# Petcurean, anyone feed their foods?



## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Out of curiosity, anyone feed Petcureans Now or Go Naturals? For varying reasons I was looking at it last night for one of our dogs with some dietary issues, the other sibe will eat darn near anything I add to her rotation, but my boy is coming off a bout with digestive issues. Thinking of trying this with her and then beginning to add it for him. He has been cooked for since the end of November and on meds which he is now off of and doing well with turkey, sweet potatoes and cooked to death split peas. Can't believe he looks so good, his coat is gorgeous, and he is doing well, but now we take the plunge back to dog food. Question is what plunge....

We suspect grains were the problem although that is not for sure. However well cooked brown rice looked like bird seed in his stool and caused rapid transit. White rice caused hard small segmented stools, almost like rabbit terds. The only go Naturals I was looking at was the salmon and oatmeal formula, otherwise looking at Now and the grain free formulas.

Thoughts, experiences with this food? Plus if we have to we will cook for him the rest of his life, then probably switch our girl to that too, but just not sure where we want to go with him. He was on a rotational diet prior to the problem, not sure how well that will go in the future but wil cross that bridge when and if the time is right.

Thanks in advance for any input and ideas.


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## cnemikeman (Oct 20, 2008)

Yes. Feed it exclusively and have very good results. Recommend it!


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## rescuedoglover (Sep 26, 2010)

I have fed their grain free ENDURANCE formula. Really liked it. What got old real fast was the 40 mile round trip to get it. Plus winter time driving is the pits. Currently feeding LBP Orijen which is a lot closer(15 miles RT) to me. Overall cost(food + fuel) is a wash.


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## SamWu1 (Oct 15, 2010)

The only thing I like about Petcurean is that they don't used rendered meats but that makes me suspect that their meat content is low. They're on the price level of Champion so I would go with either Orijen or Acana if you want a lower protein level.


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## cnemikeman (Oct 20, 2008)

Also may want to check out Horizon Legacy.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Thanks folks appreciate the responses. All valuable help. I just spoke to one of the two shops in my county today that carry it. They are close to my work, but the drive home would be diagonally darned near across the whole county. The other place in my county is at the other opposite corner, I hardly ever end up in that area. Then tonight I stopped for some grain free canned at a fairly local premium feed store. She even asked how my boy was doing so that was nice that she remembered since I had not been in for about 3 weeks. She tells me they can get it, as well as Acana and Orijen. So she's calling me with prices next week. So we'll see. I will check Horizon legacy too. Love my vet to death but when it comes to anything beyond cooking for dogs and the usual Science Diet she says I know you'll research it to death and go for what you think is best and keep me posted. I thought perhaps with so many people coming in, despite it being a small practice, she may have had some words of wisdom for me. No such luck. With our luck he will do well on this food and Silva won't take to it. Well, since we now only have two dogs that is not a huge issue. Thanks again folks!


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## rescuedoglover (Sep 26, 2010)

The current verzion Horizon Legacy is not their original formula.


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

rescuedoglover said:


> The current verzion Horizon Legacy is not their original formula.


That is right, but their puppy formula is still the same as it was before. More meat, higher protein. I use the puppy formula for my 15 year old boy. 

Everyone ALWAYS recommends Orijen or Acana to new forum members, but they seem to forget another food as good, is Horizon Legacy.

Does anyone know if Horizon is manufactured in an EU certified plant?


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

peaking at Horizon Legacy today, if I see it anywhere I'll post. If, and it's a big if I can go back to rotating for Blaze I may be rotating some different stuff. I know Orijen and Acana are good, Acana has been in our rotation, I am just looking for something new to add, but primarily something to get my boy as stable as he's been on home cooked. Five days on no meds and home cooked and so far so good so I am hopeful for him. Just wish I knew the root cause.


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

Also Horizon claims 95% of their ingredients are sourced from within a 100 mile radius from their plant in Saskatchewan, Canada.


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

I love Go! Endurance. I'm not sure I'd feed the Now! line, even though it's grain-free, it seems lacking in the meat department. I'd feed it mixed with a good canned food so the protein content would go up.

