kibble diet. This lasts longer when out of the box than wet dog food. It’s also good for big dogs who love to chew.
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Cons Of The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Fiber Response Dry Dog Food
i. It’s not sweet. So, getting your dog to eat it is quite the chore. Most times, you have to add other sweeteners and flavors to get your pooch to actually eat it.
ii. The fish used in getting fish oil is unnamed. It’s not very healthy because we are not able to tell the exact nutritional benefits present in the oil.
iii. Kibble might be great for some dogs, but for some others, it’s a chore. If you have a small dog, you might want to consider getting a canned dog food instead.
Alternative To The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Fiber Response Dry Dog Food
Do You Want To Get A Canned Dog Food That Has Low Fat? Check Out The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Low Fat Canned Dog Food
The main ingredient in this diet is pork by-product. That is a good source of animal-based protein. If your pooch is overweight, or for any reason, his diet needs to have little amounts of fat, then this is the diet for him.
The only thing we don’t like about this diet is that it has more plant-based protein than animal-based protein. The amino acid profile in animal-based protein is better than that of plant-based protein.
However, that is understandable, looking at the fact that adding more animal-based protein will add more meat which will add more fat into the diet. So, it’s a “win-some, lose-some” situation.
The other main ingredients in this diet are- rice flour, corn grits, cornmeal, powdered cellulose, and dried plain beet pulp. Corn is a great source of plant-based protein and it’s also easily digestible. Powdered cellulose, as well as, dried plain beet pulp, add dietary fiber to the diet.
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Do You Want A Diet That Helps Indigestion And Still Provides Your Dog With Energy? Check Out The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food
With this food, you would be helping your dog in two ways, at the same time. First, it’s a gastrointestinal diet, so it’ll help with indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, and other issues with digestion. Second, it’ll provide your dog with an extra burst of energy to enable him to carry out his daily activities properly.
The main ingredients in this diet include- chicken by-product meal, brown rice, brewers rice, chicken fat, corn, natural flavors, and egg product. The chicken by-product meal is a healthy source of animal-based protein, which is great for your dog’s growth. The chicken fat provides your dog with essential fatty acids.
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Do You Want Something For A Puppy? Here’s The Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Puppy Dry Dog Food
It’s also a gastrointestinal diet, only that it’s made with puppies in mind. So, the kibbles are smaller, the nutrients are tailored to what puppies need.
This diet is approved by the AAFCO as it provides your dog with the complete nutrition needed for healthy growth and development of a puppy.
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Quick Comparison Table
| Featured | Low fat Option | High Energy Option | For Puppies | |
| Product |
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Fiber Response Dry Dog Food
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|
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Low Fat Canned Dog Food
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|
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry Dog Food
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|
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Puppy Dry Dog Food
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|
| Ingredients | Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Chicken Fat, Powdered Cellulose, Rice Hulls, Corn, Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Natural Flavors, Wheat Gluten, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Fish Oil | Water Sufficient for Processing, Pork By-Products, Rice Flour, Corn Grits, Corn Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Dried Plain Beet Pulp | Chicken By-Product Meal, Brown Rice, Brewers Rice, Chicken Fat, Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Natural Flavors, Egg Product | Brewers Rice, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken Fat, Corn Gluten Meal, Natural Flavors, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Wheat Gluten, Egg Product |
| Kibble/Canned | Kibble | Canned | Kibble | Kibble |
| Best For | Dogs with digestion issues | Dogs that require a low-fat diet | Dogs that need more energy | Puppies |
What Do People Think?
A lot of people liked this diet. It did what it said on the pack, it helped dogs with their digestion. The different sources of dietary fiber in this diet definitely did not go to waste.
The only problem that people found was that this is not very sweet. So, getting your dog to actually eat it without spitting it out might be a difficult task, especially if your dog has a sweet tooth.
What a few customers recommended, though, was to add sweeteners or flavors into the food as it made their dogs more eager to eat the food.
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Our Verdict
There’s nothing much to say, to be honest. A product is considered great when it does what its manufacturers claim it will do. With that said, from the customer opinions, this is definitely a great product.
One thing you have to keep in mind, however, is that you need the recommendation of your vet to get this diet for your pooch. Don’t buy this unless your vet approves.
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