Canidae Grain Free

Does anyone have any experience with Canidae's grain free kibble? Now that Lucy has gotten this MCT, I want to get the girls on a food that's lower in carbs than what they're currently eating, which is pretty high. It's always a balancing act with Nell's allergies and Lucy's discriminating taste (she won't eat anything with fish in it). I haven't fed Canidae in years and it wasn't the grain free I used.

Any other suggestions for a good grain free/low carb kibble? Carb count on the Canidae is 24%. Is the Canidae grain free fairly new? I remember when I was looking for low carb for Hoover, I found Fromm to be the lowest and that's actually pretty high compared to the Canidae.

We use the Fromm's family.

The Surf n Turf is very small bites and grain free.

Here I do mix it with some of their reduced activity (but that does have grain) and sometimes even a third one like the duck thrown in.

The website to see the choices:
http://www.frommfamily.com/products-all-natural-dog-cat-food.php
So far I have had good luck with Fromms

Here is the website for FAQ on their products:
http://www.frommfamily.com/frequently-asked-questions-dog-food.php

Denise M wrote:We use the Fromm's family.

The Surf n Turf is very small bites and grain free.

Here I do mix it with some of their reduced activity (but that does have grain) and sometimes even a third one like the duck thrown in.

So far I have had good luck wuth Fromms

It looks like the Surf & Turf is their only grain-free and Lucy won't eat the salmon.

I've switched Bud & Duke to Orijen Senior because it is low carb & grain free. I tried it with Buster (due to his cancer) but his sensitive tummy couldn't handle it. Duke has done ok but Bud has had some off & on loose stools (which is not like him - he's always had a rock solid tummy). It's a lot higher protein than they're used to so I'm guessing that's the reason. I'm thinking about trying something different now too but I'm not sure what.

Have you ever tried Orijen? Maybe she would be ok with it.

http://www.orijen.ca

PugLady3 wrote:

Have you ever tried Orijen? Maybe she would be ok with it.

http://www.orijen.ca

I have and her tummy was sensitive to it as well. Nell is like a garbage disposal (shocking, huh?) and nothing bothers her but I have to watch her allergies. Lucy, on the other hand, has never had any health issues (until now) but is picky and has a sensitive belly. It really limits our options.

Amanda wrote:

PugLady3 wrote:

Have you ever tried Orijen? Maybe she would be ok with it.

http://www.orijen.ca

I have and her tummy was sensitive to it as well. Nell is like a garbage disposal (shocking, huh?) and nothing bothers her but I have to watch her allergies. Lucy, on the other hand, has never had any health issues (until now) but is picky and has a sensitive belly. It really limits our options.

I hear ya! That's part of the reason that Buster is on a totally home cooked diet now, but we still have to be careful. My son gave him a a few bites of plain, cooked tilapia the other night & I was cleaning up diarrhea the next day. Blech!

I don't trust Canidae. They're manufactured by Diamond and are known to be rather shifty (and their reps are very... er... forward).

Grain free foods to look into if your dog didn't do well on Orijen are:
Acana
Now/Go by Petcurean
Wellness Core
Horizon Legacy
The Honest Kitchen
Nature's Variety Instinct
Merrick's Before Grain

Ditto on the thumbs down for Canidae. I used to feed it years ago and after they changed the formula there were lots of problems.

I've been feeding my foster girl the Wellness Core Reduced Fat and so far so good, but the primary protein is chicken so that might be an issue.

the other thing to consider, Amanda, is feeding Lucy just canned. Wellness makes some really good canned foods.

I gotta ditto everything Mandy said.

I personally use the Wellness Core for my fosters. They make good canned as well, and I use that in combination with the kibble.

I use the Honest Kitchen for my own pugs. The only store here that sells THK is getting in Stella and Chewy's! I can't wait to try some of their freeze dried stuff!

Taste of the Wild is a very popular grain-free food in my area.

kmes wrote:Taste of the Wild is a very popular grain-free food in my area.

Unfortunately, Taste of the Wild has ethoxyquin in it and until that changes, it makes it a less than desirable grain free food.

northernwitch wrote:

kmes wrote:Taste of the Wild is a very popular grain-free food in my area.

Unfortunately, Taste of the Wild has ethoxyquin in it and until that changes, it makes it a less than desirable grain free food.

Apparently they've already changed it, i'll have to do some digging though to see if that's true or now.

MandyPug wrote:

northernwitch wrote:

kmes wrote:Taste of the Wild is a very popular grain-free food in my area.

Unfortunately, Taste of the Wild has ethoxyquin in it and until that changes, it makes it a less than desirable grain free food.

Apparently they've already changed it, i'll have to do some digging though to see if that's true or now.

It will depend on whether the US Federal regulations on preserving imported fish have changed--THEY add the ethoxyquin, not the dog food company. I know that they were hoping to have that changed by 2011--I hope so cause I like Taste of the Wild overall.

Here's my original cross post about the ethoxyquin:

"Please stop using the following till Jan 2011:

o Solid Gold [all except the Holistique Blendz formula]
o Taste of the Wild [kibble and canned food]
o Artemis [kibble and canned food]
o Canidae [all except the Chicken and Lamb formulas]

Story below:

We became aware that the FDA requires ALL imported fish-meal to be treated with the preservative ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is also used in jet fuel, cosmetics and in some human foods. The levels allowed in pet food is substantially higher than that allowed for human consumption. It is a known carcinogen that targets the liver and spleen.

While many commercial pet foods use imported fish-meal, many of the holistic manufacturers have applied for a special exception, allowing them to use other preservatives like Naturox, which is a natural alternative
to ethoxyq uin.

Earlier this month we contacted all of the manufacturing companies that had fish listed on the ingredient panel to find out:

1) Was it imported fish
2) If imported what preservative was being used

We found that the following brands of food contained fish meal treated with ethoxyquin:

o Solid Gold [all except the Holistique Blendz formula]
o Taste of the Wild [kibble and canned food]
o Artemis [kibble and canned food]
o Canidae [all except the Chicken and Lamb formulas]

We contacted the manufacturer's representative, and were informed that
approximately 6 months ago they began shelf-testing Naturox, and will finish with the shelf trial towards the end of this year. Hopefully at that time all ethoxyquin treated fish meal will be eliminated from the foods listed above.

While the products only contain trace amounts of this preservative, our feeling is that a healthy animal might be fine on the food, whereas genetics, immune compromised states, and other factors could influence whether an animal develops cancer over time."

Ethoxyquin was actually the reason I stopped feeding TOTW. But not too long ago I found out that the new variety (Sierra Mountain-lamb) does not contain fish meal (which was exciting to hear!) so I am assuming it does not contain ethoxyquin. I actually bought a bag and have been working on switching my pekes and min pin over to it.
I could be wrong though...
Any thoughts? I don't want to feed anything that could be harmful to my dogs.

Ingredients
Lamb, lamb meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, canola oil, potato protein, roasted lamb, tomato pomace, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, mixed tocopherols (a natural preservative and source of vitamin E) dried chicory root, taurine, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/dogs/dry_food/sierra_mountain_canine_formula/

I used to feed Candidea and my pugs loved it. They changed the formula and didn't tell the vendors and Teddy got a horrible upset stomach on it.

I will beat the Honest Kitchen drum.......they have sample packs you can try.