| Country of Origin | Australia |
| Available from | Woolworths, Big W, Coles, PetBarn + |
| Recommended retailer | Pet Circle |
Supercoat is one of the most popular brands of dog food in Australia, and has been for many years.
There are two reasons why you may feed Supercoat to your dog:
- Because it’s readily available; or
- Because it’s budget friendly.
Over the years I’ve found many dog owners recommend the brand for reasons such as “My dog eats it, so it must be great”, but as a certified pet nutritionist the best advice I can give you is to keep in mind how many cereal grains there are in this food – wheat, sorghum, corn, barley.
I’m sure you know your dog is instinctively drawn more towards meat than crops?
That said, the cost of feeding our dogs continues to rise, and more so in recent years. This makes it hard to feed a dog on a budget, and very tough to feed a large breed or more than one dog.
If that’s the case for you, and Supercoat is what you can afford, then perhaps consider some raw meat, organs, and raw meaty bones as well?
At the time of writing, Pet Circle offer the best price, especially if you take advantage of a further 5% with the auto delivery offer.
Supercoat dog food review
What the marketing says
Let’s focus on Supercoat Smartblend dry dog food. All recipes are similar even if this review looks at Adult Chicken.
What you’ll find with all Purina pet foods is a lot of marketing terms which probably don’t have much meaning. On Supercoat these include:
- “Every ingredient has a purpose”
- “Nourish Their Best Life”
- Active Energy (from the “goodness of real Australian Beef” ~ yep, that’s what it says on their website for the chicken formula, but I’ll get to that!)
- “Healthy Digestion”, “Shiny Coat”, and a winner for most Aussies – “Proudly made in Australia”
Let’s forget about those marketing terms for now. It’s better to let the ingredients do the talking!
What the labelling really says
When I studied pet nutrition (for a CPD accredited Diploma) the coursework recommended to only change formulas, never brands, if a dog had an issue with a food. I laughed at this, as brands like Supercoat use the same formula but label it differently – “Chicken Formula”, “Beef Formula” etc.
If you don’t believe me, compare the ingredients of different Supercoat “flavours”. The first ingredient in Adult Chicken is “Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef)”. So a combination of chicken AND beef.
Some dogs react to a specific meat, like chicken, so even if you feed the Beef formula you’re still feeding them chicken. Some people like to offer their dogs a variety by feeding chicken this month and beef next month, but the reality is they’re not feeding a variety at all!
Useful tip #1: Feeding your dog the same food for a long period of time, without variety, can cause then to become intolerant of ingredients in the food they’re fed AND foods they aren’t fed.
Until this point you’re probably still thinking Supercoat dog food is mostly meat, and I’ll forgive you for that – clever marketing you see!
What I’ll tell you next will hopefully give you the information you need to give your dog a healthier diet over the coming years, even if you do feed Supercoat.
Most pet food companies use trickery with the ingredients. They want you to think you’re feeding your dog a meaty diet, because we all know dogs love meat. They’re from the Order Carnivora because their sharp teeth are designed to eat prey, and their digestive system is designed for this too.
Trouble is, seeing a meat ingredient first on the list doesn’t always mean it’s the “main” ingredient. It depends on what else is in the food.
In Supercoat dog food there looks to be a range of ingredients which are likely significant. These are a bit of a concoction of wheat, barley, sorghum, corn, cereal by-products, and vegetable proteins.
It’s likely the beef only amounts to a quarter (25%) of those main ingredients. Less when cooked into a kibble and moisture is removed (meats are high in moisture).
What does that tell you?
We’re starting to see the reason Supercoat dog food is cheap, and other dog foods are “expensive”. Meat is expensive, cereal by-products are very cheap.
Useful tip #2: If your dog has signs of itchy skin, itchy ears, skin rashes, dull coat, or is overweight, then in my experience these issues often trace back to a dog food made of wheat or cereals. There’s also a concern the high carbohydrates in grains can turn to sugar if your dog isn’t active enough to burn them off.
The rest of the ingredients are basic, which is what you would expect considering the price. Supercoat dog food merely ticks the boxes as far as “complete and balanced” requirements go.
You get what you pay for with this one.
Should you feed Supercoat to your dog?
