Maxizoo Products: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly!

I love popping into my local Maxizoo. You get lots of ideas for blogs for one! One thing they have right in there is the staff. They are so friendly, very eager to help. Another thing they have right is that they have some really good products if you know what to look for! And they give you free sample bags of these products if you ask!

What?! You feed dry food Conor?!! No. You know the only way to feed your pet is with fresh food. There is no comparison. That said, a handful of high-end, non-wheat based dry food out into the grass keeps the Duds amused for 15mins a day! I like watching him rooting around.

And, as I said, I’m no purist. He had a little cookies and cream ice cream last night. Sue me! Life is too short, certainly theirs.

On the negative side these better products are scattered amongst a whole heap of stuff you wouldn’t feed the mother-in-law. So here’s a few goods and bads I found on my most recent exploration of Maxizoo products:

The Good

Maxizoo have a “premium” dry food there called Real Nature. I have to say, for a dry food with 50% filler (potato and rice) it’s really good quality stuff. Cold pressed (cooked at 40 degrees with no steam, which is good news) and containing largely dried meats (beef, duck, herring) they also add groovy herbal additions like salmon oil, mussel, cranberries, fenugreek, though what they add after being processed into powder, cooked and stored for months is unknown.

And, as Fressnapf make most of their own products, this dry food is made in Germany. We can only hope on European meats. Contact has been made. No answer yet.

Still, if you’re going to spend €3-€5/kg on a wheat based dry food made in China bought in your local vet then I very strong recommend moving to this product. Add a few fresh meat additions when you can and you’re laughing.

Far better than Real Nature though is their new range called Wilderness. It’s got a wolf on the front! The price goes up to between €7-€8/kg but the ingredients used here are similar to the above without the filler. It contains 70% decent quality meat additions (usually dried or fresh, no derivatives, only one product used powdered meal) and veg / fruit (30%) along with some groovy natural extras too long to list. It’s a top of the range dry food but a similar price as the other highly regarded ones (Eden, Orijen, etc).

Very high end “meaty” dry foods are all well and good but at €7/€8 per kilo, why not just give them a fresh meat diet?!

Most impressively though, for all you itchy types, is the tins of Wilderness. It’s an incredible range of plain meats such as just goat, just kangaroo, horse, wild boar with venison, etc. Though cooked and probably not containing the most sought after pieces (the meat muscle of these animals does not come cheap) these are fabulous resource when conducting elimination diets on dogs with recurring skin and gut conditions. Or simply adding a bit of variety to your fresh fed pets!

Lastly, on the food front, Maxizoo do a range of special, magic, highly scientific dry foods for dogs with issues. While the ones in your vet cost an extortionate €10/kg+ these are half the price, made on better ingredients (wheat free for one) and made in Germany. If you’re going to buy these products on the belief that a dry food is actually the answer to liver disease (it’s absolutely not) or kidney disease (dry food, for kidney disease?!!!) or dogs aged 5.5yr to 6.3yrs that turn left more than right, then you might as well buy this product than any other.

Food aside, I love their leather leads! A throw back to my guide dog training days I suppose, these are the sorts of leads we used. I like the feeling (in a non gimp-mask way) in my hand. They have clips both ends so I can adapt the length. And they’re strong. Small is all you need. Any more’s a waste. Only €22 with a reassuring “Made in Germany” tag on them.

The Bad

Maxizoo “Everything You Need for Your Pet”, except fresh dog food, it seems. Despite all the benefits of raw dog food, incredibly the most franchised company in Europe (it has been franchised more than 1600 times in Europe I heard, more than Mc Donalds, but don’t quote me on that) still hasn’t picked up on the fact that fresh food is vital for pets.

Pet food reports reveal dry food sales are finally stagnating, fresh food sales are booming. It’s only a matter of time and the sooner they make the leap the better. You’d of hoped these lads would lead the trend but changing tact is not easy for big multinationals. Moreover, these sheds operate on massive margins which you can’t get with fresh food (good quality ingredients cost money, killing margins). And online sales of fresh / frozen dog food will always kill them on price. A €3.50 chub online will cost at least €7 in store, certainly a shed.

But you’d think they’d have Nature’s Menu or something.

The Ugly

Maxizoo also stock the other brands that people expect to see in there including really poor dry foods and, sadly, a few ranges of well dodgy meat fillet treats (not made by them, imported) that are very poorly thought very poorly of by many sources. I can’t mention particular brands here guys but for more info on imported, extraordinarily cheap meat fillet treats, please see my post on the matter above. Steer clear.

Also those stale, cereal bones in sweaty perspex boxes. Ewwww.