You’ll be proud to have a Cane Corso standing guard in front of your house or train to walk beside you at the park. Its large, bulky head and well-muscled body are sure to keep no-do-gooders at bay. If folks are fearful at the sight of a Rottweiler or even a Pitbull, they should be more frightened at the sight of the massive Cane Corso.
It is your 4-legged personal bodyguard, your peerless protector. You’d definitely want to give it a Cane Corso diet that is perfect for this large breed. And if you’re worried it is difficult to look for a Cane Corso dog food we’re here to help you. We’ve listed here some of the best dog food for Cane Corso so all you need to do is to pick one that you think best matches your pet’s nutrient and calorie needs.
The Best Cane Corso Food
Your Cane Corso will love this grain free all-natural formulation from Wellness. It has a larger kibble size that’s packed with real meat and nutrients, perfect for ensuring your large dog’s optimum health. It’s packed with omega fatty acids, antioxidants, and probiotics for better digestion.
Deriving its protein from chicken and turkey, this is clearly best food for Cane Corso since it supplies the readily-available amino acids for your dog’s muscular body while the addition of the WellFlex system should strengthen its joints to hold its massive weight. There are no unnecessary fillers or even meat byproducts to worry pet parents. It simply is the best dog food for Cane Corso.
Read our in-depth Wellness Core Dog Food Review.
Number of calories: 346 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 34%
Crude fat percentage: 12%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 6% and 10%
5 top ingredients: real chicken meat, turkey and chicken meals, peas, and potatoes
Chondroitin, glucosamine, vitamins, amino acids, essential fatty acids, minerals, probiotics, prebiotics
- Brand: WELLNESS CORE
- Model: 88434
- Weight: 26.5 pounds
If you’ve always wanted to serve your Cane Corso raw food but aren’t sure about the quality and the nutrients of the food you’re going to give, then you’ve got to seriously get Ziwi Peak’s best large breed dog food. Featuring all the lean protein and nutrient goodness of New Zealand venison including the meat, liver, tripe, lungs, heart, and kidneys and coupled with the DHA- and EPA richness of fish and New Zealand green mussels, Ziwi Peak is a clear winner when it comes to the best food for Cane Corso.
You don’t have to worry about grains, sugars, antibiotics, or any of the less-than-desirable ingredients found in other products. It is completely air-dried to lock in all the nutrients of its all-natural ingredients.
Number of calories: 263 per scoop
Crude protein percentage: 34%
Crude fat percentage: 26%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 1.8% and 14%
5 top ingredients: real venison meat, real fish, venison liver, lungs, and tripe
Chondroitin, amino acids, glucosamine, minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids
- Brand: Ziwi Peak
- Model: ZCDV454PUC
- Weight: 1 pounds
Making its way as the best kibble for Cane Corso is this Gold formulation by Fromm. It features real Wisconsin cheese to give your pet the optimum amounts of lactobacilli for healthier digestion. It gives your canine bodyguard the right amounts of calories and proteins for energy and tissue-building purposes. Salmon oil is added for healthier coat and skin while also improving immune functioning.
The Fromm Gold makes every meal a gourmet feast with its carefully-selected and tastefully-prepared formulation. It’s the last thing you could ever do to repay your Cane Corso’s unmatched loyalty and dedication to you and your family.
Number of calories: 377 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 23%
Crude fat percentage: 12%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 5.5% and 10%
5 top ingredients: chicken meat and meal with broth, pearled barley, and oat groats
Probiotics, vitamins, prebiotics, minerals, chondroitin, glucosamine, essential fatty acids, amino acids
- Brand: Fromm
- Model: 11530
- Weight: 33.1 pounds
Designed specifically to promote optimum health of the joints, facilitate continuing muscle development, ensure healthier heart and immunity, and support stronger bones and teeth while also ensuring healthier skin and coat, this Blue Buffalo formulation is a Cane Corso diet that is simply perfect.
