Merrick sells to Nestle Purina

[Stacy_R]

I just saw this on Dr. Judy Morgan's Facebook page.... Bummer.

http://www.merrickpetcare.com/news-cent ... re-company

[Tappy4me]

Well that's a major bummer...

[karenz]

This sucks. Time to find Xander abother brand. And he loved Merricks.

[Raven]

Double what you said, Karen. I switched this year (or last?) to Merrick's from TOTW after Stacy posted about the Diamond processing plant. (And Purina has umpteen plants around country.)

Back to the drawing board.

Karen, any idea what you'll switch to? I'm still not ready to pay the price for Orijen. Maybe GF Acana??? (I have never priced them out, though.)

Thanks, Stacy, for posting this.

[Dutchringgirl]

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I use Acana, Acana is made by the same company as Orajen, it has less protein and less meat.

[Stacy_R]

Sharon -
Orijen and Acana are both made by Champion Pet Foods. Acana is cheaper.

Here are the differences (from the FAQ on their website):

"While there are many differences between ACANA and ORIJEN, both diets reflect our belief in the importance of providing diets that are Biologically Appropriate, using ingredients that are Fresh and Regional, and Never Outsourcing any part of the cooking or packaging of our Brands.

Five of the main points of difference are summarized below:

1. MEAT CONTENT: ORIJEN is made with 75-80% meat, while ACANA has between 40 to 65%, depending on the formula.
2. FRESH MEAT: ORIJEN made with up to 50% of fresh meats, compared with ACANA which ranges from 9-30% of fresh meats.
3. FRESH MEAT VARIETY: ORIJEN features a minimum of 6 fresh meats, compared to ACANA which contains 3 different fresh meat ingredients. ORIJEN also features WholePrey ratios including meats, select organs, plus cartilage and marrow, all of which adds another Biologically Appropriate dimension to meat variety.
4. PROTEIN: ORIJEN foods range from 38% to 42% protein, while ACANA features protein levels of 25%-35%.
5. CARBOHYDRATE: ORIJEN diets for dogs have a maximum carbohydrate content of 25%, and 20% in the diets for cats. ACANA diets are typically in the 25-30% carbohydrate range.

Put simply, ORIJEN and ACANA foods mimic the natural eating habits of your cat or dog with high fresh meat inclusions and low inclusion of carbohydrates. Although slightly lower in protein then ORIJEN, ACANA provides an unbeatable value and price point that makes Biologically Appropriate pet foods accessible to a wide range of pet lovers."

Another food that I will recommend to adopters is Wellness CORE (they have 2 lines...make sure you get CORE). It's more readily available at the big box pet stores. You can check that out. The only thing about WC is that it has flaxseed oil in it which, if your dog has a grain allergy, could be a problem.

A side note about both Orijen and Acana... You feed less (even less than what's recommended on the bag), so it lasts longer.

[karenz]

Karen, any idea what you'll switch to? I'm still not ready to pay the price for Orijen. Maybe GF Acana??? (I have never priced them out, though.)

I was thinking about Orijen but I may look into Acana. I hadn't heard of Acana but it's worth looking into. I thought about Blue Buffalo but when Xander hit about 7 months old, if my memory serves me right, he lost interest in it.

I just bought a big bag of Merricks the day before this was posted so I guess I have a little time to research it.

If anyone else has suggestions please let me know.

[Stacy_R]

I have stopped recommending Blue. I feel like they weren't up front with their customers on the whole by-product meal thing. I feel like they didn't handle the whole thing with much integrity, but that's just me.

[Owned-By-Hendrix]

H used to get Fromm and loved it.

[karenz]

So I've been doing some reading and I think I'm leaning towards Acana. A 28.6 pound bag is about $80. If I did the math right it will last one month which is about how long the 25 pound bag of Merricks lasts. Of course the Merricks was only around $60 give or take a few dollars.

I'm with Raven on not wanting to spend the Orijen price if I can help it.

[racingiron1]

FYI, Acana (and Orijen) have a "frequent buyer" deal that gets you a free bag if you buy 12 within a 24 month period. Every little bit helps!

[Raven]

Thanks for taking the time to paste the info, Stacy. And thanks, Eric, for posting about the free bag.

