Weruva Dog Food Review 2024: Recalls, Pros, & Cons

Review Summary

Most dog owners can recognize the big dog food names out there, but there are a few smaller brands that are just as good for your dog. Weruva is a family-owned company that specializes in canned grain-free cat and dog food.

Named after three cats — Webster, Rudi, and Vanessa — Weruva was founded in 2007 by David and Stacie Forman. Although it started as a way to improve the diets of their three rescue cats, when the couple rescued their first dog, Baron, the company expanded into dog food formulas too.

Aiming to provide healthy nutrition for both dogs and cats, Weruva focuses on carnivorous diets that are high in protein with minimal carbohydrates. The dog food recipes use real meat or fish and a few select vegetables. Each recipe is designed to look as natural as possible, so there’s no “mystery mush” in the cans.

Weruva is a good choice for dogs with grain allergies or that struggle to eat hard, dry kibble. If you haven’t heard of Weruva dog food, this guide will introduce you to the family-owned company and review a few of its popular products.

At a Glance: The Best Weruva Dog Food Recipes

Weruva Dog Food Reviewed

Family owned and operated, Weruva was created by pet lovers who were inspired by their three rescued cats and later, their dog. As pet owners themselves, the founders of Weruva hope to supply pets with high-quality, balanced nutrition.

It also aspires to keep the contents of its products recognizable, without any of the expected “mush” found in most dog food. This unique appearance and careful processing mean the food contains recognizable ingredients and looks more appetizing than many other brands.

Who Makes Weruva and Where Is It Produced?

Weruva is vague about who makes its pet food, only stating that it’s made in USFDA-certified facilities in Thailand. These facilities specialize in human food, ensuring that the ingredients that go into Weruva’s products are all high quality.

Some pet owners may prefer their dog food to be made in the U.S.A., to ensure that it meets high health and safety standards. But Thailand has a unique position as one of the world leaders in manufacturing and supplying human food to the U.S., the EU, Australia, and Japan. The Thai FDA is also recognized by the USFDA, showing that it meets similar high standards.

Weruva is also certified by the British Retail Consortium, a global standard for safety, integrity, legality, and quality for both human and pet food.

Which Type of Dog Is Weruva Best Suited For?

Adopting their first dog is what inspired the owners of Weruva to venture into dog food. As a result, the brand’s dog food line is focused primarily on meeting the nutritional needs of adult dogs. It’s also focused on carnivorous diets, with minimal carbohydrates and no grains. These limited-ingredient recipes suit dogs with allergies or that struggle to process certain carbohydrates.

The appearance of this food can also appeal to dog owners. With recognizable ingredients, it mimics the look of human food and appears much more appetizing.

Which Type of Dog Might Do Better With a Different Brand?

While Weruva is unique in its specific approach to meeting the nutritional needs of dogs, there are a few dogs that might do better on another dog food.

Puppies and Seniors

All the formulas offered by Weruva are targeted at adult dogs. Puppies and senior dogs can technically eat this food — its soft texture makes it easy to chew — however, the nutritional content isn’t formulated with other life stages in mind.

For senior dogs, Weruva might not contain the right nutrition to support their age. Similarly, it won’t fully support the development of puppies like puppy-focused formulas will.

Certain Breeds

Generally, Weruva is for all breeds. However, some dog owners prefer tailoring their dog’s diet to their specific breed. While this doesn’t always mean purchasing food formulated specifically for one breed, Weruva doesn’t even offer separate formulas for small, medium, large, or giant breeds.

Dogs With No Allergies

Many dogs don’t have allergies to the ingredients found in dog food. They benefit from a balanced diet of meat, vegetables, fruits, and grains. While it’s always important to consider food allergies, high-quality dog foods with a careful blend of these ingredients will supply essential minerals, vitamins, and fiber.

Discussion of the Primary Ingredients (Good and Bad)

Though its original focus was on nutrition for cats, Weruva focuses on providing a carnivorous diet for dogs too. To this end, most of the formulas contain high-quality ingredients. There are a few that some owners may find questionable when it comes to their dog’s diet, though. Here’s a rundown of Weruva’s most common ingredients.

Meat Content

Overall, Weruva’s focus on real meat ingredients makes it one of the better options for dogs. The protein and fat in the meat content supply plenty of the nutrition that dogs need to stay healthy. Weruva also takes pride in using “human-grade” meat products and sourcing choice cuts that humans would eat too.

Fruits and Vegetables

Most of Weruva’s products don’t include many fruits or vegetables. Some do, depending on the formula, but others focus on the meat ingredients. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on your dog. For dogs that are sensitive to certain ingredients, the fewer ingredients in the formula, the better.

