Do you know what DOG ESSENTIALS you are missing out? Find out now!
Zack Keithy, our author, is a certified veterinarian technician (UC Blue Ash) for over 6 years (contact him here). The articles written here are based on his expertise and experience, combined with a review by our expert vet reviewers including Dr M. Tarantino. Learn more about us here.
The debate over which dog food is best has been going on for decades, and it’s not likely to end anytime soon.
There are a number of factors that go into choosing the right food for your dog, but some pet parents find themselves torn between two popular brands: Eukanuba vs IAMS dog food.
So how do you know which dog food to choose? Should you get the cheap stuff from the grocery store or splurge on something more expensive? And why does it matter so much anyway?
In this post, you will find out how each brand stacks up using 6 key factors, and hopefully help you to make the right choice for your dog.
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Eukanuba vs Iams Dog Food Comparison
⚠️ Consider the following when choosing dog food:
- Life stage
- Size of dog
- Grain-inclusive or grain-free
What’s most important in choosing the right type of food for your dog is understanding its breed (activity levels) and any existing allergies.
If you need more help, consult your vet or find a veterinary nutritionist at the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (AVCM).
Eukanuba and Iams are two popular brands when it comes to dog food, but they have some major differences between them.
To help you figure out which one is right for your pup, we’ve compared the following key factors:
- Brand Reputation
- Ingredients
- Key Nutrients
- Range of formulas
- Product Safety and Recall
- Price
Ready to learn more? Let’s dive right in.
1. Brand Reputation
Eukanuba
Eukanuba is a brand of dog food that is owned by Mars Incorporated. the same company known for its chocolate bars.
Despite this fact, Mars is actually a big player in the dog food space too, owning several other brands such as Advance, Cesar, and Iams among many others.
The company came about to create new high-protein dog food that places priority on performance and nutritional science first and has quietly gained huge traction around the world.
Over the years, they have also become a partner for organizations such as the American Kennel Club, Super Retriever Series, the North American Diving Dogs, and many more, focusing on canine athletes.
Iams dog food
IAMS is a reputable pet food company that has been around for over 50 years.
They too are owned by the same parent company as Eukanuba and have been focused on making budget-friendly animal-based protein since its beginnings.
It has developed a pretty good reputation around the world and is quite often recommended by vets and breeders alike.
The company has taken some heat over the years for its ingredients and marketing practices, but overall Iams dog food is a solid product that you can feel confident feeding to your pet.
2. Ingredients
⚠️ A few points to note about the product label
Product name – tells you the percentage of the main ingredient
- “Chicken” – at least 70% of the product.
- “Chicken entree”, “Chicken platter”, “Chicken dinner” – at least 10% of the product.
- “With chicken” – at least 3% of the product
- “Chicken flavor” – less than 3% of the product
Ingredients – The first few items listed are the most important and make up the majority of the product (determined by weight).
Meat-meal – Can have much more protein than actual meat. To further understand, refer to this guide by AAFCO.
In this comparison article, we will consider the following dry food products from each company:
As well as the following wet dog food for nutrients comparison in the next section:
Eukanuba
Eukanuba is regarded as a premium, high-quality brand of dog food, often chosen for dogs taking part in competitions.
Over the course of the brand’s more than 50-year existence, they have discovered many things about the best dog foods.
To begin with, they do use high-quality protein sources and are freshly procured from the top vendors in the trade.
Leipsic, Ohio is where Eukanuba Dog Food is produced and its primary ingredients are traced to Europe, New Zealand, and the US.
However, a closer look at the ingredients list will reveal some controversial ingredients such as the use of corn meal and meat by-product meal.
Some claim that these have nutritional value while others think otherwise.
Unfortunately, unless we have actual insight into the production process, this will be a question mark.
That is why we prefer to choose dog food without these ingredients, or at least where they are not the main ones (not in the first 5 spots).
