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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

We combine all necessary Vitamins, Minerals, Pre-biotics, natural herbs, Omega 3’s, healthy-fats, protein & carbohydrates that ensuring your Puppy/dog has a balanced nutrition diet.

All foods deteriorate (oxidize) when it is exposed to air. This action can be slowed by various means, but it can never be completely halted. Basically there are 2 forms of anti oxidants (preservatives) available to pet food manufacturers.
  1. Natural. A combination of vitamins E & C, usually in the form of citric acid, tochopherols, and rosemary extract.
  2. Chemical. Come in a number of forms, some are quite harsh and require protective clothing when handled.
Chemical preservatives generally have a longer shelf life than the natural forms, and are much cheaper. At Ultra, we use all natural antioxidants, and in minimal amounts to ensure the shelf life is maintained. Our products are usually with the distributor within 10 days of manufacture, compared to up to 3 months with some imported products. This ensures the product is as fresh as possible, and with the absolute minimum deterioration.

Minerals come in 3 forms, chelated (or proteinated), oxides and sulphates. Chelated are more easily absorbed by dogs than oxides and sulphates, but are a lot more expensive. At Ultra, quality is always paramount, so we use only chelated minerals.

The longer you cook food the more you reduce the nutritional benefits. At Ultra we extrude the food. This means it is cooked under pressure by direct steam injection in less than 30 seconds – compared to up to 40 minutes required to bake a biscuit. This ensures minimal nutritional loss, particularly with the vitamin content, a lot of which is subject to damage when heated for too long.

Everyone wants to get the best value for money. We manufacture in New Zealand, from locally sourced raw materials, so we save international freight costs, biosecurity and custom clearance charges, and the importer’s costs. All these saving are passed directly to you, the pet owner. We also do not incur costs from expensive packaging, nor the so-called “free” giveaways. Our aim is to supply a quality pet food at an honest price. It is interesting to compare (via the internet) retail prices of imported pet foods between their country of origin and New Zealand.

A complete food contains all the necessary nutrients (protein, minerals, fats, vitamins etc), but there is no control over where those nutrients are sourced. One batch may have most of the protein from various meats, the next from various cereals. These products are normally price driven. Therefore the cheapest raw materials are often used. A premium product must source up to 90% of protein from animal sources, as canines absorb animal protein much better than vegetable protein. Premium products also must have a fixed formula, so the raw materials are not affected by price fluctuations.

Manufacturers sometimes say the first ingredient must be meat based. This is not true.  Two of the first three should be meat based.  Consider the following formulae. For these we assume that around 25% of the product contains the fats, vitamins minerals, fibre moisture etc, and the balance meat and grain.
  1. 40 parts beef, 35 parts corn. Beef is listed first.
Protein from beef is 20% Protein from corn is 5% . Total protein 25%
  1. 30 parts beef, 35 parts corn, 10 parts dried blood. Corn is listed first
Protein from beef 15% Protein from corn 5% Protein from blood 8% Total protein 28%, the majority of which is sourced from meat. Also a product that has 20% meat, 19% rice, 19% corn,17% barley has the meat listed first, but is obviously grain based.

In their natural environment, dogs (unlike cats who eat only muscle meat) ate all their prey, including the offal, intestines, stomach and its contents. Their prey were normally grazing animals, so the stomach etc contained partially digested grasses. Grains are cultivated grasses, therefore canines ate grains. The grain was partially broken down, and not as harvested, and we do the same in processing our dog foods.

For these we assume that around 25% of the product contains the fats, vitamins minerals, fibre moisture etc, and the balance meat and grain.

  1. 40 parts beef, 35 parts corn. Beef is listed first.

Protein from beef is 20%

Protein from corn is 5% . Total protein 25%

  1. 30 parts beef, 35 parts corn, 10 parts dried blood. Corn is listed first

Protein from beef 15%

Protein from corn 5%

Protein from blood 8%

Total protein 28%, the majority of which is sourced from meat.

Also a product that has 20% meat, 19% rice, 19% corn,17% barley has the meat listed first, but is obviously grain based.

Please store in a dry cool area due to the use of NO chemical preservatives

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    New Zealand Made Premium Quality Dry Dog Food Online