1. Cesar Classics Gourmet Wet Dog Food
Key Features
Calorie content per serving: 85 per 3.5 oz tray
Crude protein content (minimum): 8%
Crude fat content (minimum): 3.5%
Fiber content (maximum): 1%
Moisture content (maximum): 82%
Getting the Cesar Classics dog food, especially its variety pack, is like letting your pet feast on 4 of the brand’s signature canine dishes that have been loved by different breeds through the years. You’ll get a sumptuous turkey feast, a delicious grilled chicken meal, a delectable oven-roasted chicken, and even a decadent duck dinner.
It’s a smorgasbord of flavors made even more fantastic by the addition of vitamin and mineral supplements to make sure your pet obtains all the right nutrients it needs for optimum growth.
Our only issue is that in all of the variants included in this formulation of Cesar wet dog food, water is the first ingredient. This is very unlike other dog food brands that put animal proteins first in their list. Still, it makes for a great-tasting meal for sick dogs, puppies, and seniors as well as adult dogs that may be picky eaters.
Top 5 ingredients in the formulation: for Turkey Flavor water, beef by-products, meat by-products, liver, and turkey; for Oven-Roasted Chicken Flavor water, beef by-products, meat by-products, liver, and chicken; for Grilled Chicken Flavor water, beef by-products, meat by-products, liver, and beef; for Duck Flavor water, beef by-products, meat by-products, liver, and duck.
2. Cesar Small Breed Rotisserie Chicken Flavor Dry Dog Food
Key Features
Calorie content per serving: 348 per cup
Crude protein content (minimum): 26%
Crude fat content (minimum): 13%
Fiber content (maximum): 4.5%
Moisture content (maximum): 12%
Get ready to smell that distinct aroma of slowly-roasted chicken turning on the rotisserie with this Cesar dog food variant in kibble form. The kibbles are sized just right for the small mouths of Chihuahuas, Yorkies, Pugs, and other small breeds of dogs. Aside from the chicken that forms the base of this Cesar dog food, there’s fish oil, too.
This should give your pet the kind of antioxidants, immunoprotective, neuroprotective, and cardioprotective substances your dog needs. Be mindful, though, as this formulation also comes with corn, wheat, and soy as well as the preservative BHA. It has enough calories to fuel your pet’s energy needs that should last a day while its modest amounts of protein are enough to guarantee the maintenance of normal bodily functions. This Cesar pet food variant is perfect for those making the transition from a wet dog food type to dry food.
Top 5 ingredients in the formulation: chicken meat and chicken by-product meal, wheat (ground), yellow corn (ground), and brewer’s rice.
3. Cesar Savory Delights Loaf & Topper in Sauce Wet Dog Food
Key Features
Calorie content per serving: 83 per tray
Crude protein content (minimum): 8%
Crude fat content (minimum): 3.5%
Fiber content (maximum): 1%
Moisture content (maximum): 83%
Adding to the already-delicious taste of chicken, animal liver, meat and beef by-products are bacon and cheese to give your pet a truly different kind of meal that will surely have it salivating long before you put its food bowl on the floor. This Cesar wet dog food comes with mineral and vitamin supplements that augment the nutrition provided by its natural ingredients.
Our only concern here, just like in any other Cesar dog food product, is that it also contains artificial coloring and preservatives. We are not really sure how you should consider such ingredients; whether they are harmful to your pet or not. What we know is that there is a growing body of knowledge supporting the claim that such ingredients are harmful to pets in the long run.
Top 5 ingredients in the formulation: water, beef by-products, meat by-products, liver, and chicken.
4. Chicken & Cheddar Cheese Soufflé Wet Dog Food
Key Features
Calorie content per serving: 91 per tray
Crude protein content (minimum): 8%
Crude fat content (minimum): 5%
Fiber content (maximum): 1%
Moisture content (maximum): 82%
Wake your pet to the yummy-licious taste of cheddar cheese and chicken in this Cesar dog food variant. It’s a healthy breakfast for your pet that is filled with vitamins A, D, E, and B1 as well as calcium, potassium, and zinc for a host of health benefits. The calorie content for each tray is slightly higher than other Cesar variants, giving your pet the right levels of energy to perk up their mornings and allow them to last through the day until their next meal in the afternoon.
Of course, you can always give this formulation to your pet as its main meal for both morning and evening. At the very least you’ll be doing yourself a favor by giving your dog only the best.
Top 5 ingredients in the formulation: water, beef by-products, meat by-products, chicken, and liver.
