I am a part of the Bil-Jac Dry Dog Food BzzCampaign.
Price is my first concern when it comes to food, then quality, then whether it will be eaten by our ten year old mutt (any guesses on her breed(s)? the best guess I've heard yet is Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, or Toller) Hannah.
Let's address the first and third of those.
For me, and those that I talked to about this BzzCampaign, the price is unappealing. Bil-Jac does claim that because the food is higher quality, dogs get fuller on less, which means a bag of food would stretch out for longer and hopefully stretch dollars further. However, with prices ranging from $16.99 for a six pound bag to $46.99 for a thirty pound bag at your local PetSmart, that's a fair amount of money to spend out of my pet food budget on faith alone.
As to whether Hannah will eat Bil-Jac? The Two Bowl Challenge video below answers that question! She has never been picky about her food. However, ordinarily we put food in her bowl and she grazes throughout the day. With Bil-Jac, she gobbles her bowls right up! The Bil-Jac Dry Dog Food she is eating is the Reduced Fat version because since she's become a senior dog, she has a tendency to gain weight.
But here's the rub - upon research, I've found the ingredient list has potential health hazards for your pet. When Bzzing about this dog food, friends of mine who raw feed their animals had nothing but bad things to say about Bil-Jac and expressed concerns about me exposing Hannah to the carcinogen BHA. I'll admit that despite making it a priority to feed my family healthy foods with an emphasis on those that are not processed, are organic, and/or local as much as possible, I don't extend that courtesy to our four pets. As mentioned above, the first factor in the pet food I buy is price. I don't usually peruse the ingredient lists on bags of dog or cat food. When I say that quality is a concern, mostly it means that I'd like to avoid foods on the recall list. So, what's in Bil-Jac, aside from the ""4 lbs. of fresh chicken used to make a 6 lb bag"? Chicken by-products are first on the list, with the advisement that those by-products are organs only. It does contain BHA like my friends warned. BHA is a chemical preservative that is potentially carcinogenic.
Bil-Jac is also not rated highly by the independent canine nutrition review site Dog Food Advisor.
Between the cost and the concerns about the ingredient list, I don't see us buying Bil-Jac again. I also don't know that I'll follow the rule for the fur members of our family that I've instituted for the humans: "eat from pronounceable ingredients with the most frequency." I can see adopting another rule of mixing a high quality food with a low quality food so that they still get the necessary nutrients. After all, I don't always make healthy food choices! Hannah does like it, so I'll let her finish the bag we got with the free coupon in the meantime.
Perhaps you feel differently than I do and have more of an affinity for Bil-Jac. If so, I still have coupons to save $10 on any size Bil-Jac Puppy, Select, Reduced Fat, Senior, Large Breed, Small Breed or Sensitive Solutions Dry Dog Food that I'd be happy to send your way. Just comment if you're interested.
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