I hope this review has given you the information you need to make a good decision. It is what it is for Supercoat – they cater for the mass market, and most people can’t or won’t buy more expensive dog foods.
Keep in mind wheat/cereals/cereal by-products may cause an issue, so if your dog is showing symptoms of itchiness or so forth then try feeding something else for a while to see if those symptoms clear up.
Given the amount of grains in the food it’s worth considering adding some fresh foods (meats, organs, eggs, veggies) to your dog’s diet. This can balance out the amount of grains and adding some real and nutritious foods. Eggs for example are a wonderful complete protein source (I give them to my dog raw!)
I truly hope this Supercoat dog food review has been of use. If so, please share the link!
Do you feed Supercoat to your dog? How have you found it.
A quick reflection on Supercoat dog food marketing!
Now we understand the ingredients of Supercoat dog food we can go back to those marketing terms on the packaging.
- “Every ingredient has a purpose” – yes, but what purpose? To keep production costs down and profit margins up? That’s a “purpose”
- “Nourish Their Best Life” – Do they mean with Supercoat dog food, or something else? It has little meaning, and no legalities.
- Active Energy (from the “goodness of real Australian Beef”) – yes, beef has goodness for your dog as a meat-eater, and meat provides energy. But we’ve seen there isn’t as much meat in Supercoat as we would like.
- “Healthy Digestion” – fibre from grains (all dog foods must contain fibre), “Shiny Coat” – simply because there’s Omega 6 which is also a requirement in all complete and balanced dog foods, and “Proudly made in Australia” – probably still a winner for most Aussies, but it doesn’t mean Supercoat dog food is better than other brands made elsewhere.
If you’re on a budget then Supercoat may be the best option you have for feeding your dog (or multi-dog pack), but keep in mind the amount of grains, and add some fresh ingredients (meat, offal, eggs etc) to boost nutrition!
Supercoat Ingredients
The ingredients of Supercoat dry dog food (Adult Chicken):
Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef) and poultry by-products; wholegrain wheat; wholegrain barley and sorghum and corn; cereal by-products and vegetable proteins; minerals, vitamins and amino acids (including calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chloride, potassium, manganese, zinc, iron, copper, iodine, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin D, choline & folic acid).
Supercoat Guaranteed Analysis
The guaranteed analysis of Supercoat dry dog food (Adult Chicken):
| Protein | 24% |
| Fat | 10% |
| Crude Fibre | (max) 4% |
| Carbohydrates * | Estimated 48% |
FAQ
Who makes Supercoat dog food?
Supercoat is a brand of dog food made by Nestlé Purina PetCare (or Purina), a subsidiary of the Nestlé corporation. The brand is sold predominantly to Australian consumers.
I told vet I’m going to give my dog fish oil for his arthritis. Vet said if dog food is good and dog is not limping, no need for supplements and asked me what brand. Told him Savourlife, Taste of Wild, Lifewise. Vet said not heard of them and there’s too many bogus dog foods around. Wrote names of good dog foods on a paper for me. Royal Canine, Hills, Black Hawk and Supercoat. If Supercoat is so cheap and that good, I would give it to my dog. I want prevention before limping. I’m going to keep feeding my dog bogus dog foods so my dog needs supplements.
You should ask your vet their thoughts on the nutritional value of wheat, barley, sorghum, corn, and cereal by-products, because that’s most of the ingredients of Supercoat.
I doubt such a consideration has crossed their minds…
Does anybody know why you cant purchase Purina ONE dog biscuits in Australia?
They’re stocked everywhere in NZ and my dog ate them for about 5 years but since moving to Australia we have had nothing but issues with his skin, we’ve had high quality grain free kibble, tried the Royal Canin AN Allergenic elimination diet and about 30 trips to the vet and his skin is still awful.
I’ve bought these biscuits thinking they might be similar to Purina ONE but he’s stinking the house out with his farts
Hi Paris, generally I find grain-based kibbles like this commonly cause skin issues, so it’s worth you avoiding them – anything with grains, particularly wheat/cereals.
fed my 5 yo cattle dog Supercoat last night and 24 hrs later he is vomiting.