5. Filets in Sauce New York Strip Flavor Wet Dog Food
Key Features
Calorie content per serving: 102 per tray
Crude protein content (minimum): 8%
Crude fat content (minimum): 4%
Fiber content (maximum): 1%
Moisture content (maximum): 82%
For the meat-loving dog in your life, this Cesar wet dog food that features the iconic New York Strip steak is guaranteed to be a huge hit for your pooch. Do take note that this is just New York Strip “flavor” and not really the real, authentic well-known cut of meat. Instead, the Cesar Filets are made with a concoction of chicken, liver, meat by-products, and beef. There’s wheat gluten, too.
So if you’re wary of your pet’s allergy tendencies, then you’d definitely want to look for a dog food brand that doesn’t contain allergenic grains. This Cesar dog food also comes with vitamins and minerals, albeit it supplemental form. You can at least say that you’re giving your pet the kind of meal that you yourself would love to have from a fine dining restaurant.
Top 5 ingredients in the formulation: water, chicken, beef, liver, and meat by-products.
6. Home Inspired Wet Dog Food
Key Features
Calorie content per serving: 112 per tray
Crude protein content (minimum): 9%
Crude fat content (minimum): 7%
Fiber content (maximum): 1%
Moisture content (maximum): 80%
This Cesar puppy food is perfect for developing and growing hounds. It has slightly greater calorie content than the other variants in this list, making sure your young pet will have all the fuel it needs to play and explore its surroundings. The formula also comes with slightly higher protein content, allowing your puppy to develop and grow its muscles as well as synthesize a lot of protein-based substances like hormones, cell structural components, and immune system cells.
There’s fish oil in the formulation, too, giving your young pup the DHA and EPA it sorely needs to make sure its eyes and brain develop optimally. It’s not the best food for your puppy, but its delicious taste is sure to get your young pup properly weaned from its momma’s milk. This is also what other Cesar puppy food reviews are saying.
Top 5 ingredients in the formulation: meat by-products, water, chicken, beef, and animal liver.
Cesar Dog Food Reviews
Company Overview
Cesar dog food prides itself on formulating food products that pets will surely love. The focus of the company is in the nutrition and quality that pets deserve. It is a subsidiary of Mars PetCare and is considered a sister brand of IAMS, Pedigree, and Eukanuba pet food products. Cesar is best known for its wet pet food products which actually started out as a limited line of pates. Over the years the brand grew to include Gourmet Filets in Sauce, Savory Delights, Sunrise Breakfast, Home Delights, Steak Lover’s, Poultry Lover’s, and many more. They also have dry dog food variants and doggie treats.
McLean, Virginia-based Mars, Incorporated is a global confectionery giant that has diversified its operations to include other food products such as pet food as well as an esteemed provider of services in animal welfare.
Why Cesar Dog Food?
If you’ve got a dog that’s becoming very choosy in its meals, the Cesar dog food is for you. There’s no denying that this is the single most important reason why pet parents give the brand to their dogs. The irresistible taste is simply phenomenal that even picky eaters are known to gobble up entire trays of Cesar wet dog food in seconds. It’s the perfect meal for dogs that are ill since they may be too weak to bite and chew on kibbles or their sense of taste has been altered because of the disease or the drugs that they are being given. It’s also perfect for puppies especially those being weaned from their mother’s milk. Even elderly hounds can also benefit from a Cesar wet dog food.
Cesar dog food can also be a great way to manage your pet’s weight. Since the formulations are available in tray form, you can simply give your pet one or two trays depending on its daily calorie requirements. For example, in our list, you may have noticed that majority of the products come with about 90 to 95 calories per tray. If your pet requires 400 calories per meal, then you can easily get 4 trays and give it to your pet. Alternatively, you can mix 1 tray with 1 cup of dry dog food that is equivalent to about 300 to 305 calories per cup.
Cesar Dog Food Recalls
When it comes to Cesar dog food recalls, there’s just one case of such recalls for the company. On October 7, 2016, Mars, Inc. voluntarily recalled certain lots of the Cesar Classics Fillet Mignon wet dog food as a precautionary measure. This was applicable to individually-packaged variants or those that come in variety packs. It was discovered that plastic pieces may have been inadvertently mixed into the formulation of the Filet Mignon which may increase the risk of choking in dogs. Further search for additional Cesar dog food recalls came up empty, suggesting that the brand is doing its best to ensure safe and quality dog food.
Cesar Dog Food Ingredient Analysis
The quality of any dog food brand can be found in its list of ingredients. Unfortunately, there are many things that are written between the lines. One has to consider a variety of implications especially in terms of the arrangement of the first 5 ingredients in the list. In this section of our review, we’ll analyze the Cesar dog food ingredients in terms of their macronutrient composition.
