On May 5th, the horrible and upsetting news broke that Proctor & Gamble were purchasing the Natura Pet Food company. Word spread like wildfire online, and there weren’t too many dog parents that were happy about the announcement. Most were in agreement that Natura Pet food would not be the same once P&G took over.

From the Natura Pet web site:

Natura Announces Change In Ownership, But Not Philosophy or Commitment to Quality

You may have heard Natura expects to be acquired by The Procter and Gamble Company sometime in June 2010. By joining the P&G family of brands, our intent is that we will have more resources to raise awareness for the benefits of natural and holistic pet foods. Our hope is even more pets will then experience the benefits of Natura’s high-quality, super-premium brands.

P&G has assured us of their commitment to this business and to the people who have been our partners and our advocates over the years. We will continue to deliver the high quality products that have earned consumers’ trust.

For more than 20 years, Natura has dedicated itself to producing healthy, high-quality pet foods, and we will remain true to that philosophy. As we move forward with this change in ownership you can continue to find Natura pet foods at your local independent pet specialty retailers.

Thank you for your dedicated support and advocacy for Natura Pet foods. We have genuinely appreciated your support in the past and we hope we can count you among our valued customers in the future.

Sincerely,
Don Scott
President

My favorite is this line:

P&G has assured us of their commitment to this business and to the people who have been our partners and our advocates over the years. We will continue to deliver the high quality products that have earned consumers’ trust.

Okay, come on! Why on earth would a company that supposedly cared soooo much about pets in the past, believe the same company that destroyed other petfoods like Iams and Eukanuba? Do they think we are stupid? Or is it just that their definitions of “commitment” and “high quality” have changed?

The Natura president even released a video explaining their reasons for partnering with P&G
http://www.naturapet.com/video/don-video-c.swf

It’s laughable. They’re either delusional or plain just don’t care! I can’t imagine how they could think P&G has a commitment to excellence and animal well being. It’s truly a shame!

As soon as I heard the news, I thought, darn, okay, maybe I need to stock up on EVO kibble. I felt relieved that I just purchased a bag the previous day. But as I thought about it more, I became more and more worried.

What if even now, before the sale is even finalized, there was quality issues with Natura petfoods? How could I possibly trust a company that wants to be affiliated with such a poor pet food company. Yes, I totally understand a need to sell or find new partners, but come on, why would you pick the bottom of the bottom?

So, I returned the new bag I bought, and decided to make a clean break from them.

I have been trying to decide which route I am going to take with regards to my two ratties’ pet food. Thankfully, I only feed a small amount of kibble in the morning, their main meal is dinner when I feed commercial RAW (Bravo, Stella & Chewy)

I really would love to try Orijen, but my regular retailer doesn’t carry it, and it’s doubtful she will be able to in the near future. They manufacturer in such small amounts that they keep their retail options lower than most pet food companies. There are at least two other stores in my area that do carry Orijen, and I might look into them in the future.

In the meantime, I have a bag of Petcurean Go Natural on order from my local pet food store. No, I am not 100% convinced that this is the best brand, but I will give them a chance.

I have been using freeze dried Stella & Chewy for their AM meal, which they absolutely love, but it’s expensive. I also really would like to try Honest Kitchen dehydrated. Both are great options for when we travel!

I’ll post regular updates on how their food situation plays out.

Other Links:

• Our Dogs Online forum – P&G acquiring Natura
• Our Dogs Online – What do you feed?

It’s so surprising how much this little girl can eat! I think our little Lexi would eat 24/7 if we let her, but what’s really amazing is that I don’t think there’s anything she doesn’t like.

Most dogs don’t enjoy leafy green veggies, but she just loves baby spinach leaves! She was begging for them today when I was cooking. And the other day, I brought home some beets and they were in the shopping bag on the kitchen floor, and she started chewing on the beet greens hanging out of the bag! Such a riot!

Updated from article dated Jun 13, 2009

This is so strange. I haven’t been happy with any of the other kibble choices, I was using the rest of a leftover bag of California Natural and some samples of Nature’s Variety Instinct, but I really wanted EVO….so yesterday I bought a bag. Guess what! The size of the kibble is small again. I compared it to the original smaller sized samples I saved, and they match!

