Anyone use Taste of the Wild?

[PenelopePup]

It is high on the dog food grading chart and I can buy it locally. I did buy a small bag and they love it. But, Evo looks like it has better ingredients (not available locally), but says it isn't good for puppies! I free feed and I need something that my puppies can eat too, any suggestions?

[RoscoesMommy42]

Roscoe eats Taste of the Wild and LOVES it. I started him out on Natural Balance, but he would just pick and didn't like it. I had gotten a sample of Taste of the Wild and he inhaled it. He has been on it about a month and is doing excellent. His hair looks much better and is very shiny. He was 9 months old when I got him and was on cheap Pedigree and it showed.

[hartygirl]

I feed TOTW, my dogs really like it. I use Pacific Stream and it is a little stinky but not too hard to deal with.

There are some people that wont feed it to their dogs because it is manufactured in a Diamond plant and Diamond has had recalls in the past.

I had my yorkies on Natures Variety but I was driving to San Antonio every month to get frozen raw canned and kibble and it just got to be too much, then of course they had a recall also.

TOTW is rated high and is perfect for my little girl with allergies. I really like the food. I think it is great. Evo is a great food also!

Good Luck!

[Britster]

I think it's a very good food.

As said above... it's made at Diamond Food Plant which had a lot of issues with recalls in the past, but I don't think it was specifically for TOTW. The only complaints I've heard about it are what I just stated and some dogs it makes have runny poo and stomach issues after a couple of months but a lot of dogs also do very well on it.

I got sample bags of it and Jackson LOVED the Bison-flavored one (forget what it's called...) He was eating the bits of kibble like treats, which is amazing for him, lol. So I may buy a bag and rotate between his Innova and TOTW.

[BonBon]

I just bought a new bag of their Pacific Stream formula this weekend. They've been eating NV Instinct and I was almost out, and TOTW is available at my local feed store. I've fed the Pacific Stream before & my guys loved it and did well on it. I haven't tried the other 2 formulas, though.

[Izzy Princess]

I am just now in the midst of transitioning Cosmo from NV Instinct to TOTW Pacific Stream only. My vet highly suggested we switch from the NV Instinct because it was really too high in protein for Cosmo (he was drinking tons and tons of water).

So now I give him TOTW and he is loving it and since I'm slowly transitioning him the poos are not running. Right now I'm 50/50 for a few days then I'll go 75/25 for a few days and then by the weekend I should be feeding him 100% TOTW. I know it's rated high on all food charts and only drawback I have seen as well is that it's made in a Diamond Plant with all the recalls, but there have been a lot of great foods recalled so you just never know. Look at the NV and Natural Balance had a recall if I'm not mistaken a while back.

[Britster]

Oh, and I know they've never stated on their site or answered in anyone's emails that they don't use ethoxyquin on their food. There has been some speculation that ethoxyquin in pet foods might be responsible for certain health problems but I don't think it's ever been proven. I'm not sure how much of an issue it truly is, just something I've read.

[msanna]

Taste of The Wild has never been part of any Diamond recall that I am aware of. I have nothing but rave reviews of it from our use. It is the only food besides icky Purina EN (prescrip. diet) that my Silky can eat without colitis/bleeding issues. He has no more flares anymore. My yorkie loves it as well.

I did email them a while back regarding the ethoxyquin and they said that the fish meal is preserved with it (from their supplier), it is a US Gov req evidently. But the cooking process is supposed to remove it. The do test the food to insure it stays below 5ppm (gov level is 75 according to email). They say all pet foods, regardless of brand, that has fish meal has the ethoxyquin in it.

However, if their was another good grain free food that had no fish meal I may switch. But, as for now the boys do great on it. Rico loves it a little too much Getting away from the Purina EN vet diet was a much better decision though.


This is the email response that I got from Taste of The Wild,


Thank you for your inquiry.

Taste of the Wild Pet Foods does not add ethoxyquin to any of the formulas.

Fish meal is required by law to be preserved with ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is most effective at preventing rancidity in the highly volatile fish meal. Rancidity in ingredients can lead to severe illness.

Most of the ethoxyquin is destroyed in the cooking process, requiring other preservatives to be used. Tests for ethoxyquin are run routinely on Taste of the Wild products. The results are typically less than 5ppm. The amount allowed, and considered to be safe, by the FDA is 75ppm.

I’m not sure how sensitive your dog is to ethoxyquin, but if the allergy is severe, you will need to find a food that does not contain any fish meal because there will be traces of ethoxyquin in the finished product. All of the Taste of the Wild formulas contain fish meal.

Sincerely,
Dr. Brookshire

[PenelopePup]

Wow, I didn't know TOTW was made at the Diamond plant! Oh well, now I will have to find another food. Diamond was the original cause of all of my dogs health issues. I refuse to feed anything made by diamond or Nutro, they both use products from china, that is why I was switching from Canidae, they use Nutro's processing plants now. I think Evo is next on the list to try, I just hope I can buy it locally.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by msanna

Taste of The Wild has never been part of any Diamond recall that I am aware of. I have nothing but rave reviews of it from our use. It is the only food besides icky Purina EN (prescrip. diet) that my Silky can eat without colitis/bleeding issues. He has no more flares anymore. My yorkie loves it as well.

I did email them a while back regarding the ethoxyquin and they said that the fish meal is preserved with it (from their supplier), it is a US Gov req evidently. But the cooking process is supposed to remove it. The do test the food to insure it stays below 5ppm (gov level is 75 according to email). They say all pet foods, regardless of brand, that has fish meal has the ethoxyquin in it.

However, if their was another good grain free food that had no fish meal I may switch. But, as for now the boys do great on it. Rico loves it a little too much Getting away from the Purina EN vet diet was a much better decision though.


This is the email response that I got from Taste of The Wild,


Thank you for your inquiry.

Taste of the Wild Pet Foods does not add ethoxyquin to any of the formulas.

Fish meal is required by law to be preserved with ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is most effective at preventing rancidity in the highly volatile fish meal. Rancidity in ingredients can lead to severe illness.

Most of the ethoxyquin is destroyed in the cooking process, requiring other preservatives to be used. Tests for ethoxyquin are run routinely on Taste of the Wild products. The results are typically less than 5ppm. The amount allowed, and considered to be safe, by the FDA is 75ppm.

I’m not sure how sensitive your dog is to ethoxyquin, but if the allergy is severe, you will need to find a food that does not contain any fish meal because there will be traces of ethoxyquin in the finished product. All of the Taste of the Wild formulas contain fish meal.

Sincerely,
Dr. Brookshire

Good to know, thank you!

As I said, Jackson lovvveddd the sample bags of TOTW. Who knows if it was just because it was something new or because he really, really liked it but he's never just eaten kibble out of my hand as treats before, he usually turns his nose up, lol. So I'm thinking of going out and buying a bag and rotating between the Innova and TOTW.

[crystalsmom]

I've heard it was great. I also like Solid Gold and Wellness

[delicatepuzzle]

Originally Posted by hartygirl

I feed TOTW, my dogs really like it. I use Pacific Stream and it is a little stinky but not too hard to deal with.

There are some people that wont feed it to their dogs because it is manufactured in a Diamond plant and Diamond has had recalls in the past.

I had my yorkies on Natures Variety but I was driving to San Antonio every month to get frozen raw canned and kibble and it just got to be too much, then of course they had a recall also.

TOTW is rated high and is perfect for my little girl with allergies. I really like the food. I think it is great. Evo is a great food also!

Good Luck!

EVO is not the best food reccomended for yorkies as it is soooo high in protein. Acana is the bestest out there (quality wise). The food they put in their food is their own grown, truely all natural and processed the day they "pick"/"catch" it. Taste of the Wild uses Ethoxyquin on their fish (a health human-grade alternative is a rosemary blend) which is a chemical preservative banned or heavily regulated in the human food chain as it is believed to be carcinogenic. I fed this to my older one and as soon as I found out (couple days ago) I threw that stuff out.

Then again I'm a health FREAK when it comes to my babies. I want them to live a long time! Although when you think about it, plenty of dogs have been surviving on Purina, IAMS, Sci Diet, etc. So compared to those TOTW is golden probably platinum LOL.

[Nikitta34]

Just when I think I have found a food that is healthy, I learn that the is ethoxyquin in it. I feed TOTW to Meg, so I guess it's back to the drawing board... This is so frustrating. I've been happy with it, aside from teh fact that it has canola oil in it.

Solid Gold contains ethoxyquin, so that's out. .
Old Mother Hubbard/Wellness doesn't use ethoxyquin. Does anyone recommend Wellness Small Breed? How about Wellness CORE? And Acana sounds fantastic, but I'd have to find a supplier, which might be tough.

Here are some foods that I'd consider high quality, but the protein levels vary so much. It seems like any grain-free food has too much protein in it.
Innova EVO (Small Bites): 42% crude protein
Wellness CORE: 32% crude protein
Blue Buffalo Co Blue Wilderness: 42% crude protein
Wellness Small Breed: 28% crude protein
Fromm Duck and Swt Potato: 24% crude protein
Acana Adult Small Breed: 33% protein

Someone on YT recommended I feed between a 28-32% protein. Any thoughts? What do the rest of you do?

Random question: Acana has six different types of fish in it. Should I be concerned about mercury?

P.S. I hope I'm not hijacking this thread... the conversation seemed to be going this way anyway. I can start a new thread if need be.

[MizMaRLeysMoM86]

Everything we eat today is tainted with something. It is still rated highly on the dog food charts and my furbutts love TOTW prairie. We humans consume ethoxyquin in our spices. They use it to prevent discoloration in the spices due to oxidation. It seems to me that people take little negative things and run with it at times. I have seen nothing but good come from feeding this food. Until I see a recall, or my babies get sick from it, I am going to continue feeding this food. Some of the people that freak at the slightest "carcinogen" in their foods need to chill out! Did you forgt about diet drinks and artificial sweetners?? We eat this crap all the time ( well, a lot of people do ).

[Nikitta34]

Originally Posted by MizMaRLeysMoM86

Everything we eat today is tainted with something. It is still rated highly on the dog food charts and my furbutts love TOTW prairie. We humans consume ethoxyquin in our spices. They use it to prevent discoloration in the spices due to oxidation. It seems to me that people take little negative things and run with it at times. I have seen nothing but good come from feeding this food. Until I see a recall, or my babies get sick from it, I am going to continue feeding this food. Some of the people that freak at the slightest "carcinogen" in their foods need to chill out! Did you forgt about diet drinks and artificial sweetners?? We eat this crap all the time ( well, a lot of people do ).

I agree that we need to live in moderation, and not drive ourselves crazy with what we can and can't eat. But since this will essentially be all Meg eats, it really makes me nervous. And no, I don't drink sodas, things with artificial coloring/flavors, corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, etc. I'm really glad the TotW has worked out for your dogs though. I think it's a good food overall, but I really wish they'd switch to a non ethoxyquin-based fish/fish meal.