# See any differences in evo fed dogs?



## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

Well it's been about 6 months since Natura was taken over, and I was wondering if anyone who feeds Evo has noticed any differences in their dogs. I have seen some complaints. Here are a couple from the dog food adviser site. 




> I have been feeding my 65lb very picky shepherd mutt the evo chicken small bites for the past four years with great results. I have noticed that he is needing to eat more of it, acting hungry a few hours after eating (I typically just feed twice a day) and I can see his ribs through his coat. I am wondering if the P&G take over could have already resulted in a less nutritious food. It is really rare for him to eat more, and he hasn’t changed his activity level…


That was on Oct 28.



> Came here to look up TOTW as a possible option for taking my dogs off EVO this summer since they aren’t doing all that great on Blue Buffalo Life Formula. Then I saw the comments here about the takeover. I wasn’t surprised to find that the timing of the P&G takeover coincides with my questioning a formula change (I even asked my retailer and he said they hadn’t). My Aussie mix was back to chewing and itching and my Heeler mix was back to raiding the cat poop, things they both didn’t do on EVO years ago. I just find it an amazing coincidence that others here had issues at that time as well. I would be willing to bet when P&G aquired them, they switched to cheaper suppliers/inferior product without a “formula change”. Big business bottom line profits? All I know is that I took my dogs off of it after years of doing great on it since I apparently wasn’t getting my money’s worth any longer.


Oct 22.



> i was feeding evo herring and natural balance grain free mixed and i was noticing all my dogs chewing their feet. my youngest aussie was even pulling the pad off. i went online wondering if one of them changed the formula( thinking probably nb) but then i seen this with evo i was shocked. went right out got another bag of grain free NB(we had just bought a bag of both but mixed it). within a week of the only change in their diet was stopping the evo. the feet chewing was almost gone. now about 3wks after, it has stopped. they can say nothing has changed but i seen from my dogs something wasn’t right. i am not waiting the 6 months they have to tell us it’s changed. i don’t need to. i have learned from the past.


Oct 18. 



> I have been feeding my golden evo red meat for right at a year. He was doing great on it for first 8 months. I, like others, didnt know of the P&G take over. Well over the last two bags i have noticed a really bad downfall in his we being. He has started constantly scratching, chewing his feet and legs, and he has had 2 lick sores in the last 2 months. This is something he has never had. EVER. Its so funny that he was doing so great on EVO and the P&G take over and now my poor Golden is suffering. I wont be buying it again.


Nov 6.


So far I see nothing wrong in my guy, even though I'll be taking Evo out of his rotation in a few months, as their foods don't have that fresh, kibble smell. They usually smell like a low grade kibble. Years ago, it smelled like food, and not so stale-ish.


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

PUNKem733 said:


> So far I see nothing wrong in my guy, even though I'll be taking Evo out of his rotation in a few months, as their foods don't have that fresh, kibble smell. They usually smell like a low grade kibble. Years ago, it smelled like food, and not so stale-ish.


I personally believe, from all those statements, and others I've seen, that P&G has seriously downgraded their products. However, not every dog is going to be effected by this change, because many dogs are able to handle poor quality diets better than others can, so perhaps that's why you, personally, see no change?


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## PalmettoPaws (Dec 30, 2009)

A year ago I tried EVO with my Standard Poodle for the first time. She did wonderfully on it. I have always had a problem keeping weight on her but when I switched to EVO she started gaining weight in a matter of days and kept it on. I took her off it because I moved and it wasn't available locally. 

A few months ago I found a place that does sell it and put her back on it. She had lost weight again and I fed her the same amount I had before (enough for a 50 lb dog even though she should be in the 40-45lb range) This did the trick quickly last time but this time around the results were the opposite. I stuck with it through a few bags but she continued to lose weight so last week I switched her. 

That said my parents have three dogs, two Chihuahuas and a Toy Poodle who are all still on EVO and doing quite well on it so I'm not really sure what to think of why this happened but I definitely can't afford to pay that price for a food that's not working for my dog.


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

xxshaelxx said:


> I personally believe, from all those statements, and others I've seen, that P&G has seriously downgraded their products. However, not every dog is going to be effected by this change, because many dogs are able to handle poor quality diets better than others can, so perhaps that's why you, personally, see no change?


That is my thought as well. He has always been a hardy little guy, with a near iron stomach. He was once bit by a pit in the rear thigh, had muscle hanging out, and blood all over, and he was just trying to play, and run around. 

Also the last bag of Evo which I'm still feeding I bought on Oct 25. Before that the last time it was in the rotation was in March/April. So I'd also guess that if I have received a downgraded batch, it would be now, and not at any times prior. 

Now that I think about it, this will be my last bag of Evo. It should last me until mid Dec. This sucks as all I use in my rotation is Orijen, and Horizon Legacy puppy. Oh well I'll find another one.


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

PalmettoPaws said:


> That said my parents have three dogs, two Chihuahuas and a Toy Poodle who are all still on EVO and doing quite well on it so I'm not really sure what to think of why this happened but I definitely can't afford to pay that price for a food that's not working for my dog.


Maybe different regions of the country/continent will get the "new" formula sooner than others, is my thought.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Kitties did great for a few bags of the Evo Herring and Salmon, great fish smell but this last bag they have gotten diahrrea and aren't interested in eating as much. Today I went in to get a bag of the Go Natural fresh trout:biggrin: and asked them about it and they said that thy would ask their rep, but said if there was a change she is not obligated to tell them. Makes me wonder, they also said to just bring it back, which I intend to do.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

Since the P&G takeover I have been carefully monitoring the ingredients & other informational information on the bags of the EVO Turkey/Chicken Large Bites. No change.

Ditto on our dog's eating habits, appearance, general health and energy level. 

