What is a FirstMate LID Diet?

Our Limited Ingredient Diets have been formulated to contain only a single meat protein and a single carbohydrate.  Other ingredients in the formula include only those required to ensure health and safety of your pet, and complete and balanced nutrition for all life stages.

Limited Ingredient Diets, such as our FirstMate grain-free product line, can be useful as an elimination diet or to help identify food sensitivities in your dog or cat.  Using less ingredients makes it easier to identify the potential cause of a food sensitivity in your pet.  Pets suffering from itchy skin, watery eyes, or digestive issues may be experiencing a food sensitivity, but if your kibble contains an extensive list of ingredients it can be difficult to determine the ingredient(s) that are causing the issue.  Feeding one of our Limited Ingredient Diet options for approximately 12 weeks can provide some insight into possible allergens; if your pet’s symptoms clear up on the FirstMate formula and return on their original food, it is likely a food sensitivity.  

Our Limited Ingredient, grain fee formulas all contain potato as the single carbohydrate source.  Potato was chosen as it is highly digestible and is not a common allergen in dogs or cats.  The protein options for dogs include Pacific Ocean Fish (a combination of wild caught Herring, Anchovies, & Sardines), Australian Lamb, Chicken, and Cage-Free Duck, and our cat formulas are available in Pacific Ocean Fish or Chicken (and soon Cage-Free Duck!).  We also include blueberries in our Chicken dog formula, as well as the cat formulas, to help support urinary tract health.  Pumpkin in our Cage-Free Duck formula can help with dogs prone to loose stool or constipation.

Our Limited Ingredient Diets also make it easy to incorporate rotation into your pet’s feeding regime.  Since each of the formulas in the product line typically only differ by the source of protein, most pets can tolerate regular rotation among the protein options.  This helps to prevent the development of a sensitivity to a single protein source, and also keeps things interesting for your pet.