Oh no!!!!!!!

[RockyMountainDobies]

So yeah... i'll need to switch. I am not going to contribute or fund IAMS by buying there food. I guess I'll go buy a few more bags today and start looking for a change. And you know what? I may just go raw this time. I'll need to figure it out and it will be a lot of work for me, but at least I can rest easy and stop worrying about this shit all the time. Bad food, changes in sources, cutting out the bar codes and checking batches..... jeez.

I definitely dont miss all that crap, changing foods, the upset stomachs on formula changes, gosh I dont even think about it anymore. Switching to raw was the best thing i have ever done for my sanity and my dogs health.

But at the same time we have been looking for a good dry kibble we can take on pack hikes with us, although thinking about it,I doubt the dogs would mind 3 day old non-refrigerated meat, so this sucks, I was hoping to try EVO out next month to see how their guts reacted but now Ill have to try a different product. Im with Carly I wont support IAMS in anyway.

[ToBScholarly]

Here's what someone from the Swissy forum got back from Natura.

June 2, 2010

Thank you for contacting Natura Pet Products. Natura’s dedication to quality and nutritional philosophy has not changed. Natura’s Founders; John & Ann Rademakers and Peter Atkins, started Natura’s business with the purpose to provide the healthiest pet foods in the world. In building Natura’s business they have maintained animal health and wellness as a priority. They have strongly supported their independent retail partners.

P&G is committed to growing the Natura brands. They recognize the critical nature of growing the entire portfolio through the independent pet specialty stores. The quality of our products will continue to be world class. Natura’s nutritional philosophy will not change. The foundation of our success is rooted in our products and their performance. We will not compromise our standards.

P&G will be acquiring our manufacturing facilities in Fremont, NE and San Leandro, CA along with the full complement of Natura employees. P&G intends to operate Natura Pet Products as an independent entity. Our approach to formulation and product design will remain the same, and we will continue to position our formulas on the cutting edge. We will continue to evolve and improve our market leading products. Our ingredient selection philosophy will remain unchanged.

Natura’s current operating management team will remain in their respective positions and Natura’s business relationships will remain unchanged.

P&G has sought us out to advance and improve their natural and holistic product line and are interested in our products because they believe that we are the best at what we do… providing “The Healthiest Pet Food in the World.”

We sincerely appreciate your loyalty and support over the years and look forward to continued success in growing the Natura business with P&G.

If P & G REALLY felt this way and were first and foremost concerned about the health of the dog, then they would abandon all the other crap brands they are peddling out to unsuspecting customers.

[rudyandjjs_mom]

I was talking with the owner of the pet store where i get our Evo about this very thing a couple of weeks ago. He is quite upset about the whole deal. He said he had just been talking to the Natura rep a couple of weeks before this happened - about how much he loved the fact that it was a family owned business and they had good quality foods, had not sold out.... then he got a personal call from the rep right after they had their corporate meeting to announce said sale. They both were quite bothered by the whole deal. Mr. Ivey (I'll call him that because I do not really know his name but the store's name is Ivey's Pet Store) said that he had been through this whole process too many times when the other dog foods were bought out and formulas changed. He said that the rep told him that in the meeting P&G said they had learned their lesson with the previous buyout and reformulation of the product. I told him I don't believe it and he agreed. We talked about alternatives and he suggested either Orijen or Natural Balance. When I switch it will probably be to Orijen and then I'll be paying a few more dollars per bag for food again...

[ALDOGMOM]

Wow...You can get Orijen in PN? Then that means my people might be able to get it too!
I have never seen anyone around here that had it....
I was talking to someone in Mobile about Merrick today...

[rudyandjjs_mom]

Yeah, Ivey's has Orijen...If they can't get it maybe I could pick it up for you and meet you somewhere if you want.

He said he might start saving the ingredient lists every few months from the Evo to check for subtle changes. He was really upset that another quality dog food was going down the tubes. Even if the previous owners put something in the contract to keep them from changing the formula that kind of clause usually has a time constraint and eventually P&G will want more profit and will make changes - I have not doubt.

[Itsapyr]

We are slowly switching to raw. Janey does really well with it and since she needs to lose weight I feel like I can control it better. Jasper is eating raw about every other day. We are using some of the Primal brand pet raw and they love the lamb nuggets. I am using chicken as the main part of their diet with the primal as a variety.

[ALDOGMOM]

Thanks for that offer Val...If you can get it in PN surely there is a distributor that I can get it from here...

[mezmerelda]

Pam - our old beagle, Alex, had always been a tube sock until we switched her to raw. After about 3 months on it, she was always in perfect shape. We never had problems with her after that, even with all the extra foods she snagged at parties and the like.

[Itsapyr]

Pam - our old beagle, Alex, had always been a tube sock until we switched her to raw. After about 3 months on it, she was always in perfect shape. We never had problems with her after that, even with all the extra foods she snagged at parties and the like.

Well that is my hope !! I know I over compensated with her with food when she first came to earn her trust and she was soooo skinny. She wasn't fat until winter then I really noticed it this spring. I actually thought a lot of it was her thick coat.

[sam.i.am]

I was also able to slim Oliver down on raw like I never was able to on kibble, no matter how little kibble I fed him. His body shape changed pretty quickly on raw and he lost his chub steadily over 6 or 8 months. Raw is easier to modify and, once you and the pups get adjusted, it offers you a lot of freedom. You can probably find suppliers specifically focused on raw fed animals in your area. You can order in bulk and get a lot of variety that way.

It's so scary to hear that Natura is no-longer owned privately. It's so tough to keep up with the changing world of kibble. I'm relieved to be able to ignore recalls, formula changes, and buy-outs of those companies. I used to use California Naturals as one of the kibbles I trusted. So sad that I cannot recommend them anymore. BB was also a winner at our house when they ate kibble.

[ShilohsGirlJen]

We have finally found a food that Lowe is not itchy on CN and now we will be switching. I guess its back to Fromm for us and their low allergin foods.

[howsefrau32]

I think we are going back to Orijen or Acana, both of them are made by Champion, Orijen has more protein, they are both grain free. Orijen is wicked expensive, but my little girl got really thin on it before, and she could stand to lose a few pounds, so we don't have much to lose in that regard. It really is only about $5 more a bag than the EVO fish that we usually give her, or $10 more than the EVO chicken or red meat. I'll just give up coffee's forever if it means I have to spend more on her food. I don't trust PG AT ALL, I know they say that will not change the formula, I've heard all that crap before and I don't believe them, I'm not even going to go there. I believe that most of their loyal customers will not believe it either.

[ShilohsGirlJen]

I think we are going back to Orijen or Acana, both of them are made by Champion, Orijen has more protein, they are both grain free. Orijen is wicked expensive, but my little girl got really thin on it before, and she could stand to lose a few pounds, so we don't have much to lose in that regard. It really is only about $5 more a bag than the EVO fish that we usually give her, or $10 more than the EVO chicken or red meat. I'll just give up coffee's forever if it means I have to spend more on her food. I don't trust PG AT ALL, I know they say that will not change the formula, I've heard all that crap before and I don't believe them, I'm not even going to go there. I believe that most of their loyal customers will not believe it either.

We had Lowe on the red meat for a bit and she went bonkers on it. She was constantly hyper and plain goofy. We felt that it was something to do with the high protein level.

[ALDOGMOM]

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/p...s,1347562.html