Key Benefits
- Complete and balanced nutrition for large breed dogs over 15 months old and weighing over 55 lb
- Combination of animal protein, glucosamine, and chondroitin sulfate promotes lean muscle development and joint health in active adult dogs
- DHA and vitamin E support healthy brain function and help keep dogs sharp
- High-quality lamb is the first ingredient for protein that powers their day
IAMS
When you look at the ingredients list of IAMS, you will find that it is very similar to the ones used in Eukanuba.
No surprises here though since they are from the same parent company.
Just like Eukanuba, Iams dog food ingredients are a mixture of natural and artificial ingredients.
The main ingredients in Iams dog food are animal-based protein sources including chicken, beef, and lamb.
Likewise, the use of corn meal and chicken meals are also present in Iams dog food and are in fact listed as the first few ingredients.
Key Benefits
- 1st ingredient is real, farm-raised chicken, and features a smaller kibble size
- Maintains bone and joint health with a formula tailored to support large-breed active dogs
- Promotes healthy digestion and immunity with a tailored blend of wholesome fibers and prebiotics
3. Key Nutrients
There are dozens of different dog food products from both of these companies, so in this section, we pick out one dry food and one wet food product from each brand to make a comparison.
Every pet food label must include a guaranteed analysis of the nutrients, according to AAFCO (The Association of American Feed Control Officials) regulations.
Minimum crude protein and crude fat percentages, as well as maximum crude fiber and moisture percentages, must all be verified by the analysis.
Having this information handy can help you to choose the right food by being aware of your dog’s daily nutritional requirements.
We have also taken it a step further and included the dry matter percentage to provide a more accurate comparison (more on this in the next section).
3.1 IAMS vs Eukanuba dog food nutrients comparison
The tables below will show you the data from both dry and wet dog foods from the two brands.
Take note that when comparing dog food nutrients percentages, you should remove the amount of moisture to make it a more even comparison.
This is also referred to as calculating its dry matter basis (use this calculator).
This approach is a more accurate way to understand the true nutrient contents of dog food, instead of just relying on the number on the label (which is an ‘as-fed’ basis).
| Key nutrient | Eukanuba | Dry matter basis | IAMS | Dry matter basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crude Protein | 22.5% min | 25% | 22.5% min | 25% |
| Crude Fat | 12% min | 13.33% | 12.5% min | 13.89% |
| Crude Fiber | 3.7% max | 4.11% | 5% max | 5.56% |
| Moisture | 10% max | – | 10% max | – |
| Key nutrient | Eukanuba | Dry matter basis | IAMS | Dry matter basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crude Protein | 8% min | 36.36% | 8% min | 36.36% |
| Crude Fat | 4% min | 18.18% | 6% min | 27.27% |
| Crude Fiber | 1.5% max | 6.82% | 1% max | 4.55% |
| Moisture | 78% max | – | 78% max | – |
Crude Protein
Protein is important to dogs because it is the primary building block of all living cells, allowing our dogs to build strong bones and connective tissue.
It is needed for cell growth and repair, tissue maintenance, and the production of enzymes and antibodies that fight disease.
From the data above, we can see that the dry dog food formula from both Eukanuba and IAMS have similar numbers, and both are capable of fulfilling a dog’s daily needs (18% min).
When it comes to the wet food version, we see the same numbers again.
Doggy says, you might like this too: Is Canine Prime Good for Dogs? All Around Supplement Reviewed
Crude Fat
Fat is an important nutrient in your dog’s diet, and the right kind of fat can help your dog live a longer, healthier life.
Dogs who are active need more fats to power their muscles and provide the energy they need to move around.
When dogs are fed a high-fat diet, they have a greater ability to burn fat and a higher degree of performance.
This is more so for working and sporting dogs.
In this comparison, you can see that both companies offer more than enough (minimum 5.5%) amount of fats in their recipes, both dry and wet.
Crude Fiber
Just like in humans, fiber helps our dogs in digestion.
