| Country of origin | Australia |
| Available from | Pet Circle |
Feeding your dog a raw diet is scary to some – what if you don’t get it right? Many dog owners feed a raw diet without covering all bases, which in time can lead to deficiencies and illness. Truth be told raw feeding isn’t as simple as some pet owners believe.
Enter Vets All Natural Complete Mix – a dried powder mix designed to mimic the gut content of prey, essentially giving you a way to balance out a raw meat diet with required nutrients you may otherwise miss.
In our Vets All Natural Complete Mix dog food review we’ll take a look at this unique muesli mix option for balanced raw feeding. Is it any good? Let’s find out…
Vets All Natural Complete Mix dog food review
What the marketing says
Vets All Natural was founded in 1995 by internationally recognised pet-nutrition expert and veterinarian Dr Bruce Syme. The company mission is to maximise the health and longevity of dogs and cats.
On the Vets All Natural website they refer to canines and felines in the wild eating muscle meat, organ meat, and the vegetable matter from the gut of their prey animal. This is very true, and if you provide your dog with the meat and organs part, then Vets All Natural Complete Mix is designed to do the rest.
To add to the above, in the wild dogs and cats will also gnaw on the bones of prey. This has shown to be an essential health requirement and the best way of retaining dental health. Vets All Natural don’t mention this, but there is no reason why you couldn’t feed your dog raw meaty bones as well.
It’s also worth mentioning Vets All Natural (and other products by the company such as Balanced Life) have an excellent track record, with hardly any negative consumer feedback whatsoever.
What the ingredients really say
There’s a few varieties in the Vets All Natural Complete Mix dog food range, so for this review we’ll focus on the Adult/Senior dog mix. They also offer a mix for sensitive skin, weight loss, and one specifically designed for puppies.
With all mixes you will need to sock the muesli in water for 12 to 24 hours (or use warm water if you’re short on time). You can then mix the muesli with fresh meats and organs of your choice. There’s a video down below by Dr Bruce Syme which will show you visually.
If you’ve read any of our other reviews you’ll know we put a strong emphasis on a dog requiring a high meat content and low carbohydrates in their diet. With Vets All Natural Complete Mix you’ll be providing your dog with fresh meat and organs from the butcher or supermarket, so as far as that aspect goes you’ll be providing your dog with top notch human-grade meat.
Don’t be put off by Vets All Natural Complete Mix containing grains, as decent grains are beneficial for dogs. The best grains we can find in a dog food are oats and barley, and we find both of those here. These will serve to provide a slow burning energy source to keep your dog happy and active, as well as adding soluble fibre, vitamins, and iron. The grains you need to watch out for in dog foods are wheat or undisclosed cereal grains – they’re what really cause problems in digestive health, itchy skin, bloat, and poor health.
Flaxseed meal is an excellent inclusion for heart health, wellbeing, joints, and coat. Lecithin is included to help your dog readily digest dietary fats, lower cholesterol, sharpen the brain, and like flaxseed will also serve to enhance your dog’s coat.
We find a range of dried vegetables and fruits, each with nutritional merit in their own right – carrots, peas, parsley, kelp, and barley grass, as well as dried garlic. We also find a dose of vitamin C to round off the mix.
All ingredients in Vets All Natural Complete Mix have been specifically selected for the benefit to your dog. That’s a great thing, especially as many dog foods contain ingredients for the sake of profit margins rather than the health of your pet.
Should you feed Vets All Natural to your dog?
Vets All Natural Complete Mix for dogs is a very worth choice if you’re hoping to move away from kibble towards raw but are in any way uncertain. Even if you still plan to feed a kibble, using this mix alongside with fresh meats, organs, and raw meaty bones should really boost your dog’s diet.
If you’re a long-standing die-hard raw feeder, then this is still worth considering as an excellent supplement to prevent any long-term deficiencies which commonly stem from an unbalanced raw diet.
Vets All Natural Complete Mix – Recommended!
Where to buy Vets All Natural Complete Mix
Vets All Natural Complete Mix dog food is very well established in the Australian pet food market, and available at many retailers.
Essential viewing – A Vets All Natural Complete Mix feeding guide
If you’re still baffled about how to feed your dog Vets All Natural Complete Mix, then here’s an excellent video by veterinarian Dr Bruce Syme which goes through the whole process:
Ingredients
The ingredients of Vets All Natural Complete Mix dog food (for Adult/Senior dogs) is as follows:
Rolled oats, cracked barley, flax seed meal, whole cracked oats, carrots, split peas, calcium carbonate, parsley, kelp, lecithin, barley grass, Vitamin C and dried garlic, kelp granules, lecithin granules and vitamin C powder.