And now I am wondering if I was right all along, and they messed up on a batch of food. I wish I noted the expiration date of the bag I returned, to compare. I guess I assumed that since Heather said they changed the processing, it was a permanent change. Unless of course, I have a bag that was processed before the change. I don’t know. But thankfully, this bag will last a long time, so we’ll see what happens when I have to purchase again months from now.

Oh I came so close to giving up on the RAW food diet for Lexi. She is my little Rat Terrier, about 10 lbs and 8 months old.

She was having trouble with her poop. Ha! What else is new!? It seems like that is the main struggle when feeding RAW. Trying to find a balance to make normal looking poop! Well her poop was on the soft side and many times had a gel jelly goopy coating.

I know there is a certain time period of “detox” when the body can weep and poop can be covered in that gel. But we’ve been on RAW for a couple of months now, so she should be over that. I was getting even more frustrated because she was regressing in housebreak training as well. Pooping in the house, sometimes right after she pooped outside. She even peed on our comforter one evening when she got excited and jumped up on the bed. eeek. That one was my fault though. I should have known better and taken her outside BEFORE bringing her upstairs to the bedroom.

My husband was ready to kill me (not literally!) and he was getting very frustrated as well. He kept telling me to stop, that it was the RAW food making her sick!

I really really didn’t want to stop feeding RAW to Lexi. In a million years, I never thought I would be feeding RAW in the first place, and now that I am, I am finding it very easy. And both my Ratties love eating it! Their fur is gorgeous too!

Mindy (my 4 year old Rat Terrier, 15 lbs) is doing just fine on it. Her poops are solid and small. Everything seemed to be agreeing with her.

After some deep thought, I decided to just feed RAW, with no supplements (fish oil, kelp) or eggs, sardines, etc.

I realized that it was me who wasn’t being consistent! When her poo was doing well, I would deviate from the normal, and start adding all the other ingredients and supplements, and she would get overloaded again. I wasn’t keeping good track of what was working and what wasn’t.

So, now I am just feeding her a portion of Bravo RAW twice daily and a small beef or marrow bone in the evening. That seems to be working. Today her poop was well formed and solid. No more jelly gel. Yay!

I will keep this up for another week or so, and then see what I can do to start adding a tiny small amount of the fish oil.

(note: the fish oil I am feeding is the Concentrated oil from Seapet – I have been giving Mindy 10 drops (which equals 1/4 tsp) and Lexi about half that amount)

I am happy, my husband is happy, and hopefully we can get her housetraining back on track. Things are going to get better! yay!

Updated once again…2009-08-11
Updated 2009-06-15 read below!

Even though I feed RAW food to my two dogs, I still like having a bag of EVO Small Bites. I sometimes give it for a quick breakfast meal and I use it for training treats.

I like it because the pieces are very small, and since Lexi is under 10 lbs, small is good.

Well, I just opened a new package of EVO Small Bites this morning and was surprised that they looked larger. I still had a few pieces from the last bag, so I compared the two sizes. The pieces in the new bag were DOUBLED in size of the previous bag.
What is going on?

Here’s a photo for comparison (note: the depth of each bite is still the same, even though the larger piece looks thicker in the photo, it’s really not)

I am going to try to contact them today to see what their explanation is. If this is the new size, then I am very disappointed. It’s not small enough!

Update 2009-06-15: I phoned Natura Pet, I spoke to Heather; I explained my problem.

She went on to say that they have a new processing system now and that it allows the pieces to retain their full size. She said that before pieces were breaking down in transit (to the stores) and therefor causing a lot of crumbs in the bag. She said that EVO was their toughest product to make since there were no grains. The pieces were very hard and crumbled easy.

She asked me to compare the size of the new pieces to the example on the bag. At first they did look comparable, and it sounded reasonable. I asked if I could return the bag, and she answered of course.

I hung up, and then I compared the old pieces I had to the bag example photo, and they seemed just a tiny tad bit smaller. On a second look, the new pieces were indeed a little larger than the example on the bag. Some pieces were a lot larger than the example.

I redialed Natura, and Heather answered again.

Same story, she said there was nothing wrong, and the pieces now are the way they are supposed to be. She suggested that I return the bag and try to find one that was a different expiration that might have the older size.