However, when used properly, the right blend of fruits and vegetables can add beneficial vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to your dog’s food. Weruva uses pumpkin and sweet potato in a few of its recipes, which are good for digestive health, and the included spinach and carrots contain antioxidants and vitamin A.

In a few recipes, Weruva uses pea protein. While certain legumes can be beneficial when used in moderation, there is a controversy about their potential link to dilated cardiomyopathy and some dogs can be allergic to the ingredient.

Grain-Free Diets

Many grain-free diets claim to be healthier than other options for dogs. This isn’t always the case, though. It depends on your dog as an individual. While allergies are just as common in dogs as they are in humans, dogs are more often allergic to certain meat proteins, like beef or chicken, than they are to grains.

This doesn’t mean a grain-free diet is the wrong choice for your dog, but you should ask your veterinarian for help determining your dog’s diet plan. A grain-free diet might help your dog’s sensitivities but if they’re allergic to chicken, the lack of or inclusion of grain in the recipe won’t make a difference.

There’s also an ongoing FDA investigation about the link between grain-free diets and dilated cardiomyopathy.

A Quick Look at Weruva Dog Food

Recall History

Despite being in business for just over 15 years, Weruva hasn’t received any recalls so far. This goes to show how much value the company places on supplying dogs and cats with healthy, balanced nutrition.

While the core company hasn’t received any recalls, Best Feline Friend (B.F.F.), a sub-brand of Weruva, does have one previous recall in Australia for thiamine deficiency. B.F.F. is tailored to cats rather than dogs, but the recall is worth noting.

Reviews of the 3 Best Weruva Dog Food Recipes

Weruva specializes in canned grain-free dog food that focuses on protein over carbohydrates. Here are our reviews for three of Weruva’s top products.

1. Weruva Wok the Dog Grain-Free Canned Dog Food

For a bit more variety in your dog’s food, the Weruva Wok the Dog food recipe uses real beef and chicken, along with a few select vegetables to provide healthy nutrition. Along with the animal protein, the formula contains vitamins and minerals from carrots and antioxidants from spinach. Pumpkin and sweet potato also help support your dog’s digestive system.

If you’re wary about feeding grain-free recipes with legumes to your dog due to the ongoing FDA investigation, do note that Wok the Dog doesn’t contain peas.

Several owners have received damaged cans that they haven’t felt comfortable using, and the pack of 12 cans is a bit expensive due to the natural ingredients.

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2. Weruva Paw Lickin’ Grain-Free Canned Dog Food

Focused on providing a carnivorous-based diet with limited ingredients, the Weruva Paw Lickin’ Chicken in Gravy Grain-Free Canned Dog Food is a simple chicken in gravy recipe. Designed to be eaten alone or mixed with kibble, this canned food is filled with high-quality protein and moisture to promote a healthy level of hydration.

Although this option doesn’t have many other ingredients besides chicken, some dogs may still have sensitivities. Open cans need to be kept in the refrigerator and should be used within a few days. Weruva does offer small cans if you have a small dog breed.

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3. Weruva Steak Frites Grain-Free Canned Dog Food

For dogs that are allergic to poultry, Weruva Steak Frites Grain-Free Canned Dog Food is made with grass-fed, Australian beef with no chicken content. It’s also one of the Weruva recipes with added vegetables for extra nutrition and is designed for all life stages. Steak Frites include carrots, pumpkin, and sweet potato to fortify the recipe with natural vitamins, minerals, and fiber for healthy digestion.

This option is available in two can sizes, but it’s still one of the more expensive canned dog foods available due to the real ingredients. It also lists water as the first ingredient rather than beef, and some dog owners found the food to be greasy.

What Other Users Are Saying

Conclusion

After adopting their three rescue cats, the owners of Weruva quickly decided standard commercial pet food wasn’t healthy enough for their favorite felines. So, they set about making their own nutritionally balanced cat food. Although Weruva was originally tailored to match the needs of cats, the owners soon adopted a dog and ventured into dog food formulas too.

While the Weruva dog food line isn’t as old as the cat food line, it’s still one of the highest quality diets that you can purchase for your dog. The recipes are grain free and focus on animal protein from choice cuts of meat. Weruva can benefit dogs with food allergies due to the limited ingredients used in its recipes.

Since it’s not one of the most well-known brands available, Weruva isn’t as widely distributed as some of the more recognizable names. This can make it difficult to find in your local supermarket. Puppies, senior dogs, and pet owners who prefer grain-inclusive foods might also want options with more formulas.

Despite these few downsides, though, Weruva dog food holds itself to high standards of quality, evidenced by the lack of recalls. Overall, it’s a healthy option with recognizable ingredients in each can.