# Canidae Dog Food



## Kim64 (Dec 30, 2008)

Hi, I am new here, and I need some help. I have a 3yr old basset hound who was Dx with Primary/Typical Addison's Disease 3-24-08. Just when things seem to be going along and his Addison's seems well managed, something else seems to happen. Currently we are fighting the 3rd round of a staph infection. I finally convinced the vet we should cut his Prednisone dose back from 5mg a day to 2.5 per day. I am hoping this will take care of the staph. Originally the vet wanted to try a hypoallergenic prescribed diet for allergy purposes. However, after doing some research, I think the 5mg of pred may be compromising his immune system and causing the staph overgrowth. Whew!
Currently Duke is eating Science Diet Light--dry and canned. We had to put him on light for the fiber after a stomach upset that landed him in the ICU left him with soft stools. The fiber firmed him right up. However, I am reading here that SD is not a good food. I want the best for Duke, and his body certainly needs it. I found an all natural pet center in my town. I went there today and discussed Duke with the owner for about an hour. He lead me to Canidae. I fed some of the canned tonight-of course mixing it with old food. Then, I sat down and started looking for the Canidae website and began to find all kinds of bad information about the food! The store owner mentioned none of this--and Canidae is not all he sells. I am very upset, and don't know what to do. Does anybody have any other suggestions as to a good quality dog food especially for a dog fighting so many bad odds?

Thanks for any help/guidance you can give me!

Kim & Duke


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## mederic24 (Nov 18, 2008)

*Feeding*

There are many fine dog foods available to you. You might want to visit this site and look at the various foods and analysis of their ingredients. Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble
My Golden had major problems with the new formula of Canidae and we switched her immediately to California Natural made by Natura. This is a quality product and a good reliable company. She has flourished with the CN and all of her problems have cleared up. Here is a link to Natura's site. The Healthiest Pet Foods in the World – Natural & Organic Pet Food – Natura Pet Products
Good Luck.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

If you need something with lots of fiber to help with your dog's condition (sorry, I don't know much about Addison's disease), I'd recommend Blue Buffalo, Natural Balance, Wellness, Innova, Solid Gold, or Merrick. 

Canidae is a good dog food, however, they went through an ingredients change and forgot to inform their customers so dogs who are especially sensitive to food changes ended up with upset tummies and had to be changed to something else. Since your dog was never on Canidae before, he might be just fine with it. It is a pretty good product as far as kibbles good. 

I'd say go back to that store and ask for samples of all the foods he has (especially if he has any of the above mentioned brands), do a taste test to see which one your dog handles best, then buy a bag of that one and try him on it to see how he does. Blue Buffalo generally doesn't have samples in the store but if you go to their website and do a food comparison, they'll send you a free sample and $5 off coupon in the mail: Blue Buffalo — Discover the Best Dog Food and Cat Foods with our Pet Food Comparison Tools

Good luck!


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## mederic24 (Nov 18, 2008)

The problems caused by the Canidae formula change were a lot more serious then "sensitive tummys". I suggest that you visit this site and get an idea of the problems caused by Canidae, their formula change and the moving of their manufacturing process to the Diamond plant. The same Diamond plant, I might add that has suffered through many recalls because of their manufacturing processes. Consumer complaints about CANIDAE Pet Foods
This will give you a better picture of the numerous problems caused by the Canidae changes.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Well then, avoid Canidae for a dog that already has issues.


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## mederic24 (Nov 18, 2008)

The point is....avoid Canidae so that your dog does not suffer any of these issues. There are many, many good alternatives to Canidae.


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## danesandhorses (Sep 14, 2008)

I am using Solid Gold and love it. My Mom just switched from using Canidae. She fed Canidae to her dane for 3 years and wasnt aware of the ingriedient change. She couldnt figure out why her dane had such bad gas. When I told her she started to gradually switch his food and is so much happier!


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## mederic24 (Nov 18, 2008)

Many, many people were facing the same problem as your mom. Canidae did not have the decency to put out a warning that they were changing formula and having their kibble processed by the Diamond Company. So many people were caught off guard not knowing the cause of the skin infections the lose and sometimes bloody stools and the general ill health of their dogs. I know it is easy to blame a food for a dog's sickness...but so many of these illnesses coincided with this change by Canidae as is evident by the bulletin boards that are just full of horror stories.


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## Tink (May 31, 2009)

mederic24 said:


> Many, many people were facing the same problem as your mom. Canidae did not have the decency to put out a warning that they were changing formula and having their kibble processed by the Diamond Company. So many people were caught off guard not knowing the cause of the skin infections the lose and sometimes bloody stools and the general ill health of their dogs. I know it is easy to blame a food for a dog's sickness...but so many of these illnesses coincided with this change by Canidae as is evident by the bulletin boards that are just full of horror stories.