So...I've done some surface research, and took five feeds that I thought looked okay over to Dog Food Advisor.

Earthborn Holistic Primitive GF is an affordable $38 for 28 pounds, and given 5 stars by Advisor.

EVO GF was also given 5 stars (I failed to write down price/pounds but both are comparable to Acana), but in 2013 there were several recalls of various types.

At the moment, I'm leaning toward Earthborn--it's widely available in my area--but if anyone has information indicating this is not a good buy, please post.

Next up to try and find information about is Dog For Dog. Never heard of them and Advisor doesn't list them. It only caught my attention b/c they claim to donate a bag of dog food with every purchase.

[Stacy_R]

Sharon -
I haven't heard anything bad about Earthborn Holistic (Midwestern Pet Foods)... I believe they self-pack (meaning they don't use a co-packer) and I don't think they've ever had any recalls...

[Raven]

I haven't been able to find any issues with Earthborn Holistic, or any recalls, etc., so that's the boy's next feed, supplemented with cooked fish and oils.

(They plant a tree in deforested areas if you send them the UPC.)

Switching feed again made me remember what my mother fed dogs yeeeeearrrrrs ago. Gaines Burgers! Even though I'm pretty sure all dog food was basically junk food back then, she thought I was nuts once I became concerned with what I fed my animals.

[Stacy_R]

Oh wow...I remember those... my grandma fed those to our dog. I had forgotten all about those!

I like that they plant a tree! That's pretty cool!

[karenz]

I had also read about Earthborn. I just had never heard of it so I just wrote it off. Maybe that will be one I consider as well. Thanks for posting this and thanks to everyone who has replied.

I just edited this post. I went back and read about Earthborn again. I noticed the first ingredient was meal and did not see any actual meat listed.

I think I'm going with Acana.

[Stacy_R]

I had also read about Earthborn. I just had never heard of it so I just wrote it off. Maybe that will be one I consider as well. Thanks for posting this and thanks to everyone who has replied.

I just edited this post. I went back and read about Earthborn again. I noticed the first ingredient was meal and did not see any actual meat listed.

I think I'm going with Acana.

"Meal" isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as it is a named meal (as opposed to "meat meal" or "chicken by-product meal"). In the case of Earthborn Holistic Primitive, the first ingredient is turkey meal followed up by chicken meal. Meal is a protein rich meat concentrate typically containing more protein than the actual meat itself because of the moisture content in meat vs meal (60-75% vs 5-10%, respectively).

In fact, Acana's Classics Line has chicken meal as their first ingredient. Their Regionals Line has named meals as the second ingredient after the deboned protein source.

[karenz]

"Meal" isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as it is a named meal (as opposed to "meat meal" or "chicken by-product meal"). In the case of Earthborn Holistic Primitive, the first ingredient is turkey meal followed up by chicken meal. Meal is a protein rich meat concentrate typically containing more protein than the actual meat itself because of the moisture content in meat vs meal (60-75% vs 5-10%, respectively).

This is good to know. I've always been told that meat first instead of meal first is better.

So does meal first require more or less in the amount to feed? I know that a friend of mine feeds some cheap grocery store stuff and the amount they have to feed per day is twice that of what Xander gets from merricks. They weigh within a few pounds of each other. That's why I've always payed more for a good quality food because it takes less so it kind of balances out, and of course I can't stand the thought of feeding crap food to my babies.

[Owned-By-Hendrix]

Just as a helpful tidbit, if you have any speciality shops in your area see if they have the Earthborn reps come by. They give out packets of the food as samples and are one of the few companies that are always in shops. Sometimes they will even mail you samples, one rep told me.

[Stacy_R]

This is good to know. I've always been told that meat first instead of meal first is better.

Yes and no. Like I said, it largely depends on the type of meal.

So does meal first require more or less in the amount to feed? I know that a friend of mine feeds some cheap grocery store stuff and the amount they have to feed per day is twice that of what Xander gets from merricks. They weigh within a few pounds of each other. That's why I've always payed more for a good quality food because it takes less so it kind of balances out, and of course I can't stand the thought of feeding crap food to my babies.

That doesn't have as much to do with quantity fed as does everything else (fillers) that is in the food and the way it is processed.