I only used this product because it was reliably stocked at my pet store however it was upsetting my dogs gut with every new bag. They had been on it for 9 months. Loose bowels when using the same product should not have happened but my last bag gave 2 of my dogs really bad diahhorea. Worse than the previous bags.
I got onto an online delivery of a quality food that I was waiting on but hadn’t received so I persisted with the Supercoat.
Now I don’t know if it was coincidence of not, but one of my otherwise healthy dogs died of bloat two days after starting a new bag which has devastated my family.
The new product has arrived and I have made a rapid transition to that food and the poos are much firmer despite the quick changeover.
I will never use this product again.
Great article, thank-you, written with a sense of humour! The latest dog food tried, is Supercoat senior, and even though they gobble it up, have plenty of energy still and seem healthy, aged 10 and 11 (kelpie crosses), one’s hair is dull, the other one scratches. Granted he is prown to allergies, but I think I’ll try something different. I was going to anyways, you’ve just confirmed. Many thanks.
I totally agree with your comments I would never give my dogs any kibble made by Purina…you get what you pay for it is cheap and nasty. I am from South Africa and used Orijen kibble.. expensive but worth the bucks.Australia has no regulation on dog food supply manufacturers there is no recall either on this brand.
We have used supercoat since 2018 as our everyday food. In December when the bag size changed, the formula was also changed however we didn’t know this.
Our 8 year old kelpie x koolie became aggressive around feeding time and had our 4 year old border collie by the throat.
This is totally out of character for them.
Her coat went dull and she gained weight.
We saw a behavioural specialist and all agreed it had to be the food.
We literally had to consider euthanasia as we couldn’t risk having an aggressive dog around children and other pets.
We weaned them off Supercoat and changed to Eukanuba. She’s a totally different dog.
Her coat is shiny, she’s a healthy weight and the aggression is gone.
Please stop using this crap.
I’d hate for someone else to have to consider putting their dog down over this awful food.
Hi, I wish I had read your comments before changing from Black Hawk to Supercoat. My 4yo Tibetan Mastiff was on Royal Canine as a pup then we changed to Black Hawk & in the last 7 months to Supercoat. He used to have the most beautiful shinny soft coat but now his coat is not only dull & lifeless but coarse & full of dandruff for a few months now & nothing seems to help, even medication from vet. He’s also itchy & scratches a lot, dropping lost of fur everywhere he goes. Now that I read your comment I’m going to gradually change back to black hawk. It’s criminal of purina to put such a product in the market place. There is another thing in common with my cat. Same story with beautiful shiny black coat but since changing to purina Friskies about 7 months ago, the same thing happened to its coat lit doesn’t have dandruff but is losing weight & seems to be forever hungry. Must be the dry food. I wonder what the common ingredient is in the dog & cat foods to cause such skin/fur issues. This is so wrong of Purina to put our pets at such risk. Hope it’s not damaging any of our pets organs.
I just trailed my dogs on the new updated version of Supercoat for three weeks. I used Sensitive for my English Pointer, Senior for my Cavalier and Mini Foxie and Small Breed beef for my Toy Poodle. Let’s just say I now have four terribly itchy scratchy dogs who’s bums stink from constant farting!
Hi there we have a new pup
That is very ill, when was purina recalled?
Hi Sarah, firstly I’m sorry to hear about your dog, and I truly hope they recover swiftly. May I ask for more information on what has happened?
There have been numerous Purina recalls over the years – https://www.petful.com/brands/purina/
As for Supercoat as an Australian Purina brand, there is no legal requirement in Australia to recall pet foods. There should be, but there isn’t.
I would love the references for the statement that wheat is the number one food to cause allergies. Can you provide that?
I wouldn’t take this review too seriously. It sounds like a stand up comedy where they just make stuff as they go. They called Nestlé chocolate company. My advice would be to experiment a bit and choose the food that your dog likes, rather than going super scientific and analyzing the ingredients to make sure everything is perfect. Dogs are hardier than you may think. A bag of purina is not going to kill them, unless it is poisoned or something.
They called Nestle a chocolate company because they are. Nestle makes Kitkat, Aero, Milkybar, Crunch….just to name a few
The Nestle company also has other brands such as Purina, Supercoat, Felix & One, plus many many other brands.
