Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade Dehydrated Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-best rating of 4.5 stars.

The Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade product line includes the 3 dehydrated dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its related AAFCO nutrient profile when available on the product’s official webpage: Growth, Maintenance, All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Use the links to compare price and package sizes at an online retailer.

• Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade Fowl and Fish [M]
• Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade Poultry [M]
• Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade Red Meat [M]

Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade Poultry recipe was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

The first ingredient in this dog food is turkey. Although it is a quality item, raw turkey contains up to 73% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.

The next two ingredients are turkey meal and chicken meal. These items are considered meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh poultry.

The fourth ingredient is sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are a gluten-free source of complex carbohydrates in dog food. They are naturally rich in dietary fiber and beta carotene.

The fifth ingredient includes garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas. Like peas, beans and lentils, the chickpea is a nutritious member of the fiber-rich legume (pulse) family of vegetables.

However, garbanzo beans contain about 22% protein, something which must be considered when evaluating the total protein reported in this food.

The next ingredient is chicken fat. This item is obtained from rendering chicken, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality ingredient.

The next ingredient is pea protein, what remains of a pea after removing the starchy part of the vegetable.

Even though it contains over 80% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The eighth ingredient lists carrots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

The ninth ingredient includes dried peas. Dried peas are a good source of carbohydrates. Plus they’re naturally rich in dietary fiber.

However, dried peas contain about 27% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the 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 ingredient panel (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this Only Natural Pet product.

With 5 notable exceptions…

First, we notice the use of chia seed, an edible seed nutritionally similar to flax or sesame. Provided they’re first ground into a meal, chia seeds are rich in both omega-3 fatty acids as well as dietary fiber, and contain about 17% protein.

Next, freeze-dried peas are also in this product and contain about 27% protein.

In addition, we note the inclusion of dried fermentation products in this recipe. Fermentation products are typically added to provide enzymes to aid the animal with digestion.

Next, we find selenium yeast. Unlike the more common inorganic form of selenium (sodium selenite), this natural yeast supplement is considered a safer anti-cancer alternative.

And lastly, 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.

Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade Dog Food Review

According to its ingredients list, Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade Dog Food appears to be an above-average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 37%, a fat level of 13% and estimated carbohydrates of about 42%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 37% and a mean fat level of 13%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 42% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 36%.

Which means this Only Natural Pet product line contains…

Above-average protein. Below-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the pea products, garbanzo beans, and chia seed, this still looks like the profile of a dry product containing a notable amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Only Natural Pet Wholesome Homemade is a grain-free dry dog food using a notable amount of named meat meals as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4.5 stars.

Highly recommended.

Only Natural Pet Dog Food Recall History

The following list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 directly related to Only Natural Pet. If there are no recalls listed in this section, we have not yet reported any events.

Notes and Updates