Again, I would caution people against making assumptions based on hearsay & innuendo. Isolated comments "quoted" from the "food advisor" site are just that, comments. The people putting up these messages have not thoroughly investigated the cause of their dog's problems in a logical or controlled manner. They simply jump on the "oh, they must have changed the food so that is why my dog is not eating & his ribs are showing" bandwagon.

EVO Turkey/Chicken large bites are my dog's primary food source. He gets additional protein a couple of times a week in the form of canned salmon, leftover chicken, and the like. When he had stomach issues a couple of months ago they were found to be due to an allergy to beef, rather than the EVO. So again, I urge people to thoroughly investigate health problems with their dogs rather than the knee-jerk reaction of blaming the EVO.

Please, stop the fear/rumour mongering!


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

Don't they have up to 6 months before they can report the changes in their formulas? Also have heard of changes in dogs in other places besides the Dog food advisor. This admittedly small sampling of reports from others seems cut and dry to me. Two different stories and both of them recent bags of Evo have caused itches and biting of paws, that subsided once the dogs were taken off the food. 

I just don't understand how we can call other people's experiences as fear mongering. No one is even bashing the food, just stating what's going on, and that's it.


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

I just bought a bag of evo chicken and turkey large bites to use in rotation. If I see any negative signs, the food will go back right away. I'm not sure if I will use it again, unless he does really good on it. I can see why people are worried. The big question is do you trust P&G? I know I don't, but I still use some of there products. It's hard not to. I don't consider this thread fear mongering. I actually think it's a good idea, to question this company every few months now. Corporates need to be watched :biggrin:


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

cast71 said:


> I just bought a bag of evo chicken and turkey large bites to use in rotation. If I see any negative signs, the food will go back right away. I'm not sure if I will use it again, unless he does really good on it. I can see why people are worried. The big question is do you trust P&G? I know I don't, but I still use some of there products. It's hard not to. I don't consider this thread fear mongering. I actually think it's a good idea, to question this company every few months now. Corporates need to be watched :biggrin:


Yeah I agree, especially now since it's been roughly 6 or so months since the merger went through.


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

My guys just got off a quick EVO rotation...but my food was bought pre takeover. 

Honestly, they all did great on the food. Numbers and ingredient wise, its just a great food.


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## PalmettoPaws (Dec 30, 2009)

I am not fear mongering or spreading rumors in any way. I was simply relaying my personal experience with the product. I knew about P&G taking over before it happened and still chose to give the kibble another try. It simply didn't work for my dog this time around, who by the way is completely healthy other than being underweight. Since switching her kibble she has already begun to put weight back on. If I thought EVO has now become an evil product I wouldn't recommend it to my parents let alone go purchase it for them lol.


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## channeledbymodem (Dec 25, 2008)

I think that when P&G begins to mess with Natura formulas (not saying if they have or haven't) they will probably cheapen the ingredients before they actually change the formula on the label. I'm sure they took note of the sh*tstorm that fell on Canidae when they actually changed ingredients in an obvious way and eventually owned up to it.

My problem is this: I won't feed any given kibble for more than one or two bags (so say a couple of months) and if my dog were to start itching which food would I blame, if indeed the problem were diet related? To make a point I always say, better to feed Pedigree with "real" food, raw or cooked, in addition than to feed Orijen exclusively for months at a time. I believe allergic type reactions are caused by "over-exposure" more often than specific ingredients (leaving out melamine of course). 

So I'd say that in the huge population of dogs eating Natura products, perhaps exclusively, statistically a certain number of them are going to develop what may look like food related problems. But whether those problems are caused by what I'm calling over-exposure to an *unchanged* formula or a reaction to a changed formula, who can tell? FWIW, I never had a problem with the Canidae/Felidae changes but again, any given brand is only one of several I feed over time.

My dog will eat anything, he's healthy, gets his share of raw, canned and homemade and heaven knows there's lots of choices out there. My cats are fussier and less inclined to eat when their food is "enhanced" with powdered supplements. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Innova and Evo for cats don't jump the shark. The cats get a higher percentage of Natura products in their diet than do my dog. So far they remain healthy and happy.


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

channeledbymodem said:


> To make a point I always say, better to feed Pedigree with "real" food, raw or cooked, in addition than to feed Orijen exclusively for months at a time.



Why not just feed the raw or cooked food on it's own, rather then adding pedigree in the first place? Why add absolute sewage along with the good stuff?


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

PUNKem733 said:


> Why not just feed the raw or cooked food on it's own, rather then adding pedigree in the first place? Why add absolute sewage along with the good stuff?


jut a saying...saying that real food is so much better


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## channeledbymodem (Dec 25, 2008)

PUNKem733 said:


> Why not just feed the raw or cooked food on it's own, rather then adding pedigree in the first place? Why add absolute sewage along with the good stuff?


I'm not advocating Pedigree. Far from it. My point is that even the best kibble is not a good diet if fed exclusively over a long period of time.

On dog boards people often stress about not being able to feed the "best" kibble or they can't convince a relative not to buy their food in a grocery store. And usually Kirkland, Diamond Naturals, Whole Earth Farms or Chicken Soup is recommended as a step up and it is. But some people still want to feed a kibble they buy in a supermarket.

For those people (and for those who worry about "balancing" a homemade diet) adding wholesome foods they may have fed their family is an improvement. The first step toward getting people to feed better is to disabuse them of the "100% complete and balanced" myth perpetrated by mass market dog food manufacturers (and some vets). Someone who thinks their neighbor's dog ate Gravy Train for sixteen years and was never sick a day is not an immediate candidate for prey model feeding. But they might crack an egg over a bowl of Pedigree.


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## Jordan S. (Feb 2, 2010)

Team Orijen


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