Are you still going to feed Natural Balance?

I really wish Innova would come out with some duck & potato formulas (or something and potato) lol

I normally include the canned formulas in the evening rotation and I also feed the roll a round treats.  Last night at the store I bought nature's variety canned instead of the NB but I will probably buy the NB cans again during my next store trip.  My dog does really well on it and I don't see a reason yet to switch.  Just when you think you are feeding something safe it may end up being suspect as well.

Royal Canin had the labeling problems too. Nat. Balance is certainly not alone. We sure are finding out about many good foods

 
Correct - and that's why I finally "took the plunge" and went to homecooked.  There are risks there also, but at least I THINK I know what I'm giving her.  If I had a larger, or multiple dogs, homecooked might not be an option - I actually feel blessed that all I have is one 15 lb maniac LOL

ORIGINAL: JoAnnDe

Royal Canin had the labeling problems too. Nat. Balance is certainly not alone. We sure are finding out about many good foods

Correct - and that's why I finally "took the plunge" and went to homecooked.  There are risks there also, but at least I THINK I know what I'm giving her.  If I had a larger, or multiple dogs, homecooked might not be an option - I actually feel blessed that all I have is one 15 lb maniac LOL

The bonus of having a tiny dog [] I'm so glad Wolfie is only 9 lbs....but with my schedule I don't have any time to home cook for him. When I made a recipe for him that was complete (based on 2006 NRC...I haven't updated it although the req's are very close), I realized I really had NO time to make it how I wanted.  lol

My epileptic chihuahua has been on NB Duck and Potato for 2.5 months.  I switched on the advice of a guy some people have referenced here (dogtor j) - who advocates a specific diet for epileptic dogs. Since switching to the new food, NOT ONE SEIZURE (she was up to 3/month).  It's amazing and so - you can imagine my hesitancy to switch her to anything else.
 
Fortunately, a small bag will last me about 2 months. So, we'll finish this one and see what plays out with this whole recall deal. It really shakes your confidence though.
 
On another note (and as a precaution) can anyone recommend another potato-based dog food that does not contain wheat, soy, corn or dairy?
 
 
 
 

ORIGINAL: gnatflea

My epileptic chihuahua has been on NB Duck and Potato for 2.5 months. I switched on the advice of a guy some people have referenced here (dogtor j) - who advocates a specific diet for epileptic dogs. Since switching to the new food, NOT ONE SEIZURE (she was up to 3/month). It's amazing and so - you can imagine my hesitancy to switch her to anything else.

Fortunately, a small bag will last me about 2 months. So, we'll finish this one and see what plays out with this whole recall deal. It really shakes your confidence though.

On another note (and as a precaution) can anyone recommend another potato-based dog food that does not contain wheat, soy, corn or dairy?

[linkhttp://timberwolforganics.com/s.nl/it.A/id.85/.f?sc=2&category=-102]Timberwolf Organics Ocean Blue[/link]
[linkhttp://timberwolforganics.com/s.nl/it.A/id.98/.f?sc=2&category=-102]Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural[/link]
[linkhttp://www.firstmate.com/platinum/fishpotatonew.htm]First Mate Potato and Fish[/link]


That's all I can think of for right now. I'm not sure if Evo is potato based or not, but I don't believe that have a fish formula or a "simpler" formula. I think their grain-free is multiple meat sources.

California natural has a kibble with fish and potato but I believe it has some grain as well.  No wheat, corn or soy though.

Pinnacle has a Duck and Potato kibble but it does have oats and quinoa.
http://www.breeders-choice.com/dog_products/pinnacle_dog_duck_dry.htm

I am hoping that companies will be able to fix this mess and begin making a better product. Maybe newer regulations will come out that will prevent another recall. Too may good foods like the NB foods will be a lose to the animal community, especially those for allergic dogs.

Well I feed Nai NB dog food rolls to supplement the Solid Gold dry food I give her. She is so finicky that this is the only food she shows any amount of interest in when I feed her. I know she will eventually eat when hungry but it will be very little for days. In any event I felt pretty secure in the quality of this food all the way up through the recall until now.

