Food Friday: Hi-Tek Naturals Grain Free Alaskan Fish Formula

Hi-Tek Naturals is a line of dog food by Hi-Tek Rations. There are a couple of grain-free formulas in the product line, but most contain barley or rice. They also contain eggs, which is why I didn't end up feeding this grain-free Alaskan Fish Formula sample to Brisbane. It had been sitting on my counter for quite some time before I finally got around to feeding it to Sisci.

The Company

Hi-Tek appears to be a private company with their own manufacturing facility in Dublin, Georgia. I haven't been able to figure out what other brands they manufacture, but it appears they may be a co packer for other food companies. There do not appear to have ever been any recalls by this company, which is quite nice.

The Food

The grain-free Hi-Tek Naturals formulas rate five out of five stars on Dog Food Advisor. The first ingredient in the fish formula is salmon meal, followed by sweet potato, herring meal, ocean whitefish meal, and then potato and peas. Eggs are pretty far down the list, after canola oil, ground sage, ground basil, and tapioca. Still, I didn't feel comfortable feeding this to Brisbane due to his egg sensitivity. Then I got back his allergy test results and it turns out he's allergic to sweet potatoes too.

At 373 calories per cup, this food is sort of in the middle of the range of caloric values. It is an adult maintenance diet, not for growing puppies. Dog Food Advisor identifies it as a plant-based dog food, but one containing a below-average amount of carbohydrates and an above-average amount of protein and fat. Interestingly, there is only one Hi-Tek Naturals food suitable for puppies. The rest are all adult maintenance foods, including all three grain-free formulas.

The Dogs

Briz couldn't eat it, but Sisci and Ru both enjoyed this food quite a bit. This is not something I would currently choose to feed Sisci long-term because I'm still feeding her like a growing puppy, or possibly an athlete. Adult maintenance formulas often have less protein and fat, though the levels in this food are well above the minimum standards for both adult and puppy foods. One of my local stores recently began carrying Hi-Tek Naturals, but the company doesn't make a single food suitable for Brisbane's poultry, egg, corn, barley, and sweet potato allergies so we won't be adding this to our rotation.