A little help on what to feed now

[frankienme]

Thank you for all the great suggestions - I so appreciate them. Helpful for a worried mommy! You are all great.

By the way, I want or prefer to feed Frankie a grain free diet, so hopefully these brands include that option. Thanks again!

 

[OntarioSheltie]

There are one or two people on the forum who's shelties don't tollerate high protein foods and have had liver issues.

I fed Orijen for about a year to my three shelties and had no issues (They did excellent on it), but I switched to Acana, which is less expensive. They're doing just as well on the Acana as they did on the Orijen.

I'm going to echo what others have said. If Fromm is the closest food to TOTW then you might want to consider giving it a try, especially if your dog his having issues with the protein in his food. Acana has lower protein levels than Orijen, but its not exactly a low protein food.

 

[marymrumfelt]

Thank you for all the great suggestions - I so appreciate them. Helpful for a worried mommy! You are all great.

By the way, I want or prefer to feed Frankie a grain free diet, so hopefully these brands include that option. Thanks again!

Nature's Logic does add millet to their food so it's not totally grain-free. I figure the millet is better than synthetic vitamins. Unless a company can tell me exactly where they get their synthetic vitamins from and the brand so I can double check (as most are manufactured in China) I'm not comfortable using them as China's standards aren't the same as ours here. It's important to remember just because a product is manufactured in America, that doesn't mean all the ingredients are sourced from America.

With that being said, I would think Acana/Orijen or Fromm don't use China ingredients. But I'd definitely shoot them an e-mail if you're interested in finding out if any of their ingredients come from China.

That's what is happening with a lot of the treats right now -- manufactured in America so people think they're safe, but the ingredients come from China -- this doesn't have to be on the label either so the only way to be assured is to ask the company directly!

 

[Eagle]

With that being said, I would think Acana/Orijen or Fromm don't use China ingredients. But I'd definitely shoot them an e-mail if you're interested in finding out if any of their ingredients come from China.

That's what is happening with a lot of the treats right now -- manufactured in America so people think they're safe, but the ingredients come from China -- this doesn't have to be on the label either so the only way to be assured is to ask the company directly!

if you look at Fromm's web site, under the questions and answers, if specifically says nothing from China,all ingredients sourced in US, all products made in the US.

http://frommfamily.com/faq/china

 

[OntarioSheltie]

With that being said, I would think Acana/Orijen or Fromm don't use China ingredients. But I'd definitely shoot them an e-mail if you're interested in finding out if any of their ingredients come from China.

Acana/Orijen, manufactured by Champion Petfoods, has its own manufacturing facility and only ingredients purchased locally. Nothing from China. Its right on their home page.

http://orijen.ca/

And it says this under Q & A

There are no ingredients from China used in the preparation of our dog and cat food formulas, including vitamins — we are 100% China-free.
Our production focus is on FRESH INGREDIENTS supplied regionally and all of our products are made exclusively within our own award-winning factory here in Alberta, Canada. And rest assured, our products are biologically appropriate, the way Mother Nature intended.

Yes. Champion owns their own state-of-the-art pet food processing facilities in Morinville, Alberta where we make ORIJEN and ACANA pet foods.

I'm not as familiar with Fromm but I'm fairly certain they too have their own facilities and use nothing from China.

 

[marymrumfelt]

if you look at Fromm's web site, under the questions and answers, if specifically says nothing from China,all ingredients sourced in US, all products made in the US.

http://frommfamily.com/faq/china

Great! I had a feeling they did, I just wasn't for sure. I know it's on my list of brands I'd feed but needed to check that out first and hadn't because it wasn't available to me locally... yet!

It would be great if anyone else knows of a food that doesn't use synthetic vitamins, or other ingredients, from China and could list them when they reply. I am always looking for quality brands for my cat, my dogs when at a pet sitter, or to recommend to friends! Champion Foods/Fromm/Nature's Logic/Mulligan's Stew are the ones I know of now!

 

[Megansmom]

Oh my goodness, with all these family pets and people becoming seriously ill, I'm becoming a little concerned about Nutro, (what I feed). I wanted to call and ask them where ALL of their ingredients suppliers are located, where the grains come from etc. In observance of Memorial Day they are closed!