Nestle Australia Ltd manufactures and markets a wide variety of food and beverage products including processed milk, coffees and other instant drinks, infant foods, culinary products, chocolate and confectionery, nutritional snacks, and pet foods and accessories.
Hi Shan, this is something I’ve personally found to be the case over many years involvement in the pet food industry. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve recommended a dog be switched away from a wheat/cereal-based food with any food sensitivities clear up within a couple of weeks I’d be rich. Personally I’ve dealt with numerous dog owners who’ve found allergy or food sensitivity symptoms while feeding Supercoat.
Hi, so what food do you recommend that doesn’t have these by products, because every bag I pickup, i mean every single one has the.
I bought the puppy supercoat and last night gave my little girl just a small bowl to see how she would take to it. This morning I woke up to the worst smell imaginable, diarrhea all through her bed and projectile poop like I’ve never seen before. Don’t think I will be giving her anymore
If you don’t always change foods, like every bag or offer various different foods, this happens. Even the smallest bowl will cause it. I offer so many foods that mine can eat new foods without being sick from them. If a certain food is all you’ve ever fed you need to transition. Also if the food is completely different to the previous food, ingredients wise, stomach upsets will happen too.
Every time I’ve given this food to my dogs they have ended up having a terrible odour, it made them smell more so I had to keep bathing them. I through the last bag in the bin and vowed to never buy again
My 7 month old puppy has broken out into hives and rashes from this pet food product. The poor guy is suferring so much. Never again will I purchase this product!
Hi Mona, I feel this is very common on a brand such as this. Could you add a report on the following page – https://www.apog.com.au/recall-issue-log/purina-supercoat/
It’s an adverse reaction log recently launched, and in time will be a great consumer resource for reactions from pet foods.
I have been researching alternate food as my Malshi has had a few health issues lately, (scooting and needed more fibre, and now hyperkeratosis) and discovered this review. I have been feeding this to him for over a year I also feed Optimum wet food. Could this be why he is stocky?? Another issue that bothers me.
I will be switching to Applaws ASAP
Read attached image.
Purina was one of the companies busted in Australia in 2018 for having plastic and metal contaminating their pet food. This was because they sourced meat from a slaughterhouse that didn’t remove the ear tags from the carcasses before they ground them up and rendered them. When people responded with questions about whether the Pet Food Industry in Australia needed regulation, Nestlé responded by saying it was unnecessary and would costly to pet food manufacturers, and that they would fight any moves made by the Govt to implement one.
Purina is also owned by Nestlé, the company that purposefully put Melamine (the chemical that makes the plastic in melamine plastic-coated wooden boards in kitchen cupboards) in baby milk formula because it fooled the testing devices into recording higher levels of protein. Hundreds of infants died in China and Taiwan In 2008 from being fed baby formula with Melamine in it. Nestlé were also found guilty for using child labour and slavery in their food production in 2018.
I don’t understand how anyone can trust Purina or any other Nestlé subsidiaries to produce anything that is safe to be fed to their pets let alone humans.
SupaCoat tastes like slavery, trafficking, dead pets, and infant mortality.
I get that it’s cheap, but sometimes it’s worth paying the extra $10 to make sure that you’re not funding a Bond Villain.
Funny this. Supercoat is one of the few dry dog foods that my dog can eat without breaking out in hives, and yes I have tried higher quality foods out there like optimum and Hills. Being a Mastiff cross she is supposed to have a lifespan of no more that ten years. She is now 16 has all her beautiful teeth (that the vet could not believe how good they are for her age), loves to run at the beach and has the health of a younger dog, and has eaten Supercoat all her life.
The teeth part is particularly interesting as kibble tends not to be a very thorough tooth cleaning medium. Does she get anything else that might be helping with the teeth? You know – regular manual cleaning, rubber chew toys, cotton ropes, dried chewing treats etc.
I found the higher quality part hilarious as all 3 are of the same rubbish quality, better to not use higher quality until you find out what that word actually means.
I was looking for a certain ingredient that helps with teeth but I don’t see it, so likely other factors are in there.
My dogs get so many different foods and their teeth look awful lol so I doubt simply giving kibble could make teeth pearly white or else puppies wouldn’t be getting bad teeth so often these days.