But I feed Go! Endurance with fantastic results. I think he does best on this food in general. I also feed Orijen Regional Red. These 2 foods he definitely does best on. But his poop is better on the Go! Small, very hard poops. I've read a few times about how great the poop is on the Go! and large breeds having small poops, hehe.

Wellness CORE, his eyes are always more runny, and his poops are much bigger and not as firm. And a few other foods we've tried he's like this too. 

It's kind of confusing because all the other foods in the Go! line are NOT grain-free... but the Now! is supposed to be "render free" which I guess means no meat meals? So I guess that's why the put Endurance with the Go! line, but it confused me at first.

I love the company, love the food.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Had a really great experience this week with their cutomer service reps at Petcurean. First I ordered the two samples I was interested in, and about half an hour later the rep had a nutrition guru person call to discuss the particular issues we had been having with Blaze. She recommended the one formula a wee bit more than the other that I had requested but suggested that both might be good. The she told me where/who their distributor is in this state. Then as luck would have it, I was speaking to a friend who works near Phillips Feed Store and Phillips distibution center, and she shops there for her dog food. So, if this food works for Blaze I won't be struggling to get it. Petcurean is sending me coupons for 1lb samples, and some other coupons for future use if the foods work well for us. I've had some other good experiences this past week too, but for some reason this one seemed to all come together well, almost like good karma for a change. We need that right now. lol


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

Which ones are you trying? I am in the process of switching my dogs to the Salmon and Oatmeal formula. My Aussie (Krystal) is already switched over as of a week or so ago and is doing great on it. I haven't switched my other dog, who has allergies and a sensistive stomach, yet. Wanted to see how Krystal did first (although not much bothers her)! Glad to see this post, and would love to hear which ones you try and how they do......

Dana


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Dana, we will be trying the Go Natural Salmon and Oatmeal based on their recommendations and the other formula we are getting 1lb. samples of is the Now Sr. Weight Management formula. Looking at their canned too for toppers. I know Blaze has had issues with rice, both brown and white so I am a bit concerned about the Oatmeal but we may be fine. The Now Sr. Weight Management formula is grain free so we shall see. Hubby told me last night he would just be happy to get Blaze to half dog food of any type that I approve of course(lol) and cooked. He is sick of chopping sweet potatoes. I cook the turkey, and he has cooked the sweets and split peas, bless him. lol I am just hoping he does okay when we gradually switch. He has done really well without meds so I am hopeful. Will keep you posted how it goes. Please keep me posted on how it goes for you as well. Thanks!


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

In preparation for the switch to Salmon, I've been using Wellness 95% Salmon (canned) for a topper for both dogs - they love it. I'm not sure if the place where I bought the Petcurean carries the canned or not. They may, but I'm thinking it may have potatoes or something in it I'm trying to avoid - can't remember for sure. I'm trying to avoid white potatoes with my sensitive dog (read too much about them contibuting to yeast problems - which she just got off ketoconazole for - and possibly arthritis problems - which she doesn't need due to having blown both ACL's several years ago). Seems ALL the grain-free foods and many of the limited ingredient diets have white potatoes - ugh! :frown: I just wish the Go Natural Salmon & Oatmeal had a higher meat content - will keep on using canned meat food for toppers I suppose!


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

If the food works for my sensitive dog (Shadow), I may need to call Petcurean's customer service and see if I can get them to send me some coupons, too!! :smile:


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Yuppers, they offer coupons for free one pound samples, that beats those small sample bags from other companies. I would prefer that senior formula had sweet potatoes not regular potatoes so I am planning to try the salmon formula first. He has had salmon before and done fine so we shall see.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Tonight our vet did her weekly check in via phone to see how Blaze has been off meds this first week. Fortunately we had good things to report. She then asked me what food we had chosen and why. She was totally stymied to hear about dog food from Canada. lol Her tech in the background had good things to say about the Go naturals and Now lines, and she also mentioned Orijen/Acana. Doc was concerned about them for the reasons you would suspect, but she was quite content with our coices for canned and kibble options. One more week of straight cooked and no meds and if all goes well we move forward. 

