Life’s Abundance Compared to Canine Caviar L.I.D

Canine Caviar Free Spirit vs Life's Abundance

Canine Caviar is back with another comparison. Today, we are going to compare Life’s Abundance to Canine Caviar to see the differences between one another. We’ll compare the two brands in terms of ingredients, profile, calories, price, and cost to feed.

In order for this comparison to be appropriate, we’ll use formulas that are close to each other in protein and structure. That way, the results are relative and you can make a better informed decision. We’ll compare Canine Caviar Free Spirit and Life’s Abundance All Life Stages. They both feature chicken as the main ingredient, are grain inclusive and are designed for all life stages.

Life’s Abundance Ingredients Comparison

Life's Abundance Ingredient List

Canine Caviar = 32 ingredients. Life’s Abundance = 54 ingredients.

Let’s look at the ingredients that make up these formulas because ingredients are the most important part of your dog’s food. The ingredients establish what proteins, carbohydrates, and other essential nutrients your dog receives. Life’s Abundance and Canine Caviar’s approach to ingredients vary. That is why there are a variety of ingredients you see in the picture above. Dog food companies design their formulas to reflect their respective nutritional philosophies.

Canine Caviar believes in being a limited ingredient diet. Canine Caviar Free Spirit’s contains 33 ingredients which is significantly less that the standard which typically ranges in the 50’s.

Life’s Abundance All Life Stages kibble is focused on being appropriate for multiple breeds and ages. Life’s Abundance 54 ingredients are designed to fulfill a dog’s basic needs.

Ingredient Profile Analysis

Life's Abundance Ingredient Profile

Now let’s look at the ingredient profile for each diet. The ingredient profile refers to the make-up of the formula; how many proteins, carbs, and other nutrients account for the formula.

Canine Caviar‘s ingredients reflect their L.I.D and alkaline philosophy. The first three ingredients, dehydrated chicken, pearl millet, and chicken fat, make up 85% of the total formula. The free spirit formula has only one protein, dehydrated chicken and one complex carbohydrate, pearl millet. Keeping formulas simple allows for more effective digestion of amino acids. Amino acid variety is limited but that’s why Canine Caviar suggests protein rotation; switching protein flavors makes sure dogs get all their necessary amino acids. We also include 12 botanicals that are essential to creating the alkalinity that maximizes your dog’s health. 15 vitamins and minerals help complete the formula by providing other essential nutrients to your dog’s system.

Life’s Abundance has a different composition. Canidae’s formula includes 3 different carbohydrate sources, ground brown rice, oat groats, and pearled barley. More carbs require more digestive power and can make nutrient absorption harder. They also have 26 listed vitamins and minerals compared to Canine Caviar’s 12. This could be a sign that nutrients were not naturally found in their ingredients or lost during the cooking process resulting in the need to add so many vitamins and minerals. Lastly there are ingredients like egg producttomato pomace, and natural flavor which aren’t necessary for Canine Caviar’s formulas.

Life’s Abundance Calorie Comparison

Life's Abundance Calories

Let’s move on and compare the calories for each formula. The more calories a kibble has, the less you need feed and the more nutritious it is. Processing eliminates a kibble’s natural calories and lowers the digestibility so the number of calories in a cup can say a lot. You should also see it as a sign that the kibble was better able to maintain its original nutritional value.

Looking at Canine Caviar’s Free Spirit, it has 599 Kcal/8oz and a total average of 550 Kcal/8oz across the line. Canine Caviar focuses on keeping calories high and nutritional value secure. We ensure this by implementing a flash cook process instead of other conventional practices. We cook the kibble for only 6 seconds at 82 degrees Celsius and no more. It cooks the kibble exterior while keeping its nutritional goodness on the inside. Canine Caviar also uses quality ingredients from sustainable sources so we can ensure the kibble’s high caloric content.

Life’s Abundance All Life Stages formula has 458 Kcal/8oz. The average for the All Life Stages line is 480 Kcal/8oz. There are primarily 2 reasons for the difference in calories. It can be associated to the quality of ingredients or with processing procedures taken.

Price Comparison

Price listings for Life's Abundance

It is important to consider the price when picking a kibble. Canine Caviar and Life’s Abundance both emphasized quality nutrition so prices should be fairly similar. The benefits of both are similar however Canine Caviar has the added benefit of being Alkaline which needs to be taken into account. Canine Caviar also uses dehydrated chicken vs Life’s Abundance chicken meal which will result in a different price point. For this comparison, the prices are based on the total average of 2020 online prices. At first glance, it seems Life’s Abundance is able to provide a lower price, but face value prices don’t always tell the whole story. Canine Caviar carefully selects fresh ingredients offering the best nutrition for your dogs. Sometimes that results in the cost of our kibble being higher than some other brands available but the benefits of our kibble grow as well.

Cost to Feed Comparison

Life's Abundance Cost To Feed Comparison

This comparison shows how much it costs daily for you to feed a dog based on our example formula. We use the formula on the bottom left of the analysis to come up with these numbers.

Canine Caviar’s Free Spirit cost $1.44 a day while Life’s Abundance cost $1.08 a day. That’s a difference of $.36 but ask yourself where the difference coming from? Could the difference be from the cost and quality of ingredients. Could the different processing methods be the reason?

Final Thoughts

This ends this Life’s Abundance comparison. It’s important that you make your own conclusions. It can be difficult to make a choice we can feel confident in. That’s why it is important for dog food companies to have transparency; giving you the information necessary to make informed decisions. Canine Caviar aims to become more transparent just like this comparison.

If you have further questions, call our office at 714.223.1800 from the hours of 8AM-4PM PST. You can also email us at info@caninecaviar.com. Check the Canine Caviar Blog for more great articles. Check out our last Comparison to Canidae as well as Acana and Orijen.