I went to the Consumers Affairs website and found lists of complaints about a lot of the other pet foods listed here as alternatives to Canidae... Some were much longer than the one for Canidae.


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## sganow (Apr 16, 2009)

I am not sure what to tell you or suggest to you. I can tell you this though... at least one of our dogs got horrible gas from any and every Diamond made food we ever tried. We tried the Kirkland lamb and rice, Diamond Naturals, Premium Edge lamb and rice, Chicken Soup (probably the best of the Diamond foods we tried), and Solid Gold Hunden Flocken. These are all manufactured by Diamond and all gave the dogs gas, but that was the only issue I had with them. We are now using Nature's Variety Prairie chicken and brown rice formula and it's working out fine. We did use California Natural chicken and rice and liked that too, but we got a puppy and could not get her to eat her puppy food (tried several) and she would only eat what the big dogs were eating out of their big feeder (LeBistro). So someone suggested a good all life stages food and said regular Innova or the Nature's Variety Prairie would be very good choices. All our dogs like it. That's our experience anyway. If your dog is sensitive, then the California Natural might be a great choice for you. I would get samples from your small local pet food store and give some a try. Also, Nature's Variety has a 'try it' coupon you can get off their website, and Natura will send you a coupon if you email them and ask for one. Good luck. Be sure to let us know how things work out.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

I feed Canidae to my German Shepherd mix, but he was not on it at the time of the formula change. In my experience, and talking to other pet owners (and I come in contact with MANY, as it's my job) the majority of the problems were with people who fed before the change. Changing the formula made Canidae in essience a "new food." Yes, it was poor business for Canidae to not inform their customers that the formula was changing, so the dogs could be properly phased, but I know a ton of people, including myself, who feed the new formula with absolutely no complaints. 
I don't consider Canidae to be the best of the best, by any means, but I do know for my dog, he does a lot better on that than Wellness and Evo.

For those who don't recommend Canidae, take into consideration the dog being discussed is currently on Sience Diet, and Canidae may not be absolutel top shelf, but it's a huge step up from SD.


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## Tink (May 31, 2009)

Although what I posted above is 100% true and to the point, I spoke too soon. After two weeks, almost to the day on the Canidae ALS regular formula, I woke to a huge vomit and diarrhea mess... The vet tested a stool sample and said there are some kind of spores or formations or something that's common when the dog's food has mold or mildew in it... 

She's acting 100% normal at this point and has a good appetite, but I'm taking her and the cat off the Canidae. With so many complaints of symptoms showing up weeks after the food transition... it leaves the door wide open to argument on exactly what the problem is... 

I'm having the food tested and we'll see what happens.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

Tink said:


> Although what I posted above is 100% true and to the point, I spoke too soon. After two weeks, almost to the day on the Canidae ALS regular formula, I woke to a huge vomit and diarrhea mess... The vet tested a stool sample and said there are some kind of spores or formations or something that's common when the dog's food has mold or mildew in it...
> 
> She's acting 100% normal at this point and has a good appetite, but I'm taking her and the cat off the Canidae. With so many complaints of symptoms showing up weeks after the food transition... it leaves the door wide open to argument on exactly what the problem is...
> 
> I'm having the food tested and we'll see what happens.


Make sure you contact the company to advise them of what happens. It may well be a problem that originated in the mfg plant.


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## Tink (May 31, 2009)

Yeast spores is what it tured out to be... There were an unbelievable amount of yeast spores in the stool. The vet said that it's from the food, and that there's so much in it that it upsets the dogs digestive system. Sort of like you or me eating a quart of yogurt at a sitting. I'm going to contact the company, but I believe I remember reading something about the new formula being increased in "active enzymes" or something like that...


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

Tink said:


> Yeast spores is what it tured out to be... There were an unbelievable amount of yeast spores in the stool. The vet said that it's from the food, and that there's so much in it that it upsets the dogs digestive system. Sort of like you or me eating a quart of yogurt at a sitting. I'm going to contact the company, but I believe I remember reading something about the new formula being increased in "active enzymes" or something like that...


Not to sound picky, but I don't think there is yeast in yogurt; bacteria yes, but not yeast. 

BTW, here's a listing of ingredients from their website:



> Chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb meal, brown rice, white rice, rice bran, peas, potatoes, oatmeal, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), millet, tomato pomace, natural flavor, flaxseed meal, ocean fish meal, choline chloride, sun cured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid, cobalt proteinate, organic selenium, papaya, pineapple.


"Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles" is your culprit! It's the yeast. But I'm puzzled as to why they would have 4 "good bacteria" and then the yeast. 

Tell us what they say.


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