My Bad,not higher quality but more expensive dry food recommended by vets. 🙂
Food they should stop recommending and instead getting their patients on raw, there’s a few companies who are using raw to treat conditions much more effectively, they are also curing the conditions not just applying bandaids, which is why when people try to change foods the pets relapse or even worse die.
Aye. I hope Laura returns to pass on more details, as healthy teeth is a claim you don’t normally see linked to *any* kibble, whether it be cheap junk or top shelf product.
hi there. My dogs gets raw drumsticks once a fortnight and raw beef bones with cartilage (not shin bones as they can damage and wear out the teeth). I’ll buy one a month either raw hide stick treats or the dentasticks. They don’t like nylabones either. I stuck with supercoat for the reason that it doesnt give my staffy cross hives. Ollie the golden retriever cross has had to have his teeth cleaned once and Sky the staffy cross has never had her teeth cleaned as the vets that check her keep commenting on how great her teeth are for a senior dog. the funny thing is Ollie is the one who meticulously chews everything he eats and Skye is the gobbler who hardly chews at all!. I have bought one of those bowls specially designed to slow her eating down which helpes.
Ah that makes sense then, so it’s probably not so much the kibble doing the teeth cleaning.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/613ed685cb592b797088be9965e194928131a07db8546ac24c2b57ae20bcdb7b.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7e02579ab43e51513c56359bca48eb35f0129bcf078c358f41eb405ee7b60a5.jpg
I buy this for my 3 year old American Foxhound and she loves it (she doesn’t turn down anything but Coles brands…) Been very happy and healthy with Supercoat (we use Active since she is an American Foxhound) and it is the ONLY brand that sells Kangaroo (I mean never seen any other brand that has Kangaroo BUT Supercoat)… But we only give her it only at dinner as she BARELY eats breakfast, mixed with the tin food… Happy and very active… I trust this brand more than any other brand and also recommended by Harry Cooper (one reason why I used it) and I always give my dog this since we brought her. I been pretty happy with Supercoat from the very start, never gave me any problems… The only brand that gave me troubles was Coles brand, gave my dog diarrhoea pretty bad that we had to put the rest in the bin since it was pretty bad… I recommend Supercoat as long as you get the right one for your dog… If your dog is an active god, get the active brand… My dad tried to give my dog puppy food when she wasn’t a puppy anymore and give her bad diarrhoea (bloody one), told my dad that the dog wasn’t a 12 month old puppy anymore (she was just over 13 months during this time lol), we put the rest of the food in the bin. And make sure your dog is isn’t allergic to anything in the product and make sure it’s the right one if your vet says to give your dog the special food or her/his recommendation. Like I said, my dog has been very healthy from day one, even the vet says she is very healthy and very happy and perfect for a Amercian Foxhound.
I bet Dr Harry doesn’t feed it too his dog. I’d put money on that!
Highly unlikely, I do sometimes wonder what they actually feed their pets though.
LOL! I bet Chris Brown does feed his cat Optimum! Yes I’d like to know,these brands don’t advertise on tv as much now I’ve noticed.
Perhaps he doesn’t even know what his cat eats, the housekeeper takes care of these pesky details :p
If I remember rightly, this Chris Brown guy has precious little experience as an actual practicing vet and is probably best thought of as a TV entertainer/hunky stud who just happens to have a veterinary qualification, gained while he was deciding what to do with his life. Katrina Warren also falls into the same category.
Probably and the experience yeah, watching him on tv one time he was spouting the same nonsense most vets do these days, as in fresh from Mars teaching school lol, those vets.
Stud haha yeah right, I mean I know people have different things they find beautiful I guess but to me he’s seriously ugly, I’m actually only really into like 2 tv guys and for a girl that’s not very many, which means that the world is severely lacking hot guys!
Oh come on, he’s cashed up, has access to all B-list social events *AND* has access to an endless supply of Supercoat. What’s not to like?
Everything you just mentioned XD, I’ve apparantly been chain watching Santa Clarita Diet and it’s 4am awesome!
I couldn’t possibly be with someone I don’t at least like the look of, I know some people would get triggered from me saying that, but I’m going to have to look at him daily and if I don’t like him then I’m just sorry.
By the way not even tired.