Below Average to Above Average Proteins
An analysis of Cesar dog food ingredients reveals that the wet variety of the brand has an average protein content of 8%, translating to 44.44% if only the dry matter content is taken into consideration. While this is more than the minimum required by the AAFCO, it still pales in comparison with other pet food brands. Some of the other wet dog food products we’ve seen in the market are in the high-40s to mid-50s levels. The dry version doesn’t fare any better. It comes with a guaranteed analysis of its dry matter composition for proteins at 29.5%. Other brands are usually in the mid-30s to low-40s.
Related Post: High Protein Dog Food
In addition to this finding, we also found some disturbing things about the formulations of Cesar dog food. In many of its dog food variants, ‘byproducts’ have been used as one of the main ingredients instead of going for real meat. For example, in the products that we’ve included in this review, two byproducts were commonly used: beef byproducts and meat byproducts. The reason we’re raising this concern is that science has shown that real meat contains the highest quality protein in an animal ingredient. While meat byproducts also contain proteins, their levels can hardly compare with real meat. Moreover, there’s no telling what part of the animal was included in this so-called “byproduct”.
Unfortunately, the naming practices of Cesar are quite questionable, too. We found several instances where an ingredient was not clearly identified. For instance, can you name the animal that is present in “animal liver”? How about “poultry by-products” or “meat byproducts”? There are different ingredients that can be classified as ‘poultry’ or even ‘meat’ and even more potential sources for the so-called ‘animal liver’. We have to bring this out because one of the things that all pet parents should look for in a dog food is that it should have a named protein. When we say ‘named’, it should be readily identifiable. So, you say ‘chicken byproducts’ instead of ‘poultry byproducts’.
Another principle that pet parents should adhere to when choosing a dog food is that the first ingredient listed on the label should always be an animal protein unless of course, you’re talking about a prescription diet. That being said, we’re quite baffled as to why Cesar dog food chooses to put ‘water’ as its first ingredient when other brands only put broth as secondary?
These issues somehow beg us to question the quality of the ingredients put into each formulation of Cesar dog food.
Below Average to Average Fats
As expected, the fat content of Cesar wet dog food is higher than its dry food variant. Wet varieties come with an average of 22.22% in dry fat content while dry dog food versions come with 14.7%. If you have a pet that is prone to obesity or has heart problems you’ll definitely want to give your pet the dry dog version.
There is clearly one thing we haven’t seen in any of the Cesar dog food ingredients we’ve reviewed – essential fatty acids. While it is true that some of the products contained fish oil, there’s no indication as to just how much EPA and DHA are present in the formula. Of course, you can say that essential fatty acids like omega-3 and omega-6 are not recognized by the NRC and AAFCO as essential nutrients. However, one cannot dismiss the fact that these substances are essential for a variety of physiologic functions.
Low to High Carbs
Cesar wet dog food variants typically contain about 33.34% carbohydrates while its dry dog food version contains 55.8%. It is very convenient to say that this is the norm. However, what we would like to point out is the use of allergenic ingredients in the formulations such as wheat gluten, soy, and corn gluten. It may not really be a good idea for those pets that may have slightly more sensitive tummies than the rest.
Micronutrient Supplementation
One of the questions we’ve asked ourselves while analyzing the Cesar dog food ingredients is related to its need for supplementation. Why is there a need for mineral and vitamin supplementation? If the brand is already using premium quality ingredients, then there clearly is no need for supplements. Does this mean their formulations do not necessarily comprise high-quality ingredients?
Related Post: Dog Vitamins
Presence of Questionable Substances
We also found artificial colorings, color preservatives, and BHA or butylated hydroxyanisole. BHA is typically added to dog food as a preservative. Unfortunately, this substance is known to cause cancer in humans. And if humans are affected by BHA, then there is a strong likelihood that cancer can also develop in dogs that are chronically exposed to BHA.
Taste is one of the greatest strengths of this brand of pet food and one that is often looked up to by pet parents who want something that their dogs will really love. Unfortunately, with so many issues about the composition of its formulations, it is quite difficult to recommend Cesar dog food products to pet parents who want only the best for their dogs.
Cesar Dog Food Pros & Cons
Pros
- Meets the minimum recommended daily protein and fat intake of dogs
- Comes in delicious flavors that are loved by dogs
- Additional mineral and vitamin supplements in the formulation
- Exceptionally high moisture content especially for its wet dog food variety
Cons
- The first ingredient for wet food varieties is water
- Some ingredients are not properly named such as “meat” and “animal”
- Uses ‘byproducts’ in many of Cesar dog food formulations
- Contains wheat, corn, and soy in many preparations
- Contains artificial coloring such as Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 5 and 6
- Contains sodium nitrite as a color preservative
- No glucosamine, chondroitin, probiotics, prebiotics, omega fatty acids
- Dry dog food formula contains BHA
- Uses synthetic vitamin and mineral supplements