The helpful bacteria normally present in your dog’s colon frequently digest fiber into fatty acids.
Thus, the colon is able to heal from injuries thanks to this fatty acid, which also aids in preventing the proliferation of any harmful bacteria.
From the data, we can see that both companies offer more than the recommended amount of fiber required (2 – 4%).
4. Range of formulas
Having a wide variety of formulations is another important factor to take into account because the majority of dog owners prefer to avoid switching brands regularly.
The good news is that both businesses offer a wide selection of tastes and substitutes and cater to dogs of various kinds and ages, from tiny pups to seasoned seniors.
Here is a brief overview of the most popular choice that each company provides.
Most Popular Eukanuba Dog Food
Most Popular Iams Dog Food
5. Product Safety and Recall
There is really no discussion about quality dog food without talking about their safety records.
Companies do make mistakes, and it is important for us dog parents to know about them and decide if they are worth our consideration.
I try to update this section as much as possible, but if you find anything amiss, you may double-check on the FDA’s site or its archives for accuracy.
Eukanuba
There have been a few recalls in Eukanuba’s history, with the latest happening in 2013.
The cause was the potential for salmonella.
IAMS
IAMS was also involved in the same dog food recall as Eukanuba in 2013, and they do have a few other recalls that happened in 2011 (Aflatoxin) and 2010 (Potential for salmonella).
6. Price
In this section, find out how much it will cost for each brand’s dog foods, both dry and wet, to better understand the financial aspect of using them.
| Brand | Adult Dry Food | Adult Wet Food |
|---|---|---|
| Eukanuba | $2.12/lb | $3.38/lb |
| IAMS | $1.40/lb | $1.97/lb |
Other Important Points to Take Note of
Benefits of high-quality protein in dog food
High-quality protein is one of the most important nutrients in a dog’s diet.
Not only does it provide the necessary amino acids needed to build muscles, skin, hair, and other tissues, but it’s also critical to a dog’s immune system and helps greatly with their overall growth and development.
What’s up with corn and meat meal in dog food?
The use of corn and meat by-product meal in dog food has been a controversial topic among pet owners and the pet food industry for many years, and in most likelihood, it is due to the perceived low value each brings.
Firstly, the thing about corn is that it is often regarded as a low-quality filler and used by corporations to reduce costs.
Some people will also say that corn is hard to digest, which is true if eaten on its own, but when made into dog food, it does not have this effect.
In actual fact, corn does provide a good supply of energy, but you should stay away from brands that use too much of it.
A check on the nutrients table should reveal if the particular food is balanced.
Secondly, meat by-product meal is seen in a bad light, especially since humans often do not eat them.
As always, there are two sides to a coin, and proponents will say that these “spare” parts such as the liver, lungs, and intestines, are higher in protein and are more digestible.
Some will also point out that dogs in the wild will eat an entire animal regardless of the part, so by-products are acceptable.
Personally, I think this is not something that will affect you too much, as there are plenty of products out there that offer both types of feed.
If you do choose one with meat by-products, I recommend that you pick one that specifies the animal used, for example, chicken by-product meal, rather than a generic meat meal kibble.
Alternatives to IAMS and Eukanuba
I don’t usually stray too far from known brands that have a good track record and reputation.
In this regard, here are a few other dog food comparison posts you can check out to learn more:
In Conclusion: Eukanuba vs Iams Dog Food
So, after all of this… which dog food would you choose?
It’s clear that both Eukanuba and Iams are good dog food brands.
But in my opinion, I prefer Wellness Complete Health over either of them for dry dog food and Ollie (read review here) for fresh dog food.
I think the key to choosing the right dog food for your pet is to consider what you want for your pet and what they need.
If you want something that will keep them healthy and happy and don’t mind the slightly higher cost, then I’d recommend Wellness Complete Health.
It has all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your dog needs to stay healthy in one convenient package—and it tastes great too!