Saving money as they loose sales with ever growing aware pet parents. Optimum for a cat hmm sounds like a disaster if it’s on par with the dog formula which is mostly grains. Price is usually a dead give away for quality, except when it comes down to vet diets and Royal Canin, Advance is also expensive for corn and rice, better off with Meals for Mutts.
Not to mention the unfolding drama with Advance! What a rip off so expensive & it’s rubbish! Those poor dogs that have lost their lives, who recommended that particular brand of food???
I’m guessing it was a sweet subsidised deal that someone with a budget just couldn’t resist.
That fact that you like it because Dr Harry Copper promotes it is silly. You do realize Purina pays him to endorse their product and given that it’s popular he will just get richer. Another fun fact is that most vets aren’t extensively trained about Nutrition. It’s basically McDonald’s for your dog.
Every now and then our Bull Arab-cross puppy will have this. We have not really bought it for him enough to know whether or not there will be positive or negative affects on his health in the long-run but he seemed to like it as much as the other foods we have bought for him.
Hi C&P,
This is a standard reply to your recent comments on a number of brands we’ve rated 1 star. Firstly, feeding a food once (or a few times) without any ill effects does not make a food good. Feeding a child a McDonalds burger will do little harm if fed periodically, but if fed daily we know for a fact would lead to health issues.
You are recommending foods based on no substantial facts, so I question why you’re recommending them at all?
We have just lost our dog with a Acute kidney failure. 13 years old and always been fed supercoat dry food and chicken necks. Vet dead against supercoat because of additives and suggested we contributed to the kidney failure by feeding her this food
Hi Jan, I’m very sorry to hear about the passing of your dog. I know how hard it is having been there myself a number of times.
I would consider the pet food industry at fault rather than you as a consumer, so you should not feel guilt. My first cat Rodney suffered kidney failure on a veterinary endorsed dry cat food made of grains, for my carnivorous cat. Vets still recommend those products, and many pet owners trust their recommendations without consideration.
I would consider the cereal grains in Supercoat more the issue than “additives” per se, which is why I don’t personally consider it very appropriate for a dog. It’s a Nestle product after all, which is another fact most pet owners aren’t aware of.
I will never ever use super coat dry or wet food ever again… I’ve always kept my dry food indoors and now i’ve switched to Supercoat my house is FULL OF MOTHS.. because of one bad bag i always empty the bag into a 20 kilo fully sealed container. MOTHS every time i open the container they fly out and now they have laid eggs somewhere. I kill about 10 – 15 per day then next day i get home from work and there back… I find the nightly killing moth rampage is really killing me…Sure i now keep all dog food outside now the moths are still around… they swarm all over me while i’m even eating dinner….I contacted Supercoat last week and i still await a reply
You can never reseal those bags once opened, such a pain i never had a container big enough to hold the stupid biscuits! Sorry to hear about your promblem with moths Angela but i would never again spend $$$ on this brand or pedigree. Glad now to be buying bags of food that can be resealed.
Occasionally you’ll still get a dodgy bag or perhaps buy more than you can immediately use because something was on sale, and you really don’t want to be exposing a giant bag to oxygen every day just to get a scoop or two out. In these cases I find the food grade airtight buckets available at Bunnings are handy and far cheaper than something aimed at pet foods like those Vittles containers. The big buggers can be hard on the fingertips though, so for stuff being regularly opened, sometimes several smaller ones are better than one big one.
Have not had any problems with Black Hawk 20kg bags. That’s a good idea thanks i will check that out at Bunnings.
On a positive note insects are full of protein and good for dogs!
I doubt Purina will claim any responsibility as the food could’ve been contaminated in shipping or storage after leaving the manufacturer, such as in the store where you bought it. You might be able to get a refund if that’s any consolation.
Freezing the food for a week should kill larvae, that’s if you can get 20kg into your freezer. Otherwise if they’ve laid eggs elsewhere you’ll have a mission to clear and clean everything out :/
How do you get rid of those moths once they are there in the house; feels like they have never gone away since I last got my chicken feed (I would never feed super coat!) luckily they seem to prefer the cellulose/grain heavy food (and bizarrely they love all the MfM dog varieties; although I guess that makes sense with their higher legume/plant content) I feed my rats and chicken but occasionally they get in Gypsy’s food which bugs me even though they don’t normally infest her food *touch wood*
Somebody would have to do the numbers, but the dog might arguably be better off if the purina product was discarded and the moths/moth larvae were served up.