Definitely call for samples, and if you tell the customer service rep a bit about the dogs history, she likely will also put you in touch with the nutrition guru lady we spoke with. I had to leave a message in her voice mail, but she returned my call fairly quickly.


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

That's funny about the vet's reaction to Canadian food. Guess I wouldn't have that problem.....one of the three vets that practices in the clinic where I take my dogs is from Canada! :biggrin:


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## practicalfeeder (Feb 12, 2011)

stajbs said:


> Tonight our vet did her weekly check in via phone to see how Blaze has been off meds this first week. Fortunately we had good things to report. She then asked me what food we had chosen and why. She was totally stymied to hear about dog food from Canada. lol Her tech in the background had good things to say about the Go naturals and Now lines, and she also mentioned Orijen/Acana. Doc was concerned about them for the reasons you would suspect, but she was quite content with our coices for canned and kibble options. One more week of straight cooked and no meds and if all goes well we move forward.
> 
> Definitely call for samples, and if you tell the customer service rep a bit about the dogs history, she likely will also put you in touch with the nutrition guru lady we spoke with. I had to leave a message in her voice mail, but she returned my call fairly quickly.


None of the Canadian foods are worth the money. They are just gimmicks. I understand Orijen's new formula has been a near disaster.

You have a Husky. Some of the finest Huskies in the world race and show on Annamaet, Dr. Tims, National, Red Paw, Royal Canin 4800 and Eagle Power Pack.

Are Lance Mackey and Martin Buser stupid?


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Dana, our vet has been very open minded, but like all vets she is limited in her knowledge about nutrition. She just never knew about any foods made in Canada. 

Practicalfeeder, yes we have two remaining senior huskies. I have fed Annamaet, Dr. Tims, and Red Paw. For many years our dogs did well. They performed well in harness since we were rec mushers and we weight pulled for years. It's just now that we have two seniors with special needs that we have been changing things up. Had to do the same thing with our other seniors as health problems developed. Cushings, cancer etc. 

And absolutely I do not think Lance Mackey or Martin Buser are stupid. I respect them immensely. Wish I had gotten into dogs at a much younger age, doubt I would be into the long distance stuff, but mid distance and sprint competitively would have been nice. However our sibes were all rescued and all except one of the 7 of them were awesome in harness and loved running and weight pulling. The one who hated it became sort of the dog truck guardian. 

What foods are Canadian mushers feeding I wonder?? Not trying to be smart just curious based on your statement. Thanks!


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## DarDog (Sep 6, 2010)

PracticalFeeder, can you elaborate on this:


> I understand Orijen's new formula has been a near disaster.


just out of curiosity  thanks


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Practicalfeeder, I forgot, we have also fed National. In fact Annamaet and National were our primary foods for years when the dogs were young. In fact a good friend of ours is a vendor/supplier of their food. He still comes to our house every other month or so to deliver food for neighboring farmers and a local musher or two. We have been able to get a lot of the local farmers to switch their dogs diet from corn flakes to National. Unfortunately there is a local feed mill that puts out a food called Winner...it's got Ethoxyquin for a preservative, and quite a few farmers had dogs refusing it or getting sick so they switched to National. They won't pay for Annamaet, but they have upgraded from the darned Winner which looked darned near toxic to me.

I'm a believer in not every dog does well on every food. I respect the folks here who feed raw, but it scares the dickens out of me, so we now cook and have fed a rotation of several higher quality foods to our dogs these past few years. When I have a dog with known health problems I adjust diet accordingly within my means.


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## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

practicalfeeder said:


> None of the Canadian foods are worth the money. They are just gimmicks. I understand Orijen's new formula has been a near disaster.
> 
> You have a Husky. Some of the finest Huskies in the world race and show on Annamaet, Dr. Tims, National, Red Paw, Royal Canin 4800 and Eagle Power Pack.
> 
> Are Lance Mackey and Martin Buser stupid?


