[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Canidae
- From: "Kristen Cabe" <showgsdlist@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: SHOWGSD-L <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 13:12:25 -0400
This is the response* I *got yesterday, which really did not address any of
my questions or concerns, and included a snarky little remark at the end,
which I took to mean that I was being accused of starting rumors and/or
spreading incorrect information (which I do not feel I am doing), but at
least it wasn't a form letter:
*Dear Kristen,*
* *
*While your perception may be that we cut cost, it is actually totally
incorrect as we are actually spending more on raw ingredients. Our quality
of raw material as well as quality control has actual increased not
decreased. Yes we have diversified our complex carbohydrates as rice
continues to clime and high quality availability decreases. Our products are
better than ever and more consistent. Yes we have cut costs on shipping
rates as fuel continues to go through the roof. To ship pet food from one
location is no longer cost effective. Our economy is facing some challenging
times and we are being proactive in offering you the highest quality
products, yet affordable enough for our consumers to purchase. We are not
sure about other companies and their plans for change or their reasons in
the past, however we feel we are being as open and honest about our changes
as we possibly can. We are getting many positive feed backs from our
customers that are actually feeding their pets our improved formulas, who
also refrain from listening to rumors or incorrect information. *
* *
* We thank thank you for your comments, and hope you are able to try our
products. *
* *
* Sincerely,*
* Team Canidae*
I responded back to them with the following:
Thank you for your response (to be honest, I was expecting a generic form
letter, so I will give you credit there ;-) ). However, a few of my
concerns were not addressed, so I will put them below for your attention:
If I may, I'd like to ask what the reason is for adding rice bran,
tomato pomace, and natural flavor to the new formulas. Tomato pomace
and rice bran are both low quality by-products with little to no
nutritional value for dogs (and, incidentally, the inclusion of these
two ingredients disallows the company to say that their food contains
no by-products). Additionally, how are we to know whether the tomato
pomace contains pesticides? It is, after all, mostly the peelings -
which are toxic to dogs and cats, by the way. What the heck is
'natural flavor,' anyway? It isn't in the old food and the dogs don't
seem to care; why the need to add it to the new formula?
Also, why the switch to generic 'ocean fish meal?' Can we, as
consumers, still be confident that this ingredient is ethoxyquin-free
when the Canidae Corporation purchases it? Would it be too much to ask
that the fish that make up this ingredient be added, maybe in
parenthesis, on the label?
I'm sure you *have* received positive feedback from people who have tried
the new formulas. My question is this - are they new customers, or were they
on the original formulas prior to trying the new ones? After finding out
about the changes, I posted about it on several message boards. I got many
responses from people who had noticed that their dogs had begun to have
problems, seemingly out of the blue, and after spending money going to the
vet for tests and so forth, finally discovered that the food had been
changed and was the cause of the problems. Here are just a few people's
responses:
*1. "This would explain a few things, I've been using Canidae for years and
always been happy with it, but recently I'd noticed some changes in the
dogs. **Their stools looked like someone had mixed sand or cornmeal in them.
When I switched their food, their stools immediately improved. I didn't have
full on diarrhea in the dogs, just loose stools with the weird texture.** I
was wondering if Canidae changed their formula, guess they did. That would
explain why I'm not as happy with the food as I used to be. *
* *
* Guess it's time to start looking for something else to feed the dogs.
Changing foods isn't a big deal, but at the same time it's a pain.
Especially if you have a food you have used with good results for many
years, feeding a large number of dogs. And when you buy in bulk and have 10
bags of it sitting in your garage it's a pain to find out about the change
after the fact.**" - Kadi Thingvall, Bonsall, CA*
*2. "I agree with Kadi. I've noticed changes in my dog's stool. At first I
attributed the loose stools to something else- but after stool samples and
blood work, found that there was nothing wrong with my dog. However, the vet
did comment that from the stool samples he tested, and from the colon
x-rays, he noticed that 'it seemed extremely grainy, almost like sand.' He
immediately made the assumption that it was a change in diet, if my dog
never experienced this type of diarrhea before. He was perplexed when I told
him that I kept my dog on the same food.*
* *
* Since then, I've made the switch to Evo.. which took a bit of adjusting,
but well worth it now that my dog is completely adapted.*
* *
* Shame on Canidae!" - Hoyt Yang*
* *
* *
* 3. "I found out about a month ago about the change to the Lamb and Rice. I
was feeding that to all of my dogs because I have a "problem dog", who has
allergies and gets diahrrea easily. When I got the new improved formula,
there was diahrrea for 2 weeks for 2 of 3 dogs. So, that was the end of
Canidae in my house. Only my puppy did fine on it, so he finished off the
bag." - Carole Goetzelmann, OH*
* *
* *
* 4. "This stinks. I changed my puppy to Canidae ALS from Royal Canin
because I suspected she had a food allergy. She looks marvelous now and her
ears cleared up. Now they change the formula. Canidae has been the only food
I have fed in years that all of my dogs do well on." - Terry Fisk, Phelan,
CA*
* *
* *
* 5. "Ugh, this is just like what Timberwolf did not that long ago.*
* *
* Canidae is usually what I recommend to your average dog owners who are
looking for good food but don't want to shell out the big bucks for stuff
like Evo or Wellness. I probably will still recommend it, simply because
it's still going to be better than Pedigree or Science Diet or whatever, but
this is sad news just the same." - Ashley Hiebing, Madison, WI*
* *
* *
* *I believe that my *main* issue with the new formulations is the fact that
now there are so many different grains in the food, and one of the main
reasons I liked Canidae so well was the fact that the only grain that was in
it was rice. I'm not happy about the barley and millet. I could live with
the rice bran and oatmeal, but I really do not understand why the need to
add *4* more grains to the food. It's too much.
Thank you for your time
We'll see if I even get another response back.
Kristen
On Wed, Jul 2, 2008 at 7:12 PM, <mlgray@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Here is the response I received back from my complaint to Canidae. I am not
> sure they read what I wrote.
> Mike Gray
>
> Dear Mike,
>
> We believe in quality first; Quality to your Pets and to you, our valued
> consumer. New data and information in pet nutrition has enabled us to
> diversify our complex carbohydrates to improve both the nutritional
> benefits
> and palatability. Furthermore, Worldwide commodity shortages are real, and
> wefeel will only worsen, especially on Rice. We feel it would be an
> injusticeto our consumers if we did not foresee potential commodity
> shortagesthat would either make our products unavailable or so costly no
> one
> could afford them. Our improvements have increased palatability, improved
> digestibility and dogs simply love it! Our improvements are testimonial to
> our commitment to excellence in providing you and your pets with the most
> nutritional, most advanced pet foods available.
>
> Sincerely,
> Team Canidae
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