Considered as the best dog food for Cane Corso especially by pet parents who are already fed up with the same usual ingredient of chicken or beef, this Wilderness recipe comes with the protein- and delicious- goodness of wild-caught salmon mixed with chicken meal, menhaden fish, and a handful of all-natural ingredients to get your super-dog up to speed when it comes to its optimum development. How else can you describe a meal that closely follows the diet of a Cane Corso’s wolf ancestors than simply superb?
Check out our Blue Buffalo Dog Food Review.
Number of calories: 386 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 32%
Crude fat percentage: 14%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 6% and 10%
5 top ingredients: deboned salmon, real chicken meal, peas, pea protein, and tapioca starch
Probiotics, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, chondroitin, glucosamine, omega fatty acids
- Brand: Blue Buffalo
- Model: 800056
- Weight: 20.9 pounds
If you have several Cane Corsos at home at various life stages this CANIDAE recipe sure is a great Cane Corso puppy food as it is for your adult and elderly. With its multi-protein formulation that features real chicken, turkey, lamb, and ocean fish and enriched with salmon oil and select wholesome fruits and vegetables, this Cane Corso diet is exceptionally tailored for your large 4-legged security detail. It’s a one-recipe-serves-all type of meal that treats your multi-pet household to a smorgasbord of flavors and the completeness of nutrients necessary for development across the dog’s lifespan.
There’s no need to switch diets or frazzle yourself guessing if you’re giving your dog the right food. CANIDAE All Life Stages Chicken is one of 5 dog food recipes included in our review of CANIDAE Dog Food.
Number of calories: 468 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 24%
Crude fat percentage: 14.5%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 4% and 10%
5 top ingredients: real chicken, turkey, and lamb meals and brown and white rice
Essential fatty acids, chondroitin, glucosamine, amino acids, prebiotics, minerals, probiotics, vitamins
- Brand: CANIDAE
- Model: 1044
- Weight: 44.5 pounds
Focusing more on your Cane Corso’s digestive and immune system health, this Holistic Select recipe capitalizes on the goodness of all-natural ingredients without ever using byproducts, fillers, and artificial ingredients. Featuring digestive enzymes and live yogurt cultures, this Cane Corso dog food takes good care of your dog’s digestion underscoring the important role this organ system has in the processing and delivery of nutrients to every cell and tissue in your hound.
This is in addition to the blend of prebiotics and probiotics that each kibble contains. Need you to look further for the best dog food for Cane Corso when Holistic Select is already here?
Number of calories: 392 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 24%
Crude fat percentage: 14%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 3.9% and 10%
5 top ingredients: real chicken meal, oatmeal, oats, rice, and chicken fat
Probiotics, amino acids, prebiotics, digestive enzymes, chondroitin, glucosamine, minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids, glucosamine
- Brand: Holistic Select
- Model: 24943
- Weight: 30.5 pounds
Fromm Family’s Gold returns with a recipe formulated specifically for large breed puppies. It has the same ingredients as the adult version, although it comes with slightly more calories and proteins to augment your young Cane Corso’s high-level physical activities and muscle and organ building needs.
Considered as the best dog food for Cane Corso puppy, this formulation also comes with the same Wisconsin cheese that supplies your young dog’s tummy with gut-friendly enzymes as well as probiotics, ensuring maximum digestion and absorption of all the nutrients it needs to grow into a well-rounded canine. Amino acids guarantee optimal tissue growth and development while its amazing taste is something that will entice your puppy to feed heartily.
Number of calories: 384 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 25%
Crude fat percentage: 14%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 5.5% and 10%
5 top ingredients: chicken meat, meal, and broth, pearled barley, and oats
Amino acids, minerals, essential fatty acids, DHA, vitamins, probiotics, prebiotics
- Brand: Fromm
- Model: 727050
- Weight: 33.3 pounds
You can still ensure optimum health and nutrition for your Cane Corso even with a simple meal like the PURE Sea recipe of CANIDAE. Relying on the nutrient-goodness of salmon and menhaden fish this is one Cane Corso diet that provides exceptional proteins and great wholesome ingredients in a formula that is as gentle on the tummy as it is effective on your gentle giant’s health needs.