Now your just spewing out statements out of the blue with no facts. This kind of "gimmick" poster has no place here. How do you "understand" that their formula has been a "disaster"?!:tinfoil3:


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

I too would like to know why Orijen and Acana and other Canadien foods are trash. Acana has been in our rotation for a while, just not for Blaze since the issue arose for him. Do not mean to sound defensive but please do not insult my intelligence when for 16 years I have managed to keep 7 siberian huskies relatively healthy, and had 2 live past age 14, one till 13 with Cushings, and two till 12 with cancer. You can bet if I wasn't hesitant I would probably switch to raw for my remaining two, since that is not an option I will search very hard to find something that suits them well in their remaining years. Unfortunately as rescues I do not know what they were fed prior to coming to me, and trust me I often wish I had fed them something better even than National. However, we live and learn and I am just trying to continue learning and do well by my dogs.


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2011)

stajbs said:


> I'm a believer in not every dog does well on every food.


I'm in total agreement and have said this a couple times elsewhere on this forum. One must feed what their dogs do well on, that they can afford, and is easy for them to get.

I have sampled the Salmon and Oatmeal formula and saw that my dogs did well on it. A bit too pricey for me and difficult for me to get is why I do not feed it now. It's a good food, though.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Just priced the 25 pound bag and it will cost about $2 more than a 30 pound bag of several of the foods that we've rotated. So it will cost more, but I'll have to see how Blaze does with it, and if they both like it and do well, I also need to see how much I'll have to feed.


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

The bag of Salmon & Oatmeal I bought was a little less expensive than the California Natural grain free venison I've been feeding, so that's good!


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Thanks Dana, I had gotten some samples of CN grain free too, so it's good to know the price range. Got my 1 pound samples of Go Salmon and Oatmeal last night. Phillips, the distributor has a store near where my friend works and the store is listed as a Master Distributor, unfortunately they don't carry Orijen and Acana but they are loaded with many other quality foods. Can't wait to make a trip there sometime. I'll probably have to be hauled out of the store. lol


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## Buster201 (Sep 2, 2010)

I've raised three collie puppies on NOW puppy. They've been on it since they were 3 months old and are now 10 1/2 months old. I switched them from California Natural because they were having diarrhea. Almost immediately, their problem cleared up. They've had nice firm poops constantly and their weight is great, their coats are thick and shiny (could be genetics too :smile Next month I am switching them over to NOW adult for a few months. Eventually, they will go to Acana, which I feed their mother. I've been very pleased with the "Canadian" foods (except for the Acana supply problems).


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

So here's my update on how the dogs are doing so far on the Petcurean Go! Natural Salmon and Oatmeal:

Krystal has been on it for several weeks now - doing fine (she has no sensitive stomach issues or allergies that I know of). I have noticed that her poops are smaller and less frequent than when she was eating Calif. Natural Grain Free Venison (poops on that food were large, hard, and more frequent than I've seen with other foods - also pretty dry and sometimes crumbly - this was the same for both dogs). Her poops are also not quite as firm; but I'm assuming there is more oil in this food (I also supplement with Salmon Oil and have been topping with Wellness canned, Salmon). 

Shadow is still in transition - I usually transition her more slowly due to her having a sensitive stomach, but in this case I still have a bit of the California Natural left that I'd like to use up, so we are going slower than usual. She's at 1/2 and 1/2 now. So far so good. Same observation with the poops.

They both seem to really like it!


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Dana, thanks for the update. Blaze is being transitioned to cooked and canned first now. Silva is working through her kibble and we will slowly be transtioning her to the Go Natual Salmon as our supply goes down. So far Blaze is doing well transitioning and we are at about half cooked and half canned. Once we get through this process then we have agreed with our vet to slowly add kibble. I expect Silva will do well, and based on how Blaze is doing so far I am hoping he does well.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I've been meaning to reply to this and then keep forgetting.

My frenchie has been on their Salmon & Oatmeal for about a week and a half. He's been doing really well on it. Good poops. He loves the food. Only thing so far is that he seems to be farting more lol. But, I do live in a house full of frenchies, so I can deal with the farting. 

