Has anybody had experience with Nature's Variety? Raw specifically, but kibble or canned too?
Franklin has had soft stools forever, I've changed his food 4 or 5 times, from cheapie cheap to super expensive, nothing has fixed the problem long term. I am not a huge fan of raw but found a pre-packaged raw called Nature's Variety, their bison is hormone free grass-fed, free-range human grade raised "natural" and they use high pressure pasturization and test all their meat for common food borne bacteria before it leaves the facility (major reason I don't like the idea of raw is risk of infection). The other reason I was concerned about raw was creating a balanced diet, but their raw diets are AAFCO approved balanced for all life stages. Just wondering if anyone has tried this food and has anything to share about how their corgi did on it?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Yes. There was a recall on Nature's Variety couple of months ago, "may be" contaminated with Salmonella was the reason.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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The reason I am thinking of doing bison versus any of the others (I'd maybe try venison) is because the chicken and beef don't seem to fall under the same raising and processing standards as the exotic meats, also I read the rabbit was from China. I am going to for sure stay away from raw chicken of any kind considering 90% of raw chicken is infected by Campylobacter and 80% is infected with Salmonella. I know they say dogs' digestive system can handle Salmonella but I've seen A TON of dogs and cats infected with Campylobacter, and though its self limiting (meaning no antibiotics necessary to treat) it does mean 3 to 5 days of horrendous diarrhea which I don't want to risk.
and with the recall (which was a chicken product), with what I read it was voluntary and there were actually no reported cases of illness (in dog or human). They also test now for E. Coli and Salmonella and one other bacteria before food leaves the processing plant.
I am weird, but I kind of like the idea of a company that will voluntary recall a food (i.e. lose a ton of money) even though there are no reported illnesses. Many companies won't recall until "x" number of cases have been reported and that results in the horrible recall incident we had a few years ago when in many situations its too late. Just my opinion.
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Permalink Reply by Kimberlie on
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I have been looking into going raw for the same reason i tried all kind of food for lower grde to top of the line grain free i tired adding pumpkin and other veggies. Nature's Variety being one of the ones i looked into. Dogs can handle salmonella but on to a certain amount, each dog will be different. I talked to a lady nutritionist that workes for a store that sells upward of 10 brands of raw diets. She likes the brand as they have great balanced means include ones with elk antler velvet for joint health. but she recommends going with a local company that deals with local animals, she says the smaller the company the less risks and mistakes they make to increase production and their market. Plus it helps your local economy, standards of meat and production will been to you local standards. I recomend that you go to a store that deals with multiple brands and speak to someone experienced. I found it a huge help and got plenty of information on the do's and don'ts to keep my specific dogs raw diet as safe and healthy as possible. She helped me to find 3 that would be a good fit for my two dogs needs and tastes.
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thank you for the info. The specialty store I went to only sold 2 brands and the girl behind the counter new NOTHING! I'll have to just shop around and try to find a lot of little botiques and see what I can find as far as other options. I just really liked that they tested their product for the bigger known bacterias and also that they used high pressure pasturization to kill some of the icky microbes while keeping the good ones intact.
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Permalink Reply by Carole and Sophie on
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Have tried adding a little canned pumpkin to his food? it is suppose to help with both diarrhea and constipation. If his stools are soft - a little canned pumpkin might just be what he needs to firm things up. Just a thought - it would be an inexpensive fix for you.
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thanks, I didn't do that because to me soft stool/diarrhea indicates a problem somewhere with his digestion, I don't want to just throw something in as a quick fix, I want to try to find the source of the issue. I'd like to treat the cause and not the symptoms. If he is digesting his food right he should have infrequent firm stool so I want to try to find a diet that allows his digestive system to work properly. If raw doesn't work I may end up just having to try some of the quick fix methods but I'd like to try all my options first.
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Permalink Reply by christy fry on
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If you can get a copy of this month's Whole Dog Journal they have a whole section on BARF diets including a layout comparsions of all the commercial brands. They have 12 listed and info. falls into 7 main catorgory's
1.Company Info.
2.Description of products, Nutrient Info.
3. History/formulated by
4. Availability
5. Ingredient Claims
6. Manufacturing Info
7. Food Safety Program.
The 2 articles that go along with this are Cold Raw Facts and Confessions of a raw feeder/breeder.
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Permalink Reply by winnie_the_dog on
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winnie's been on nature's variety raw for the past 2 years. We mix it up between the various types (venison bison etc) between bags. we also do not supplement the meat with anything else. winnie's coat is amazing, she's "regular", and her weight is perfectly on target. now, we do feed her dry kibble in the morning (evo grain free chicken formula) and then the raw for dinner. we give her both because a) raw can get a little expensive and b) we like having the option of going all kibble when we travel or when she's boarded. she has had a few random bouts of diarrhea over the years, but it's hard to attribute them to the raw food as opposed to anything else she's randomly eaten.
on a non raw note, whenever winnie becomes un-regular, we "reset" her diet with a bland mix of white rice and some broth for a meal or two before resuming her normal diet and that often does the trick.
lastly, there are some probiotic supplements that are available (at least from our vet) that we used once in the past. it helped to restore balance to her digestive system in terms of good/bad bacteria levels. a cheaper alternative may be a few spoonfuls of greek yogurt or any plain yogurt with active cultures. a balanced digestive system may help franklin digest his food better. good luck!
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thank you so much. I had just been contemplating raw because of all the positives everyone had to say but was worried about the bacteria issue and "balance" of the diets. I felt Nature's Variety hit both those issues. Good to hear you supplement kibble because that was what I wanted to do too. Though Frank is small, one bag of patties will only get me through 2 weeks and I can't afford to buy two bags a month so was going to do half kibble and half raw and see if whatever was in raw would benefit his coat and digestion. I may consider buying Nature's Variety kibble as well but can only find it at specialty stores and its SOOOO expensive there. I can get the Wilderness I'm feeding now at petsmart and it is a somewhat reasonable price so I may stick with that as the kibble source
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Nature's Variety makes freeze-dried raw meat briquettes that are expensive great for backpacking or travel.
Not as convenient as they look; I have to shave them up with a sharp knife so they'll absorb water.
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