Okay, update #2. I just looked at pieces from an older bag of California Natural Small Bites and they match the size of the larger EVO small bites….so maybe Heather was right all along! Oops, my bad. I guess I am being too picky!

Maybe I will keep the bag and just break them in half before giving them out. Oh well! I am now remembering why I always liked the EVO better for feeding and training. They were always smaller than the California Natural. Truthfully, I didn’t even realize the California Natural was Small Bites until I looked at the bag label.

I guess "small" is relative!

UPDATE 2009-08-11: This is so strange. I haven’t been happy with any of the other kibble choices, I was using the rest of a leftover bag of California Natural and some samples of Nature’s Variety Instinct, but I really wanted EVO….so yesterday I bought a bag. Guess what! The size of the kibble is small again. I compared it to the original smaller sized samples I saved, and they match!

And now I am wondering if I was right all along, and they messed up on the size of a batch of food. I have no idea!

So, Nutro decided to “voluntarily” recall some of their cat food products but in the meantime, dogs are still sick and dying from their dog food.

They state the recall on the cat food was due to a mixup on the levels of two minerals:

Franklin, Tennessee (May 21, 2009) — Today, Nutro Products announced a voluntary recall of select varieties of NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO® MAX® Cat Dry Foods with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. The cat food is being voluntarily recalled in the United States and ten additional countries. This recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in our finished product resulting from a production error by a US-based premix supplier.

Two mineral premixes were affected. One premix contained excessive levels of zinc and under-supplemented potassium. The second premix under-supplemented potassium. Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO® dry cat food.

This issue was identified during an audit of our documentation from the supplier. An extensive review confirmed that only these two premixes were affected. This recall does not affect any NUTRO® dog food products, wet dog or cat food, or dog and cat treats.

Affected product was distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Israel. We are working with all of our distributors and retail customers, in both the US and internationally, to ensure that the recalled products are not on store shelves. These products should not be sold or distributed further.

Consumers who have purchased affected product should immediately discontinue feeding the product to their cats, and switch to another product with a balanced nutritional profile. While we have received no consumer complaints related to this issue, cat owners should monitor their cat for symptoms, including a reduction in appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea. If your cat is experiencing health issues or is pregnant, please contact your veterinarian.

Consumers who have purchased product affected by this voluntary recall should return it to their retailer for a full refund or exchange for another NUTRO® dry cat food product. Cat owners who have more questions about the recall should call 1-800-833-5330 between the hours 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST

They stated that they received no consumer complaints related to this issue, ha! hmm, but did they receive complaints regarding other issues?

Why pet guardians are still trusting them is beyond me! It just makes me crazy and angry! I think the only way to really put them out of business is to just stop buying their products! Stop!!!!! Just stop!

Lexi is scheduled for her spay surgery next Friday. I had learned previously that it’s best to stop fish oil 7-10 days before surgery, because of the anti-clotting properties. I stopped giving it the other day.

I also just realized that it’s better to stop Vitamin E as well, for the same reasons, so I will stop that as well. I am continuing to give a 1/4 tsp of probiotic powder once or twice daily.

It’s okay to start giving fish oil again 7-10 days after surgery.

Yesterday I purchased a package of whole chicken wings. Last night after their dinner, I gave Mindy and Lexi their first raw chicken bones.

First, I used a cleaver to chop them into the three separate wing pieces (including the tips) then I smashed each piece to break it up a bit. I gave each of them one piece on their special towels. Mindy was a natural. She had no trouble chomping that piece in her mouth, crushing the bone and swallowing it. Eek, it was a little scary watching her swallow such a big piece!

Lexi was another story. She kind of licked at the chicken bone, and didn’t know what to do with it. She also might have been full from her dinner meal earlier.

I ended up taking the chicken wing away from Lexi and giving it to Mindy to eat.

I gave Mindy two pieces this morning, and then one piece later on as part of her dinner. Lexi got the small chicken wing tip, and she did much better with it. She crunched it up and swallowed it.

Eventually, I hope whole chicken bones will be a part of their regular RAW diet. It’s still a little unnerving for me, but hey, I never thought I would ever be feeding RAW, so it’s all good!

