Eukanuba new "Naturally Wild" formulas

Oh dear. That is some price! Eukanuba has always been one of the more expensive foods from the lower quality group, but $47 for 30lbs? May as well buy the venison steaks themselves for the dogs! However, it's a pretty big step up for Eukanuba. I agree, still grain heavy. Going in the right direction, I suppose.

PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL & VIGILANT IF YOU DECIDE TO TRY OUT THIS FORMULA!!!

I am usually not a food alarmist and feed a brand many would consider garbage, but I would not feel right if I didn't contribute to this thread. First of all, save for the venison, this is very similar to their L&R formula. They basically plucked out the lamb and added venison in it's place. Anyway, I used to feed Euk to all my dogs and swore by this feed. Belonged to their breeder program and shelled out damn near $50 for the 40lb bag of the Maintanence feed. Their puppy food was ridiculously expensive, and in truth I couldn't afford it, always ended up flat broke after a litter, but they once made the best pup formula & yers back were both the first company to include DHA in their feeds and had it in the largest quantities of any other manufacturer.

In early '06 they changed the formula of all their feeds and that is when the proverbial $*** hit the fan. It was a slight tweak. They basically shifted around ingredients and replaced fish meal with fish oil. They claimed the fish meal was in short supply after Hurrican Katrina when I inquired. My dogs became progressively ill that year, but it was insidious. It happened so slowly, it was pretty much impossible to pinpoint the food. Then in early summer the formula was changed again and it was like my dogs did a complete topsy turvy change for the worse. Every good thing about the food changed to something bad. We had very firm low smelling stools before, that turned to loose, foul smelling poos. Excellent coat became dull, dandruffy, oily. Sparkling white teeth rotted almost overnight. Clean ears became so greasy and waxy if I walked into the room all I could smell, literally, was the odor from the ears. INCONTINANCE. My dogs were incontinant & could not go more than an hour without urinating. The house was destroyed so badly from this we're still replacing floors and furniture that were ruined. The incontinance was so bad I was about to just give up and sell all the dogs. I sold a pup around this time that was left on Euk by the new owners, and they also reported incontinance. It was only when I accidentally changed foods several months later that the river pees just stopped. I told the new owner about this and a food switch also cured her pup of incontinance almost immediately. Sadly, it was during this time that my 3yo GSD bitch who was in perfect health before was most affected. She was a gorgeous cross of German working/show and American lines that had drive and conformation. No one knew what was wrong with her. The Vets could not tell me why her BUN was elevated, what was causing the chronic diarrhea, why she was skeleton thin and probably 20lbs underweight. Even when I started cooking for her, she could not get better. The medicine the Vets gave her did not help. She was dying a very slow death but had to be put down after she attacked one of my Beagle bitches. She was going crazy towards the end. Dogs she was raised with she'd suddenly attack. This was a dog that let the others eat out of her food bowl. She died 10 weeks before the massive food recalls of '07 and her symptoms mirrored those of the dogs with melamine poisoning. What struck me most was the issue of incontinance, as melamine was a diuretic. Euk's canned food was affected, but they claimed not the dry. I do not believe them and know about a half dozen other pet owners & breeders who fed Euk for 10-25yrs who had the same results and stopped using the product. Including my cousin's Lab who had protein in his urine soon after my GSD died and ate IAMS dry and nothing but. No canned, scraps, etc.

So please keep a very close eye on your dog's urinary habits if you decide to try out this food.

I've been hearing bits and pieces about this food and have been waiting to see just what it would be. My guess is that this is their attempt to enter the super premium market, not to mention, take up more shelf space, and unfortunately, some folks who think Euk is the be all and end all, WILL fall for this.

I certainly would not consider this to be a super premium formula, and I wouldn't feed it.  And, personally, I don't trust the company.

Judging by the ingredients  alone, it doesn't look that bad to me.  But I would expect better for the price....

it's got that generic fish meal that contaminates all of eukabana's formulas

It doesn't sound terrible, but it's like they improved a couple ingredients and left a few more the same. If I was going to spend $47 on food there are several others I'd try first.

Very sad.   Was once a great food.

Not having a meal listed first means very little of the protein is from animal.

fish n dog

Not having a meal listed first means very little of the protein is from animal.

 I don't see any non-animal protein sources listed. Given that the protein is only 23% tells me it's pretty grainy, but it looks like all the protein is animal based.  Don't get me wrong though, I still wouldn't feed it.

potatoes and grains contain protein- incomplete poorly digested protein- but it is lumped into the overall protein % on the bag.

sarah_b

I agree with you here --- once such a great food. I hope some IAMS reps are reading these forums. You guys had it all.... you were on the cutting edge. Now look where you are. I personally do not know any breeders or handlers or anyone that feeds Eukanuba anymore. I know I wouldn't and couldn't touch it. Totally, if they were striving to compare to the "market" why would protein be at 23% --- come on, Eukanuba - you KNOW better than that. Such a cheap cop out.

     I have to "third" that sentiment. Eukanuba was a top notch food. I used to say it was the single best food on the market, and happily shelled out a good $47 per bag, and had to buy at least 2 bags of the adult food plus umpteen bags of puppy food. I overlooked the purchase price because that food was truly impressive. I think the problem was a switch to a cheaper supplier for the dry food, and not just a simple ingredient/formula change. Instead of apologizing to the breeders they let down, a few months after the recalls, we all got Dear John letters from Euk stating that their breeder program as we knew it was cancelled. Yes, I know you're in business to make a profit, but not at my dog's expense. They were always a breeder's food, and their breeders were a loyal bunch. What they did was a double stab in the back - first cheaped the *quality* of ingredients then screw the breeders still using their puppy food @ $50+ a bag by futzing with the breeder program. I don't know any breeders or handlers using it anymore, either - and you know they also lowered the protein of the Premium Performance so many of the Beaglers I knew feeding it after I stopped using it gave up on it as well. I WISH the company would get their head out of where the sun don't shine and LISTEN to us. We don't want marketing gimmicks, we want you to please change to the original supplier or at least use another supplier with a better quality of meats & grains. There IS a serious problem with your food, and it has nothing to do with the holistic market taking their cut. Nothing at all. In fact probably 80% of the breeders I know who once used Euk/Iams have gone to Pro Plan or other Purina products, myself included ...

this is probably their attempt to compete with Pro Plan's Selects which is another low-quality ridiculously priced recent appearance on the market.

HoundMusic

In fact probably 80% of the breeders I know who once used Euk/Iams have gone to Pro Plan or other Purina products, myself included ...

I for one feed Pro Plan Sensitive and it is (so far) the only food that Dublin hasn't had a problem with.  One piece of steak he nabbed off the counter last week had him so very sick for two days.  I could hear his tummy grumbling and he refused food for a day till he got settled down with is kibble and some cooked white rice. 
Anyway my latest bag of PP had these massive chunks in it.  Rather greasy also.  I stopped the food and switched to a new bag which was fine.  I called in and they are sending for the samples. And sending coupons for a a new bag and other goodies he likes.  They think a machine had a problem and want to be sure exactly which machine.  I was assured that a formula change won't happen and knowing this product for 10 years now I can attest it is the same as day one.  Which is why I will stick with Pro Plan.  If I used Euk and they made changes without pre warning us, my dog would suffer very much.  I can't risk it.