It may have a much higher calorie content per serving, but this works well to your pet’s advantage since it will only require smaller amounts to supply its energy requirements. This Cane Corso dog food is perfect if your dog happens to be at risk for bloat. The recipe may be simple, but its flavors are simply out of this world.
Number of calories: 496 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 32%
Crude fat percentage: 18%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 4% and 10%
5 top ingredients: fresh salmon, salmon and menhaden fish meals, peas, and sweet potatoes
Prebiotics, probiotics, essential fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals
- Brand: CANIDAE
- Model: 1340
- Weight: 24 pounds
Want to know the best puppy food for Cane Corso? How about Holistic Select’s large breed formulation that features lamb and chicken with a good mix of oats, barley, rice, sardines, anchovies, and wholesome vegetables and fruits? It’s a Cane Corso puppy food that is also filled with menhaden fish and salmon oil to supply your puppy’s need for DHA and EPA. This makes good on the brand’s promise of keeping your pup’s eyes and brain healthier and fully functioning.
There are vitamins with amazing antioxidant properties and minerals that cater to the other physiologic needs of your pup’s tissues. This best dog food for Cane Corso puppy focuses more on keeping the exceptional health and function of your puppy’s digestion and immune system capabilities.
Number of calories: 433 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 23%
Crude fat percentage: 12%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 3.5% and 10%
5 top ingredients: real lamb meal, real chicken meal, oatmeal, barley, and brown rice
Probiotics, amino acids, prebiotics, digestive enzymes, minerals, vitamins, DHA, EPA, essential fatty acids
- Brand: Holistic Select
- Model: 23924
- Weight: 30.4 pounds
Inarguably the best dog food for Cane Corso puppy, this Orijen formulation follows the protein-rich and biologically appropriate meals that the brand is known for the world over. With 85% different kinds of animal proteins like chicken, turkey, flounder, herring, mackerel, and sardine, you’re guaranteed to give your puppy a good headstart in life. There are chicken and turkey internal organs like liver and heart, as well as chicken cartilage and neck. Your young Cane Corso will also benefit well from a variety of fishes for their exceptional omega-3 fatty acids.
You can almost say goodbye forever to brain and eye problems in your young hound. It also contains low glycemic carbohydrates fueling the exercise and physical activity needs of your puppy without increasing its risk for developing diabetes. This is simply the best puppy food for Cane Corso youngsters. ORIJEN Puppy Large Grain-Free Dry Food is one of 5 recipes included in our review of the Orijen Dog Food.
Number of calories: 446 per cup
Crude protein percentage: 38%
Crude fat percentage: 16%
Fiber and moisture percentage: 6% and 12%
5 top ingredients: fresh chicken meat, turkey meat, whole eggs, chicken liver, and whole flounder
Amino acids, essential fatty acids, EPA, DHA, minerals, probiotics, vitamins, chondroitin, glucosamine
- Brand: Orijen
- Model: DOR4425-25
- Weight: 25.3 pounds
Best Cane Corso Food
What to Look for in a Good Cane Corso Food
It may not be as big as its cousin, the Neapolitan Mastiff, but the Cane Corso still has a formidable built that is well-known in the ancient world as the epitome of a great war dog. When buying Cane Corso dog food it is important to look for the following.
Animal Proteins as First Ingredients
Your Cane Corso will benefit a lot from the complete essential amino acids provided by animal proteins. This is the fundamental reason why it is best to give your pet dog food that lists a named animal protein as its first ingredient, not carbohydrates. There’s another reason why we don’t recommend carbs as the first ingredient, especially for Cane Corsos. These large dogs are prone to bloat which can be precipitated by the ingestion of gas-forming foods. If the dog food puts carbs as its principal ingredient you’re actually courting bloat in your pet.