So, I'll ask you all a few questions

If I am thinking of switching dry dog food brands, which ones based on the current following ingredients would you recommend: Nutro Natural Choice puppy formula.

Chicken meal, ground rice, rice flour, rice bran, pea protein, dried plain beet pulp, chicken, poultry fat , oatmeal.

I would like to try something with these similar^ ingredients as to transition easier that are ALL made here in the US.

Penny for thoughts

 

[copper5228]

We feed Wellness...The only formula affected by the recall was Wellness Large Breed Puppy...And we stick to gluten-free treats, only made in the USA. I have found that our local health food store sells Nature's Instinct Gluten and Wheat free treats and they are 2/3 the cost of the pet stores!! And other treats here are fresh carrot bites, right form the local farms!

 

[marymrumfelt]

We feed Wellness...The only formula affected by the recall was Wellness Large Breed Puppy...And we stick to gluten-free treats, only made in the USA. I have found that our local health food store sells Nature's Instinct Gluten and Wheat free treats and they are 2/3 the cost of the pet stores!! And other treats here are fresh carrot bites, right form the local farms!

I stopped feeding my cat wellness because I couldn't locate the source of their synthetic vitamins -- were you able to? It was easier to access, so that would be a plus, but I'm leery as they wouldn't tell me.

If you give your dog a lot of treats, invest in a $50 dehydrator and make your own. It will save you so, so much and you get to know exactly what you're giving them. My girlfriend's dad had some jerky treats, made in the USA, and his dog started vomiting/diarrhea for three days and the vet thinks it was the treats. Turned out they used Chinese ingredients, but made the product in America so he thought it was safe. My three had a few of them when I was out of town and not around and one of them had diarrhea with blood in it for two days and wouldn't eat. Scary! The other two didn't get bothered, but they do have iron stomachs.

Susan, check out Nature's Logic. They have a chicken variety I'm feeding the cat. The pups enjoyed the venison version. If you transition slowly, you probably won't have too much trouble. Also Fromm and Champion brands are great. You will be happy with the foods and you have to feed less because they're better quality -- less poop, too! Good luck!!!

Nature's Instincts kibble looked pretty good. They do get their rabbit from China and I didn't see them mention the vitamins, but you could easily check. If you do, let me know as I'm curious! Here's a link to their chicken forumla: http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/dog/kibble/chicken

Edit again: This is what I discovered about Wellness "Their Vitamin C and Taurine is from China, and is then tested at their plants to ensure they are 100% pure ingredients. In addition, they test each and every batch of their final dog foods. Independent laboratories are used in some cases, as necessary." The taurine wouldn't affect dog food, but the Vitamin C might be an issue if you're concerned.

 

[BarbV]

There are one or two people on the forum who's shelties don't tollerate high protein foods and have had liver issues.

I fed Orijen for about a year to my three shelties and had no issues (They did excellent on it), but I switched to Acana, which is less expensive. They're doing just as well on the Acana as they did on the Orijen.

I'm going to echo what others have said. If Fromm is the closest food to TOTW then you might want to consider giving it a try, especially if your dog his having issues with the protein in his food. Acana has lower protein levels than Orijen, but its not exactly a low protein food.

I am one of them, so I'm chiming in.

I strongly recommend you look for a food with lower protein (i.e. no more than 26% or less). The foods that most have recommended to you so far is too high in protein for dogs with liver conditions.

Bacca was diagnosed very young (less than 2 years old) with liver issues. At the time he was on Orijen (or Horizen Legacy, I can't remember). I switched him to Now! Senior forumul which has a protein level of 24%. I wanted to stay grain-free. I love that its also made in Canada (like Orijen, Acana and Horizen)

I considered switching to TOTW at one point to give some variety, but never actually got around to it. Sierra Mountain has a low protein (about 26%, I think). Is this what you were feeding before but is still grain-free.

That being said, if you were successful on TOTW before, now that the recall is over, I don't know why you would not got back to it again! Of the food that I sell in my store, I get an equal number of any brand for refund because "the dog got sick".

Ok, getting ready to duck the bullets....