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Which Castor and Pollux Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?

Castor and Pollux Organix Grain Free canned dog food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4 stars.

The Castor and Pollux Organix Grain Free product line includes the 3 canned dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available… Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Castor and Pollux Organix Grain Free Chicken and Vegetable was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

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Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.¹

The second ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.

The third ingredient is chicken liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The fourth ingredient is pea flour, a powder made from roasted yellow peas.

The fifth item includes peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, they’re rich in natural fiber.

However, both pea flour and peas each contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The sixth ingredient is potato. Potatoes can be considered a gluten-free source of digestible carbohydrates. Yet with the exception of perhaps their caloric content, potatoes are of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

The seventh ingredient is coconut flour, a powder derived from dried, defatted coconut meat. This cereal grain replacement is high in fiber and low in digestible carbohydrates. In addition, coconut flour also contains about 18% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The eighth ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this Castor and Pollux product.

With 3 notable exceptions…

First, garlic can be a controversial item. Although many favor the ingredient for its claimed health benefits, garlic has been linked to Heinz body anemia in dogs.²

So, one must weigh the potential benefits of feeding garlic against its proven tendency to cause subclinical damage to the red blood cells of the animal.

Next, this food contains chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.

And lastly, this recipe includes sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.

Nutrient Analysis

Since this recipe contains a number of organic ingredients, we feel compelled to grant this line a more favorable status as we consider its final rating.

That’s because organic ingredients must comply with notably more stringent government standards — standards which significantly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.

With that in mind…

Based on its ingredients alone, Castor and Pollux Organix Grain Free canned dog food looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 34%, a fat level of 27% and estimated carbohydrates of about 31%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 34% and a mean fat level of 27%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 31% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 80%.

Which means this Castor and Pollux product line contains…

Near-average protein. Above-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical canned dog food.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the pea flour, peas, coconut flour and flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing just a moderate amount of meat.

However, with 51% of the total calories in our example coming from fat versus just 26% from protein, some recipes may not be suitable for pets on a low-fat diet.

Our Rating of Castor and Pollux Organix Dog Food

Castor and Pollux Organix Grain Free is a canned dog food using a moderate amount of named meats as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4 stars.

Highly recommended.

Castor and Pollux Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Castor and Pollux through November.

No recalls noted.

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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More Castor and Pollux Reviews

The following Castor and Pollux dog food reviews are also posted on this website:

• Castor and Pollux Organix Grain-Free Dog Food Review (Dry)