You may also like our round-ups of the best dog food to prevent gas and high-protein dog foods.
Calorie Content Appropriate to Your Dog’s Activity Levels
There are two things you have to consider here. First, the calories should be high enough to make sure that you will only need to feed your Cane Corso fewer servings to minimize bloat. For instance, go for a 500-calorie serving size instead of a 300-calorie serving. A single serving of the 500-calorie recipe is already equivalent to a one-and-two-thirds cup of the 300-calorie recipe, meaning you’ll need to feed more of the latter to obtain the same amount of calories for your pet. Second, the majority of the calories should be supplied by proteins, although a good proportion can be supplied by carbs. Again, be careful so as not to court bloating. Additionally, make sure you understand your pet’s activity levels. If it’s more of a couch potato, it needs fewer calories than one that is hyperactive.
Check out our review of High-Calorie Dog Food.
Easily Digestible Ingredients
You need your pet to be able to use all of the nutrients found in its food. One way you can guarantee this is by choosing a dog food that comes with easily digestible ingredients. High-quality animal proteins are always easily digested. Fibrous ingredients may not be digested at all, but are important in evacuating food particles through the intestinal tract. Easily digestible ingredients also help minimize upsetting your pet’s tummy.
No Fillers, Artificial Ingredients, and Allergenic Grains
Under no circumstances should you give your pet allergenic grains like wheat, wheat gluten, corn, and soy as these can create hypersensitivity reactions in your Cane Corso. Don’t go for dog food with artificial ingredients like preservatives, colorings, and flavor additives, too. You’ll never know what might happen to your pet if you do.
Cane Corso Diet & Nutrition
An adult Cane Corso weighing 100 pounds requires about 2,200 calories per day. This is for an active and intact Cane Corso, meaning it is not neutered or spayed. If your pet is neutered, then it only needs about 1,960 calories. A 15-pound Cane Corso puppy, on the other hand, will require about 590 calories. What is important to remember is that different life stages will require different calorie requirements. Other factors that also need to be considered include the dog’s age, health condition, and level of physical activity.
Protein is an important part of a dog’s diet, more so for a Cane Corso since it requires the macronutrient for the formation and continued growth of muscles as well as other important substances in the dog’s body like structural proteins, hormones, blood, and cells of the immune system, among others. The AAFCO recommends a minimum of 22 percent protein for puppies and 18 percent for adults. These are considered the minimum percentage of proteins in dog food necessary for growth and maintenance, respectively. However, you should always go for at least 30% proteins sourced from high-quality meat ingredients.
Fats are also essential for your Cane Corso’s health, especially omega-3 fatty acids which are critical in the brain and eye development in puppies and the enhancement of the immune system and coat and skin health in dogs across the lifespan. Glucosamine and chondroitin continue to play an important role in the health of large dog breeds especially those that are very prone to hip dysplasia for which Cane Corso is quite famous.
Cane Corso Health Problems
There are 4 principal health problems that affect the majority of Cane Corsos. These are the following.
Hip Dysplasia
Hip dysplasia is one of the most common causes of sickness among large breeds of dogs including the Cane Corso. It involves the slow degeneration of the hip joint. While the disease is already present at birth, the symptoms do not manifest until later in the dog’s life. This is exacerbated by obesity, malnutrition, and even misuse of the hip joints.
Demodectic Mange
Demodex canis is a type of mite that infests many dogs. Normally, these mites are easily managed by the dog’s immune system. Sadly, malnutrition, stress, and poor immune function can lead to outbreaks of demodectic mange. This is especially true for Cane Corsos as they have a somewhat genetic predisposition to the development of demodectic mange.