Typical Analysis
Vets All Natural Complete Mix uses a typical analysis which represents the mix re-constituted with the specified meat content. The typical analysis for Vets All Natural Complete Mix dog food is accordingly as follows:
| Protein | 13.8% |
| Fat | 3.3% |
| Crude Fibre | 1.2% |
| Carbohydrates * | 15.6% |
I am extremely concerned about this product having GARLIC in it. Everywhere you research it say no garlic or onions for dogs. This has dried garlic in it???? How is this safe!!! Please can someone assist with my concern as garlic is supposed to be toxic to dogs so why is this vet recommended????
Hi Susie, many years ago I read an original study on garlic. The conclusion was garlic can harm dogs, but when fed significant amounts. I can’t remember exactly, but around 70 cloves of garlic?
Needless to say, you won’t find that much garlic in a dog food, and I expect we wouldn’t feel too great either consuming that amount of it.
Unfortunately the nature of the Internet and “viral” information can make “facts” such as this very widespread, misleading, and somewhat false. I can recall one person getting in touch with me a few years ago who’s dog did have an issue and her vet had concluded it was garlic in the pet food. Perhaps it was, or perhaps it was many other possible causes.
I have two samoyed x golden retrievers who are now 11 years old. They have been on VAN Weightloss and VAN Complete Mix for the last 6 or 7 years. We love the ease of it and love the health benefits. I used mainly kangaroo as the protein (when they need to shift a kilo or two) but also use PMR “Wild canines hunt and consume small prey animals in addition to large prey animals. Common small prey that wolves, coyotes, and fox hunt ranges from wild beaver, rabbit, to small rodents. These small prey animals are considered as a complete meal and provide the guideline for PMR ratios.
In PMR the concept is to feed the entire animal, head to tail, leaving no waste. Whole prey is the entire animal with fur or feathers, organs, glands, blood, and intestinal tract intact. Wild whole prey is an ideal source of food for PMR diets. However, domesticated prey animals can be fed as well.”
Love it!
Back again! I wanted to add some more rationale as to why I think Vets All Natural Muesli is good based on my experience. Please refer to the other comments above. I wanted to add that my dog has (on this diet) never passed wind, never! Her stools are firm and consistently (uniform & not unpleasant – that sounds strange but I’m sure the majority of pet owners would understand the nuance of my language). I think she does get stuck into various scat on walks mostly roo & grasses plus other tid bits that occasion less consistency. As mentioned previously her teeth are lovely (no plaque) and her breath is sweet and pleasant. Her skin is good. She did develop a reaction (skin itch and scale) to preservatives in fresh meat from well known commercial packs from the supermarket. I know this because once I changed to preservative free fresh meat the skin complaint stopped. This took me a while to cotton on to (try sourcing preservative free if you are having any problems – this could solve your pets problem too – process of elimination). Additionally these commercial packs from well known supermarkets were not pleasant the meat was bad or bad a day after opening three times, bad enough that it made her vomit, really concerning. This is quite apart from the unregulated preservative levels in the meat. I have bought for the past two years from a local fresh pet meat supplier and the preservative free meat has never been unpleasant – it lasts opened at least three days without smelling, so it is fresh. This experience contrasts with my last dog another Kelpie I had from a pup. Years ago when as a poor, ignorant student fed her PAL (yuk yuk yuk) and cheap dog biscuits of all things (and food scraps – stuff she shouldn’t have eaten) and she continuously passed wind & had terribly smelly & loose stools, her teeth had increased plaque overtime (but no gum disease) and her breath smelt all the time. I also recall she had skin issues & was a bit skin smelly. She looked good though, fit and ‘healthy’ as she was very active. What was I thinking re the food – how ignorant were was I! I didn’t put two and two together. However she lived a long life to 14, had arthritis at the end (lots of hard running & possibly contributed to by her poor diet), but importantly a less comfortable one. Thank you for this site and for your measured and informed voice. I have recently also purchased some Stay Loyal Dog Food based on comparisons (price, ingredients and Australian made/owned) on this site. This will be good for camping, leaving her with friends more conveniently and just mixing up her diet on occasion (recognising what you have written on this site that dogs like variety too). However Vets All Natural Muesli will remain her main diet – as it is a great product.
Great product! I have been using the Vets All Natural Muesli for 4 years. First using the puppy mix, then the adult seniors and I’ve just ordered the sensitive (to try it out). I mix with preservative free roo, chook, beef, rabbit, turkey and meaty bones. She eats it plain without meat mixed in (on the days she gets bones). When I’ve forgotten to pre mix it and use hot water, she doesn’t mind the more watery consistency. To save time & to remember to pre mix the night before – I have small containers (5 or so at a time) with lids prefilled with the muesli in advance & add water the night before. I have found this the best way to remember and you can shake rather than stir. She looks great and has lovely teeth for a 4 year old which I attribute to a good diet and no human treats (apart from some cut up fruit and veg – cooked and uncooked) at human meal times.