One thing also is that it seems that his energy has increased. He's been very playful and silly, back more so to his old self, not so sad and tired. Not saying it's necessarily cause of the food, but it did begin right around the time I started him on the Salmon & Oatmeal....just a coincidence I'm guessing?


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Well now it appears we will be feeding Blaze canned and cooked only, who knows about kibble, however SIlva seems to be more interested in having some canned and kibble so based on this input I think we will go with the Salmon and Oatmeal. Sounds like a good kibble choice.


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

Thanks for the input Meggels. Sorry to hear about the farting - fortunately it hasn't had that affect on my dogs! I haven't noticed any change in energy level - what food were you feeding before? My dogs seem to really like this food and I'm not noticing any fish breath or odors.....really good since I'm topping with Wellness canned Salmon (and it stinks)!


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Dana said:


> Thanks for the input Meggels. Sorry to hear about the farting - fortunately it hasn't had that affect on my dogs! I haven't noticed any change in energy level - what food were you feeding before? My dogs seem to really like this food and I'm not noticing any fish breath or odors.....really good since I'm topping with Wellness canned Salmon (and it stinks)!


I was feeding him TOTW Pacific Stream before. 

I dunno if the energy is from the food or not, but it was just something I noticed. Maybe it's spring fever? He feels the wind under his nonexistant tail? Hehe I dunno, but he's acting like a real doofus lately.


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

One thing I'm noticing with both dogs on this food is they poop a lot less frequently, their poops are smaller, and they are a little on the soft side. Not like "soft serve" soft - still formed, but definitely softer. Of course, we switched from California Natural Grain Free (can you say PEAS!!) and on that food they had large, very firm poops, and pooped more times a day. The only thing I'm not sure about is the softness. Both dogs have the same thing any time I try a duck food and the vet said duck is an oily meat and can do that, so I'm wondering if the salmon is the same thing - oily? And I supplement with salmon oil - maybe overkill? 

In any case, I'm going to switch Krystal off this food as she can tend to get anal gland problems if her poops aren't firm, and when she gets anal gland problems - EWWWWW, the smell is really bad. Besides, she doesn't need to be on a limited ingredient food - nothing really seems to cause any allergy or stomach problems for her, so I'd rather have her on something with more meat content and higher protein. Shadow will stay on it for now, and I'll see how it goes....tonight's meal will be her first meal 100% on the Petcurean. 

Krystal will be trying the Nutrisca Chicken (thanks to Unosmom for posting the coupon for Petfood Direct; I ordered 3 bags today) - she better like it!


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Silva has been on 3/4 Go Naturals Salmon and Oatmeal with her other kibble and a 95% canned topper mixed in for almost a week now. Poops are looking good, firm and less frequent. She seems to really enjoy the food and I too am noticing an increase in energy level. Will see if this continues. Most of my guys have done well on fish based kibbles in the past so hopefully she will continue to do well. Blaze who was only getting cooked and canned has been getting a few pieces of this kibble as his treat and he seems to really like it. He keeps looking for more. He is the one I am watching closely due to has recent digestive issues but so far so good.


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## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

Thanks Stajbs. Don't know why both my dogs have softer poops on this food. I'm going to quit using the Salmon oil and see how that goes (thinking the Salmon food with 95% Salmon canned topper and salmon oil supplements may be overkill?). 

That being said.....I JUST got back from buying another 25 lb bag. Definitely going to give Shadow more time on this food to see how she does. I'm not seeing any allergic reactions (no itching, licking, chewing, dry skin, etc), so that's a good sign. 

I have seen Shadow get a little more spazzy during play time in the back yard, so maybe her energy level has increased. Not noticing any changes in Krystal - but she's an Aussie and has always been prone to having her spazzy moments and attacks of "the zoomies"!


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Dana,

Well at least it may be helping Shadow and the sensitivities you are dealing with. Hopefully the stools will firm up. I have not added any extra fat in the form of fish oil, but then my guys are seniors and I'm not looking to create pancreatic issues. Some 95% meat topper or some of Blaze's meat goes on Silva's kibble but that has minimal fat. Least I hope so. lol


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