I’m sure there’s no telling the lows such manufacturers will stoop to in order to improve the protein content :p
But more seriously I’d be taking a close look at the location of their packaging facility. It would be particularly annoying to find they were some exotic interstate species of moth that were undesirable in your area, like fruit flies or elm leaf beetles etc.
Nestlé (which owns SupaCoat) added Melamine into a baby formula to raise their protein count.
Melamine. The chemical used to make the plastic in melamine boards in kitchens.
They only stopped after hundreds of infants died and the Taiwanese Govt made a fuss.
New look and improved formula my a$$
Nothing in the new ingredients list is new, just re worded and maybe an ingredient or two removed lol
Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef, lamb and/or pork) and or Poultry by-products, Wholegrain Wheat, Wholegrain Barley and/or Corn and/or Sorghum, Cereal by-products and/or Vegetable Proteins, Beet pulp and/or plant fibres, Minerals (Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Selenium, Zinc), Vitamins (A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, D3, E and Choline), Garlic, rosemary plant extract (Natural Antioxidants).
I tried supercoat large breed puppy food after running out of my usual food. Within 24 hours my pup had conjunctivitis and horribly swollen eyes. I was unsure if this was definitely related, so persisted for another 24 hours and nothing improved. I then got the original food ‘meals for mutts – puppy’ and within a day his eyes were clear and he was back to normal.
The lady at the pet store said that she has multiple people comment on allergies in relation to this food in particular.. She said it is poor quality and you get what you pay for!! I would not recommend this food!
Although it is trash you did generally switch cold turkey, dogs who are not on a rotational diet will get sick from new food changes if you do not do a switch over the course of a week or two.
Just like we get sick when we add new foods, like that fruit shake I made that landed me in the toilet 4 days in a row at least 3x a day, but than I got used to it and could drink it no problem.
Wow great information. I’ve been feeding this to my dog for a bit over a week and have noticed great changes. Less scratching, shinier coat, and more energy! He’s 8 but acts like he’s 3!
Supercoat?
I used to feed Supercoat all the time then stumbled across this site and decided to go for a no grain feed for my 3 Border Collies. The improvements have been very noticeable. Continual scratching stopped, bad breathe gone, eyes clear of muck after swimming, the older dog more active and not having to have anti inflammatories nearly as much for an arthritic condition All those complaints I’d put down to other factors as the dogs looked healthy enough. I’ve also been able to feed less to keep them at a healthy weight. So after at least 10 months on a grain free diet and great improvements I’m happy with my decision. Thanks for the great info you provide.
We have used Supercoat for some years now, it has been the “go to kibble” for our retired Greyhounds.
At about $2 per Kg it is very economical.
Our smaller dog does not like it so she gets alternative food.
We believe that Supercoat bulks up stools but otherwise we see no obvious problems.
I need to add That both dogs receive daily feed of raw chicken wings which generally cost about $3 per Kg. Bit hard to estimate relative weights fed but we would not ever just feed kibble regardless of brand. I do not know if Supercoat meets the standards set out By AAFCO “Nutrient Profile for the growth and maintenance of dogs”? This is an important issue since AFAIK no other recognised dog food standard exists.
My Black Lab (28.9kg) and Kelpie x rotty (21.8kg) have Supercoat Purina dry food, 2 cups a day and every mon-wed-fri they get some form of bones (chicken necks, wings, off cuts or lamb flaps).
It took me awhile to find a dry food that didnt give them the runs. I tried cheap and expensive brands and nothing worked for me.
The only issue i have with Supercoat is that it stains my dogs teeth, so i just brush them once a week.
You just have to find whats good for your dog and YOUR dog alone, not whats more expensive or whats the cheapest.
With cheaper foods you need to feed more of it. With premium foods like Wellness, Canidae and Earthborn you feed less because of the higher quality ingredients. It costs more but in the long run its better for your dog and for your pocket.
