Complain about a product or service

Canidae Pet Foods

A statement from Canidae:

September 2008
We apologize to all who have voiced their concerns with our new formulation. Canidae distributed letters to retailers, breeders, updated packaging, and provided in-store signage, however it appears that this message did not reach all of our customers.

The new formulation, with increased levels of meat protein, lowered carbohydrates, and an increased overall complex carbohydrate quality, provides the most nutritious, all natural, palatable products. Canidae never uses soy, corn, wheat, by-products, grain fractions, or fillers in our food.

If you believe your pet has experienced challenges related to the new formula we suggest feeding smaller portions multiple times a day. Adding warm water can decrease the chance of pets eating too quickly and not chewing thoroughly. It’s not unusual for pets to experience some digestive issues when transitioning, but if your problems persist, contact your veterinarian to rule out any underlying health concerns. For more tips, visit canidae.com/transitioningfromorig.html.

Due to increased commodity costs, we’ve changed our packaging sizes, reducing the overall weight by approximately 3-5 pounds per bag. The new sizes are more consistent with other brands and allow for easier handling.

We are committed to bringing quality products to pet owners and in June that commitment led us to Diamond’s manufacturing facility. Diamond facilities have rigorous quality control processes, utilizing a 141-point ingredient test protocol. All products are subject to a 10-point final product safety review and Canidae has also implemented hourly testing to confirm quality and product safety in our onsite laboratory. All Canidae products meet or exceed AAFCO nutrient profiles in USDA and FDA approved facilities.

At Canidae, we are committed to providing you and your pets the highest standard of excellence for product quality, palatability, and customer satisfaction. Please call 800-398-1600 or visit www.canidae.com to let us know what we can do to serve you better.

Canidae
Scott Whipple and John Gordon
Owners
PO Box 3610
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403

Mark of Chico, CA July 2, 2009

The dry dog food is making our dogs sick. After a year if feeding it with no problems, our dogs have begun vomiting and having diarrhea. My parents' two dogs became ill from it, and one of them has permanent kidney damage. Our feed store owner called the company because she said she'd had other complaints, and all the company would do is "confirm they'd changed the formula." They refused to tell her in what way, or anything else. What's going on?! My folks have hundreds of dollars in vet hosp. bills from June. We weren't having problems with it and just bought a new bag, and now our dogs are getting sick. We're throwing it out and switching brands.

Donna of Oak Lawn, IL June 30, 2009

I bought a "Whippet" dog for my husband for fathers day in June of 07. He was a wonderful pet, playful and most loved by my 2 kids. As the breeder suggested some quality dog foods to feed him we settled on "Canidae". He seemed to like it and be healthy. In June of 08 we went back and my husband bought a sister, female whippet for me. Now we were very happy with our two dogs and they were brother and sister. In May of 09 our Male had gotten sick, he would not eat, or drink I took him to vet right away, long story short he passed with in five days of becoming ill. He suffered from pancreitis, we had no clue why. We were asked repeatedly if we changed his food or treats or if he got into something. Nothing that we knew of. Today I was trying to compare dog foods,

My dog doesn't seem to want to eat much, and has vomiting every once in a while. I think it might be the food. In my research I came upon a web site talking about the class action law suite against "Canidae". After reading some of the statements I feel that this company is the reasone our beloved "Denver" is no longer with us. I would like this to be looked into and someone make the company tell the truth. It should be made public so no more family pets have to suffer, or even die.

Ken of Tulsa, OK June 23, 2009

We have been feeding Canidae dry and wet food to our six miniature Dachshunds for several years, without any trouble until about six months ago. Then each of the dogs often had runny stools and were lethargic for several days at a time. Two of the dogs were affected more than the others, and one of them had recurring bouts of the problems. Our vet tested feces and questioned us about feeding habits, etc., but could not point to anything definitively. We spent hundreds of dollars on vet bills, and had standing orders for refills of antibiotics and anti-diarrhea pills, but nothing solved the problem.

The dog that suffered the worse finally would eat nothing but chicken strip treats, and she had to be force fed her medicine. We discovered this web site and two days ago found out the problems reported here. We immediately stopped feeding Canidae and went with a quality dry and wet dog food, and we have been amazed at how well all six dogs have responded. They have all become much happier overnight, and the loose stools are gone.

Rachel of Burlington, ON June 21, 2009

My golden retriever "Buddy" 5 yrs at the time was on Canidae for a many years, then after the formula change he started vomitting, bloody stools and lethargic. He went from 102 lbs down to 88 lbs in a few months. Now he is in kidney failure.