Note: Currently, I am feeding a tiny bit of EVO kibble in AM to both, and for dinner, they get commercial RAW food either from Bravo or Nature’s Variety. I like to rotate between meats. Turkey one day, chicken the next, beef after, etc.

Cherie, a recent commenter, asked what my thoughts were on Rachael Ray’s Nutrish dog food, so I took a closer look.

It’s the latest fad for celebrities to jump on the dog food chow wagon, and it would have been great if Rachael Ray came out with a great pet food, but alas, it’s not. While it’s better than other brands like Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, etc, it’s not quite up to the hype, and there are much better choices out there.

I took a look at her web site, and found the ingredients for Rachael Ray Nutrish Beef and Brown Rice:

Beef, Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Corn Gluten Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Dehydrated Alfalfa, Dried Peas, Dried Tomatoes, Dried Carrots, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Olive Oil, Iron Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Dried Parsley, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Mixed Tocopherols, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Folic Acid

Yep, beef is the first ingredient, then chicken meal. That is good! Nutritious! But unfortunately, that is where the good nutrition stops.

Brewers Rice is a by-product (scraps) from a rice mill. Not very nutritious.

Corn meal, Soybean meal, Corn Gluten Meal – not great either, since some dogs have corn and soy allergies. The three are just cheap fillers.

Animal fat – generic fat. It would be better if it was a specific animal, like chicken or beef. You don’t know what “animal” it’s from.

Natural Flavor – from what? What is the natural flavor? No details, it could be from anything. Not good.

Brown Rice and Oatmeal (which are touted as important ingredients in the food when Rachael Ray describes it) are listed way down in the list of ingredients. There’s probably such a small amount that there’s no benefit to the food, but it does sound good when she mentions it as part of the ingredients, doesn’t it? ha!

And lastly, (if that wasn’t enough) there’s menadione added. Menadione is synthetic vitamin K and it can be toxic, although some pet food manufacturers would like you to believe otherwise.

Here is an awesome article that gives excellent details on menadione:
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/evaluating-dog-food/menadione-in-dog-food/

So, that is my evaluation of Rachael Ray’s Nutrish dog food. It might taste okay to dogs, but it’s far from being a nutritious choice.

There are much better, and much worse choices out there.

I stopped to check out a new neighborhood pet store the other night. I won’t mention the store name, since this is not going to be a positive post.

As I was walking to the door, I noticed the big “Science Diet” poster on the window. At that point, I sighed, and figured this wasn’t going to be a new place to buy pet food.

Making a long story short, I was speaking with the owner, asking her about her training programs, and we started to talk about food.

I asked if Science Diet was the only food she sold? And she said yes, along with the “Nature’s Best” which is also Hills/Science Diet. She was very gracious, and asked what food I used, and I told her EVO and RAW. She was looking into selling EVO, only if she could offer it at a lower price than other stores. (side note: I can’t imagine Natura allowing her to sell their products along side Science Diet; but who knows)

Anyway, held my tongue, until she said that when she worked at an animal hospital, Science Diet was the brand sold by the hospital; I replied that most vets don’t know anything about nutrition, but she insisted that there were other brands that would have been more profitable, but they chose Science Diet.

Huh? Okay, Science Diet is not recommended by Vets because of it’s nutritional value. It’s recommended because of the huge profit margin. And it’s the same profit margin that this store was trying to make.

I mean come on! Look at the ingredients:

Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Mill Run, Flaxseed, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Dried Chicken Cartilage, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Iodized Salt, Taurine, L-Lysine, L-Tryptophan, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-carnitine, DL-methionine, Dicalcium Phosphate, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, L-Arginine, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

It’s basically CORN! You are feeding your dog corn and some chicken beaks, feet, feathers, and other assorted by products if you choose Science Diet. Animal fat? What kind of animal? Soybean Mill Run? What the heck is that? Sounds like a by-product from a soy mill. It’s disgusting, and I wouldn’t even think about feeding one kibble of this garbage to my girls.

More info on The Science Diet Scam by Sabine Contreras, BetterDogCare.com & dogfoodproject.com

Anyway, the store looked nice enough, and her training methods were positive, but I lost a lot of respect for her because of the pet food she chose to sell in her store. It was kind of sad.