Our dog was on this and Optimun as they were recomended by the rescue shelter we got him off. His coat was dry and rough, mustard coloured poos often sloppy, always scratching and then there was the constant farting that cleared the room…he is on applaws now thanks to your website. Coat is soft and shiny, firm darker poos and NO farting! And this was noticeable after only a week and a half. You are what you eat.
My dog keeps on scratching, her coat dry and rough and yucky numbers 2s as well. I will give the applaws a try, thanks Aly! I think I finaly have an answer 🙂
Great to hear Aly!
Yea, I like to know facts too.
Great site – only just found it via a link from a group.
Re. This particular, food, the ingredient list is not inspiring. I suppose if one added a lot of other things to make up for the low quality of the food it might be OK, but I wouldn’t feed it either.
I have fed Supercoat to my giant breed dogs for 17yrs with no ill effects. I have tried other brands (Expensive) and their coats have gone dull, broken out in hotspots and ended up with the runs…..I don’t know if I can name them on here…..I do not just feed dry food to my dogs. They only get a cup about twice a week as I mainly feed raw because I think that is what a dogs stomach is designed for.
Well, I’m guilty of feeding my Bullmastiff a cheap Aldi food for several years. Not any more!! He has always had very wiry hair, he always smelled (even though he is hydro-bathed weekly), and has got hot spots every summer. Since our other dog (multi cross breed)has had no problem I didn’t believe that a more expensive food wood make a difference. One month ago I got Purina Supercoat dry food half price so I tried it. My big boy chews through almost 1 kg a day, so this is why I’ve been a bit scabby. In only one month his coat is soft, the colour is deeper, and he now just smells doggy rather than rank.
Purina Supercoat all the way for me.
Hi Deb, you’re welcome to name the “expensive” brands on here that caused issues. We’re not affiliated with any manufacturers, and believe all information can help others.
These are terrible. Our Vet has diagnosed these as the cause of our lovely little chihuahua’s anal gland rupture! PLEASE AVOID AND STICK TO SOMETHING GRAIN-FREE!!
Thankyou for the Anal gland rapture warning. I like to know facts not trying to fear some one into buying something.
I have fed my 2 Maltese Supercoat Kangaroo for 2 years with no ill effect.
I also use it for dog training treats. I buy in bulk. 18kg bags for $40 which lasts a year so it’s great value. So 2 years is plenty of time to find out if this feed is going to hurt my pets. [PS] I don’t work for the company. Please find a food that fits your budget but understand this web site is suggesting $10 plus a Kg.
If you have a small dog then you should really get it the small pack as there is a likely chance it could go off! My dog is a Labrador x Doberman so I get the big pack because every time we get him a smaller pack he finishes it in a week! Even though I only feed him like 1-2 cups a day!
That’s just over $2kg. What do you actually think the ingredients of this food are for $2kg plus the profit the company need to make, so you can bet the ingredients aren’t more than 50c per kg.
If you are happy feeding your (so called) beloved pet this shit then good for you.
I feel sorry for your pets.
Hi Pinky,
I don’t believe the reviews on this website are trying to use fear to persuade anyone to buy anything, but rather to educate people to make more informed choices for our furry friends. The reviews of the some of the ingredients and lack of nutrition might come as a shock to you, as it did to me. I have always fed (or my family has) fed our dogs supermarket brand food like supercoat or pedigree. But this website and various other sources I have been researching have opened my eyes to the reality of the pet food industry. I know personal budget and availability play a major role in what we can feed our pets but you said 18kg/$40 lasts a year? Thats less than 40 cents a week…
Hi Pinky you are better off buying smaller bags & not the 18kilos bags of kibble especially for 2 small dogs, kibble doesn’t stay fresh once open….I just hope the money you are saving doesn’t go on vet bills when they are older, there’s so many better quality food out on the market for a few bucks more..
Personally I wouldn’t buy dog food in such large quantities that it would last a whole year. There’s far too much chance of it going off in that amount of time. But then I’d never feed this crap to my dogs anyway.
Hi after a very bad experience with this food and an unacceptable reply from the company I am wanting to get the purchased food from purina supercoat analysed. Advice on where I can get this done would be appreciated
Thanks
Hi Elouise, there are food laboratories that will analyse a sample for nutrition analysis, composition, vitamins, minerals, allergens and so forth.
I’ve sent you an email.