Bloat
We know this as gas. But for your dog, it could very well mean the end of its life. The actual reason why bloat occurs is poorly understood. What we do know is that when there’s way too much food, air, or water in the dog’s tummy within a relatively short time, the tummy expands. This expansion and twisting of the stomach compress nearby blood vessels, potentially cutting off blood supply to other organs. It’s a surgical emergency that doesn’t always have a happy ending.
Eye Problems
Cane Corsos are prone to develop cherry eyes and entropion. Cherry eye is best described as an inflammation and distention of the dog’s third eyelid because of hypertrophy of the glands. The glands can be surgically removed to help address the cherry eye. As for entropion, the dog’s eyelids curl inward which can lead to corneal damage. Ectropion is also quite common. Just look at the sad faces of bloodhound and basset hounds and you’ll know what we mean.
Best Cane Corso Food FAQ:
Q: How can diet help your Cane Corso’s orthopedic health?
A: A Cane Corso diet that is geared for orthopedic health should contain the right amounts of calories per serving, the majority of which should be supplied by proteins and not carbohydrates. This is to help minimize the conversion of excess glucose into fats which can be stored in the dog’s body and lead to obesity. An overweight Cane Corso further strains the joints. A Cane Corso dog food for orthopedic health should also include glucosamine and chondroitin since these are substances that can help improve the health and function of the joints by facilitating the repair of early tissue damage while also strengthening the various components of the joints.
Q: How can diet help prevent your Cane Corso from developing bloat?
A: For us, humans bloating is considered as normal as farting (pardon the word). For dogs, however, bloating can be a medical emergency. The sad thing about canine bloat is that no one in the scientific community can pinpoint exactly why the phenomenon occurs. What is known is that bloat typically occurs right after a dog eats a huge meal or drinks copious amounts of water and then exercises immediately. Eating too fast can also predispose a dog to bloat by increasing the entry of air into the stomach.
It is essential that the Cane Corso diet be composed of non-gas-forming ingredients. It also helps to give your pet smaller yet more frequent feedings. This is where a dog food with higher calorie content per serving will be very useful. A 500-calorie per serving dog food is better than a 300-calorie per serving brand since you will need fewer amounts of serving on the 500 to supply your dog’s calorie requirements. For example, if your dog needs 1500 calories per day, you can give 1.5 cups of 500-calorie serving sizes 2 times a day. This is better than giving 2.5 cups of 300-calorie serving sizes per meal 2 times a day.
Q: How can your Cane Corso’s diet help to prevent a demodectic mange outbreak?
A: Demodex Canis, the organism that causes demodectic mange in certain breeds of dogs like Cane Corsos, can be easily managed by the dog’s immune system cells. Sadly, if this immune system is compromised or is not working at full efficiency, your dog can be devastated with a demodectic mange outbreak. Outbreaks also occur in cases of extreme stress as well as moderate to severe malnutrition. This is where choosing the best dog food for Cane Corso really matters.
A Cane Corso diet that is rich in antioxidants and other immune system-boosting nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids can help improve the ability of your dog to fight these pesky mites. Probiotics for dogs can also help by improving the health of the digestive tract where more than 70% of immune system cells reside. Here’s an important thing to remember – malnutrition is a major cause of demodectic mange outbreak. Choose only high-quality dog food if you want to prevent such outbreaks.
Our Top Pick
Our choice for the best dog food for Cane Corso is the Wellness CORE Large Breed Original Formula that features a healthy blend of easily-digestible ingredients that promote optimum joint health and function, a more responsive immune system, better cardiac and brain functioning, and stronger muscles and bones. It’s even made more appealing by the non-inclusion of unwanted fillers and artificial ingredients so you’ll feel safer just feeding your 4-legged bodyguard only the best.
Taking good care of your 4-legged bodyguard means giving it the best dog food for Cane Corso. While we have provided you with a good list of products to consider it is still best to consult your veterinarian so you’ll have a better understanding of what your Cane Corso really needs.