From what I've read, it is the melamine in the rice protein concentrate and not in the rice flour or rice they put in their foods. The same is for the Royal Canin and Blue Buffalo recalls. The rolls I give her have no wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate or corn gluten. Even though I freaked out, after reading up on it I feel "fairly" secure in keeping her on her natural diet. If I switch her abruptly it will cause digestive problems anyway, as they are supposed to be gradually switched to another food. And then what if this new food has a harmful ingredient? It's scary I know, but it is also very difficult to give them all of the necessary nutrients/vitamins they need if you home cook for them too.

I just think it's better not to panic and to keep researching to find the best resolution. Until then, I'm going to stay on the same regimen. I really don't know what else to do.

On another note: I think this massive recall should be a catalyst for us pet owners to do something about the fda regulations on what they put in this food! These pets are our family and if it isn't good enough for us, it surely won't be good enough for them.

I think this massive recall should be a catalyst for us pet owners to do something about the fda regulations on what they put in this food!

Sadly the FDA doesn't regulate the dog food industry.  Hopefully this will change that!

btw--cute Pap!

btw--cute Pap!

 
Seriously! All you papillon people, with your super freaking cute dogs, make me want one, and I am SO not a small dog person (nothing against small dogs..I've just always had and been around huggable, shovable, seemingly unbreakable big dogs). Couldn't you have uglier paps???

After a lot of soul and alternative food searching, we have decided to continue feeding the Ultra Premium formula but to rotate it with the Solid Gold Adult Lamb which is the most comparable thing we found that is available locally. We had never used anything else since they turned 1 but because we wanted to use the SG in regular rotation (one day NB, one day SG), we finally decided to switch them cold turkey yesterday evening (prepared to deal with tummy upset and to revise our plans accordingly).
They ate it without trouble (they are not nicknamed the Eating Machines for nothing).They got their second SG meal this morning and I have been on very attentive poop patrol this morning and so far, everything is completely normal. The plan is to introduce other things in the rotation occasionally like a good canned food (have to research).
 
So, will I go on feeding NB ? Yes. Will I trust one company and one company only ? Not any more.

ORIGINAL: papillon806
Sadly the FDA doesn't regulate the dog food industry.  Hopefully this will change that!
btw--cute Pap!

*gasp* I didn't know that because I'm getting information off of fda.gov website about the recall. I'm learning more and more throughout this recall. I sure hope that this does change things... especially if there are enough of us who are out there pushing for it. How would one do that though? Where to start?

ORIGINAL: chelsea_b
Seriously! All you papillon people, with your super freaking cute dogs, make me want one, and I am SO not a small dog person (nothing against small dogs..I've just always had and been around huggable, shovable, seemingly unbreakable big dogs). Couldn't you have uglier paps???

LMAO! I take that as a huge compliment, thank you!

Sadly the FDA doesn't regulate the dog food industry. Hopefully this will change that!

I believe they do, maybe it is just a matter of semantics. My understanding is that not only does the FDA regulate pet food, but also each state can also put additional regulations on pet food above and beyond what the FDA requires, unfortunately I have read several articles that the FDA staff and budget has been cut and they are not able to really keep up with everything they are supposed to do, I haven't verified that, just read that in some articles.

[linkhttp://www.fda.gov/cvm/petfoods.htm]http://www.fda.gov/cvm/petfoods.htm[/link]

 
My state for instance has Commercial feed Laws which also cover pet foods.
 
[linkhttp://www.state.mi.us/orr/emi/admincode.asp?AdminCode=Single&Admin_Num=28500635001&Dpt=AC&RngHigh]http://www.state.mi.us/orr/emi/admincode.asp?AdminCode=Single&Admin_Num=28500635001&Dpt=AC&RngHigh[/link]=

I'm reading through my states regulations and find this kind of interesting.
 
(c) The terms "meat"  and  "meat  by-products"  shall  be  qualified  by
designating the animal from  which  the  meat  and  meat  by-products  are
derived unless the meat and  meat  by-products  are  from  cattle,  swine,
sheep, and goats. For example, "horsemeat" and "horsemeat by-products."