Susan of Four Oaks, NC June 4, 2009

I did want to say, however, that the rescue organization that I work with has fed all of our program dogs (approx. 100) for almost a year now with good success. A couple of the dogs did develop some gas, but once we decreased the food amount (we were over-feeding according to the feed guidelines on the bag), the problem stopped. One of our dogs had to be changed to a grain-free food due to food allergies, but this would have happened regardless of the brand. I also know many of our adopters now feed Canidae with success, as well as our volunteers. So I don't know that across the board we can say that Canidae is a bad food. And let's face it, there are MANY problems out there with MANY pet foods - mostly because of poor regulation in the industry.

Cheryl of Elkhorn, WI June 3, 2009

I began to feed the Canidae Snap Biscuits as a treat for my Lab/Mastiff mix puppy, 9 months old. I have been giving these treats for about a month. I had to take my puppy the vet this morning for vomiting and diarrhea. He displayed symptoms earlier of scratching and occasional loose stools. I was doing research on this product and was shocked to learn others had similar issues. I am hoping my pup will make a full recovery. I am having these biscuits tested to see what is actually in them.

Kat of Woodland Park, CO June 3, 2009

Been feeding our 2 dogs Canidae for YEARS, like 6 or 7 maybe more. They did great on it until this year. We usually buy 4-5 bags at a time as we live way out in the mountains of Colorado. So I did not find out about the change of formula until Mar 09 when we bought 4 more bags. Here is how I found out: my younger dog hesitated when I fed her - which NEVER happens! I looked at the food, that my husband had poured and knew immediately that something was different. I asked him if he got the right formula, he did, I had about 12 cups of the old formula and we could see the difference, so I knew we had do the transitioning (which all of us dogs owners know to do when feeding new/different food). Which we did over a 2 week time period.

My 2 dogs still had a hard time, basically some vomiting, yellow, soft, slime-covered stool. I checked the Canidae website and confirmed they changed the formula, everything they changed looked great - my dogs just don't do well on it anymore. It's been 3 months and the stool issue has not resolved, so I did some research and decided we are changing brands. I don't want to risk losing my dogs over this OR making them anymore sick. I would have paid more for the old Canidae formula, that's how good it WAS. Extremely disappointed. We will be returning the other 2.5 bags and the biscuits.

Mike of Union Grove, WI June 3, 2009

Our dog experienced a unexplained reaction he eats Canidea Dry Food last 2 bags. Our German Shepherd has experienced a black tone on tongue (may 19th), he appeared healthy. We took him for his Heartworm test not for symptoms, now!!!Took to vet did blood & urine. Diagnosed with kidney disease. elevated BUN & Cremintine, phosperous & amalyse (Off the map) in blood. Protein level normal in urine. NEED HELP NOW!!!!!!!

Have spent 1000 on Vet bills so far. Dog red blood count half is critically low, lack energy, no diarrea he does not urine & drink too much or is dehydrated yet. I JUST PICKUP FOOD TODAY I'm filled is bowl this morning. WE NEED A CURE, NOW. Vet gave us 9 months at best he 16 months old. PLEASE HELP OUR BABY!!

Charlene of Jacksonville, FL June 2, 2009

My 2 yr. old Bichon had IBS really bad on other foods until I put him on Canidae dry(75%) and canned food (25%) in January 09. 5 months later he is doing really well with no problems at all. The Vet bills prior to this change ran up to several hundred dollars and the Vet never told me that his IBS could be food related.

My other 1.5 year old Bichon is thriving on the Canidae food. I'm not sure why this site has so many complaints but I do know that Canidae does NOT respond to consumers when there are questions and and if you email them, there is NO response. I'd say that poor customer service is about all there is to complain about.

Lesley of Charlotte, NC May 30, 2009

I have always fed my beagle, Ben, homemade food; a recipe given to me by a dog obedience school. It's a mixture of brown rice, ground beef, ground chicken or turkey, pinto beans, green beans and peas. I've supplemented this with fish oil and fruit (bananas, apples, tomatoes), and beef marrow bones. Ben has always been extremely healthy - he's almost 10 years old and has never had any illness or gastric problems. However, he did wear his teeth down chewing on the marrow bones, so I decided to switch him to a mixture of homecooked food plus high-quality dry food and stop feeding him the bones. I wanted something hard and crunchy to help keep his teeth clean.

Two and half weeks ago, I started him on Canidae lamb meal and rice formula dry food mixed with the homecooked food. Last night I discovered bright red bloody mucas in his stools so today I took him to the vet. The tests were inconclusive, but showed he was dehydrated, his gums were tacky and he had an elevated red blood cell count. Rather than put him on an IV overnight at the emergency animal hospital, I chose to let them hydrate him under the skin and he came home with a 7 day prescription for Metronidazole and a recommended diet of chicken and rice for the next week or so.

While I have no proof that it was the Canidae that caused this, I hope that taking him off Canidae and putting him back on his natural, home-cooked diet will restore his 9 and a half year record good health. My vet bill today was just over 200.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |